Antonio FilangieriOman (1902) spells it Filanghieri. (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. Oman, Charles (1902)
''A History of the Peninsula War'', Vol. I., p. 97.
''Project Gutenberg''. Retrieved 31 January 2025.

Family

Antonio Filangieri was the brother of

Gaetano Filangieri Gaetano Filangieri (22 August 1753 – 21 July 1788) was an Italian jurist and philosopher. Filangieri was born in San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, in the Kingdom of Naples. He was born the third son of a sibship of the noble family of Filangieri, wh ...

, and uncle of

Carlo Filangieri Carlo Filangieri (10 May 1784 – 9 October 1867), Prince of Satriano, was a Neapolitan soldier and statesman. He was the son of Gaetano Filangieri, 5th Prince of Satriano, a celebrated philosopher and jurist, and father of Gaetano Filangieri, ...

Career

In 1796, following his service during the

War of the Pyrenees The War of the Pyrenees, also known as War of Roussillon or War of the Convention, was the Pyrenees, Pyrenean front of the First Coalition's war against the First French Republic. It pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms of History ...

, Filangieri was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed military commander of Catalonia.

Peninsular War

Following the

Dos de Mayo Uprising The ''Dos de Mayo'' or Second of May Uprising took place in Madrid, Spain, on 2–3 May 1808. The rebellion, mainly by civilians, with some isolated military action by junior officers, was against the occupation of the city by French troops, ...

, 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 Francisco Taranco y Llano (date of birth unknown – January or March 1808) was a Spanish military officer and Captain-General of Galicia. After serving in the Americas, including, in 1769, as a cadet under Alejandro O'Reilly, the second Spanis ...

. Rama Patiño, Luz; José Manuel Vázquez Lijó
"Francisco Taranco y Llano". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico''.

Real Academia de la Historia The Royal Academy of History (, RAH) is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the different branches of life, of c ...

. Retrieved 31 January 2025. and who had been in favour of allowing the French troops to occupy Galicia.. Rama Patiño, Luz; José Manuel Vázquez Lijó
"Francisco de Biedma y Zayas". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico''.

. Retrieved 31 January 2025.

Army of Galicia

Towards the end of June 1808, Filangieri, as commander in chief of the

Army of Galicia The Army of Galicia (Spanish: ''Ejército de Galicia'') was a Spanish field army that took part in the Peninsular War against Napoleon’s French Grande Armée. Created by the Supreme Junta towards the end of June 1808 to hold the Spanish left win ...

, entered Benavente.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 ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action. History This branch of the French Army o ...

'' under General Lefebvre-Desnouettes, who was taken prisoner. The British cavalry were covering Sir John Moore's retreat towards Corunna. The Army, then numbering 60,000 troops, 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,. Baldovín Ruiz, Eladio
"Joaquín Blake Joyes". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico''.

. Retrieved 31 January 2025. just days before being killed by an angry mob of soldiers.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filangieri, Antonio 1752 births 1808 deaths Italian emigrants to Spain Spanish generals Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars Spanish captain generals