Luis Daoíz y Torres

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname
is Daoíz and the second or maternal family name is Torres.
Kingdom of Spain
Service/branchSpanish Army
Years of service1782–1808
RankCaptain
Battles/warsWar of Roussillon (1794)

Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808)

Peninsular War

Luis Daoiz y Torres (10 February 1767 – 2 May 1808) was a Spanish artillery officer and one of the leaders of the

Count of Miraflores de los Angeles and Daoíz spent much of his early life in palaces owned by the family. He was born in Seville and, after receiving a Catholic education, trained at the Royal School of Artillery in Segovia. Daoíz saw action against the Moors in Spanish North Africa, where he was commended for his bravery and promoted to lieutenant. He also served against the French in the short-lived War of the Roussillon
where he was captured. After refusing to serve in the French army, he was imprisoned.

After his release he served on

1807 invasion of Portugal. He returned to Madrid in 1808 and was a leader of the Dos de Mayo Uprising in which he assisted civilians resisting French efforts to remove the royal family from Spain. His defence of the barracks at Monteleón was the only action that day in which the Spanish army fought the French and, although ultimately unsuccessful, it inspired the Spanish War of Independence
. He died in the fighting and has been commemorated as a national hero.

Ancestry

Luis's oldest known ancestor is Don Berenguer D'Aoiz, who was named for the town of

Count of Miraflores de los Angeles, in 1766 and their son Luis was born in a palace owned by the Miraflores family in Calle del Horno, Seville.[2]

Early life

Luis Daoíz was born on 10 February 1767 and baptised the same day as "Luis Gonzaga Guillermo Escolástica Manuel José Joaquín Ana y Juan de la Soledad Daoíz Torres".

Jesuit college in Seville up to the age of 15, when his parents decided that he would become an officer in the Spanish Army, which their families considered a career suitable for a gentleman.[2][3] Daoíz's father was able to arrange the necessary paperwork for him to enter the elitist artillery corps which only permitted noblemen to take commissions.[2]

The Alcázar of Segovia, home of the Royal School of Artillery

Daoíz entered the Royal School of Artillery at Segovia as a cadet on 10 February 1782 and graduated as an ensign on 9 February 1787.[2][4] According to his entrance report he had a dark complexion, brown hair, large eyes and a small stature, being less than five feet tall.[2][5] At the school Daoíz excelled at mathematics and sports, in particular saber fencing and was able to speak French, English, Italian and Latin in addition to his native Spanish.[1][3] After graduation Daoíz was assigned to the Real Regimiento de Artillería (Royal Regiment of Artillery) at Puerto de Santa Maria.[2] He was able to use a considerable private income from property and farms owned by his family around Gibraltar to supplement his official salary.[2]

Army career

Daoíz volunteered to help defend

Revolutionary France, Daoíz participated in the War of Roussillon, in the Pyrenees, from March 1794 but was captured in a French counterattack on 25 November 1794.[4] He was held as a prisoner of war at Toulouse where he turned down an offer of freedom and a commission in the French Army, which was short of artillery officers.[2][4] After the Peace of Basel ended the war between France and Spain on 22 July 1795, Daoíz was released and made his way back to El Puerto de Santa Maria.[2]

The British blockading squadron at Cadiz

Spain signed the

captain on 4 March 1800, whilst at sea.[1] He did not enjoy the long trips away from Spain and requested a land based posting, serving initially as a lieutenant in the infantry before joining the newly formed 3rd Artillery Regiment of Seville on 7 July 1802.[1][2] Had he stayed aboard the San Ildefonso Daoíz may have seen action with the ship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.[2][4]

On 2 December 1803 Daoíz was ordered by

invaded Portugal to enforce that treaty.[1][4] He moved with his regiment to Madrid in 1808 and took command of a battery of the 2nd company (some sources say 3rd company) at the former palace of the Duke of Monteleón.[2][3] He became known to the men under his command as "el Abuelo" ("the grandfather") due to his relative age and good temperament.[3]

