Juan Manuel de Cagigal | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Juan Manuel Cagigal de la Vega y Martínez Niño |
| Born | 1 February 1757 Cádiz,Spain |
| Died | 26 November 1823 1823 (aged 65–66) Guanabacoa (Cuba) |
| Allegiance | Spain |
| Battles / wars | |
Juan Manuel Cagigal de la Vega y Martínez Niño[1] (1757–1823) was a Spanish army commander and Captain general ofCuba, the third member of his family to hold that post.[1]
Cagigal joined the Asturias Infantry Regiment as a cadet in 1767 and was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1772.[2] He saw action in theSpanish–Portuguese War (1776–1777), underPedro de Cevallos, atSanta Catarina Island and atMontevideo.[2] In 1777, he was promoted to captain. Returning to Spain, he took part in theGreat Siege of Gibraltar 1777. In 1781, he was sent to Santo Domingo, as part of the expedition to take Jamaica. He was promoted to lieutenent colonel in 1783, and appointedsargento mayor of the Zamora Regiment in 1791.[2]
He was promoted to Infantry brigadier in the general promotion of 1795, which conferred upon him the command of his regiment. In 1796, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the State and in early July took part in the defence of Cádiz during theRoyal Navy'sAssault on Cádiz in 1797.[1]
After more than two decades of service, in 1799 Cagigal was posted toVenezuela as commander-in-chief of the Veteran Infantry Battalion of Caracas and the King's Lieutenant, an appointment which included the duties of deputy governor and deputy captain general of Venezuela.[1]
From 1804 he served as governor ofNew Andalusia Province (capital,Cumaná) in eastern Venezuela, resigning in 1809 and turning down the governorship of Chile, the following year.[2]
Promoted tofield marshal in 1812,[2] he was appointed captain general of Venezuela in 1817. He oversaw the royalist advances carried out byJosé Tomás Boves,[citation needed] who acted in an independent manner. After repeated requests to be allowed to resign, Cajigal was able to hand over command toPablo Morillo in April 1815 and early the following year he was back in Spain,[1] where he was stationed at the barracks inEl Puerto de Santa María.[2]
Although he had been appointedCaptain general ofVenezuela in 1817, he did not take up that appointment and was appointedCaptain general of Cuba in 1819.[1] The following year he was forced to accept the restoration of theSpanish Constitution of 1812. He requested to be allowed to resign due to health problems and he was substituted byNicolás de Mahy in 1821 and retired toGuanabacoa, where he died in 1823.[1]
His cousin, the Venezuelan mathematicianJuan Manuel Cajigal y Odoardo, orphaned at an early age, went back with him to Spain in 1816 to study Mathematics in Madrid.[2]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Capitan General of Venezuela 1814–1815 | Succeeded by |
  | This biographical article related to the military of Venezuela is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |