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Julián Sánchez
Julián Sánchez | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Julián Sánchez. Engraving by Mariano Brandi. Inscription: «Dn. Julián Sánchez, Brigadier of the Royal Armies.» Madrid, National Library of Spain | |
| Born | 3 June 1774 (baptism) |
| Died | 19 October 1832 Etreros, Spain |
| Years active | 1793–1832 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of Spain |
Branch | |
Rank | Colonel |
| Nickname | El Charro |
| Unit |
|
Conflicts | |
Julián Sánchez García, known as el Charro (Muñoz,[1] Salamanca, baptized on 3 June 1774 – Etreros, Segovia, 18 October 1832) was a Spanish guerrilla fighter and soldier, well known for his decisive actions during the Napoleonic Invasion of Spain.
Biography
He was the son of Lorenzo Sánchez García and Inés García Arroyo, well-to-do farmers. He was baptized on 3 June 1774 in Peramato, an estate near the village of Muñoz, Salamanca, having been born, according to the baptismal record, "three or four days before."[2]
He studied Latin with a priest, later devoting himself to his parents' occupation until, at the age of nineteen, he joined the "Mallorca" Infantry Regiment, being sent to the War of the Roussillon under the command of General Ricardos. He was wounded by seven pieces of shrapnel while serving with the Anglo-Spanish fleet that was besieging Toulon in support of the French royalists.
He took part in the defense of Cádiz (1797), fighting this time against the English under Admiral Nelson, and was wounded by the explosion of a projectile. After recovering, he rejoined the "Mallorca" regiment in Mérida. He was discharged on 1 December of that same year, returning to Salamanca, where he married Cecilia Muriel.
He took part in the War of the Oranges, a military conflict that pitted Portugal against Spain and France in May and June 1801.
Napoleonic Invasion of Spain
At the beginning of the Napoleonic Invasion of Spain, Julián joined the army again, presenting himself on 15 August 1808 in Ciudad Rodrigo to enlist in the Cavalry Regiment that the city was raising. From the very first moment he insisted on doing things his own way, adopting the dress and riding saddle of the horsemen of the Campo Charro instead of the regulation uniform and saddle, which gave him greater mobility and ease.
Five days after enlisting he was appointed corporal first class and, a month later, sergeant. On 13 February 1809 he was appointed alférez of Cavalry. He then began his first actions leading a group of 12 lancers, the "Lancers of Castile" group (who, instead of lances, carried herding poles, garrochas).
This guerrilla band and the army will know how to defend to their last breath their religion, their legitimate and beloved King and the freedom of the fatherland.
Salamanca was an important point on the route of the Napoleonic troops from France to Portugal, and from that moment on he would be the terror of the French moving through the Salamanca countryside.
Before long he had a band that would be called "The Two Hundred of Don Julián," and he was attached to the corps commanded by the English general Wilson with the rank of colonel, but with his own autonomy and applying his own methods. Once in the army of the future Duke of Wellington, the number of guerrilla fighters under his command grew so large that his band came to be called the Light Regiment of Lancers of Castile, and finally it ended up forming the Brigade of Don Julián, a name given to it by the army from 1810 onward.
In 1811, Arthur Wellesley, Commander-in-Chief of the allied Anglo-Portuguese forces and better known as "Wellington" for having acquired the noble title of Duke of Wellington in 1813 after his victories in Spain, attached the band to the Army Corps under his command, as a result of which they were obliged to exchange their uniform for a more martial one.
On 22 July 1812 the Battle of the Arapiles took place, with a token Spanish presence made up of cavalry troops, and it went down in history as one of the two largest battles of the era, together with that of Waterloo. Some 12,500 French and 5,220 allied soldiers lost their lives. Eight generals were killed and several more wounded.
There was a song of the time that went:
When Don Julián Sánchez mounts his horse
the French say to each other: here comes the devil!
When Don Julián Sánchez mounts his horse
the Spaniards say: here come the charros!
— Popular song.
His final years
In April 1816 he was appointed Military Governor of Santoña. In 1819 his wife Cecilia Muriel García died there.
In 1822 he married for a second time, to Juana Ignacia Velarde de Gandarillas, and was appointed Military Governor of the Province of Santander.
In 1823 he was among those who confronted "The Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis" (under the command of the Duke of Angoulême), and he was taken prisoner.
As an opponent of the absolutist regime, he experienced several periods of imprisonment and confinement. While confined in Etreros (Segovia) he suffered the loss of two children, and in 1832 he himself died.
References
- ↑ Cassinello Pérez, Andrés, «Julián Sánchez García», Diccionario biográfico español, Real Academia de la Historia; Moliner Prada, «Rebeldes, combatientes y guerrilleros», in Actores de la Guerra de la Independencia, Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez, April 2008, ISBN 978-8496820173, 60; Garrido Ramos, Beatriz, «La batalla de los Arapiles», ArtyHum. Revista de Arte y Humanidades, 12, p. 131; some older sources, predating the discovery of the baptismal record, gave him as born in Santiz, a locality in the same province: Ferrer, Melchor, Historia del tradicionalismo español, vol. I, Seville, 1941, p. 115; Cayuela Fernández, José Gregorio and José Ángel Gallego Palomares. «La Guerra de la Independencia. Historia bélica, pueblo y nación en España (1808-1814)».
- ↑ Cassinello Pérez, Andrés, «Julián Sánchez García», Diccionario biográfico español, Real Academia de la Historia
- Horta Rodríguez, Nicolás. D. Julián Sánchez "El Charro": guerrillero y brigadier. Ciudad Rodrigo: Patronato Municipal de la Casa de Cultura, 1986.
- Ciudad Rodrigo en la Guerra de la Independencia y Biografía de D. Julián Sánchez "El Charro". Compilation and notes by D. José Manuel Sánchez Arjona y de Velasco. Salamanca [s.n.], 1957.
External links
- La historia de Julían Sánchez, el Charro on Historias de la Charrería.
- Biografía de Julían Sánchez "El Charro", on the Batalla de Los Arapiles website.
