Francisco Copons y Navia, 1st Count of Tarifa (21 July 1764 – 18 September 1842) was a Spanish soldier, active 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 ...

and the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. He was appointed

captain general of Catalonia The office of Captain General of Catalonia (; ) was created in 1713 by the Nueva Planta decrees of King Philip V of Spain to replace that of Viceroy of Catalonia. List of Captains General of Catalonia Under Philip V Under Ferdinand VI ...

in 1812 and promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in 1814.

Military career

War of the Pyrenees

After graduating from the Military Academy at Puerto de Santa María, Copons served as a lieutenant in the Infantry during the first

, in which he distinguished himself in several actions and was promoted to captain, at the proposal of General

Antonio Ricardos Antonio Ricardos Carrillo de Albornoz (1727 in Barbastro – 13 March 1794) was a Spanish general. He joined the army of the Kingdom of Spain and fought against Habsburg Austria, the Portugal, and the First French Republic during a long milit ...

. He later again distinguished himself, this time under the orders of the Count de la Unión, who promoted him to Regimental Sergeant Major. Following the death, in battle, of the Count, Copons once again distinguished himself at the head of the

Tercio A ''tercio'' (), Spanish for " third") was a military unit of the Spanish Army during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and Habsburg Spain in the early modern period. They were the elite military units of the Spanish monarchy and ...

s de Migueletes de Olot y Camprodón. Cassinello Perez, Andrés
"Francisco Copons y Navia". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico'' (''DB~e'').

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 29 December 2022. He took part in the occupation of

French Cerdagne French Cerdagne (, ) is the northern half of Cerdanya, which came under French control as a result of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, while the southern half remained in Spain (as a part of Catalonia). Catalans often refer to French Cerdagne a ...

under General Cuesta, where he was seriously wounded and rewarded for his action by being promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to colonel in December 1807.

Peninsular War

Copons was in Madrid on 2 May 1808 and he left the next day to join his regiment at Tarifa.

General Castaños A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Mar ...

gave him the command of the Batallón de Tiradores de España, with which he fought at the

Battle of Bailén The Battle of Bailén was fought in 1808 between the Spanish Army's Army of Andalusia, under General Francisco Javier Castaños and the French Imperial Army's 2nd Gironde Observational Corps under Divisional-General Pierre Dupont de l'Étan ...

as a major of the 2nd Division under Marquis de Coupigny. He accompanied the Army of Andalusia in its march towards the

Ebro Valley The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a del ...

, deploying his battalion in the vanguard and entering

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, distinguishing himself at Lerín on 13 October 1808. At the

Battle of Tudela The Battle of Tudela (23 November 1808) saw an Imperial French army led by Marshal Jean Lannes attack a Spanish army under General Castaños. The battle resulted in the complete victory of the Imperial forces over their adversaries. The c ...

, Copons's battalion covered General

Castaños Castaños is a city in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is ...

's retreat and went on to fight at Tarancón and at

Uclés Uclés is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Cuenca, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 64.61 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 212. History The fortress and town w ...

. In February 1809, Copons was appointed Colonel of the Murcia Infantry Regiment, made up of the units defeated at Uclés. At the

Battle of Talavera The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish ...

, Copons once again distinguished himself and was promoted to brigadier in August 1809. Gil Novales, Alberto (2010)
''Diccionario biográfico de España (1808-1833)'': A/F, pp. 773-775.

Fundación Mapfre Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, o ...

. Retrieved 29 December 2022. Serving initially under Eguía, Copons was given command of the 7th Infantry Division Oman, Charles (1908)
''A History of the Peninsular War'', Vol. III, pp. 69–70, 73, 84–85, 95–96, footnote 92.
''Project Gutenberg''. Retrieved 20 September 2023. at Ocaña, under Areizaga, where the Spanish army was routed by Marshal

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 ...

. Making his way down to Cádiz, Copons and the remainder of his division were incorporated under the

Duke of Alburquerque Duke of Alburquerque () is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee and granted in 1464 by Henry IV to Beltrán de la Cueva, his "royal favourite" and grand master of the Order of Santiago. It makes ref ...

