Antonio Ricardos Carrillo de Albornoz | |
|---|---|
 Antonio Ricardos byFrancisco Goya | |
| Born | 1727 (1727) |
| Died | 13 March 1794 (1794-03-14) (aged 66) Madrid, Spain |
| Allegiance |  Spain |
| Branch | Cavalry |
| Rank | Captain general |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Knight-commander of theOrder of Santiago (1768) Order of Charles III, Grand Cross (1794) |
Antonio Ricardos Carrillo de Albornoz (1727 inBarbastro – 13 March 1794) was a Spanish general. He joined the army of theKingdom of Spain and fought againstHabsburg Austria, theKingdom of Portugal, and theFirst French Republic during a long military career. By embracing theSpanish Enlightenment, he earned the displeasure of conservative elements of society. He played an active role in reforming the Spanish military. Upon the outbreak of theWar of the Pyrenees in 1793, the king sent him to command the army inCatalonia. He invadedRoussillon where he won several victories over the French. After his death in early 1794, the war went badly for Spain.
In 1727, Ricardos was born in the same house as the dramatist and poetLupercio Leonardo de Argensola in the city ofBarbastro, part ofAragon. He joined his father's regiment, the Cavalry of Malta, while still in his teens. Being of noble blood, he served as a captain, and at the age of 16 briefly commanded the regiment in place of his father. In theWar of the Austrian Succession, he fought in theBattle of Piacenza on 16 June 1746 and in another action on the Tidone River on 10 August of that year.[1]
Nearly twenty years later, Ricardos fought in the Spanish–Portuguese conflict known as theFantastic War (1761–1763), which was part of theSeven Years' War. Afterward he seriously studied the military organization of theKingdom of Prussia. KingCharles III of Spain then sent him on a mission to reorganize the military system ofNew Spain. In 1768 he was a member of the commission to establish the border between Spain andFrance and, for this meritorious service, he received an "Encomienda" in theOrden de Santiago. Ricardos accepted theAge of Enlightenment and its reforms. He co-founded the Royal Economic Society ofMadrid. Promoted tolieutenant general (LG) and appointed Inspector of Cavalry, he established theOcaña Military College where he taught the techniques of modern warfare.[1]
As an enlightened reformer, Ricardos was opposed by the conservative forces of society, epitomised by theSpanish Inquisition, which remained in existence until 1834. Thanks to theEncomienda de Santiago, he was able to escape the worst attentions of the Inquisition and its political allies. However, his enemies forced him to leave Ocaña and take up a lesser position inGuipuzcoa in the north.[1]
When KingLouis XVI and QueenMarie Antoinette wereexecuted in theFrench Revolution, Spain prepared to join theFirst Coalition. KingCharles IV of Spain promoted Ricardos toCaptain General (CG) and sent him take command of the army inCatalonia.[1] When theWar of the Pyrenees broke out, Ricardos invaded France on 17 April 1793 with 4,500 soldiers, capturingSaint-Laurent-de-Cerdans. He then routed 1,800 Frenchmen atCéret on the 20th,[2] thus isolating the imposingFort de Bellegarde at the Pass ofLe Perthus. After beatingLouis-Charles de Flers and the FrenchArmy of the Eastern Pyrenees at theBattle of Mas Deu on 19 May, he turned back to invest Bellegarde.[3] TheSiege of Bellegarde ended on 24 June when the French garrison surrendered.[4] Ricardos faced de Flers again in theBattle of Perpignan on 17 July. On his occasion, Ricardos was defeated, but only after inflicting 800 killed and wounded on his enemies.[5]
On 28 August, French GeneralLuc Siméon Auguste Dagobert defeatedManuel la Peña, atPuigcerdà in the central Pyrenees.[6] In early September, Ricardos tried to isolate and capturePerpignan by swinging two divisions around its western side while bombarding it in front. However, his subordinates lacked his tactical skill. On 17 September, FrenchEustache Charles d'Aoust repulsedJuan de Courten andJerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarillas at theBattle of Peyrestortes. This costly setback marked the high tide of the Spanish invasion. Ricardos quickly rallied his army and confronted the victorious French. He inflicted a sharp defeat on Dagobert at theBattle of Truillas on 22 September. In this major action, the Spanish suffered 2,000 casualties out of 17,000 engaged, while French losses numbered 4,500 out of a total of 22,000.[7] After his victory, Ricardos fell back to defend theTech River valley. He repulsed d'Aoust in an action atLe Boulou on 3 October, where the 1,200 French casualties were four times greater than Spanish losses.[8] He won another victory overLouis Marie Turreau at the Battle of the Tech (Pla del Rey) in mid-October.[9]
While leading a mixed force of 3,000 Spanish and 5,000Portuguese, Ricardos defeated d'Aoust again on 7 December atVillelongue-dels-Monts in the Pyrenees foothills.[10] This was his last victory. Two weeks later his subordinateGregorio García de la Cuesta routed the French defenders ofCollioure, capturing that port.[11] Ricardos returned to Madrid to plead for reinforcements and died there of pneumonia on 6 March 1794.[7] His successor,Alejandro O'Reilly died on 23 March 1794, leavingLuis Firmín de Carvajal, Conde de la Unión in command of the Spanish army. De la Unión proved unable to stop the French from recovering Bellegarde and Collioure in 1794, and died at theBattle of the Black Mountain on Spanish soil in November.[12] In early 1795, theSiege of Roses ended in a French victory.[13] ThePeace of Basel ended the war in July 1795. Ricardos' widow became the Countess of Truillas in honor of his victories.
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