Joseph O'Donnell and O'Donnell or José O'Donnell y Donnell (20 December 1722 – 22 March 1787) was an Irish-Spanish general and Colonel of Spain's Irlanda Regiment. His six sons fought during 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 ...

; three became Spanish generals.

Biography

Born in Ireland, to Charles O'Donnell and Mary O'Donnell, Joseph O'Donnell went to Spain in 1739, when he was sixteen years old and enlisted as a cadet in the 2nd Battalion of the Irlanda Regiment in 1739. Two distant relatives of his had come to Spain earlier; Lieutenant-colonel John O'Donnell, who died in 1740, and Carlos O'Donnell, who had enlisted as a cadet in the Irlanda Regiment in 1734 and would later also become a lieutenant-colonel of that regiment.

Career

Promoted to captain in 1758, Joseph O'Donnell went on to study at the Royal Military and Mathematics Academy of Barcelona. In 1768, he was appointed '' sargento mayor'' of his regiment, lieutenant colonel in 1773 and, in 1777, he was appointed colonel of the Irlanda Regiment.. O'Donnell y Duque de Estrada, Hugo (2017)
"El Clan O'Donnell, Una Saga de Soldados". ''Revista de Historia Militar'', II extraordinario de 2017, pp. 20-54. ISSN: 0482-5748 [pp. 39–40, 48.
/nowiki>.">p. 39–40, 48.">"El Clan O'Donnell, Una Saga de Soldados". ''Revista de Historia Militar'', II extraordinario de 2017, pp. 20-54. ISSN: 0482-5748 [pp. 39–40, 48.
/nowiki>.Ministry of Defence (Spain). Accessed 24 March 2025.

Family

O'Donnell married María Ana de Anhetan, in Luxembourg in 1765.Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, Cadenas y Vicent, Vicente (1979)
''Extracto de los expedientes de la Orden de Carlos 3°, 1771-1847'', p. 82. Asociación de Hidalgos.
''Google Books''. Accessed 25 March 2025. The couple had two daughters and six sons. All six sons fought during the

, the eldest and the youngest dying before it was over and three of them became Spanish generals: * Leopoldo O'Donnell y Anhetan (died 1811): Killed at the Siege of Figueras (1811). Ibo Alfaro, Manuel (1868)
''Apuntes para la historia de D. Leopoldo O-Donnell'', pp. 37–39. Madrid: Imprenta del Indicador de los Caminos de Hierro.
''Google Books''. Accessed 24 March 2025. * Alejandro O'Donnell (born in Luxembourg, c. 1763 – La Coruña, 1 December 1837) As commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Hibernia Regiment, O'Donnell was captured at the Battle of Coruña and taken prisoner to France.. Gil Novales, Alberto (2010)
''Diccionario biográfico de España (1808-1833)'': G/O, p. 1811.

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. Accessed 26 March 2025. * Joseph O'Donnell (1768–1836): following his part in the successful evacuation of the La Romana Division from Denmark in 1808, he suffered a series of defeats, being beaten by Nicolas Godinot at

Zújar Zújar is a municipality located in the province of Granada, Spain. According to the 2005 census ( INE), the city has a population of 2746 inhabitants. See also * List of municipalities in Granada Province of Granada, Granada is a provinces ...

in 1811, and routed by Jean Isidore Harispe at Castalla in 1812. * Charles O'Donnell (1772–1830) helped defend the

Lines of Torres Vedras The Lines of Torres Vedras were lines of forts and other military defences built in secrecy to defend Lisbon during the Peninsular War. Named after the nearby town of Torres Vedras, they were ordered by Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, c ...

in 1810 and was named Captain General of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in 1811. * Henry O'Donnell, 1st Count of la Bisbal (1776–1834), the most famous of the three, was defeated at

Vic Vic, vic or VIC may refer to: People and fictional characters * Vic (name), a list of people, fictional characters and mascots with the given name * V.I.C. (rapper) (born 1987), stage name of an American rapper Places * Vic, Spain, a town and ...

Joseph Souham Joseph, comte Souham (; 30 April 1760 – 28 April 1837) was a French general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was born at Lubersac and died at Versailles. After long service in the French Royal Army, he ...

, beaten badly at

Margalef Margalef () is a village in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the edge of Montsant and is a popular ecotourism destination, especially among rock climbers. The rock type is conglomerate and it has more than 1500 climbing routes of differe ...

by forces under

Louis Gabriel Suchet Louis-Gabriel Suchet, duc d' Albuféra (; 2 March 1770 – 3 January 1826), was a French Marshal of the Empire and one of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is regarded as one of the greatest ...

, won a victory at the La Bisbal in 1810 over François Xavier de Schwarz, and successfully concluded the Siege of Pamplona in 1813. * Francisco O'Donnell (born La Coruña – died in France as a prisoner of war): enlisted as a child cadet in the Hibernia Regiment, by 1805 he was a lieutenant in the sister regiment of Irlanda at Cádiz. O'Donnell enlisted his three eldest sons, Leopoldo, José and Carlos, in his own regiment, and the three youngest, Henry, Alejandro and Francisco, in one of its sister regiments, the

Hibernia () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). In his book ''Geogr ...

References

Irish soldiers 1722 births 1787 deaths

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

Irish emigrants Immigrants to Spain {{Ireland-mil-bio-stub