Sebastián de Eslava
Encyclopedia
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
—June 21, 1759, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
) was a Spanish general and colonial official. From April 24, 1740 to November 6, 1749 he was viceroy of the newly reestablished Viceroyalty of New Granada
Viceroyalty of New Granada
The Viceroyalty of New Granada was the name given on 27 May 1717, to a Spanish colonial jurisdiction in northern South America, corresponding mainly to modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The territory corresponding to Panama was incorporated later in 1739...
. He was governing the colony at the time of the defeat of British Admiral Edward Vernon
Edward Vernon
Edward Vernon was an English naval officer. Vernon was born in Westminster, England and went to Westminster School. He joined the Navy in 1700 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1702 and served on several different ships for the next five years...
at Cartagena de Indias. After his death he was named marqués de la Real Defensa de Cartagena de Indias.
The reestablishment of the Viceroyalty of New Granada
In 1740 the Viceroyalty of the Nuevo Reino de Granada (New Granada) was reestablished. This part of South America, including what are today the countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador, had originally been part of the Viceroyalty of PeruViceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
. It was removed from Peru and established as the separate viceroyalty of New Granada in 1718. However, this first viceregal establishment lasted only from 1718 to 1724. In 1724 it was returned to Peru.
There were difficulties governing this large territory from Lima, however. In 1740 New Granada was reestablished as a viceroyalty, for the same reasons as it had originally been established — large distances, growing population, tax collection, defense, and administrative control. In August 1739 Sebastián de Eslava was named the first viceroy of this second incarnation, with express instructions from the Crown to defend the colony against British attacks.
Beginning of his term as viceroy
Eslava studied at the Royal Military Academy in BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. He was a lieutenant general in the Royal Army of Spain and commander in the Order of Calatrava
Order of Calatrava
The Order of Calatrava was the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Order of Calatrava as a Militia was given by Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164.-Origins and Foundation:...
. In April 1740 he arrived at Cartagena de Indias. He remained there for the duration of his term as viceroy, not traveling to the interior.
He repaired the Castle of Bocachica and various forts protecting the port. In the Castle of San Lázaro he started a factory of gun carriages and esplanade
Esplanade
An esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns...
s. He took steps to supply arms, ammunition and military training to the Spanish forces. Elsewhere in the colony, he built defensive works in Santa Marta
Santa Marta
Santa Marta is the capital city of the Colombian department of Magdalena in the Caribbean Region. It was founded in July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, which makes it the oldest remaining city in Colombia...
, Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State about 75 km west of Caracas. As of 2001, the city has a population of around 154,000 people. The city is the home to the largest port in the country and is thus a vital cog in the country's vast oil...
and Gaira
Gaira
Gaira is a small town on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Near the port of Santa Marta, it is also well known for El Rodadero, one of the most popular beaches in Colombia....
. He strengthened the fort at Ayara and the Castle of San Antonio in the province of Cumaná
Cumaná
Cumaná is the capital of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located 402 km east of Caracas. It was the first settlement founded by Europeans in the mainland America, in 1501 by Franciscan friars, but due to successful attacks by the indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times...
. He approved the construction of the fort on the islet of Caño de Limones and equipped the presidio of Guayana.
The War of Jenkins' Ear
These steps were necessary because Britain, fighting for the commercial control of America, declared war on Spain in 1739 (the War of Jenkins' EarWar of Jenkins' Ear
The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Great Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858, relates to Robert Jenkins, captain of a British merchant ship, who exhibited his severed ear in...
). The defense of the coast was essential.
On November 21, 1739 British Admiral Edward Vernon captured Portobelo, on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal...
, which was part of the new colony. This was just before Eslava's arrival in Cartagena as viceroy of the colony. After this success, Vernon turned his attention to Cartagena. On March 13, 1741 he blockaded the port with 51 warships, 135 transports, 2,000 cannon and more than 28,000 men, possibly the strongest fleet ever assembled up to this time. The city was defended by the Spanish Admiral Blas de Lezo
Blas de Lezo
Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta , also known as "Patapalo" , and later as "Mediohombre" for the many wounds suffered in his long military life, was a Spanish admiral, and one of the greatest strategists and commanders in the history of the Spanish Navy...
, who had at his command 3,000 Spanish troops, 600 Indian archers, and six Ships of the Line. He also relied on his careful preparations and the sturdy fortifications of the city.
On the night of April 19, as part of the battle of Cartagena de Indias
Battle of Cartagena de Indias
The Battle of Cartagena de Indias was an amphibious military engagement between the forces of Britain under Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon and those of Spain under Admiral Blas de Lezo. It took place at the city of Cartagena de Indias in March 1741, in present-day Colombia...
, the British began a major assault on the wall of the fort of San Felipe. However, the attackers soon found that their scaling ladders were shorter than the walls they were attacking. The British were unable to advance and impeded from retreating by the equipment they carried. The Spanish opened fire on them, and then counterattacked outside the walls with bayonets. The carnage was great, and the remaining British soldiers were forced to remain on board their ships, with provisions running out.
Vernon finally had to raise the blockade and return to Jamaica. Eight thousand British were said to have diedFortescue, J. W. A History of the British Army, MacMillan, London, 1899, Vol. II, pp. 72-79, gives a detailed account of the rapid and devastating withering away of the land forces to disease. By 7 May, only 1700 men were fit for service and no more than 1000 in condition to land against the enemy and within a month of leaving Cartagena 1100 died. British strength was reduced to 1400 and American to 1300., against only 1,000 Spanish. Blas de Lezo, who had already lost a leg, an eye and an arm in other battles, lost his life in this one.
After the siege of Cartagena
During his administration, Viceroy Eslava founded hospitals and towns, constructed roads, promoted the pacification of the Motilones Indians, and contributed arms, money and provisions to defend some cities (like PamplonaPamplona, Colombia
Pamplona is a municipality and city in Norte de Santander, Colombia.-Colonization:Nueva Pamplona del Valle del Espíritu Santo, the name by which Don Pedro de Ursúa and Don Ortún Velasco de Velázquez paid tribute to the capital of the province of Navarre in Spain, was founded on 1 November 1549...
and San Faustino), and to maintain navigation on the Zulia River
Zulia River
Zulia River is a river in Venezuela and Colombia. It is a tributary of the Catatumbo River. The Zulia forms a small part of the international boundary between the two countries....
. He built 20 churches, repaired and enlarged others, protected the established missions and organized those of Darién
Darién Province
Darién is a province in eastern Panama. It is also the largest province in Panama. It is hot, humid, heavily forested, and sparsely populated, having 48,378 habitants...
, in Panama. He improved the finances of the colony and the administration of justice.
He left New Granada for Spain on February 23, 1750. After his return to Spain, King Ferdinand VI
Ferdinand VI of Spain
Ferdinand VI , called the Learnt, was King of Spain from 9 July 1746 until his death. He was the fourth son of the previous monarch Philip V and his first wife Maria Luisa of Savoy...
named him captain general of Andalucia, and later, on July 2, 1754, minister of war. In 1760 he was posthumously granted the title of marqués de la Real Defensa de Cartagena de Indias.