Everything about Jos De Palafox Y Melzi Duke Of Saragossa totally explained
» For the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War unit, see Palafox Battalion
Don José de Palafox y Melzi, Duke of Saragossa (
es:
José Rebolledo de Palafox y Melci, duque de Zaragoza) (
1776,
Zaragoza –
February 15 1847,
Madrid), the youngest son of an old
Aragonese family, was a
Spanish general and hero of the
Peninsular War.
Brought up at the
Spanish court, he entered the guards at an early age, and in
1808 as a sub-lieutenant accompanied King
Ferdinand VII of Spain to
Bayonne; but after vainly attempting, in company with others, to secure Ferdinands escape, he fled to Spain, and after a short period of retirement placed himself at the head of the patriot movement in
Aragon. He was proclaimed by the populace governor of
Saragossa and captain-general of Aragon (May 25,
1808). Despite the want of money and of regular troops, he lost no time in declaring war against the
French, who had already overrun the neighboring provinces of
Catalonia and
Navarre, and soon afterwards the
attack he'd provoked began. Saragossa as a fortress was both antiquated in design and scantily provided with munitions and supplies, and the defences resisted but a short time. But it was at that point that the real resistance began. A weeks street fighting made the assailants masters of half the town, but Palafoxs brother succeeded in forcing a passage into the city with 3000 troops. Stimulated by the appeals of Palafox and of the fierce and resolute demagogues who ruled the mob, the inhabitants resolved to contest possession of the remaining quarters of Saragossa inch by inch, and if necessary to retire to the suburb across the
Ebro, destroying the bridge. The struggle, which was prolonged for nine days longer, resulted in the withdrawal of the French (Aug. 14), after a siege which had lasted 61 days in all.
Palafox then attempted a short campaign in the open country, but when Napoleons own army entered Spain, and destroyed one hostile army after another in a few weeks, Palafox was forced back into Saragossa, where he sustained a still more memorable
second siege. This ended, after three months, in the fall of the town, or rather the cessation of resistance, for the town was in ruins and a pestilence had swept away many thousands of the defenders. Palafox himself, suffering from the epidemic, fell into the hands of the French and was kept prisoner at
Vincennes until December
1813. In June
1814 he was confirmed in the office of
Captain General of Aragon, but soon afterwards withdrew from it, and ceased to take part in public affairs. From
1820 to
1823 he commanded the royal guard of King Ferdinand, but, taking the side of the Constitution in the civil troubles which followed, he was stripped of all his honors and offices by the king, whose restoration by French bayonets was the triumph of reaction and absolutism. Parafox remained in retirement for many years. He received the title of duke of Saragossa from
Queen Maria Christine. From
1836 he took part in military and political affairs as captain-general of Aragon and a senator.
A biographical notice of Palafox appeared in the Spanish translation of Thierss
Hist. des consulates de l'empire, by P. de Madrago. For the two sieges of Saragossa, see C. W. C. Oman,
Peninsular War, vol. i.; this account is both more accurate and more just than Napiers.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Jos De Palafox Y Melzi Duke Of Saragossa'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://jos___de_palafox_y_melzi__duke_of_saragossa.totallyexplained.com">José de Palafox y Melzi, Duke of Saragossa Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
