Juan Henestrosa Explained

Juan Henestrosa
Birth Date:	28 June 1765
Birth Place:	Écija, Seville
Death Place:	Madrid
Battles:	Peninsular War

Juan de la Cruz Fernández de Henestrosa y Horcasitas (1765–1831) was a Spanish military commander.

Early career

Appointed lieutenant colonel of the María Luisa Regiment of Hussars at the beginning of 1801, Henestrosa saw action during the War of the Oranges.

Peninsular War

See main article: Peninsular War.

Having been given command of the Regiment of Light Infantry Volunteers of Spain in August 1807, he refused to obey orders to join French General Dupont's forces,^[1] and instead marched his regiment to Extremadura, for which he was promoted to brigadier in June 1808 by the local Junta. By October that year, Henestrosa was leading the 2nd Division of Galluzo's 12,800-strong Army of Extremadura, an army which the following month, then under the command of the Conde de Belvedere, would be routed at Gamonal.^[2]

1809

He was promoted to lieutenant general of Cavalry following the Battle of Medellín (28 March 1809).^[3]

Post-war career

Henestrosa was appointed captain general of Spain's Royal Armies in 1825.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Some six weeks after Junot, with his 25,000-strong Corps of Observation of the Gironde, had crossed into Spain on his way to Portugal, the following November Dupont's Second Corps of Observation of the Gironde, also crossed the Spanish frontier. (Oman, 1902: pp. 26, 34.)
2. [Charles Oman|Oman, Charles]
3. . Gil Novales, Alberto (2010). Diccionario biográfico de España (1808-1833): G/O, pp. 1458–1459. Fundación Mapfre. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
4. . Martín-Lanuza, Alberto. "Juan de la Cruz Fernández de Henestrosa y Horcasitas". Diccionario Biográfico electrónico (DB~e). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 18 April 2023.