's command, and Copons was appointed commander of the troops stationed at Cádiz. He was appointed field marshal in February 1810 when the Regency gave him the command of all the dispersed troops in the county of Niebla (fewer than 600 men) and within a year he had been able to build up an Infantry division of 2,900 soldiers, a 735-strong Cavalry regiment and a company of Artillery comprising four guns and 82 artillerymen, with which he was able to attack the French troops besieging Cádiz as well as the troops under the

Duke of Arenberg The House of Arenberg is an aristocratic lineage that is constituted by three successive families that took their name from Arenberg, a small territory of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eifel region. The inheritance of the House of Croÿ-Aarschot ...

in Huelva. Copons was appointed

Captain general of Catalonia The office of Captain General of Catalonia (; ) was created in 1713 by the Nueva Planta decrees of King Philip V of Spain to replace that of Viceroy of Catalonia. List of Captains General of Catalonia Under Philip V Under Ferdinand VI ...

in December 1812. In February 1813 he was promoted to lieutenant general and, later that year, led his troops to victory at

La Bisbal LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

(May 1813). Having signed the

Treaty of Valençay The Treaty of Valençay was a proposed peace agreement between France and Spain, signed on 8 December 1813, Elliot, Jonathan (1834)''The American Diplomatic Code Embracing a Collection of Treaties and Conventions Between the United States and Fo ...

with France,

Fernando VII of Spain Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

sent his favourite, Duke of San Carlos who had followed Ferdinand into exile, as well as having drawn up the treaty and would go on to be become Secretary of State (Prime Minister of Spain) following the Absolutist Restauration, to meet Copons at the latter's headquarters. Among other demands, Copons insisted the King promise to uphold the 1812 Constitution and to separate the Ferdinand from all those who had counselled him to go to Bayonne. These demands earned Copons the enmity of Escoiquiz and all the other members of the King's court. On 24 March 1814, still as Captain general of Catalonia, and accompanied by his second-in-command, Baron de Eroles, Copons received

Fernando VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

on the banks of the Fluviá on the King's return to Spain from his captivity in France.

Post-war career

On 4 June, shortly after the war was over (Treaty of Paris, 30 May 1814), Copons received the decree signed by the King by which he reneged on the Constitution and that same day, San Carlos informed Copons that, by order of the King, he was to travel to Madrid. However, that night, Eroles detained Copons, by order of the King confining him at Siguenza, pending criminal trial, where he was held until early April 1816, when he was allowed to continue to Madrid. In May 1818, Copons was appointed second in command to the military and civil governor of Barcelona

. In March 1820, following the outbreak of the military uprising in January 1820 by Rafael de Riego against the absolutist rule of Ferdinand VII, both were relieved of their commands for refusing to enact the Constitution. Copons was held in detention at the

Miraflores Charterhouse Miraflores Charterhouse () is an Isabelline style charterhouse, or Carthusian monastery of the Order of the Carthusians, built on a hill (known as Miraflores) about three kilometres from the center of the Spanish city of Burgos, autonomous commun ...

, in Burgos, before being expelled from Barcelona. He held several posts during the

Trienio Liberal The , () or Three Liberal Years, was a period of three years in Spain between 1820 and 1823 when a liberal government ruled Spain after a military uprising in January 1820 by the lieutenant-colonel Rafael del Riego against the absolutist rule ...

. In January 1821, he was appointed member of the Board of Advisors at the Ministry of War. Later that year, while he was ''jefe politico'' of the province of Madrid, he was dismissed from the post by Ramón Feliú, the

minister of the interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, for having refused to close down the Fontana de Oro, a ''café de

tertulia A ''tertulia'' (, ; ; ) is a social gathering with literary or artistic overtones, especially in Iberian Peninsula, Iberia or in Spanish America. Tertulia also means an informal meeting of people to talk about current affairs, arts, etc. The word ...

'' in Madrid, closure which was carried out immediately by the new ''jefe politico'', José Martínez San Martín, who also arrested the Fontana's owner, Juan Antonio Gippini, on the pretext that the speakers there were doing so only with the authorisation of his predecessor (Copons). The case against Gippini was dismissed. Álvarez Alonso, Clara (2021)
''Rafael Del Riego: Una vida por la Constitución'', p. 146. ESIC.
ISBN 8411220850, 9788411220859. ''Google Books''. Retrieved 2 March 2023. In August 1822, Copons was appointed Captain general of New Castile, but he resigned less than a month later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copons y Navia, Francisco Spanish generals Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Captains General of Catalonia 1764 births 1842 deaths