Blas de Lezo

From Hispanopedia
For other uses, see Blas de Lezo (disambiguation).
Blas de Lezo
Portrait donated by the Naval Museum of Madrid and preserved in the Museum of History of Cartagena de Indias (Palace of the Inquisition).
BornFebruary 3, 1689
Pasajes, Guipúzcoa,
Spain
DiedSeptember 7, 1741 (aged 52)
Cartagena de Indias,
New Granada, Spanish Empire
Cause of death
Sepsis
Military career
AllegianceSpain
Rank
Lieutenant General of the Navy[note 1]
CommandsSpanish Navy
Conflicts
War of the Spanish Succession
Signature

Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta[1] (Pasajes, Guipúzcoa, February 3, 1689 – Cartagena de Indias, New Granada, September 7, 1741) was a Spanish Admiral—known for the singular appearance given to him by his numerous war wounds (a blind eye, an immobilized arm and a leg torn off[2][note 2]). He is considered one of the finest strategists in the history of the Spanish Navy.[3]

De Lezo is particularly remembered for directing, together with the Viceroy Sebastián de Eslava, the successful defense of Cartagena de Indias during the British siege of 1741. As a posthumous tribute, his descendants were granted the Marquisate of Ovieco, a noble title that still exists today.

Origins and early career as a sailor

Birthplace of Blas de Lezo in Pasajes de San Pedro, Guipúzcoa
Coat of arms of Blas de Lezo

Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta was born in the district of Pasajes de San Pedro (Guipúzcoa)—at that time still part of San Sebastián—in early February 1689 and was baptized in the church of San Pedro in the same town on the sixth of that month.[4][5] The son of Pedro de Lezo and Agustina Olavarrieta,[6] he belonged to a family with illustrious sailors among its ancestors, in a town devoted, practically exclusively, to the sea.[7][4] He was the third child of the marriage, which had eight,[note 3] not all of whom survived childhood.[8] His parents belonged to the well-off local lesser nobility, and Lezo had some important ancestors: his great-great-grandfather had been Alderman (Regidor) of the town at the beginning of the century, another had been Bishop of Peru in the previous century, and his grandfather had been a captain and the owner of a galleon.[9][4] The mayorazgo practically deprived him of inheriting property, so he chose to pursue a military career, as a sailor.[10]

He was educated at the Colegio de Francia, an educational institution for boys of the lesser nobility of the area, where he received his basic instruction.[11][note 4] At that time the French navy was an ally of Spain in the War of Succession, which had just begun upon the death of Charles II without issue.[13] Since Louis XIV wanted the greatest possible exchange of officers between the armies and squadrons of Spain and France, Lezo embarked, at twelve years of age, in 1702,[note 5] in the French squadron—which, in practice, had absorbed the Spanish one, then in a calamitous state—enlisting as a midshipman in the service of the Count of Toulouse, Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, son of Louis XIV.[14][15][12]

War of Succession

The war pitted Philip of Anjou, supported by France and named heir by the late Spanish King, against the Archduke Charles of Austria, supported by England, since the latter feared the power the Bourbons would attain on the continent should the two crowns, Spanish and French, be united.[16]

To recover Gibraltar—taken by the Anglo-Dutch forces—and to unblock access to the Mediterranean, the French and Spanish fitted out a great fleet.[17][18] The French squadron had sailed from Toulon, and at Málaga it had been joined by some Spanish galleys commanded by the Count of Fuencalada.[17][18] Off Vélez-Málaga, on August 24, 1704, the most important naval battle of the conflict took place.[19][18] In this engagement, 96 Franco-Spanish warships (51 ships of the line, six frigates, eight fire ships and twelve galleys, totaling 3,577 guns and 24,277 men) faced the Anglo-Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Rooke and composed of 53 ships of the line, six frigates, pataches and fire ships with a total of 3,614 guns and 22,543 men; by the end of the battle there were 1,500 and 2,719 casualties,[note 6] respectively.[20]

Blas de Lezo took part in that battle, fighting in exemplary fashion, until, shortly after the engagement began, a cannonball shattered his left leg,[5] which had to be amputated, without anesthesia, below the knee.[21][18] Because of the courage he showed both in that ordeal and in the battle itself, he was promoted in 1704 to Ensign of a high-board vessel by Louis XIV, to whom the French Commander had reported Lezo's gallantry.[14][22][23] Philip V also granted him a merced de hábito, which carried a series of privileges similar to those of the lower aristocracy.[24]

He was offered the post of chamber attendant at the Court of Philip V. He declined this position and, once he had recovered from the loss of his leg, continued his service aboard various ships, taking part in the operations carried out to relieve the strongholds of Peñíscola and Palermo;[23] in the attack on the seventy-gun English ship Resolution on the Genoese coast, which ended with her being burned;[25] as well as in the subsequent capture of two enemy ships in the western Mediterranean, which were taken to Pasajes and Bayonne, all of this in 1705.[26] Command of prizes was granted as a reward to officers who had distinguished themselves in service, as Lezo must have done in the battles of that year.[27]

But he was soon called upon by his superiors, and in 1706 he was ordered to supply the besiegers of Barcelona in command of a small flotilla, part of the fleet that a French Admiral commanded for this purpose.[28] He carried out his task brilliantly, escaping the enemy ships again and again and facilitating the supply of the army of Marshal de Tessé.[29] To do so he left damp straw floating and burning in order to create a dense cloud of smoke that would hide the Spanish ships, and in addition he loaded «his cannons with shells of thin casing with incendiary material inside, which, when fired, set the British ships on fire».[30][note 7] The British found themselves powerless against this tactic.

He was later posted to the fortress of Sainte-Catherine at Toulon, where he took part in the defense of the French naval base against the onslaught of the fleet of Prince Eugene of Savoy.[32][33] In this action, after a cannon shot struck the fortification, a splinter destroyed his left eye.[34][33]

Blas de Lezo's frigate towing the British ship Stanhope. The capture is supposed to have taken place during the period in which he was stationed at Rochefort, but there is no documentation confirming the seizure.

