Marquis of Campoverde facts for kids
Luis González Torres de Navarra Castro, 5th Marquis of Campoverde, was a Spanish military commander during the Peninsular War.
Highly polemical, according to his biography at Spain's Real Academia de la Historia, all Spanish and British historians have criticised his command of the Army of Catalonia and, especially, his role in the fall of Tarragona in June 1811.
Peninsular War
He saw action at the Battle of Mollet (January 1810). At the Combat of Cardona (October 1810), Campoverde's division, together with several thousand somatenes, had manned the town, its castle, and the neighbouring heights. Without waiting for Marshal Macdonald and the reserve brigade, the Italian general Eugenio marched straight at the Spanish position, with Salme's French brigade in support, and was forced to retreat.
When the captain general of Catalonia, O'Donnell, was forced to retire to Palma de Mallorca, due to the wound he received at La Bisbal, his command should have gone to the senior lieutenant-general in Catalonia, General Iranzo. However, Campoverde and his supporters staged a mutiny at Reus, and he was proclaimed interim captain general of Catalonia, and commander-in-chief of the Army of Catalonia. Later that month his troops were defeated at the Battle of El Pla (January 1811).
On 3 May 1811, Campoverde tried, unsuccessfully, to lift the siege Siege of Figueras. This action, when reported in the Diario de Manresa, insinuated that the Spanish cuirassiers had failed in their duty. This bad press led to a group of cuirassiers belonging to the 1st Army of Spain destroying the printing press of the paper and burning all the copies in the main square of the city. They then destroyed the house of the priest who was commissioned by the Junta to publish the newspaper, which had a circulation of 1,200, and put out search parties to capture him. The priest was forced to flee to the mountains where, towards the end of that month he was able to reach the monastery of Montserrat, the headquarters of the Junta, and appeal for protection from the governor and the captain-general.
Siege of Tarragona
Having been given the command of Tarragona at the end of May 1811, the third week of siege by Suchet, Juan de Contreras made repeated requests for Campoverde's help. According to Oman (1911),
[...] between the 16th and the 24th June, the critical days in the siege, Campoverde and his 11,000 men had no effect whatever on the course of operations. Yet he kept sending messages to Contreras promising him prompt assistance, and on the 20th bade him dispatch Sarsfield out of the city, to assume command of his old division in the fighting which was just about to begin. That fighting never took place—to the Captain-General's eternal disgrace—for at the last moment he flinched from placing himself within engaging distance of Suchet. [...] But to skulk in the hills many miles away and send detachments against outlying French posts could have no effect.
Remainder of the war
At the beginning of July 1812, Campoverde handed over his command General Luis Lacy.
Post-war career
He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1815. In 1819, Captain general Francisco Eguía had him arrested and he was imprisoned by the Inquisition, accused of having participated with Van Halen in the Masonic plot of Granada in 1817. He was released from prison with the coming of the Trienio Liberal in 1820 and appointed captain general of Granada.
See also
In Spanish: Luis González-Torres de Navarra y Castro para niños
