Benito de San Juan

Benito de San Juan (1727 – 7 January 1809) was a Spanish military officer and a notable commander of the Spanish forces during the Peninsular War.[1] He was commanding officer of the Spanish forces at the Battle of Somosierra.[2][3]

Career

Benito de San Juan started his military career as a Lieutenant Colonel of the hussars of Estremadura during the War of the Oranges (1801). Noticed by Manuel Godoy, he was promoted to colonel and in 1802 was named commander of Godoy's personal guard. He was promoted to Brigadier followed by his promotion in 1805 to the rank of Mariscal (field marshal). He then became general inspector of Spanish infantry and line cavalry.

During the Peninsular War, he assumed command over some 12,000 troops,[4] defending the passes of Guadarrama, Fonfría, Navacerrada and Somosierra in the mountain range to the north of Madrid.[4][3] Knowing the weakness of his forces, much inferior to the French army (considered the best fighting force of its time), he prepared a plan of indirect defence of the Spanish capital by defending the road leading to the Somosierra Pass,[5] some 100 kilometres to the north of the capital. At the resulting battle, he lost most of his artillery and his force was dispersed. San Juan himself was wounded several times during the charge of the Polish cavalry and was forced to escape to Segovia,[4] allowing Napoleon to pass and establish his field headquarters at Buytrago.[3]

San Juan finally managed to withdraw with the remnants of his routed forces to Talavera de la Reina, where he attempted to rally his troops. However, the demoralisation of the Spanish army, composed in a large part of untrained conscripts and peasant volunteers, led to a mutiny.[6] On 7 January 1809, the mutineers (apparently led by a local fray)[4] captured San Juan who attempted to reason with them and to fight them only to be forcefully disarmed, shot him three times as he tried to jump out of a window; after which his corpse was hung from a tree and shot several more times.[7][8]

See also
  1. "Benito San Juan – nieszczęsny generał" [Benito San Juan, the Unfortunate General]. Rzeczpospolita (in Polish). Warsaw, Poland: Gremi Media SA. 123 (2006–05–27). 27 May 2006. OCLC 264077858.

References
  1. Isabel Sánchez, José Luis. Pérez Garzón, Juan Sisinio (ed.). Los hechos de guerra [The facts of war] (PDF). España 1808-1814. De súbditos a ciudadanos (in Spanish). Vol. 2. Toledo, Spain: Sociedad Don Quijote de Conmemoraciones Culturales de Castilla-La Mancha/Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales, D. L. pp. 65–88. ISBN 978-84-7788-534-4 – via Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
  2. Meléndez Teodoro, Álvaro (27 March 2009). Calero Carretero, José Ángel; García Muñoz, Tomás (eds.). La guerra de la independencia en Extremadura. Operaciones militares en el año 1808 [The Peninsular War in Extremadura. Military operations in 1808] (PDF). Jornadas de historia de las Vegas Altas "La batalla de Medellín" (28 de marzo de 1809) (in Spanish). Medellín, Spain: Sociedad Extremeña de Historia/Ayuntamiento de Medellín/Ayuntamiento de Don Benito. pp. 307–324. ISBN 978-84-613-5602-7 – via Dialnet.
  3. Cust, Edward (1862). "31. Napoleon defeats the patriots at Somo Sierra and enters Madrid". Annals of the wars of the nineteenth century, compiled from the most authentic histories of the period. Vol. II. London, United Kingdom: John Murray. p. 149 – via Google Books.
  4. de Llano y Ruiz de Saravía, José María (1848). "Total dispersión del ejército de San Juan". Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España, por el Conde de Toreno (in Spanish). Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Madrid, Spain: Imprenta de J. Martín Alegría. pp. 69–70 – via Google Books.
  5. Pérez Galdós, Benito (1 April 2008). "Napoleón en Chamartín". Guerra de la Independencia. Clásicos Universales (in Spanish). Vol. I. Madrid, Spain: Algaba Ediciones. p. 706. ISBN 9788496107922 – via Google Books.
  6. Fernández García, David (30 December 2013). "La muerte del General Benito San Juan". LOVE Talavera (in Spanish). Talavera de la Reina, Spain: Buen Arte Visual S. L. Archived from the original on 28 February 2021.
  7. Cayuela Fernández, José Gregorio; Gallego Palomares, José Ángel (1 April 2008). "Capítulo III. Napoleón en España. El inicio de la ocupación efectiva (1808—1809)". La Guerra de la Independencia. Historia bélica, pueblo y nación en España (1808-1814). Acta Salmanticensia: Estudios Históricos & Geográficos (in Spanish). Vol. 142. Salamanca, Spain: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. p. 176. ISBN 9788478003341 – via Google Books.
  8. Muñoz Maldonado, José (1 June 1833). "Capítulo VII". Historia política y militar de la guerra de la independencia de España contra Napoleon Bonaparte desde 1808 á 1814 (in Spanish). Vol. II. Madrid, Spain: Imprenta de D. José Palacios. p. 107 – via Google Books.
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