After a brief convalescence he was posted to the port of Rochefort, on the French Atlantic coast, where he was promoted to Lieutenant of Coast Guards in 1707.[17] Three years later he was promoted again, to Frigate Captain.[35] It is claimed, although there is no documentation to support this assertion, that during his posting at Rochefort he harassed British maritime traffic, capturing some ships.[36][37][33] The engagement with the Stanhope, commanded by John Combs, is supposed to have taken place around this time.[38][note 8] The two exchanged cannon fire until Lezo's maneuvers brought the enemy ship within boarding distance, at which point he ordered the grappling hooks thrown to carry it out.

In 1712, with the French and Spanish Navies separated again, he went to serve under Andrés de Pes.[40][41] Although it is not known in which actions he took part, it is known that he did so with distinction from the favorable reports of Pes, which allowed Lezo to be promoted to ship-of-the-line captain a few months after leaving his service.[42]

He later took part in the siege of Barcelona in command of the Campanella, a seventy-gun ship of Genoese origin, with which he hindered the supply of the city and bombarded it.[43][41] During the blockade, and very probably in one of the several naval operations that occurred during that period, he received a gunshot wound in his right forearm,[41] which remained immobile for the rest of his life.[44] Thus, at only twenty-six years of age, the young Blas de Lezo was already one-eyed, one-armed and lame.[44][41] A few days later, he took part, in command of the Nuestra Señora de Begoña, in the failed escort of Philip V's second wife, Elisabeth Farnese, to Spain; the Queen, after a few hours at sea, decided to leave the fleet and travel by land.[45]

Next, Lezo's ship formed part of the fleet sent to conquer Majorca, still loyal to the Austrian pretender to the throne, which surrendered without resistance when the fleet arrived at Alcudia with twenty-five thousand soldiers on June 15, 1715.[46][47]

The Caribbean and the Pacific

Once the War of Succession was over, he was entrusted with the ship Peibo del Primer Lanfranco, a vessel in calamitous condition.[48] A year later, in 1716, he set out for Havana with the Galleon Fleet, with the usual mission of escorting the merchant ships traveling to America and the special mission of clearing the waters of the region of privateer ships, which had taken some prizes the previous year.[48] His mission accomplished, Lezo returned to Cádiz, where in 1720 he obtained command of a new Lanfranco, of sixty-two guns and also Genoese, like its namesake, also known as León Franco and Nuestra Señora del Pilar.[48][note 9]

Lima, capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, where Lezo served from 1720 to 1730, when he returned to the Iberian Peninsula. Between 1723 and 1729 he commanded the viceregal fleet, which he temporarily reinforced and with which he put an end to piracy and smuggling in the region.

With this new ship he joined a Spanish-French squadron under the command of Jean Nicolas Martinet—a Frenchman in the service of the Spanish Crown—and Bartolomé de Urdizu—Martinet's second-in-command and Captain of the only royal ship that joined those contributed by the French privateers—which set out for America in December 1716 with the task of clearing the so-called South Seas, that is, the coasts of Peru, of privateers and pirates.[50][51] On the Spanish side the squadron consisted of four warships and a frigate and, on the French side, of two ships of the line.[50][note 10] After various delays, the bulk of the fleet reached El Callao on September 27, 1717.[49] Urdizu and Lezo, however, had trouble rounding Cape Horn and fell behind; they finally reached El Callao in January 1720, by which time the authorities of Peru had already sent the French back to Europe because of the tensions between the two parties.[52]

The first operations of the Spanish sailors charged with reforming the viceregal fleet were against the two ships, the Success (70) and the Speed Well (70), of the English privateer John Clipperton, who managed to evade the viceregal fleet for some time but finally had to leave the area.[53][54] The fleet then went on to carry out surveillance and patrol duties in the region, which ended up undermining Urbizu's health.[55] Most of the patrol duties, given his poor health, fell to Lezo.[54]

With Urbizu exhausted, Lezo replaced him on February 16, 1723, with the title of General of the Navy of His Catholic Majesty and chief of the South Sea Squadron, at that time small in size.[55][54] In addition to Lezo's Lanfranco, it was made up of the ships Conquistador and Triunfador and the frigate Peregrina.[50]

In May 1725, he married a woman from Lima high society, Josefa Pacheco de Bustos y Solís, twenty years his junior; the wedding was presided over by the Archbishop of Lima, Fray Diego Morcillo y Rubio de Auñón, who until the previous year had been Viceroy of Peru and had established good relations with Lezo.[56][57]

To reinforce the fleet he commanded, he had the ships of the line at his disposal repaired, broke up and sold the Peregrina, which was costly to restore and poorly suited to the waters of the region, and had two other ships built.[58] At the beginning of 1725 he set sail to combat privateering and smuggling in accordance with the edicts promulgated the previous year by the new Viceroy.[58] After a few weeks of patrol, Lezo came upon a Dutch squadron of five ships, which outgunned his own.[58] During the battle, after a determined fight, he managed to bring down the mainmast of the flagship and capture her, and put the rest of the ships to flight.[59] Later, he attacked and seized an English fleet of six warships, three of which he kept for the viceregal squadron.[60]

These successes and the growth of the fleet deterred the enemies and, paradoxically, led to a confrontation between the Viceroy,[61] the Marquis of Castelfuerte, who wished to reduce the fleet to save expenses once the situation seemed under control, and Lezo, who opposed this.[60] The relationship between them had also worsened because of the nepotistic appointment of the Viceroy's nephew to the post of Treasurer of maritime trade revenues, which contravened the regulations and about which Lezo complained.[62] On bad terms with the Viceroy, who tried to discredit him through an inspection—a juicio de residencia—of his work that found no fault in the sailor's performance, displeased by the dismantling of the fleet—the Viceroy preferred to arm privateers rather than invest in reinforcing the fleet—[63] and in poor health because of his long stay in the region and the unhealthy voyages, in September 1727 he wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, José Patiño, to complain and request his retirement.[64] Patiño agreed that he should leave command of the Peru squadron and called him back to Spain, but did not allow him to leave the Navy, aware of his worth.[65] On February 13, 1728, he relieved him as chief of the viceregal fleet and ordered him to return to the Iberian Peninsula, but Lezo, who was ill, was unable to do so until the following year; on August 18, 1730, he arrived with his family in Cádiz.[66][63] After escaping an epidemic of black vomit afflicting the city thanks to having become immune in America, he went to Seville to visit the King,[63] who was already showing signs of mental imbalance; the royal audience took place at the end of September or the beginning of October.[67]

