Tomás de Zumalacárregui
Encyclopedia
From Peninsula War to Ferdinand VII
Zumalacárregui was born at OrmaiztegiOrmaiztegi
Ormaiztegi is a town and municipality located in the comarca of Goierri, Gipuzkoa province, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain.-External links:* *...
in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, on 29 December 1788. His father, Francisco Antonio de Zumalacárregui, was a lawyer who possessed some property, and the son was articled to a solicitor.
When the French invasion of Spain took place in 1808 he enlisted at Zaragoza. He served in the first siege
Siege of Saragossa (1808)
The First Siege of Saragossa was a bloody struggle in the Peninsular War. A French army under General Jean-Antoine Verdier besieged, repeatedly stormed, and was repulsed from the Spanish city of Saragossa over the summer of 1808....
, at the Battle of Tudela
Battle of Tudela
The Battle of Tudela was a battle of the Peninsular War fought on November 23, 1808 near Tudela, Spain. The battle resulted in the victory of the French and Poles under Marshal Lannes against the Spanish under General Castaños....
, and during the second siege
Siege of Saragossa (1809)
The Second Siege of Saragossa was the French capture of the Spanish city of Zaragoza during the Peninsular War.It is particularly noted for its brutality.-Prelude:...
until he was taken prisoner in a sortie. He succeeded in escaping and in reaching his family in Navarre
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...
. For a short time he served with Gaspar de Jáuregui, known as "The Shepherd" (El Pastor), one of the minor guerrilla leaders.
But Zumalacárregui, who was noted for his grave and silent disposition and his strong religious principles, disliked the disorderly life of the guerrillas
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
, and when regular forces were organized in the north he entered the 1st battalion of Gipuzkoa as an officer. During the remainder of the war he served in the regular army. In 1812 he was sent with dispatches to the Regency at Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, and received his commission as captain. In that rank he was present at the battle of San Marcial
Battle of San Marcial
At the Battle of San Marcial, 31 August 1813, the Spanish Army of Galicia under General Freire turned back MarshalNicolas Soult's last major offensive against Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's allied army.-Background:...
foist of August 1813. After the restoration of Ferdinand VII he continued in the army, and is said to have made a careful study of the theory of war
Theory of War
Theory of War is a 1992 novel by American author Joan Brady. It took her ten years to write but was rejected by her US agent. It was then published by UK publisher Andre Deutsch to 'rapturous reviews' It has been compared to the writing of John Steinbeck, Jack London and Frank Norris-Awards:It...
.
During Ferdinand VII rule
Zumalacárregui had no sympathy with the liberal principles which were spreading in Spain, and became noted as what was called a Servil or strong Royalist. He attracted no attention at headquarters, and was still a captain when the Revolution of 1820 broke out. His brother officers, whose leanings were liberal, denounced him to the revolutionary government, and asked that he might be removed. The recommendation was not acted on, but Zumalacárregui knew of it, and laid up the offence in his mind. Finding that he was suspected (probably with truth) of an intention to bring the soldiers over to the royalist side, he escaped to FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
In 1823 he returned as an officer in one of the royalist regiments which had been organized on French soil by the consent of the government. He was now known as a thoroughly trustworthy servant of the royalty, but he was too proud to be a courtier. For some years he was employed in bringing regiments which the government distrusted to order. He became lieutenant-colonel in 1825 and colonel in 1829. In 1832 he was named military governor of Ferrol. Before Ferdinand VII died in 1833, Zumalacárregui was marked out as a natural supporter of the absolutist party which favoured the king's brother, Carlos
Infante Carlos, Count of Molina
The Infante Carlos of Spain was the second surviving son of King Charles IV of Spain and of his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma. As Carlos V he was the first of the Carlist claimants to the throne of Spain...
.
The Carlist War
The proclamation of the king's daughter IsabellaIsabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
as heiress was almost the occasion of an armed conflict between him and the naval authorities at Ferrol, who were partisans of the constitutional cause. He was put on half pay by the new authorities and ordered to live under police observation at Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
.
When the Carlist uprising
First Carlist War
The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833-1839.-Historical background:At the beginning of the 18th century, Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain, promulgated the Salic Law, which declared illegal the inheritance of the Spanish crown by women...
began on the death of Ferdinand VII, he is said to have held back because he knew that the first leaders would be politicians and talkers. He did not take the field till the Carlist cause appeared to be at a very low ebb, and until he had received a commission from Don Carlos as commander-in-chief in Navarre
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...
.
The whole force under his orders when he escaped from Pamplona on the night of 29 October 1833, and took the command next day in the Arakil
Arakil
Arakil is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...
Valley, was a few hundred ill-armed and dispirited guerrilleros. In a few months Zumalacárregui had organized the Carlist forces into a regular army. The difficulty he found in obtaining supplies was very great, for the coast towns and notably Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
support the Cristino cause. It was mainly by captures from the government troops that he equipped his forces. He gradually obtained full possession of Navarre
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...
and the Basque Country
Basque Country (historical territory)
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....
