Francisco Javier Castaños

Francisco Javier Castaños Aragorri Urioste y Olavide, i Duke of Bailén (Madrid, April 22, 1758 - Madrid, September 24, 1852), was a Spanish soldier and politician who stood out during the French revolutionary wars and the Spanish War of Independence. He was president of the Regency Council between February 1 and May 29, 1810 in Spain free from the French. Hero of the Kingdom from 1834 to 1836, between 1834 and 1835 he presided over the Establishment of Heroes; approved the Constitution of 1837, he was elected senator for the province of Barcelona in the last years of the regency of María Cristina de Borbón from 1837 to 1840 and again in 1844, upon the fall of Espartero, and senator for life from 1845 until his death..

Biography

Born in Madrid, he was of Basque origin, son of María Concepción Aragorri Olavide and her second husband, Juan Felipe Castaños Urioste, both of whom belonged to distinguished families. María Concepción de Aragorri was born in the Basque-French town of Ainhoa, into a family of merchants who would soon move to San Sebastián. Her brother Simón became a powerful banker and became finance minister under Charles III, being named i marquis of Iranda in 1769. Her first husband, Manuel de las Casas y de la Cuadra, a native of Sopuerta (Vizcaya) and mayor, died. of the Gipuzkoan navy, María de Aragorri remarried with the also Biscayan Juan Felipe Castaños y Urioste, born in Portugalete, nephew of Felipe de Urioste, commissioner of the Navy and judge of the Indies in Guipúzcoa, and He himself was the organizer of the royal armies and extraordinary ambassador sent by Philip V to the duchy of Parma.

Francisco Javier Castaños had a sister, María Concepción, who married Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet, who was governor of Louisiana and Florida and president of the Royal Court of Quito.

Likewise, he had several stepbrothers, children from his mother's first marriage: Luis de las Casas y Aragorri, governor of Cuba and captain general of Cádiz; his brother Simon, ambassador in London; Rosa María, married to Alejandro O'Reilly—the most prestigious military man of his time—; Engracia, united to Pedro Gómez Iríbar-Navarra, judge of the Royal Court of Catalonia and finally, Isabel, married to Jerónimo Girón y Moctezuma, Marquis of Las Amarillas, governor of Barcelona and viceroy of Navarra. Therefore, the son of Both, General Pedro Agustín Girón Las Casas, would be Castaños' nephew and would fight alongside him in the War of Independence. Girón, in turn, linked up with the daughter of the politician and military man José Manuel de Ezpeleta, his son being Francisco Javier Girón Ezpeleta, founder of the Civil Guard.

Promotion in the military ranks

At the age of 10, Castaños received the rank of infantry captain, which King Carlos III granted him in recognition of his father's merits. He went on to study, as a young officer, at the Seminary of Nobles, training that he would later complete at the Barcelona Academy.

At the age of 16 he was assigned to the “Saboya” Regiment in Cádiz, thus beginning his long military life. At 24 he was promoted to sergeant major—commander—, at 26 to lieutenant colonel, and at 31 to graduate colonel.

Upon promotion to colonel, he was entrusted with the command of the "Africa" Regiment, with which in 1793 he served during the so-called War of the Convention that King Charles IV declared to republican France, fighting in the Western Pyrenees. under the orders of General Ventura Caro, head of the Army of Navarra. In 1794 he was promoted to brigadier, shortly after being seriously wounded in the head in the defense of San Marcial (Guipúzcoa). Restored, he was named field marshal in 1795. In 1802 he was promoted to lieutenant general for the defense of the port of Ferrol against the English - which earned him, by the way, being named honorary mayor of Portugalete -. Likewise, he was appointed to command the Campo de Gibraltar command, whose headquarters moved from San Roque to Algeciras.

The War of Independence

In 1808, when the War of Independence began, he received the order from the Supreme Junta of Seville, chaired by Francisco Saavedra, to form an army in Andalusia, and was named captain general. After the victory of the Battle of Bailén and the establishment of the Central Supreme and Government Board of the Kingdom, he was appointed to command the army of the Center.

On November 23, 1808 he participated in the battle of Tudela, which he lost due to lack of means and not being captain general - other generals discussed his orders, Palafox, for example. After the disaster of the Battle of Somosierra, a mutiny occurred where General Benito de San Juan was murdered on January 7, 1809, from which Castaños miraculously escaped.

Between February 1, 1810 and May 29, 1810 he was president of the Regency Council of Spain and the Indies.

Between September and October 1812, commanding the Sixth Spanish Army and with headquarters in Quintanilla Vivar, he took part in the siege of Burgos under the command of the Duke of Wellington.

On August 12, 1813, the command of the IV Spanish Army or Army of Galicia was replaced by the Regency, being relieved by General Manuel Freire.

Participation in political life during the reigns of Ferdinand VII and Isabel II

In the reign of Fernando VII, he remained faithful to the absolutist cause, which earned him the monarch's trust and appointment to some positions; At the end of August 1815 he briefly occupied Roussillon, during the Seventh Coalition.[1] He participated as captain general of Catalonia at that time in the initiation and review of criminal files that led to the execution, in 1817, of Lieutenant General Luis Lacy y Gautier, a rebellious liberal constitutionalist and previously rather brief captain general of Catalonia as well, along with the escaped Francisco Milans del Bosch (San Vicente de Montalt, 1769-ib., 1834).

Revolution of 1820

On Friday, March 10, 1820, a revolutionary movement began in Barcelona that ended up deposing General Castaños, Captain General of Catalonia, as well as Lieutenant General Copons y Navia and the governor of the city, Pedro de Grimarest. The Lieutenant General Pedro Villacampa took charge of the situation and declared before the people the validity of the Constitution of 1812.

General Castaños had to leave Barcelona at dawn on March 14 towards Castilla, accompanied by an officer and 14 soldiers.

Absolutist government

He was elected in 1825 to preside over the Royal Government Advisory Board, the body in charge of proposing various administrative improvements.

He was named president of the Council of State and the Cortes that hailed Isabel as princess of Asturias, later Isabel II. On July 12, 1833, he was granted the title of Duke of Bailén. Later, he presided over the Regency Council during Elizabeth II's minority and was eventually tutor to the queen in 1844.

Death

After receiving the highest honors, titles and appointments of the Kingdom in his long life, he died in Madrid on September 24, 1852, at the age of 94, and in the most absolute economic hardship. Since he had not married, the title of Duke of Bailén fell to his sister María Concepción's son, Luis Carondelet Castaños, and later to his son, Eduardo de Carondelet y Donado, who in turn was the first Marquis of Bailén since 1851. Portugalete.

He was buried in the Pantheon of Illustrious Men of Madrid until 1963, the year in which his mortal remains were solemnly transferred to Bailén and deposited in the parish church of La Encarnación with its original mausoleum. General Castaños rests in this city next to the Virgin of Zocueca, patron saint of Bailén, of whom he was very devoted and to whom he donated his military decorations in 1823.