Marriage and descendants

On May 5, 1725, he had married in Lima the criolla lady Josefa Pacheco de Bustos, a native of Locumba (present-day Tacna), and daughter of José Carlos Pacheco y Benavides and María Nicolasa de Bustos y Palacios, also criollos.[56] The couple had seven children: Blas[68] Fernando, born in Lima and first Marquis of Ovieco (1726); Josefa Atanasia, also born in Lima (1728); Cayetano Tomás; Pedro Antonio; Agustina Antonia; Eduvigis Antonia, who, like her older sister, professed as an Augustinian Recollect; and Ignacia, who married the Marquis of Tabalosos.[57] The five youngest children were born in the Iberian Peninsula and, of them, the two youngest sisters in El Puerto de Santa María.[57][69]

In the Mediterranean

Chief of the Mediterranean Squadron

He remained inactive in Cádiz for a year, until on November 3, 1731, he was appointed chief of the naval squadron of the Mediterranean.[70][63] It had three ships of the line, among them the Real Familia, of sixty guns and Lezo's flagship.[70] The squadron had a fundamental role in the political ambitions of the King, who wished to recover the territories lost in the Italian Peninsula in the peace treaties of the War of Succession.[70] In recognition of his services to the King, the latter granted him in 1731 as the standard for his flagship the purple flag bearing the coat of arms of Philip V, with the Order of the Holy Spirit—the highest French decoration—and the Order of the Golden Fleece—the highest Spanish decoration—around it and four anchors at its corners.[71][70]

First missions in Italy

Genoa in 1766. Three decades earlier Lezo had forced the city's authorities to return the money of the Spanish Treasury held in its banks, under threat of bombarding it. It was one of his first missions as chief of the Mediterranean Squadron.

His first mission was to take part, in December of that year, in the escort of the Infante Charles, who was going to Italy to take possession of the duchies of Parma, Tuscany and Piacenza.[72][73] Lezo commanded a squadron of twenty-five ships, part of a larger fleet in which the English took part.[72][note 11]

When the Genoese delayed returning the two million pesos belonging to the Spanish Treasury that were deposited in the Bank of Saint George, Patiño ordered Lezo to go to the capital of the republic to claim them.[74] Lezo anchored in that port with six ships and demanded an unheard-of salute to the royal flag of Spain and the immediate return of the money.[75][76] His six ships aimed their guns at the Doria palace, as a threat to the city's Senate.[77] Showing the watch clock to the city's commissioners, who were seeking a way to evade the question of payment, he set a deadline, after which the squadron would open fire on the city.[75] Of the two million pesos received, half a million was handed over to the Infante Don Carlos and the rest was sent to Alicante to defray the costs of the expedition being prepared for the conquest of Oran.[78][76]

Expedition to Oran

Main article: Spanish expedition to Oran

In June 1732, he returned from Cádiz to Alicante to join this expedition.[79] Its objective was to recover the stronghold, which had been in Spanish hands from 1509 until 1709, when it had been lost during the War of Succession.[79][76] Retaking it was a matter of prestige for the Crown and a way of demonstrating the renewed Spanish military and naval power under the new dynasty.[79] Lezo served as lieutenant to the Captain of the expedition's fleet, Francisco Cornejo, while José Carrillo de Albornoz, Count of Montemar, commanded the land troops.[80][76] Lezo took part in the operation aboard the Santiago, part of the fleet of twelve warships, two frigates, two bomb vessels, seven galleys, eighteen galliots, twelve assorted vessels and more than five hundred transports that made up the expedition's squadron.[80]

Landing of the Spanish troops of the expedition to Oran of 1732. Lezo took part in the capture of the city as lieutenant to the Admiral directing the naval forces, and months later had to return to relieve it from the siege laid by its former lord, the Bey Hassan.

The siege of Oran began on June 29, with the landing of Montemar's twenty-six thousand men.[80][76] After several clashes, they seized the stronghold on July 1.[81] Once the last pockets of resistance had been suppressed, which had cost more casualties than the conquest of the city, the expedition returned to Spain on August 1, leaving a garrison behind.[82] On September 2, Lezo was back in Cádiz.[82]

When the expedition left believing its goal accomplished, Bey Hassan, Lord of Oran until the Spanish reconquest, managed to gather troops, ally himself with the bey of Algiers and besiege it.[83] He bombarded the castle of Mazalquivir and crushed a sortie by the defenders, in which more than one thousand five hundred soldiers perished and in which the Spanish governor, Álvaro Navia Osorio y Vigil, was also killed. This aristocrat was the author of Reflexiones militares, a bedside book of Frederick the Great.[84] Given the desperate situation of the stronghold, on November 13 Lezo was ordered to relieve it.[84] He set out immediately with the ships that were ready to make the crossing: two ships of the line, five smaller vessels and twenty-five transports, carrying five thousand soldiers as reinforcements for the garrison.[84][76] After two days of sailing he reached Oran, broke up the harassment by the nine Algerian galleys, which withdrew when the Spanish squadron arrived, and supplied the garrison.[84]

Determined to put an end to the threat posed by the Algerian fleet, he decided to pursue it.[84] In February 1733 he finally managed to locate the sixty-gun flagship, which took refuge in the Bay of Mostagán, defended by two fortified castles.[85] This did not daunt Lezo, who entered the bay after the Algerian ship, ignoring the fire from the forts; he managed to put to flight a galleass that appeared unexpectedly to assist the galley, board the latter, set it on fire and then destroy the castles.[86] He then returned first to Oran and then to Barcelona, where he picked up four infantry regiments that he transported to Africa.[86][87] He then resumed patrolling the area, between Tetuán and Tunis, for two months, until an epidemic that broke out in the squadron forced him to return to the city of Cádiz.[88][87]

