Luis Firmín de Carvajal, Conde de la Unión facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Luis Fermín de Carvajal
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Portrait of Luis Fermín de Carvajal y Vargas, intaglio print.
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| Born | 1752 Lima, modern-day Peru |
| Died | 20 November 1794 (aged 42) Pont de Molins, Catalonia, Spain |
| Allegiance |  Spain |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars
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Luis Fermín de Carvajal, 1st Count of la Unión (born 1752 – died 20 November 1794) was an important general in the Spanish Army. In 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars, he led the Spanish forces. His job was to stop the army of the First French Republic, but this was mostly a difficult task. He died fighting the French in battle.
Early Life and First Battles
Luis Fermín de Carvajal was born in 1752 in Lima, which is now part of Peru. His father was Fermín Francisco de Carvajal-Vargas, who was the 1st Duke of San Carlos.
On August 2, 1778, King Charles III of Spain gave Luis Fermín the special title of Count of la Unión.
When the War of the Pyrenees started in 1793, Luis Fermín de Carvajal was in charge of the San Fernando fortress in Figueres. This war was part of the bigger French Revolutionary Wars. At first, the Spanish army, led by General Antonio Ricardos, was doing well. They even captured some French land called Roussillon.
As a Lieutenant General, de la Unión led a group of soldiers under General Ricardos. They won an important battle called the Battle of Truillas on September 22, 1793.
In early 1794, General Ricardos died in Madrid. His replacement, Alejandro O'Reilly, also passed away soon after. Because of this, King Charles IV of Spain chose de la Unión to lead the entire Spanish army.
Leading the Army
In April 1794, the French army, now stronger and led by Jacques François Dugommier, started a big attack. They pushed hard against the Spanish soldiers who were in France. On April 30 and May 1, the French beat de la Unión's army at the Battle of Boulou. This forced the Spanish army to retreat south of the Pyrenees mountains.
The French then took back the port of Collioure at the end of May. They also surrounded the Spanish soldiers at the Fort de Bellegarde. De la Unión tried two times to break through the French blockade and help his soldiers. The first try failed at La Junquera on June 7. The second try also failed at the Battle of San Lorenzo de la Muga on August 13. Because of these failures, Bellegarde fell to the French on September 17.
De la Unión then built a long line of 90 small forts, called redoubts. These defenses stretched from Sant Llorenç de la Muga all the way to the coast. They were meant to protect the Alt Emporda region from the French army. However, the soldiers guarding these forts were not all equally skilled. The best groups were the Spanish Guard and the Walloon Guard. Other soldiers included regular infantry and local militia.
The French attacked these defenses on November 17, starting the Battle of the Black Mountain. On the first day, the French gained some ground on one side. But they were stopped in the middle and on the other side. On November 18, a Spanish cannonball killed the French general Dugommier. His replacement, Dominique Catherine de Pérignon, paused the fighting for a short time.
On November 20, Pérignon started the attack again. The French quickly broke through the first and second lines of Spanish defenses. They fought for three hours to capture a key fort with 25 cannons, finally taking it at 3:00 PM.
De la Unión arrived at Pont de Molins and led a counterattack. He had 1,300 cavalry soldiers and charged against two groups of French infantry. During this fight, he was hit by two bullets and died.
The battle ended with the Spanish army being completely defeated. The French caused about 10,000 Spanish soldiers to be killed or wounded, while only losing about 3,000 of their own. Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarillas took over command of the Spanish army. He retreated south of the Fluvià River, but he could not save the San Fernando fortress from being captured.
Girón was soon replaced by José de Urrutia y de las Casas. The French generals Pérignon and Pierre François Sauret successfully ended the Siege of Roses in early February. The war finally ended with the Peace of Basel in July 1795.
See also
In Spanish: Luis Fermín de Carvajal para niños
