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Marshal Suchet and the Siege of Valencia
Spanish Officers
By Dominique Contant,
Robert Ouvrard, and Jonathan
Cooper
Blake: Don Joaqu�n Blake
y Joyes, Captain-General (1759-1827).
"General
Blake, who cannot be better described than as a brigand, has, by menace,
entreaty and inducement, excited the people of these mountains [the
Alpujarras] to take up arms." (Soult to Berthier - 17 March 1810)
Blake was of emigre Irish parentage, but born at Malaga on 19
August 1759. At 15, he was a cadet in the America Infantry Regiment,
and later Sergeant Major of the Volunteer Regiment of Castile. Wounded
at Muga in 1794, Colonel in the elite Volunteer Light Regiment of
Corogne in 1795, Lieutenant General in 1808, Regent of the King in
1810, he was promoted to Captain General in 1811. He survived for
many years his captivity in France after the fall of Valencia. Released
from his detention at Samur in 1814, he died in Spain, at Valladolid,
on 27 April 1827.
O'Donell:
Charles, Count O�Donell, General.
Charles O'Donell was one of the many brothers O�Donell (or O'Donnell)
among the Irish Jacobin diaspora after the battle of Boyne. The most
celebrated among them was Henry (Enrique Jos�) O'Donnell, Count La
Bispal (or Abispal)(1769-1834). Charles O'Donell remained a prisoner
of the French at Samur until 1814. In 1823 he was Captain-General
of Old Castile and a principle leader of the royalists. Another brother,
Alexandre, was with the Grand Army through the Russian campaign.
Mahy: Nicol's Mahy, General (Madrid
1757-Havana 1823).
d'Eroles: Joaqu�n Ib��ez Cuevas,
Baron d'Eroles, General (Talam 1784-Madrid 1825).
After having fought against the French during the Napoleonic era,
d'Eroles supported the entry into Spain of the troops of the Duke
d'Angoul�me during the war against the liberals. He was rewarded by
Ferdinand VII, becoming Governor of Barcelona.
Mina:
Francisco Javier Mina, General (Otano 1789�Mexico 1817).
He was the nephew of General Espoz y Mina, with whom he fought against
the French. Extremely popular with the Spainsh people, he was betrayed
and taken as a prisoner to Vincennes, where he would remain until
the first abdication. Upon his return from France, he opposed the
government of Ferdinand VII, but was defeated while trying to raise
Navarre in revolt. He was exiled to France and then went to England,
where, in 1817, he joined the Mexicans in opposition to the reactionary
absolutists. In Mexico, he was named Commanding General by the insurrectionists.
Vanquished and taken prisoner at Fort Sombrero, he was shot as a traitor
on 11 November 1817.
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