Last period in Cádiz

Until 1737, he maintained a continuous dispute with the Viceroy of Peru over the salary owed to him, which the latter had until then refused to pay, citing a lack of funds.[89] Lezo, however, did not suffer financial hardship, both because of his wife's fortune and because of the income he obtained from various businesses, among them the trade in silver, gold and slaves, which he had carried out through a representative during his stay in Peru.[89] He invested part of the profits in profitable promissory notes and debt; despite his continuous battles with the English, he kept an account in a London bank.[90]

On June 6, 1734, he was promoted to Lieutenant General of the Navy and appointed Commander General of the Department of Cádiz.[91][87] After a visit to Madrid, two years later, in 1736, he was transferred to El Puerto de Santa María as Commander General of the galleons, responsible for the security of transatlantic trade.[92] He set about preparing the squadron that escorted the last Galleon Fleet of the Carrera de Indias, that of 1737.[92] The preparations were so delayed by the various difficulties—fitting out the warships, recruiting the crews, securing the provisions, etc.—that Lezo incurred the displeasure of Patiño, who urged him to speed them up.[93] When the fleet was finally ready in November 1736, it had to wait for the merchant ships to load their goods and could not depart until February 3, 1737.[94][95] The convoy, made up of eight merchant ships, two register ships and Lezo's two escort ships, made the crossing without mishap and arrived at Cartagena de Indias.[92] Lezo's family—at that time consisting of his wife and six children, since one had died—remained in El Puerto de Santa María and did not accompany the sailor to his new posting in America.[95]

Back in America: Cartagena de Indias

Main article: Siege of Cartagena de Indias (1741)
Plan of Cartagena de las Indias made in 1735 and published in the work Relación histórica del viaje a la América meridional, by Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa
Plan of the Bay of Cartagena de Indias made in 1735 and published in the work Relación histórica del viaje a la América meridional, by Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa

He returned to America, to the New Kingdom of Granada, with the ships Fuerte and Conquistador in 1737 as Commander General of Cartagena de Indias, a stronghold he had to defend against a siege (1741) to which it was subjected by the attack of the English Admiral Edward Vernon.[96] In his first years in Cartagena de Indias, Lezo took charge of coast guard duties, which were meant to break up the growing smuggling that eventually precipitated the new war with the United Kingdom.[97] With this same aim, he created, together with the Governor of Cartagena, a company of privateer outfitters.[97] British smuggling had grown by taking advantage of the commercial concessions the United Kingdom had obtained in the Treaty of Utrecht: the legal trade—five hundred tons, increased to one thousand in 1716—was soon joined by smugglers, who threatened Spanish commerce and sought to avoid paying the duties (taxes) to the Crown.[97] Despite the British Government's reluctance to confront Spain and thereby encourage its rapprochement with France, the complaints of the merchants affected by the activities of the coast guards and the weakening of Robert Walpole's cabinet ended up increasing the tension between the two countries and finally led to war.[98]

The British justification for starting a conflict with Spain—the so-called War of the Asiento—was, among many other incidents, the seizure of a merchant ship commanded by Robert Jenkins near the coast of Florida in 1731.[99][100] Juan de León Fandiño seized the ship and supposedly cut off its captain's ear while saying to him: «Here is your ear: take it and bring it to the King of England, so that he knows that there is no smuggling here».[99] At that time, overseas traffic with Spanish America was suffering the effects of intense smuggling at the hands of the Dutch and, above all, the British.

Repulsed at La Guaira on October 22, 1739,[100] which he had expected to seize without encountering resistance, Vernon conquered the stronghold of Portobelo (Panama) in November,[100] and challenged Lezo by letter in these terms:

Portobelo, November 27, 1739.

Sir: This is delivered to Your Excellency by Don Francisco de Abarca, and Your Excellency may in some measure be surprised that it is dated from Portovelo. In justice to the bearer, I must assure Your Excellency that the defense made here was by the Commander and by those under his command, the others not appearing to have the spirit to make any defense whatsoever. I hope that, from the manner in which I have treated everyone, Your Excellency will be convinced that generosity toward enemies is a native virtue of an Englishman, which appears all the more evident on this occasion, for having practiced it with the Spaniards, toward whom the English nation has a natural inclination, living well together being, as I reason, the mutual interest of both Nations. Having shown on this occasion so many favors and courtesies, beyond what was capitulated, I have complete confidence in the amiable character of Your Excellency (although it depends on another) that the Factors of the South Sea Company in Cartagena will be sent immediately to Jamaica, to which Your Excellency well knows they have an indisputable right by treaties, even six months after the declaration of war.

Captain Pelanco must thank God for having fallen into our hands by Capitulation, because otherwise his vile and unworthy treatment of the English would have met with a corresponding punishment from another.[...]

The Spanish sailor replied to him:[101]

Cartagena, December 27, 1739.

Most Excellent Sir — My dear Sir: I have received Your Excellency's letter of November 27, which Don Francisco de Abarca delivered to me, and previously the one carried by the sloop that brought Don Juan de Armendáriz. And understanding the contents of both, I shall say that Your Excellency, well informed by the factors of Portovelo (as I am not unaware) of the state in which that Stronghold found itself, took the resolution of going to attack it with your squadron, taking advantage of the opportune occasion of its inability (to defend itself), in order to achieve your ends; and had I been able to perceive them, and to believe that the reprisals and hostilities that Your Excellency intended to carry out in these seas, in satisfaction for those that it is said the Spaniards had committed, would have gone so far as to insult the strongholds of the King my Master, I can assure Your Excellency that I would have been at Portobelo to prevent it, and, had things gone to my satisfaction, even to seek you out in any other place, persuading myself that the spirit that those of Portobelo lacked, I would have had in abundance to check your cowardice.

