Antonio Filangieri

Antonio Filangieri
Born	27 June 1752 San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Nápoles
Died	June 24, 1808(1808-06-24) (aged 55) Villafranca del Bierzo, León
Battles / wars	War of the Pyrenees Battle of Orbaizeta Peninsular War

Antonio Filangieri[note 1] (27 June 1752 – 24 June 1808) was an Italian-born military commander who saw active service under the Spanish Crown, eventually being appointed captain-general of Galicia. Filangieri was one of the three captains-general slain by mobs following the Madrid Uprising (2 May 1808), the other two being Francisco Solano, 2nd Marquis de Socorro in Cádiz, and Count Torre del Fresno, in Estremadura.[1]

Family

Antonio Filangieri was the brother of Gaetano Filangieri,[2] and uncle of Carlo Filangieri.

Career

In 1796, following his service during the War of the Pyrenees, Filangieri was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed military commander of Catalonia.[3]

Peninsular War

Following the Dos de Mayo Uprising, on 29 May 1808, Filangieri was named Captain-general of Galicia in substitution of Francisco de Biedma y Zayas who had only held the post since 11 May, having been appointed upon the death of Francisco Taranco y Llano[4] and who had been in favour of allowing the French troops to occupy Galicia.[5]

Army of Galicia

Towards the end of June 1808, Filangieri, as commander in chief of the Army of Galicia, entered Benavente.[note 2] The Army, then numbering 60,000 troops,[6] including militiamen, plus 20 companies of Grenadiers. Second in command was the Marquis of Castrojal with Brigadier Joaquin Blake as the Quartel Maestre general. The aides-de-camp were the Marquis of Almeyra and Baron Alcaly (Alcahalí). The divisions were as follows:

• 1st Division: Field Marshal Geronimo Verdes
• 2nd Division: Felipe Jado Cagigal
• 3rd Division: Rafael Marinego
• 4th Division: Ignacio Riquelmi
• 5th Division: Militia Brigadier José Meneses

Given his frail health, Filangieri was substituted in the command by Blake on 20 June,[7] just days before being killed by an angry mob of soldiers.

Notes

1. Oman (1902) spells it Filanghieri.
2. This was unrelated to the cavalry clash known as the Battle of Benavente which took place at the end of that same year between the British cavalry under Lord Paget and the French Chasseurs à cheval under General Lefebvre-Desnouettes, who was taken prisoner. The British cavalry were covering Sir John Moore's retreat towards Corunna.

References

1. Oman, Charles (1902). A History of the Peninsula War, Vol. I., p. 97. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
2. (in Italian). Ricca, Erasmo (1863). Discorso genealogico della famiglia Filangieri estratto dall'istoria del feudo di Lapio la quale è compresa nel volume 2. dell'opera La nobiltà delle Due Sicilie pel cav. Erasmo Ricca, pp. 351–353. Stamp. di Agostino De Pascale. Google Books. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
3. (in Spanish). Pérez de Guzmán, Juan (1898). "Guerra de Fronteras". Revista contemporánea, Volume 109, p. 374. Google Books. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
4. (in Spanish). Rama Patiño, Luz; José Manuel Vázquez Lijó. "Francisco Taranco y Llano". Diccionario Biográfico electrónico. Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
5. (in Spanish). Rama Patiño, Luz; José Manuel Vázquez Lijó. "Francisco de Biedma y Zayas". Diccionario Biográfico electrónico. Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
6. (in Spanish). (1808).Demostracion de la lealtad española: coleccion de proclamas, bandos, ordenes, discursos, estados de exército..., pp. 158–161. Imprenta de Repullés. Google Books. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
7. (in Spanish). Baldovín Ruiz, Eladio. "Joaquín Blake Joyes". Diccionario Biográfico electrónico. Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 31 January 2025.