Pedro Sarsfield
Pedro Sarsfield | |
---|---|
Born |
unknown unknown |
Died |
1837 Pamplona, Spain |
Allegiance | Kingdom of Spain |
Service/branch | Infantry |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Battles/wars |
Siege of Tortosa (1810) Battle of Pla (1811) Siege of Figueras (1811) Siege of Tarragona (1811) Battle of Oriamendi (1837) |
Pedro Sarsfield (died 1837) was a Spanish general of Irish descent who commanded an infantry division during the Peninsular War. He was involved in the operations surrounding the Siege of Tortosa in 1810–1811. In a well-conducted action, he defeated two Italian brigades at the Battle of Pla in January 1811. After failing to break the Siege of Figueras, his troops participated in the Siege of Tarragona in May and June 1811. He escaped the disaster, but his division was largely destroyed.
After the Napoleonic Wars, Sarsfield remained loyal to King Ferdinand VII of Spain. He and Henry O'Donnell, 1st Count of la Bisbal foiled a liberal plot in 1819. That year he was rewarded with promotion to Lieutenant General. But when the liberals took power the next year in the Trienio Liberal, he was banished to the Balearic Islands. He opposed the French intervention to restore Ferdinand, known as the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis. The 1830s found him leading the liberal army of Navarre during the First Carlist War. He died at Pamplona in 1837, the same year he led his troops at the Battle of Oriamendi.
References
- (Spanish) "Biografias y Vidas: Pedro Sarsfield". biografiasyvidas.com. 2004–2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- Guia de Forasteros en Madrid. La Imprenta Nacional. 1821.
- Oman, Charles (1996). A History of the Peninsular War Volume III. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole. ISBN 1-85367-223-8.
- Oman, Charles (1996). A History of the Peninsular War Volume IV. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole. ISBN 1-85367-224-6.
- Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.