The manner in which Your Excellency says you have treated your Enemies is very befitting Your Excellency's generosity, but rarely experienced in the nation generally, and doubtless what Your Excellency has now practiced was in imitation of what I have done with the vassals of His Britannic Majesty during the time I have been on these coasts (and before now), and since Your Excellency is aware of them, I do not recount them, because at all times it is known to practice the same generosities and humanities with all the helpless; and should Your Excellency doubt it, you may ask the governor of that island, who will inform Your Excellency (of all that I have expressed, and Your Excellency will recognize that what I have done for the benefit of the English nation exceeds what Your Excellency was bound to observe by necessity and by virtue of Capitulations.[...]

Next, and in accordance with the plan drawn up, which the Spanish knew of through the reports of a spy working in Jamaica, Vernon headed against Cartagena in March 1741.[102] Before that he had made two exploratory attacks, with small forces, in March and May 1740, which Lezo repulsed.[103]

The British fleet totaled two thousand guns mounted on almost one hundred and eighty ships, among them three-deckers (eight), ships of the line (twenty-eight), frigates (twelve), bomb vessels (two) and transport ships (one hundred and thirty), and around thirty thousand combatants, including sailors (fifteen thousand), soldiers (nine thousand regulars and four thousand from the North American militias) and Black slave machete-men from Jamaica (four thousand).[104] The defenses of Cartagena included three thousand men, among regular troops (some one thousand seven hundred and eighty), militiamen (five hundred), six hundred Indian archers brought from the interior, plus the considerable crews and landing troops of the six warships available to the city (one hundred and fifty men): the Galicia, which was the flagship, the San Felipe, the San Carlos, the África, the Dragón and the Conquistador.[105] After taking some of the city's defenses, the British assault on the Castle of San Felipe de Barajas, the last important bastion defending it, failed on April 20; with a large part of their troops sick, heavy casualties suffered in the fighting and the arrival of the rainy season, the British chose to destroy the defenses within their reach and abandon the siege.[106]

British losses were severe: some four thousand five hundred dead, six ships lost and between seventeen and twenty badly damaged.[107] These losses forced the British Government to concentrate its forces on the defense of the home country, the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and to set aside new campaigns against the Spanish territories in America.[107] The defeat at Cartagena wrecked the British plans for the campaign and allowed Spanish rule in the region to continue for several more decades.[108] The English, who were counting on victory, had rushed to strike coins and medals to celebrate it.[109] These medals read on their obverse: «The British heroes took Cartagena on April 1, 1741» and «Spanish pride humbled by Vernon».[110][109]

Death and posthumous punishment

Sebastián de Eslava, Viceroy of New Granada and responsible for the defense of Cartagena de Indias. A veteran soldier and ambitious politician, he maintained a tense relationship with Lezo that ultimately led him to request Lezo's punishment for his actions during the siege of the city, which he obtained when Lezo had already died.

On April 4,[111] the day on which the British had begun the systematic bombardment of the castle of San Luis de Bocachica, one of those protecting the city, a cannonball had struck the table of the Galicia around which the Spanish commanders were gathered in a council of war.[112] Splinters from the table wounded Lezo in the thigh and in one hand;[111] the infection of these wounds eventually caused his death.[113] The bad relationship between Lezo and the Viceroy Sebastián de Eslava,[114] head of the stronghold and responsible for its defense, grew worse once the British siege had been lifted.[115][111] The former had constantly advocated adopting more offensive measures and harassing the enemy, while the latter had maintained a more cautious and defensive attitude, which to the sailor seemed like inactivity and negligence in the defense.[116]

Lezo, increasingly ill, barely left his residence from May 20 onward and waged a war of letters with the Viceroy, trying to defend his conduct during the siege, for which the Viceroy went so far as to request and obtain the King's punishment of the sailor.[117] Lezo sought to have his career recognized by obtaining a noble title, a request for which he enlisted the support of José Patiño and of some of his comrades-in-arms in the Navy, but which the King, who had received the unfavorable reports of the Viceroy and of other adversaries of Lezo, rejected.[118] Blas de Lezo died in Cartagena de Indias of «some fevers, which within a few days were declared to be tabardillo» at eight in the morning on September 7.[119][120] He was the only one of the main protagonists of the siege of Cartagena who received no reward for his actions.[119] His removal as chief of the naval station and the order for him to return to the Iberian Peninsula to be reprimanded were approved on October 21.[121][111] King Charles III rewarded Lezo's son for his father's actions, naming him Marquis of Ovieco in 1760.[122] According to a letter written by his son, he was buried in the Convent of Santo Domingo in Cartagena de Indias.[123]

El Puerto de Santa María and Blas de Lezo

The Lezo family's stay in El Puerto de Santa María covered several periods. The Admiral had already been in Cádiz in 1719–20 and in 1730. From there, already living in El Puerto de Santa María, he departed on February 3, 1737, for Cartagena leading what would be the last Carrera de Indias, and where he would meet, as has already been described, his fatal destiny.

Research in the registers of the period of the Iglesia Mayor Prioral of El Puerto has established that Blas de Lezo, his wife, his children and an African-American servant named Antonio Lezo lived from 1736 in a house on Calle Larga, more precisely at Larga 70, today converted into rental apartments. After his death, his widow—known in the town as «La Gobernadora» ("the Governor's Wife")—and his children remained there until her death on March 31, 1743.

Josefa Pacheco was buried in the Convent of Santo Domingo, located on the street of the same name. From this date onward, the descendants of Blas de Lezo disappear from the registers of El Puerto.

During his residence in the city, the Municipal Council, aware of the Admiral's prestige, made various concessions to his family, notable among which was a water connection for the house.

Until a few years ago, the citizens of El Puerto continued to call the mansion the house of «La Gobernadora».

