Manuel Lapeña | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 April 1762 Valtierra,Navarre |
| Died | 14 October 1820(1820-10-14) (aged 58) Madrid |
| Allegiance |  Spain |
| Battles / wars | |
Manuel de Lapeña y Ruiz del Sotillo[note 1] (11 April 1762 – 14 October 1820) was aSpanish Army officer.
Having a reputation for incompetence—he had thenicknameDoña Manuela (Lady Manuela)[1][note 2]— Lapeña has been harshly criticised by most British historians (Napier,Oman, among others) for his conduct at the battles ofTudela andBarrosa (Chiclana),[note 3] considering him both pusilanimous and lacking initiative, opinions shared by 19th century Spanish historians such as theCount of Toreno andGómez Arteche.[2] Although Lapeña was an ambitious man, he had a talent for diplomacy.[3]
The full-length portrait of Lapeña, painted in 1799 byGoya, was commissioned by theDuchess of Osuna for the palace at her recreational property,La Alameda, Madrid.[4]
Lapeña started his military career in 1777 as a captain in the America Infantry Regiment, then commanded by the futureDuke of Osuna.[2]
He then spent 22 months at theGreat Siege of Gibraltar before participating in theInvasion of Minorca (1781).[2] He saw further action at the siege at Gibraltar, following which he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1792.[2]
At the start of theWar of the Pyrenees, Lapeña joined the Army of Rosellón as aide-de-camp to the Duke of Osuna, seeing action atMas Deu, atPerpignan, atTruillas and atBoulou.[2]
He was promoted to brigadier in 1793,[2] and marched with his commanding officer to Army of Navarra, where Lapeña was given command of the seven battalions of volunteers that had been raised for the war. Shortly before the end of the war, he was promoted to field marshal (1795).[2]
In 1797 he spent a year in Galicia as second-in-command of the army stationed there in preparation for a war against Portugal. In 1801, he led an infantry brigade in theWar of the Oranges, seeing action atArronches.[2]
In October 1802, Lapeña was promoted to lieutenant general in the same promotion as other notable Spanish military commanders of the Spanish armies during the Peninsular War, including theDuke of the Infantado,Juan Pignatelli,Juan Carrafa,Francisco Castaños,Francisco Taranco,Francisco Eguía, andArturo O'Neill.[5]
In 1806 Lapeña was given command of the 2nd Battalion of the Guardias Españolas and, in 1807 he was appointed interim captain general of Andalusia and governor of Cádiz while theMarquis del Socorro wasinvading Portugal as part of Spain's agreement with France. Lapeña held the post until 20 May 1808.[2]
Lapeña was given command of the 4th Division (Reserve) ofCastaños's 33,000–34,000-strong field army.[6][note 4]
Lapeña's Cavalry unit was the Pavia Regiment commanded by ColonelPedro de Alcántara Téllez Girón, a very well-equipped unit with 440 splendid horses.[7][note 5] The 4th Division also had a 3,000-strong flying brigade, underCruz-Murgeon, who was given the task harassing Dupont's northern flank and cutting French communications withBailén andLa Carolina.[6]
Following their victory at Bailén, Lapeña's division accompanied Castaños to Madrid, arriving there on 23 August.[6]
Castaños's Army of the Centre came under attack from the French III Corps commanded by MarshalLannes atTudela.[8] The attacking French forces sought to take advantage of a gap between the Spanish army's wings. Seeking to close the gap, Castaños sent orders to Lapeña at Cascante to move to fill the void. However, Lapeña's division, numbering 8,000–9,000 infantry and 1,500 horse, simply stayed for four hours facing the French cavalry; just two FrenchDigeon's andColbert's brigades of dragoons, some three thousand horse.[6]
At the time Lapeña, along with GeneralGrimarest, could field some 20,000[citation needed] men against the 9,000 French troops in that area of the field of battle. Rather than march to support the rest of the Spanish army, Lapeña limited his activities to small-scaleskirmishes with the few French troops close by. Having lost 200 men in these skirmishes, and witnessing the defeat of the rest of the Army of the Centre, Lapeña finally retreated towards Borja, bringing the battle to a close.[9]
After Tudela, Castaños was ordered toAranjuez to take up the presidency of theJunta Central's military advisory committee. As a result, Lapeña assumed overall command of the Spanish Army of the Centre which had reformed atGuadalajara.[10] With this command, Lapeña attempted to intervene againstNapoleon's assault onMadrid; this attempt was, however, intercepted byMarshal Ney's I Corps and Lapeña was forced to withdraw toCuenca.[11] Once there, he was replaced as the commander of the Army of the Centre by theDuque de Infantado,[10] on 9 December.[2]
In January 1809 he was given command of the 4,000-strong[12] Reserve ofCartaojal's Army of La Mancha, and following its defeat atCiudad Real covered the retreat to Despeñaperros.[2]
In April he went to Sevilla, where the Junta Central commissioned him with a secret mission to Catalonia, where he stayed until the following April, to report on the flight of the Spanish troops atBelchite.[2]
In December 1810, Lapeña succeededBlake as the Captain General ofAndalusia.[13] However, as he had been a supporter of the [[Cortes Generales#Cádiz Cortes (1808–14) the new Regency removed him from this position and ordered him toCádiz, along with his troops.[14] Lapeña then became the senior Spanish officer at Cádiz, and took command of the Spanish forces on theIsla de León.[3]
In January 1811, a reduction of the French forces besieging Cádiz led to the British and Spanish allies garrisoning the city to launch an expedition in an attempt to raise thesiege. Despite having authority, from the British government, to refuse to take part in a joint expedition of which he was not given command,Sir Thomas Graham—the British commander—agreed to cede command of the force to Lapeña, on condition that the Spanish contribute the larger body of troops.[15]
Sailing from Cádiz between 21–24 February 1811, the Anglo-Spanish expedition regrouped atTarifa on 27 February 1811 and marched towards the besieging French force's rear atChiclana. A series of night marches, instigated by Lapeña, however, resulted in a change of plan and the allied army ended up marching back towards Cádiz. The French commander,Marshal Victor, marched to meet the allied force with 10,000 men from his besieging army. On 5 March, Lapeña's vanguard division met a French division straddling the main road to Cádiz and drove them off the road.[16]
Graham's rearguard division, meanwhile, was attacked by two of Victor's divisions. Graham split his force into two brigades; one to face each of the approaching French divisions. In the ensuingbattle, Graham's forces beat off the French attacks despite Lapeña entrenching his larger force on theisthmus to Cádiz and refusing to aid his British allies.[16] Lapeña further refused to pursue the retreating French troops, allowing them to resume the siege on Cádiz, a siege that was not lifted until 24 August 1812.
Lapeña's actions in this engagement led to hiscourt-martial, where he was acquitted but relieved of command,[17] which was given toMarquis de Coupigny.[15]