Benito de San Juan explained

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]

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, defending the passes of Guadarrama, Fonfría, Navacerrada and Somosierra in the mountain range to the north of Madrid.[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,[4] 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, 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.[5] On 7 January 1809, the mutineers (apparently led by a local fray)[6] 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. 27 May 2006 . Benito San Juan – nieszczęsny generał . Benito San Juan, the Unfortunate General . . 264077858 . Warsaw, Poland . Gremi Media SA . 123 . 2006–05–27 . pl.

Notes and References

  1. Isabel Sánchez . José Luis . Los hechos de guerra . The facts of war . España 1808-1814. De súbditos a ciudadanos . Juan Sisinio . Pérez Garzón . 978-84-7788-534-4 . 2 . 1 . 65–88 . Toledo, Spain . Sociedad Don Quijote de Conmemoraciones Culturales de Castilla-La Mancha/Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales, D. L. . PDF . Spanish . Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes .
  2. La guerra de la independencia en Extremadura. Operaciones militares en el año 1808 . The Peninsular War in Extremadura. Military operations in 1808 . Álvaro . Meléndez Teodoro . 978-84-613-5602-7 . 307–324 . Jornadas de historia de las Vegas Altas "La batalla de Medellín" (28 de marzo de 1809) . José Ángel . Calero Carretero . Tomás . García Muñoz . 27 March 2009 . Medellín, Spain . Spanish . Dialnet . Sociedad Extremeña de Historia/Ayuntamiento de Medellín/Ayuntamiento de Don Benito .
  3. Book: Cust, Edward . Annals of the wars of the nineteenth century, compiled from the most authentic histories of the period . II . London, United Kingdom . John Murray . 31. Napoleon defeats the patriots at Somo Sierra and enters Madrid . 149 . https://books.google.com/books?id=-NsGAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA149 . 1862 . .
  4. Book: Pérez Galdós, Benito . Algaba Ediciones . Madrid, Spain . . 1 April 2008 . Spanish . 9788496107922 . Napoleón en Chamartín . 706 . Guerra de la Independencia . I . https://books.google.com/books?id=UiXg4GqBt3gC&pg=PA706 . Clásicos Universales .
  5. Web site: Buen Arte Visual S. L. . Spanish . Talavera de la Reina, Spain . 30 December 2013 . La muerte del General Benito San Juan . David . Fernández García . LOVE Talavera . 28 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210228091824/https://www.lovetalavera.com/la-muerte-del-general-benito-san-juan .
  6. Book: de Llano y Ruiz de Saravía, José María . 69–70 . 2 . . Spanish . https://books.google.com/books?id=Hhrs9oTi0P4C&pg=PA69 . Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España, por el Conde de Toreno . 2nd . Imprenta de J. Martín Alegría . 1848 . Madrid, Spain . Total dispersión del ejército de San Juan .
  7. Book: La Guerra de la Independencia. Historia bélica, pueblo y nación en España (1808-1814) . José Gregorio . Cayuela Fernández . José Ángel . Gallego Palomares . . 9788478003341 . Spanish . Acta Salmanticensia: Estudios Históricos & Geográficos . 142 . Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca . 1 April 2008 . https://books.google.com/books?id=rSY350g9Q2oC&pg=PA176 . 176 . Capítulo III. Napoleón en España. El inicio de la ocupación efectiva (1808—1809) . Salamanca, Spain .
  8. Book: Muñoz Maldonado, José . Historia política y militar de la guerra de la independencia de España contra Napoleon Bonaparte desde 1808 á 1814 . Spanish . II . Madrid, Spain . Imprenta de D. José Palacios . 1 June 1833 . Capítulo VII . 107 . https://books.google.com/books?id=lHEOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA107 . .

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