The Count of O'Reilly | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byFrancisco Goya | |
| 3rdSpanish Governor of Louisiana | |
| In office April 1769 – December 1769 | |
| Monarch | Charles III |
| Preceded by | Charles Philippe AubryActing |
| Succeeded by | Luis de Unzaga |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander O'Reilly (1723-10-24)October 24, 1723 Baltrasna,County Meath,Ireland |
| Died | March 23, 1794(1794-03-23) (aged 70–71) Cádiz,Spain |
| Resting place | Bonete,Spain |
| Spouse | Rosa de Las Casas |
| Nickname | Bloody O'Reilly |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Spain |
| Branch/service | Spanish Army |
| Rank | Marshal of Spain |
| Battles/wars | War of the Austrian Succession Seven Years' War Louisiana Rebellion Invasion of Algiers French Revolutionary Wars |
Alejandro O'Reilly, 1st Count of O'Reilly,KOA (Spanish pronunciation:[aleˈxandɾooˈrejli]; October 24, 1723 in Baltrasna,County Meath,Ireland – March 23, 1794 inBonete,Spain),[1]English:Alexander, Count of O'Reilly,Irish:Alastar Ó Raghallaigh,was anIrish-born military reformer andInspector-General ofInfantry for theSpanish Empire in the second half of the 18th century. O'Reilly served as the second Spanish governor of colonialLouisiana, and is the first Spanish official to exercise power in the Louisiana territory afterFrance ceded it to Spain followingdefeat byGreat Britain in the Seven Years' War. For his much appreciated services to theCrown of Spain, O'Reilly wasennobled as aconde de O'Reilly (Count of O'Reilly), and granted acoat of arms. He fell out of favour after his calamitous failed attempt at theInvasion of Algiers.
Alexander O'Reilly (Irish: Ó Raghallaigh) was born in Baltrasna,County Meath, in theKingdom of Ireland in 1723. His grandfatherJohn Reyly was a colonel in theJacobiteIrish Army ofJames II, whose regiment—O’Reilly's Dragoons—fought at thesiege of Derry. Like many so-called "Wild Geese" of his generation, O'Reilly left Ireland to serve in foreignCatholic armies. He joined Spanish forces fighting in Italy against the Austrians. O'Reilly swore allegiance to Spain and rose to become a brigadier general.[2]
O'Reilly served with theCount of Ricla inHavana, Cuba, acting as his adjutant and second-in-command. While in Havana, Ricla and O'Reilly received the city back from the British forces that hadcaptured it during theSeven Years' War.[3]
O'Reilly analyzed what had gone wrong with Cuban defenses during the successful British siege of Havana. He recommended sweeping reforms to improve the fortifications, training, practices, and troop organization, which were quickly approved by theSpanish Crown. Under the direction ofSilvestre Abarca, aRoyal Armymilitary engineer, construction of the strategicLa Cabaña fortress began according to O'Reilly's recommendations.[4][5][6]
In 1765,King Carlos III sent O'Reilly toPuerto Rico to assess the state of the defenses in that colony. O'Reilly, known today as the "father of the Puerto Rican militia," took a complete census of the island and recommended numerous reforms, including instilling strict military discipline among the local troops. He insisted that the men serving the defense of the realm receive their pay regularly and directly, rather than indirectly from their commanding officers, a long-standing practice that had led to abuses.[7] Some of O'Reilly's recommendations resulted in a massive 20-year program of building up theCastle of Old San Juan, now aWorld Heritage Site.
Returning to Cuba, O'Reilly married into a prominent Cuban family. His wife, Doña Rosa de Las Casas, was the sister ofLuis de Las Casas, who served as governor of Cuba in the 1790s.[8]
O'Reilly was an uncle ofJuan MacKenna, a hero of theChilean War of Independence, as well as a cousin ofHugo Oconór, the founder ofTucson, Arizona, governor ofSpanish Texas in the late 1760s and thengovernor of Yucatán in 1778.
O'Reilly was appointedGovernor andCaptain-General of colonialLouisiana while in Spain in April 1769, with orders to immediately proceed toHavana, embark 3,000 troops there, put down the revolt in Louisiana, and re-establish order. Some French colonists, known as Creoles as they were born in the colony, had worked to expel the first Spanish governor after France ceded this territory.
Arriving inNew Orleans in August 1769, O'Reilly took formal possession ofLouisiana. O'Reilly heldtrials and severely punished those FrenchCreoles who were responsible for the expulsion of Spain's first colonial GovernorAntonio de Ulloa (1716–1795), from the colony. He is remembered in New Orleans as "Bloody O'Reilly" because he had six prominent rebel French colonists executed, in October 1769. In December 1769 he allowed theAcadians who had settled in present-day Arkansas on the Mississippi River oppositeNatchez to resettle on the Amite River near Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain.[9] Other French rebels were exiled, and some were sent for life imprisonment in theMorro Castle inHavana.
Having crushed the ringleaders who had led theLouisiana Rebellion of 1768 (the uprising againstUlloa andSpanish rule), O'Reilly sent most of histroops back toCuba. He concentrated on organizing Louisiana's administration and on stabilizing the food supply. It had historically imported grains from northern French settlements along the Mississippi, as they could not be cultivated near New Orleans.
O'Reilly reformed manyFrenchbureaucratic practices which were in place beforeSpanish rule. Again, as in his 1765 mission toPuerto Rico, O'Reilly's proclamations and rulings affected many aspects of life in Spanish Louisiana. He allowed slaves to purchase their freedom and enabledslave owners to more easilymanumit slaves. He banned thetrade ofNative American slaves and abolished Indian slavery.[10] He regularized the weights and measurements used in marketplaces, regulated doctors and surgeons, and improved public safety by funding bridge andlevee maintenance.
Having restored public order, O'Reilly assigned the post of Governor of Louisiana to the Colonel of the Havana Regiment in December 1769, retaining the post ofCaptain-General for himself. Louisiana was firmly placed as adependency of themilitary and political establishment in Cuba.
Back in Spain after October 1770, O'Reilly was charged to organize six new regiments to be trained nearCádiz, ready for transportation to theCaribbean should a new war between Spain andGreat Britain break out.
In 1775, O'Reilly was given command of a majorSpanish expedition attacking Algiers. Although thisNorth African campaign was a disaster, the high reputation of O'Reilly was not destroyed, and he continued to serve as captain-general in southern Spain.
He died in the city ofCádiz in 1794, aged 72, while on his way to take command of an army in theEastern Pyrenees that had been ordered to oppose invading French revolutionary forces, just after the beheading ofLouis XVI.
O'Reilly is buried in the parish church inBonete inCastile-La Mancha, Spain. A street inCádiz still bears his name, as does one, Calle O'Reilly/Sráid Ó Raghallaigh, inOld Havana, Cuba. It marks the spot where O'Reilly came ashore in 1763 while theBritish forces were embarking to leave.[11]
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| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Spanish Governor of Louisiana 1769 | Succeeded by |
| First French Louisiana (1682–1762) |   | |
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| Spanish Louisiana (1762–1802) | ||
| Second French Louisiana (1802–1804) | ||
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