Domingo Belestá y Pared (Alicante, 4 March 1741 – Cádiz, 7 December 1819) was a Spanish

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...

who served in the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and

Peninsular A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . ...

wars. His surname also appears in the literature of the Peninsular War misspelt as Bellesta Foy, Maximilien (1829)
''History of the War in the Peninsula, Under Napoleon'', pp. 432-433. Treuttel and Würtz, Treuttel, jun. and Richter.
''Google Books''. Retrieved 26 January 2023. or Ballesta.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 26 January 2023. After enlisting as a Cadet in 1761 in Spain's Regimiento de Infantería de Flandes, where he was promoted to second lieutenant, in 1765 Belestá went on to study Mathematics at Spain's military engineering school, the Real Academia Militar de Matemáticas y Fortificación, in Barcelona. Promoted to captain in 1778, he stayed on at the Academy, where he taught Drawing, until 1781.

American Revolutionary War

During the Anglo-Spanish War (1779–1783), part of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, Belestá participated at the siege of St. Philip's Castle, in Menorca, under the orders of the Duke of Crillon and from there went on to the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Enlightenment in Spain, Spain and Kingdom of France, France to capture Gibraltar from the Kingdom of Great Britain, British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the largest ba ...

. At the conclusion of the siege, Belestá was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1783 and was sent to supervise the construction of the roads from Málaga to Velez and to Antequera, as well as working on the San Telmo Aqueduct then being constructed in Málaga. Around that time he was also involved in the construction of the Explanada Boulevard in Barcelona, the ongoing works on one of the three branches of the Canal de Castilla, and works on the port at Melilla, among other projects.

Inter-war years

At the behest of General Melville, the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

requested the

to find the exact location of the legendary Battle of Munda, for which, in 1791, Belestá was commissioned to lead the first field trip ever carried out in Spain to that end. Although he was unable to reach a conclusion as to its exact whereabouts, he was able to refute the traditional belief that the battle had been fought at Monda, in Málaga. Promoted to colonel in 1794, he was appointed director of the Real Academia he had studied at in Barcelona. He held the post until its closure in 1802 and transferred to Madrid. During that time he was also promoted to Chief Engineer (1797) and later, in 1801, during the War of the Oranges, he was sent to participate in the siege at Elvas. In 1802 he was put in charge of the restoration works of Barcelona's royal palace, the

Palau Reial Major The Palau Reial Major (; "Grand Royal Palace") is a complex of historic buildings located in Plaça del Rei, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was a residence of the counts of Barcelona and kings of Aragon. It is composed of three distinct edifice ...

, and later that year he was given the command of the fortifications along the borders of

Old Castile Old Castile ( ) is a historic region of Spain, which had different definitions across the centuries. Its extension was formally defined in the 1833 territorial division of Spain as the sum of the following provinces: Santander (now Cantabria ...

in the

province of Zamora Zamora () is a Provinces of Spain, province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Province of Ourense, Ourense, Province of Le� ...

Peninsular War

In 1808, now a field marshal, Belestá was the

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the Spanish forces sent, together with General Junot's Army of Portugal, to occupy Portugal. Following the sudden death of General Taranco at the beginning of the year, Belestá took command of the latter's headquarters at

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, However, when, on 6 June 1808, the news of the uprising in Madrid and the subsequent revolt in La Coruña and elsewhere in Spain, reached Belestá, he arrested the French governor, General of Division Quesnel, together with his 75-man escort.Muñoz Maldonado, José (1833)
''Historia política y militar de la guerra de la independencia de España contra Napoleon Bonaparte desde 1808 á 1814'', Volume 1, p. 228.
''Google Books''. Retrieved 26 January 2023. After proclaiming the independence of Portugal, Belestá then marched the 6,000 troops of Taranco's Division, plus his prisoners, back north to Galicia to join the Spanish forces fighting the French. Taken prisoner by

Marshal of the Empire Marshal of the Empire () was a civil dignity during the First French Empire. It was established by on 18 May 1804 and to a large extent reinstated the formerly abolished title of Marshal of France. According to the ''Sénatus-consulte'', a Mar ...

Soult Marshal General of France, Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as P ...

's French forces at La Coruña, in January 1809, Belestá managed to escape and reported for duty to the Marquis of La Romana, whose 9,000-strong division had disembarked at Santander towards the end of the previous year and had been incorporated into Blakes's Army of Galicia which, itself, would later be incorporated under La Romana's future Army of the Left, and had worked its way towards La Coruña as the rearguard of General Moore's retreat to La Coruña. However, on 27 October 1810, Belestá was sentenced to six months' duties without command before being re-instated to his previous rank of field marshal and transferred to Spain's Army of Catalonia. However, before he take up his post, he was appointed Director of Engineers in Andalucía, based in Granada. In May 1814 he supported that city's uprising in favour of Fernando VII as an absolute monarch.

Death

Belestá died of yellow fever in 1819.Carrillo de Albornoz y Galbeño, Juan
"Domingo Belestá y Pared". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico''.

. Retrieved 25 January 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belestá, Domingo Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1741 births 1819 deaths People from Alicante