His memory today

Statue in honor of Lieutenant General of the Navy Blas de Lezo in the Plaza de Colón in Madrid, made by Salvador Amaya

The Spanish Royal Navy honors the memory of Blas de Lezo with the greatest honor that can be paid to a Spanish sailor: it has the long-standing custom that one of its ships bear his name. The latest to be so named is a frigate of the Álvaro de Bazán class: the Blas de Lezo (F-103). Previously the name was borne by an Elcano-class gunboat, named General Lezo, which was in the Philippines in 1898, although it did not take part in the fighting because its boilers were dismantled; the cruiser Blas de Lezo, which was lost in 1932 after striking a shoal off the coast of Finisterre; and a destroyer that came from United States aid, the Blas de Lezo (D-65). The Colombian Navy also had a ship bearing the Admiral's name, the ARC Blas de Lezo (BT-62), a Mettawee-class oiler, acquired from the United States Navy on November 26, 1947, and decommissioned in January 1965.[124]

Reproduction of Blas de Lezo's uniform, at the Naval Museum Foundation.
Frigate Blas de Lezo (F-103) in the Atlantic in 2012

On March 12, 2014, the first monument dedicated to Blas de Lezo in Spain was inaugurated on the Paseo de Canalejas in the city of Cádiz.[125][126] The ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of Colombia to Spain and an Admiral of the Spanish Navy.[127] On the façade of the Provincial Council of Guipúzcoa, located in San Sebastián, there has been since 1885 a bust of Blas de Lezo, a native of Pasajes.[128]

On November 15, 2014, King Juan Carlos inaugurated in the Gardens of the Discovery in the Plaza de Colón in Madrid a 3.5-meter bronze sculpture—7 meters in total including the pedestal—bearing the Admiral's effigy, very close to those of two other illustrious sailors of the Spanish Navy, Christopher Columbus and Jorge Juan y Santacilia.[129] The monument was paid for entirely by popular subscription, with the contributions that a thousand citizens from every corner of Spain made to the Asociación Monumento a Blas de Lezo.[130] Four days later the Barcelona City Council approved a motion with the votes of CiU, ICV, ERC and DCst, and with the abstention of the PSC, asking the Madrid City Council to remove the statue because Blas de Lezo had taken part in the bombardment of Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession. The request was rejected at a press conference by the capital's city council.[131]

There is a plaque in his honor in the Pantheon of Illustrious Sailors in San Fernando (Cádiz), where other heroes of the Spanish Navy rest.[132] There is also a scale model of the battle of Cartagena de Indias at the Engineers Academy in Hoyo de Manzanares (Madrid).[133] Similarly, the Naval Museum of Cartagena de Indias exhibits a set of scale models detailing the fortifications of that bay and depicting the siege of the city by Admiral Vernon, the defense organized by Don Blas de Lezo, and his victory over the Englishman.

There are streets bearing his name in the cities of Almería, Córdoba, Valencia, Málaga, Alicante, Cartagena de Indias, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, San Sebastián, Cádiz, Huelva, Fuengirola, Rentería, Irún, Pasajes—his hometown—and finally, after a signature campaign,[134] on April 28, 2010, it was approved to dedicate an avenue to him in the capital of Spain, Madrid.[135]

In recent years there has been a resurgence of his figure among certain sectors of society.[136]

Monument to Blas de Lezo in front of the Castle of San Felipe de Barajas, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

Blas de Lezo is, by contrast, a recognized hero in Cartagena de Indias, which pays tribute to him in various ways: neighborhoods, avenues and squares commemorate him in their names; and his statue in front of the Castle of San Felipe de Barajas keeps alive among the people of Cartagena the memory of the defender of their city. On November 5, 2009, in Cartagena de Indias, a wish of Blas de Lezo was fulfilled: in his will he had asked that a group of Spaniards place a plaque commemorating that victory. The inscription reads:

Error: No text given for quotation (or equals sign used in the actual argument to an unnamed parameter)

Likewise, on November 21, 2009, a plaque to his memory was unveiled at Calle Larga no. 70 in Puerto de Santa María, the city where Blas de Lezo lived before fighting the battle of Cartagena and where some of his children were born. At that ceremony the military march Almirante Blas de Lezo, composed for the Royal Navy by Joaquín Drake García, was premiered, performed by the Band of the Southern Tercio (Marine Infantry). The ceremony was presided over by the Admiral of the Fleet, the Mayor of the city and the president of the Club de Mar Puerto Sherry. The plaque reads: «In 1736 the Lieutenant General of the Navy D. Blas de Lezo y Olabarrieta, illustrious and invincible sailor, hero of the battle of Cartagena de Indias in which the English fleet suffered a humiliating defeat in 1741, lived in this place with his family. The city of Puerto de Santa María in tribute to his memory. November 21, 2009».[138]

On September 21, 2018, a sculpture by Francisco Martín was inaugurated in the town of Torre del Mar (Málaga) in tribute to his figure.[139]

Historical novels

The life of Blas de Lezo and his defense of Cartagena de Indias have been brought to the historical novel, with varying degrees of fantasy, by the following writers in recent years:

  • Alonso Mendizábal, Carlos (2008), Blas de Lezo, el malquerido, Dossoles, Burgos.
  • Ribas Narváez, Ramiro (2009), La conjura de la mentira. Derrota de Inglaterra en Cartagena de Indias, Akrón.
  • Vázquez, Alber (2010), Mediohombre. La batalla que Inglaterra ocultó al mundo, Inédita Editores.
  • Blasco Patiño, Felipe (2010), El hombre sin rey. ¿Pudo un solo hombre cambiar el destino de América? El desastre de la Armada Invencible inglesa, Bohodón Ediciones, Madrid.
  • Iglesias de Paúl, Santiago (2011), El marino que cazaba lagartos... y que luchó junto a Blas de Lezo, JM Ediciones.
  • Name Bayona, Orlando (2012), Blas de Lezo. El almirante patapalo. ¡Anka Motz!, Oveja negra.
  • Pérez-Foncea, Juan Antonio (2012), El héroe del Caribe. La última batalla de Blas de Lezo, Libroslibres.
  • Pascual, José Vicente (2013), Almirante en tierra firme. La aventura de Blas de Lezo, el español que derrotó a Inglaterra, Áltera, Madrid.
  • Romero Valentín, Francisco Javier (2013), El paisano de Jamaica, Amazon Media.
  • López, David (2013), El aventurero Vivar, Rocaeditorial.
  • San Juan, Víctor (2014), Morirás por Cartagena, Punto de Vista Editores.
  • Vidal, Rafael & José Pablo García (2014), Blas de Lezo. El marino invicto, self-published.
  • Victoria, Pablo (2014), Los amores prohibidos de Cecilita Caxiao. La extraña historia de cómo se salvó el diario de guerra de Blas de Lezo, Amazon Media.
  • Artacho, Fernando de (2015), El almirante Mediohombre, Algaida, Seville.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Equivalent to a present-day vice admiral.
  2. ↑ Although it has been claimed in recent times that he was known as Patapalo ("Peg-Leg") and Mediohombre ("Half-Man"), because of the many wounds he suffered during his military career, there is no historical evidence for such claims. He appears as Admiral One-Leg in James Michener's 1989 novel Caribbean, while he is only called «Medio hombre» ("half man") in the school textbook Historia de Colombia para la Enseñanza Secundaria, by Jesús María Henao and Gerardo Arrubla, whose 3rd edition was published in Bogotá in 1920:

