Eugenio Palafox Portocarrero, Conde de Montijo | |
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| Born | 12 November 1773 |
| Died | 18 July 1834(1834-07-18) (aged 60) Madrid |
| Conflicts | |
Eugenio Eulalio Palafox y Portocarrero[note 1] (1773–1834), 7thCount of Montijo[note 2] and 17thCount of Teba, was a Spanish military officer during thePeninsular War.
Elected honorary academician of theReal Academia de la Historia in 1794, he was prevented from reading his inaugural speech, which proposed presenting the nobility as a moderating power on theabsolutist monarchs, whenGodoy got wind of it.[1] Having initially been banished to Toledo, he finally ended up in Granada, where he joined that city's Regiment of Provincial Militias as a lieutenant colonel.[1]
Attached to the 1st Division of the Provincial Grenadiers at Cádiz, Montijo formed part of the auxiliary Spanish corps that aided GeneralJunot's Army of the Girondein invading Portugal.[1]
In April 1808 Montijo was promoted to colonel and transferred to the Provincial Regiment of Cuenca.[1]
Towards the end of June, he saw action at theBattle of Valencia (26 June).[1] He then headed off, at the head of a brigade, torelieve Zaragoza, accompanied bySaint-Marcq'sWalloon Guards.[1]
On 15 August he was promoted to brigadier.[1]
On 27 August, followingJosé Palafox's instructions to push as far up theEbro as he could, Montijo, at the head of a column of the Army of Aragón reached the bridge atAlfaro, almost opposite the left flank of the French forces atMilagro. When attacked there byLefebvre-Desnouettes's cavalry, the Spanish column retreated toTudela, where MarshalMoncey met them with an infantry division. Again, Montijo retreated. Thinking that these skirmishes must be mere diversions, and under the impression that the attack would be coming from that side, KingJoseph moved his reserves up the river toMiranda. Montijo, however, had given way because his troops were raw levies, and because his nearest support was Saragossa.[2]
Montijo returned to Madrid towards the end of September and tried to form a government of relevant aristocrats but met with the opposition of theDuke of Infantado. Together with theMarquis of Coupigny andFrancisco Palafox, as members of the Junta Militar commissioned by the Junta Central to oversee military matters, they were especially preoccupied withCastaños' movements on theEbro.[1]
At the end of October, Montijo was a member of the deputation from the Supreme Junta, consisting of Francisco Palafox and Coupigny, that was sent to put pressure on Castaños for not yet having attacked the French.José Palafox joined them from Saragossa. By the beginning of November, "after a long and stormy meeting",[2] it was decided to resume offensive operations.[2][note 3]
In February, Montijo fought atUclés (13 February).[1]
In mid-April, Montijo was almost successful in carrying out apronunciamiento in Granada, supported by Infantado and Francisco Palafox, and for which the Junta banished him to San Lucar.[3]
Montijo, together with members of the old Junta of Seville, Francisco Palafox, and the Dukes ofInfantado andOsuna, was one of the conspirators planning to overthrow theCentral Junta, deport them all to the Canaries, and proclaim a Regency.[4] That September, they approachedWellesley, British Ambassador to Spain (andWellington's younger brother), to request his aid, which he refused. Wellesley immediately reported the plot, without revealing any names, toMartín de Garay, secretary to the Junta.[note 4] Montijo was imprisoned in Seville for participating in the plot.[1]
In January, Montijo and Palafox[4] escaped from prison during a mutiny.[1] Montijo joined the Army of Extremadura, but due to differences with the generals there, he returned to Cádiz in September and by the end of October was in Alicante, once again at the head of his Provincial Regiment of Cuenca.[1]
From June to September Montijo saw action in theAlpujarras,[1] where he won several small skirmishes against GeneralGodinot's troops, who had been tasked with controlling the area.[5] In August he captured two Polish companies near Motril, and later checked a column of 1,500 men under ColonelRémond.[5]
He then went to Murcia to take up command of the 1st Division of the 3rd Army,[1] with which he saw action atSaguntum[1] and later tried torelieve Valencia.[1]
The new commander-in-chief of the 3rd Army,José O'Donnell, called him back to Alicante where, in July, Montijo saw action atCastalla (21 July).[1]
In November he was promoted to field marshal.[1]
In June 1814 Montijo was appointed captain general of the Kingdom of Granada, and in August 1815 he was promoted to lieutenant general.[1]
In August 1819, he was imprisoned inSantiago for his connections with the liberal revolutionaries. However, withRiego's uprising at the beginning of 1820 he was released the following February. At the end of March he was appointed captain general of Old Castille but dismissed at the end of April and confined to barracks at Murcia.[1]
He died in 1834 without children and was succeeded by his younger brotherCipriano.
The idea was a mad one, for six days before the council of war was held two French army corps, those of Victor and Lefebvre, had crossed the Bidassoa and entered Spain. There were now 110,000 instead of 65,000 enemies in front of the Spanish armies. Moreover, and this was still more important, Napoleon himself had reached Bayonne on November 3. (Oman, 1902: pp. 395.)
For the last two days, I have been employed in endeavouring to save the necks of these caitiffs from the just fury and indignation of the people and soldiery, and I have succeeded. A regular plot was formed to seize (and I believe to hang) them all. But I could not suffer such outrages under my nose, so I interfered and saved the curs from the rope. (Oman, 1908: pp. 4–5.)
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