Dos de Mayo

Joaquín Sorolla's depiction of the defence of Monteleón

As part of the Treaty of Fontainebleau, French troops began to arrive in Spain and occupy strategic points. Marshal Joachim Murat was ordered to Madrid with 30,000 troops and began taking control of the main palaces and barracks of the city, which had just 2-4,000 Spanish troops in its garrison.[2] The presence of a French garrison was resented by much of the populace and Daoíz himself had to be restrained from fighting a duel with a French soldier he overheard insulting Spain in a tavern.[3] On 2 May a crowd, hearing of French plans to send members of the Spanish royal family away to France, gathered outside the Royal Palace in Madrid to protest.[8] It is not known how the fighting started, but the British consul, John Hunter, recorded that by 11 am French troops were firing musket volleys into the crowded square and fighting had spread across Madrid. French troops were dispatched to take possession of the Spanish barracks to secure their arms and ammunition.[9]

Daoíz, the highest-ranking officer at the Monteleón barracks found himself in command of just 4 officers, 3

NCOs and 10 men.[2][3] He sought reinforcements at his regimental headquarters and returned with the 3rd company of the 2nd Battalion, a further 33 men and 2 officers.[2] Daoíz's orders from the local junta were to remain in the barracks and co-operate with French forces but, after conferring with Captain Pedro Velarde y Santillán, he decided that the French troops were hostile to Spain and that they would defend the barracks against any French interference.[2] By this time a large crowd of civilians had gathered at the barracks, requesting weapons with which to oppose the French, and Daoíz ordered the armoury opened to them.[8] With 9 cannon, and 120 soldiers and armed civilians under his command, Daoíz now made arrangements for the defence of the barracks.[2] A battery of 24-pounder guns were placed at the main gate facing into the street and were loaded with canister shot by their military and civilian crews.[2] A small detachment of French stationed near the barracks were captured by Verlarde and their weapons and ammunition distributed to civilians.[10]

Manuel Castellano's 1862 painting of Daoíz (centre) receiving his fatal wound

According to Hunter, when the first French troops advanced up the street to take possession of the barracks, they were fired upon and several were killed before they halted to await reinforcements and occupy neighbouring buildings.[9] Soon the French commanding officer, General Joseph Lagrange, had around 2,000 men in the area.[2] French battalions, including a unit of Imperial Grenadiers, made two assaults on the guns, but both were repulsed, and the Spaniards captured a French colonel.[10] A third wave of French troops reached the artillery lines and fired into the barracks, killing many of the defenders including Velarde, before charging with fixed bayonets.[2][11] Hunter claimed that Daoíz, who had been shot in the hip, continued to issue orders despite his wound and was wounded twice more whilst fighting the French with his sabre.[2] Daoíz is said to have been stabbed in the back with a bayonet and killed whilst approaching a French officer waving a white flag of truce.[11] The dying Daoíz was dragged away by his men, who continued to fight within the barracks buildings before surrendering at the request of Spanish Captain-General the Marquis de San Simón.[2][3] The Spanish at Monteleón had held out against superior French numbers for around three hours.[12] Daoíz was 41 years old when he died, and had over 26 years of continuous service in the Spanish Army.[13]

Aftermath

Goya's The Third of May 1808

The French surgeon is said to have insisted on treating Daoíz before tending to his own men, but his efforts were in vain and Daoíz was buried in the Church of St Martin alongside his men.[2][3] Velarde, who spearheaded the uprising alongside Daoíz, was also killed, but another artillery officer, Lieutenant Ruiz, managed to escape.[14][15] Members of the Junta went around the city asking for resistance to stop, and by 2am the next morning calm had been restored.[11]

Marshal Murat convened a military tribunal, chaired by General

Emmanuel Grouchy, that morning to summarily try and sentence anyone found in possession of a potential weapon.[11] Many Spaniards lost their lives, and artist Francisco Goya, who witnessed the aftermath of the executions, painted his famous painting The Third of May 1808 to commemorate this event.[11] The fighting and executions claimed at least 154 French and 409 Spanish lives and inspired resistance to the French across the country, signalling the start of the Spanish War of Independence.[16] After Daoíz's death his wife entered a convent in Seville.[2][11]