    ... the famous general of the galleons Don Blas de Lezo, a Basque sailor, who in earlier battles, at Málaga, Toulon and Barcelona, had lost his left leg, his left eye and his right arm by the age of 25; this half man contributed powerfully to the triumph won by Castilian arms.
  3. ↑ According to García Rivas, the fourth of ten.[4]
  4. ↑ According to García Rivas, it was not the Colegio de Francia but a French school, probably one of those that prepared those wishing to enter the French Navy as officers.[12]
  5. ↑ According to García Rivas, a year earlier, in 1701.[12]
  6. ↑ García Rivas gives somewhat different figures: one thousand six hundred French casualties and more than two thousand five hundred on the Anglo-Dutch side.[18]
  7. ↑ García Rivas considers it unlikely that this happened and that he was entrusted with command of a supply flotilla, given his low rank at that time.[31]
  8. ↑ Both Quintero Saravia and García Rivas state that there are no documents proving this engagement.[39][38][38]
  9. ↑ García Rivas states that Lezo did not command the ship, but sailed as Urbizu's second-in-command aboard. The dates do not coincide either: García Rivas places the voyage between December 1716 and January 1720, while Quintero Saravia dates it to 1720 or 1718.[49][50]
  10. ↑ García Rivas gives different data: he states that the Spanish contributed only one ship, the sixty-gun Nuestra Señora del Carmen, while the French privateers sent the Conquérant, the Triomphant and the frigate La Pelèrin.[49]
  11. ↑ According to García Rivas, twenty-two ships, two frigates and a packet boat.[63]

References

  1. ↑ Quintero Saravia, Gonzalo M. "Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta en la Real Academia de la Historia" (in español).
  2. ↑ Arturo Pérez-Reverte (August 23, 2010). "El vasco que humilló a los ingleses" (in español). perezreverte.com. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Batalla de Cartagena de Indias (guerra de la oreja de Jenkins)" (in español). Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 García Rivas 2012, p. 491.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 23.
  6. ↑ Martínez Delgado 1970, p. 160.
  7. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 27–30.
  8. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 27–28.
  9. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 31–32.
  10. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 31.
  11. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 38.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 García Rivas 2012, p. 492.
  13. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 39–40.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Fernández de Navarrete 1848, p. 261.
  15. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 42.
  16. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 40, 43.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 46.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 García Rivas 2012, p. 493.
  19. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 46–47, 50–51.
  20. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 46, 50–51.
  21. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 49–50.
  22. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 50, 52.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 García Rivas 2012, p. 494.
  24. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 52.
  25. ↑ García Rivas 2012, p. 496.
  26. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 55–56.
  27. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 56.
  28. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 57.
  29. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 56–57.
  30. ↑ García Rivas 2012, p. 495.
  31. ↑ García Rivas 2012, pp. 494–495.
  32. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 59.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 García Rivas 2012, p. 497.
  34. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 23, 59.
  35. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 61.
  36. ↑ "Blas de Lezo, una revisión histórica" (in español).
  37. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 64–65.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 65.
  39. ↑ García Rivas 2012, pp. 497–498.
  40. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 65, 68.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 García Rivas 2012, p. 498.
  42. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 68.
  43. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 72.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 23, 72.
  45. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 76.
  46. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 76–77.
  47. ↑ García Rivas 2012, p. 499.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 83.
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 García Rivas 2012, p. 500.
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 50.3 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 84.
  51. ↑ García Rivas 2012, pp. 499–500.
  52. ↑ García Rivas 2012, pp. 500–501.
  53. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 89–91.
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 54.2 García Rivas 2012, p. 501.
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 92.
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 96–97.
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 García Rivas 2012, p. 502.
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 106.
  59. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 106–109.
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 109.
  61. ↑ García Rivas 2012, pp. 502–503.
  62. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 110.
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 63.2 63.3 63.4 García Rivas 2012, p. 503.
  64. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 110–111.
  65. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 111.
  66. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 111–112.
  67. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 113, 116.
  68. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 97.
  69. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 97, 137.
  70. ↑ 70.0 70.1 70.2 70.3 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 120.
  71. ↑ en la Historia [dead link]
  72. ↑ 72.0 72.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 123.
  73. ↑ García Rivas 2012, p. 502-504.
  74. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 124.
  75. ↑ 75.0 75.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 125.
  76. ↑ 76.0 76.1 76.2 76.3 76.4 76.5 García Rivas 2012, p. 504.
  77. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 124–125.
  78. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 125–126.
  79. ↑ 79.0 79.1 79.2 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 126.
  80. ↑ 80.0 80.1 80.2 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 127.
  81. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 127–128.
  82. ↑ 82.0 82.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 128.
  83. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 128–129.
  84. ↑ 84.0 84.1 84.2 84.3 84.4 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 129.
  85. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 129–130.
  86. ↑ 86.0 86.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 130.
  87. ↑ 87.0 87.1 87.2 García Rivas 2012, p. 505.
  88. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 130–131.
  89. ↑ 89.0 89.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 133.
  90. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 133–134.
  91. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 134.
  92. ↑ 92.0 92.1 92.2 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 135.
  93. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 138.
  94. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 138–139.
  95. ↑ 95.0 95.1 García Rivas 2012, p. 506.
  96. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 172, 197.
  97. ↑ 97.0 97.1 97.2 García Rivas 2012, p. 507.
  98. ↑ García Rivas 2012, pp. 507–508.
  99. ↑ 99.0 99.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 178.
  100. ↑ 100.0 100.1 100.2 García Rivas 2012, p. 508.
  101. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 193–197.
  102. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 183–184, 196, 211.
  103. ↑ García Rivas 2012, pp. 509, 512.
  104. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 203–204, 212.
  105. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 157–158, 209–210.
  106. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 240–245.
  107. ↑ 107.0 107.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 252.
  108. ↑ García Rivas 2012, p. 510.
  109. ↑ 109.0 109.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 226.
  110. ↑ Hernández Sánchez-Barba, Mario (1992). El mar en la historia de América (in español). Mapfre. ISBN 84-7100-281-7. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  111. ↑ 111.0 111.1 111.2 111.3 García Rivas 2012, p. 519.
  112. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 221.
  113. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 222.
  114. ↑ García Rivas 2012, pp. 514–515.
  115. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 256.
  116. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 235, 240–241.
  117. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 256–257.
  118. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, pp. 257–259.
  119. ↑ 119.0 119.1 Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 258.
  120. ↑ García Rivas 2012, p. 518.
  121. ↑ Quintero Saravia 2016, p. 257.
  122. ↑ García Rivas 2012, p. 520.
  123. ↑ «Desvelan las grandes mentiras históricas sobre Blas de Lezo que todos creíamos hasta ahora.» June 11, 2018. ABC.
  124. ↑ «¿Sabes quién fue Blas de Lezo? El personaje inmortalizado en la nueva estatua de Madrid.» Europa Press.
  125. ↑ "Hoy se inauguran el monumento y la exposición sobre Blas de Lezo". Diario de Cádiz (in español). March 12, 2014.
  126. ↑ "La ciudad rinde homenaje a Blas de Lezo dentro de los actos del Mes Constitucional" (in español). Ayuntamiento de Cádiz.
  127. ↑ «Hoy se inauguran el monumento y la exposición sobre Blas de Lezo.» Diario de Cádiz.
  128. ↑ San Telmo Museoa, Busto de Blas de Lezo Archived March 9, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  129. ↑ «El rey Juan Carlos I inaugura el monumento a Blas de Lezo en Madrid.»
  130. ↑ http://monumentoablasdelezo.com/acerca-de/
  131. ↑ «Una estatua reabre la guerra de 1714.» El País. November 23, 2014.
  132. ↑ "Blas de Lezo vs Nelson. Uno tuvo el Olvido, otro el recuerdo. - Espejo de navegantes". ABC Blogs (in español). November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  133. ↑ alma, En cuerpo y (May 23, 2013). "¿Un monumento a D. Blas de Lezo en Madrid?". https://www.religionenlibertad.com (in español). Retrieved November 8, 2019. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  134. ↑ "Firmas para la calle Blas de Lezo" (in español). ElGuaridaDeGoyix.com. March 8, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  135. ↑ "Avenida de Blas de Lezo" (in español). ElGuaridaDeGoyix.com. September 18, 2010. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  136. ↑ «El monumento al almirante vasco, erigido por suscripción popular, se ha descubierto este mediodía en Colón.» ABC, November 15, 2014.
  137. ↑ «Cartagena de Indias: heroísmo, patrimonio y placer en Colombia», in the Guía turística de Cartagena de Indias, 2.0Viajes.com.
  138. ↑ Robledo, Juanjo (November 5, 2009). "El día en que España acabó con los británicos" (in español). BBC Mundo. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
  139. ↑ «Homenaje al almirante Blas de Lezo en Torre del Mar»

