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Gabriel de Mendizábal | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of General Gabriel de Mendizábal byFrancisco Goya (1813) | |
| Born | 14 May 1765 Bergara,Gipuzkoa, Spain |
| Died | 1 September 1838(1838-09-01) (aged 73) Madrid |
| Battles / wars | |
Gabriel María de Mendizábal Yraeta, 1st Count of Cuadro de Alba de Tormes (14 May 1765 – 1 September 1838) was a Spanishgeneral officer.
He first saw action during theWar of the Pyrenees. Mendizábal fought on the Basque-Navarrese and Catalan fronts.[citation needed]
Promoted to captain in 1791, in 1794 as asergeant major, and second in command of the Battalion of Volunteers of Guipúzcoa he saw action in several battles under GeneralRicardos.[1]
In 1793, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and was given command of a new regiment, the Voluntarios de Burgos posted to the north ofPortugal. Due to the Spanish military disaster atIrún at the end of theBattle of the Baztan Valley in 1794, he was transferred to western Gipuzkoa with the inferior rank of First Comandante.[2] On 2 December 1794, he commanded a jointÁlavan, Gipuzkoan and Biscayan militia to achieve a victory in his home town of Bergara over French troops.
In 1802, Mendizábal was again promoted to the rank of colonel and given the command of a regiment of volunteers fromNavarre. On 23 September 1804, he enteredBilbao at the head of his troops to put an end to a series of riots collectively known as the Zamacolada.[3]
In April 1809, Mendizábal was promoted tomariscal de campo, for his action atVillafranca del Bierzo (March).[1] Later that year,[citation needed] he was granted the title of count of Cuadro de Alba de Tormes, for his military achievements against the French cavalry. In 1810, he was promoted tolieutenant general for his actions in theBasque Provinces.[1]
He was appointed commander of the Army of the Left and suffered a defeat at theBattle of the Gebora after which he was kept from command. Humiliated, Mendizábal begged to serve as a simple rank and file soldier, a request that was granted. After distinguishing himself at theBattle of Albuera in May 1811, he was reinstated with the title of Commander of the Seventh Army or Séptimo Exército, which he took to the north of Spain in the territories that make up the Basque Provinces (Biscay),Navarre,La Rioja,Burgos, andSantander. He fought in this mountainous region using guerrilla tactics.
On 16 December 1812, Mendizábal was named political chief of theSeigneury of Biscay. He called the actingCouncil of Biscay which, in the wake of the approval of a new Constitution in Cádiz, sent a task force to the city with a negotiation mandate. In the final phases of the war, on 31 August 1813, he controlled a division at theBattle of San Marcial. For his actions, he was decorated with the highest military honors of theLaureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand, and the Laureate of theRoyal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild.
Between 1814 and 1820, he gained political power as a member of the Consejo Supremo de la Guerra. In 1834, he was named president of the Tribunal Supremo de Guerra y Marina, a position he held until his death in 1838.[4]