Legacy

The Monumento a los Caidos por España which holds Daoíz's remains
Monument to Daoíz and Velarde in Madrid

Daoíz is commemorated as a leader of the initial resistance against French rule in Spain and, along with Velarde, is remembered in many monuments across the country. The ashes of Daoíz and Velarde, with those of others involved in the Dos de Mayo uprising, were transferred to the

Monumento a los Caidos por España in Madrid after its construction in 1840.[17] The monument originally served as a memorial to those who lost their lives on the Dos de Mayo but on 22 November 1985 King Juan Carlos I redesignated it in memory of all Spaniards who died in war and it now serves as Spain's national Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.[18]

One of the lions outside of the Congress of Deputies

In 1852 a plaque was erected on the spot where Daoíz's house stood in Seville, being replaced in 1869 by a twice lifesize statue depicting the pivotal moment of the Dos de Mayo when Daoíz decided to disobey his orders and resist the French.

Congress of Deputies building are popularly known as Daoíz and Velarde.[20] The Premio Daoíz military honour is awarded once every five years to an artillery officer in the Spanish Army.[21] The award in memory of Daoíz is for services to the nation in the preceding five years and the honorary sabre is presented by the monarch in a ceremony held at the Alcázar of Segovia on 2 May.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Un Sevillano Forjó la Independencia". ABC de Sevilla (in Spanish). 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Domínguez, José Manuel Navarro. "Luiz Daoiz" (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Melero, María Casas (2 May 2008). "Otra vez: '¿Todos a una!'". Ideal.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Daoíz y Torres, Luís". ARBIL (in Spanish) (47–48). 4 February 2004. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  5. ^ Tamarit, Emilio (1851). Memoria Historica del dia 2 de Mayo de 1808. Madrid: Establecimento Tipografico de Andres Pina. p. 16.
  6. ^ Ramirez, Braulio A. (1849). Corona fúnebre del 2 de mayo de 1808. Madrid: Impr. de la Vda. de D.R.J. Dominguez. p. 29.
  7. ^ Ramirez, Braulio A. (1849). Corona fúnebre del 2 de mayo de 1808. Madrid: Impr. de la Vda. de D.R.J. Dominguez. p. 30.
  8. ^ a b "Spain". Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  9. ^ a b "Documento" (in Spanish). ABC Newspaper. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  10. ^
    ISBN 9781425158521
    .
  11. ^
    ISBN 9781425158521
    .
  12. ^ Spencer, Forrest Eugene (1918). Trozos de Historia, a Spanish Historical Reader (in Spanish). Boston, USA: Ginn and Company. p. 23.
  13. ^ Tamarit, Emilio (1851). Memoria Historica del dia 2 de Mayo de 1808. Madrid: Establecimento Tipografico de Andres Pina. p. 17.
  14. ISBN 8498220726
    .
  15. ^ Spencer, Forrest Eugene (1918). Trozos de Historia, a Spanish Historical Reader (in Spanish). Boston, USA: Ginn and Company. p. 24.
  16. ^ "Protaganistas" (in Spanish). Memoria de Madrid. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  17. ^ "Estudio Arqueológico Informativo de las Obras de Nuevos Aparcamientos Subterráneos en la plaza de la lealtad" (PDF) (in Spanish). City of Madrid Archaeological Study. Retrieved 22 January 2011.[permanent dead link]
  18. ^ "El Rey inaugura el monumento a los caídos por España en presencia de ex combatientes de los dos bandos". El Pais (in Spanish). 23 November 1985. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  19. ^ Spain and Portugal: Handbook for Travellers. Baedeker. 1898. p. 68.
  20. ^ "Los leones de las Cortes bajan del pedestal". El Pais (in Spanish). 1 November 1985. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  21. ^ "El Rey presidió en Segovia la entrega del Premio Daoiz". El Pais (in Spanish). 3 May 1983. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  22. ^ "El Rey entrega el sable del Premio Daoíz al teniente general Rodríguez Cerdido". El Mundo (in Spanish). 7 May 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
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