Bibliography

  • A Journal of the Expedition to Carthagena. With Notes: In Answer to a Late Pamphlet Entitled, An account of the Expedition to Carthagena, London: J. Roberts, 1744.
  • In the sixth volume of Nicolas Lenglet-Dufresnoy, Méthode pour étudier la géographie, Paris, 1741, a Diario del sitio de Cartagena en América was added as a last-minute addendum, written anonymously by a Spaniard and translated into French by the Ambassador of Spain to France himself, Luis Rigio y Branciforte, Prince of Campoflorido, Grandee of Spain.
  • Bermúdez Plata, Cristóbal (1912). "Narración de la defensa de Cartagena de Indias contra el ataque de los ingleses en 1741". El Correo de Andalucía (in español). Seville.
  • Smollet, Tobías (1989). Jorge Orlando Melo (ed.). Authentic papers related to the expedition against Carthagena. Bogotá: Planeta. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  • Alonso de Mendizábal, Carlos (2008). Blas de Lezo, el malquerido (in español). Spain: Dossoles.
  • García Rivas, Manuel (2012). "En torno a la biografía de Blas de Lezo" (PDF). Itsas Memoria. Revista de Estudios Marítimos del País Vasco (in español) (7): 491. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  • Martínez Delgado, Luis (1970). Historia extensa de Colombia, volumen IV, parte 1 (in español). Ediciones Lerner. ISBN 9789589501337.
  • Fernández de Navarrete, Francisco (1848). Colección de opúsculos, volumen 1 (in español). Madrid: Imprenta de la viuda de Calero. p. 261. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  • Quintero Saravia, Gonzalo (2002). Don Blas de Lezo. Defensor de Cartagena de Indias (in español). Colombia: Planeta. ISBN 958-42-0326-6.
  • — (2016). Don Blas de Lezo: biografía de un marino español del siglo XVIII (in español). Madrid: Edaf. ISBN 9788441436398.
  • Rodríguez, José Manuel (2008). El vasco que salvó al Imperio español. El almirante Blas de Lezo (in español). Spain: Altera. ISBN 978-84-96840-23-2.
  • Arciniegas, Germán (1966). "Relato del almirante inglés y el cojo Don Blas". Biografía del Caribe (in español). Vol. libro tercero, cap. XVI. Editorial Sudamericana.
Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blas de Lezo.
Retrieved from "https://en.hispanopedia.com/index.php?title=Blas_de_Lezo&oldid=1797"