Teniente A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, security services and police forces. The rank i ...

'' Pablo Muñoz de la Morena y Martínez-Zarco (7 July 1769 – 9 September 1848) was a Spanish cavalry officer during the Napoleonic Wars, considered a Hero of the Peninsular War, who served also with distinction in the Spanish-French (1793-1795) and Spanish-Portugal (1801) wars. King

Fernando VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

decorated him in the battle of

Mengíbar Mengíbar is municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The municipality has a total area of 62.34 km2 and, as of 1 January 2022, it has a registered population of 9,965. History Lying on ...

(1808)

Early life

He was born in

El Toboso El Toboso is a town and municipality located in the Mancha Alta de Toledo comarca, province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, central Spain. According to the 2009 data, El Toboso has a total population of 2,219 inhabitants. The economy of the town ...

, the village of Dulcinea in Cervantes's

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

, within a noble family living there since the 15th century, owners of 8,692 hectares. He was the descendant of major Bartolomé Martínez de la Morena, crossbowmen of Emperor Carlos I, Dr Esteban Martínez-Zarco y Muñoz de Horcajada, rector del Collegio di Spagna (1555-1561) and Bachelor Diego Ortiz-Vivanco de la Plaza y Martínez de la Morena, member of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

. In 1801 he married his cousin Juana-María Cano Coronado and later, in 1826, he married Basilisa Fernández Carrasco, both with Royal permission. Between 1820 and 1823 he was appointed trustee of the City Council of

and local Commander of Arms. He died in

Alcañices Alcañices () is a small town in the province of Zamora, Spain. It is very close to the Portugal-Spain border, not far from the Portuguese town of Bragança. In fact, the Village is especially remembered for being the seat of the Treaty of Alca� ...

in 1848, where he had gone to spend a season with his youngest son, being buried in the parish cemetery.

Military career

He entered the Army in 1785, being assigned to the regiment of provincial militias of Alcázar de San Juan, being a contemporary of

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (; 25 February 177817 August 1850), nicknamed "the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru", was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and central parts of South America's succe ...

, since he was born nine years before and died two years before, fought exactly in the same three wars. Between 1793 and 1794 he participated in the

War of the Pyrenees The War of the Pyrenees, also known as War of Roussillon or War of the Convention, was the Pyrenees, Pyrenean front of the First Coalition's war against the First French Republic. It pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms of History ...

, fighting in the battles of Commanderie du Mas Deu, Trouillas, Elne, Laroque-des-Albères and Opoul-Périllos; the taking of the castles of Banyuls-dels-Aspres, Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste and Thuir; and the site of the castles of

Collioure Collioure (; , ) is a commune in the southern French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. Geography The town of Collioure is on the Côte Vermeille (Vermilion Coast), in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissement of Céret. ...

and Miles. He stood out in the battle against the French cavalry in the Champ de la Trompette and Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines. At the same time, he voluntarily headed the command that took the battery of

Villelongue-dels-Monts Villelongue-dels-Monts (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. The inhabitants are called ''Villelonguais''. Geography Villelongue-dels-Monts is located in the south of the department of Pyrénées-Orienta ...

, facilitating the fall of the castle of

Montesquieu-des-Albères Montesquieu-des-Albères (, before 1992: ''Montesquieu'')Décr ...

. In 1794 he participated in the battle of the Paso de las Dos Hermanas, in Navarre. In 1801, in the

War of the Oranges The War of the Oranges (; ; ) was a brief conflict in 1801 in which Spanish forces, instigated by the government of France, and ultimately supported by the French military, invaded Portugal. The war resulted in the Treaty of Badajoz, the los ...

, he actively participated in the taking of

Juromenha Juromenha, officially Nossa Senhora do Loreto de Juromenha, was a freguesia in Alentejo region, southeastern Portugal, near the border with Spain. It was part of Alandroal municipality. In the 10th century, Ibn Hawqal Muḥammad Abū’l ...

and the site of Campo Maior. In the Peninsular War, his first action was the siege, capture and surrender of the French squad in Trocadero. Later he took an active part in the battles of Jaén and

, as well as Andújar,

Bailén Bailén (archaically known as Baylen in English) is a town in the province of Jaén, Spain. History Bailén is probably the ancient Baecula, where the Romans, under Scipio the Elder, signally defeated the Carthaginians in 209 and 206 B.C. In ...

, Somosierra, Valdepeñas Ocaña, Montizón and Sagunto. He broke the Valencia site twice. He obtained his retirement by Royal Office of 1812. His decorations are today deposited in the town halls of

and

External links

Real Academia de la Historia

Cincuentenario de la Muerte de Azorín

Cien Hidalgos clave en la Historia de España
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz de la Morena, Pablo 1769 births 1848 deaths Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars

Early life

Military career

Further reading

External links