, outside of the fortresses, which he had not the means to besiege. He organized the forces known as aduaneros
Aduaneros
The aduaneros were a special military force created by Tomás de Zumalacárregui during the First Carlist War. They were entrusted with the levying of revenue for various consumer goods...
and the Guías de Navarra
Guías de Navarra
The Guías de Navarra were a Carlist battalion of the First Carlist War, created by Zumalacárregui in 1834.Their name was a misnomer: they were neither Navarrese nor guides, but captured Liberal troops from La Mancha, Valencia, Andalusia and other places who had been made prisoners at the Battle of...
. His chief bodyguard, and later biographer, was Charles Frederick Henningsen
Charles Frederick Henningsen
Charles Frederick Henningsen was an Anglo-American writer, mercenary, filibuster, and munitions expert. He participated in civil wars and independence movements in Spain, Nicaragua, Hungary, and the United States...
.
Whether as a guerrilla leader, or as a general conducting regular war in the mountains, he proved unconquerable. He won the battles of Alsasua
Battle of Alsasua
The Battle of Alsasua, also known as the Battle of Altsasu or la Acción de la Venta, was a battle that occurred on April 22, 1834 during the First Carlist War. Carlist general Tomás de Zumalacárregui destroyed a convoy led by the Liberal general Vicente Genaro de Quesada traveling from...
, Alegría de Álava
Battle of Alegría de Álava
The Battle of Alegría de Álava , a battle of the First Carlist War, occurred on October 27, 1834 at the field called Chinchetru, at Alegría de Álava, Álava, Spain...
, and Venta de Echavarri
Battle of Venta de Echavarri
The Battle of Venta de Echavarri , a battle of the First Carlist War, occurred on October 28, 1834. It was an immediate follow-up to the Battle of Alegría de Álava, which had occurred the day before...
, for example, by employing guerrilla tactics.
By July 1834 he had made it safe for Don Carlos to join his headquarters. The pretender was, however, a narrow-minded, bigoted man, who regarded Zumalacárregui with suspicion, and was afraid of his immense personal influence with the soldiers. Zumalacárregui had therefore to drag behind him the whole weight of the distrust and intrigues of the court. Yet by the beginning of June 1835 he had made the Carlist cause triumphant to the north of the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
, and had formed an army of more than 30,000 men, of much better quality than the constitutional forces. He won the battle of Artaza
Battle of Artaza
The Battle of Artaza was a battle that occurred on April 20-22, 1835 during the First Carlist War. Jerónimo Valdés, at the time Minister of War, arrived at the area known as Las Amescoas with 22,000 men with the intention of definitively destroying the Carlist forces.Zumalacárregui had 5,000 men,...
(20–22 April 1835).
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...
, he might well have put Don Carlos in possession of the capital. But the court was eager to obtain command of a seaport, and Zumalacárregui was ordered to besiege Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
. He obeyed reluctantly, and on the 14th of June 1835 was wounded by a musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
bullet in the calf of the leg near the Basilica of Begoña
Basilica of Begoña
The Basilica of Begoña is a basilica in Bilbao, in Spain, dedicated to the patron saint of Biscay, the Virgin Begoña.The current parish priest is Jesús Francisco de Garitaonandia.-History:...
. The wound was trifling and would probably have been cured with ease if he had been allowed to employ an English doctor whom he trusted. But Don Carlos insisted on sending his own physicians, and in their hands the general died on 24 June 1835 not without suspicion of poison.
Zumalacárregui was a fine type of the old royalist and religious principles of his people. The ferocity with which he conducted the war forced the government generals to retaliate, as they were refused quarter. Zumalacárregui, however, had signed the Lord Eliot Convention
Lord Eliot Convention
The Lord Eliot Convention, or simply the Eliot Convention or Eliot Treaty , was an April 1835 agreement brokered by Edward Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans between the two opposing sides of the First Carlist War...
, which aimed to end the indiscriminate executions by firing squad of prisoners of both sides.
Popularity
An engaging account of Zumalacárregui will be found in "The Most Striking Events of a Twelvemonth Campaign with Zumalacarregui in Navarre and the Basque Provinces", by C. F. Henningsen (LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1836). A chap-book called "Vida política y militar de Don Tomás Zumalacárregui", which gives the facts of his life with fair accuracy, is very popular in Spain. Of Zumalacárregui, Henningsen writes:
Zumalacárregui in the Episodios nacionales
Zumalacárregui is the main character of an eponymous Episodio nacional, by Benito Pérez GaldósBenito Pérez Galdós
Benito Pérez Galdós was a Spanish realist novelist. Considered second only to Cervantes in stature, he was the leading Spanish realist novelist....
. He is portrayed like an intelligent man and an excellent strategist who fights for what he believes in.