Francisco Javier Negrete
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Francisco Xavier de Negrete | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 March 1763 Madrid, Spain |
| Died | 3 January 1827 (aged 63) Paris, France |
| Rank | Captain general |
| Conflicts | |
Francisco Xavier de Negrete y Adorno, 1st Duke of Cotadilla (1763–1827), was a Captain General of New Castile and, briefly, Viceroy of Navarre.[1]
After having seen much active duty in the last two decades of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th, no records exist of Negrete having taken part in any actual combat during the Peninsular War.[1] He was, nevertheless, due to his high rank, a major political and military figure during that period in Spain, playing a role for which he was heavily criticised, and was one of the many leading military and political figures, such as the Duke of Frías, the Count of Montarco, O'Farrill, Azanza, Cabarrús, Mazarredo, Urquijo, and Negrete's father,[2] the Duke of Campo de Alange, who were declared traitors and outlawed by the Supreme Central Junta in May 1809,[1] exactly a year after the Second of May Uprising.
As aide-de-camp to Juan Vicente de Güemes, Count of Revilla-Gigedo, Negrete saw active service at the Great Siege of Gibraltar in 1782.[1] Promoted to colonel of the Valencia Regiment in 1784, during the War of the Pyrenees he participate actively in the invasion of Roussillon, leading General Ricardos' vanguard into Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans, the first Spanish unit to enter French soil.[1]
In 1800, as interim captain-general of Galicia, Negrete oversaw the defeat of the Ferrol Expedition, the unsuccessful British attempt to capture Ferrol.[1]
In 1802, Negrete led the Army of Extremadura's 4th Division[2] during the War of the Oranges. The following year he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed Inspector General of Infantry.[1]
In July 1807, Negrete was appointed Captain General of New Castile.[3]