Spanish Military History

On the 28th of October in 1811 it happened one of episodes more singular of Peninsular War in Extremaduran land: “Arroyo dos Molinos Surprise”. In spite of there isn’t much bibliography about this subject, the published one as late as today is known in a historic-military perspective that tends to praise its importance, both Spanish versions and English ones based on war reports.
In this work, we pretend to complement that vision with other sources, also near facts, but of local and private profile. They permit to approach courses up till now unpublished of the event. We follow the figure of Francisco Pérez Pavón Cabezudo and we present this new reading in the bicentenary of the famous battle.

El 28 de octubre de 1811 tuvo lugar uno de los episodios más singulares de la Guerra de la Independencia en suelo extremeño: “la Sorpresa de Arroyomolinos”. Pese a no ser mucha la bibliografía específicamente centrada en ella, la hasta hoy publicada insiste en tratarla desde una perspectiva histórico-militar que tiende a magnificar -tanto en las versiones españolas
como inglesas basadas en los partes de guerra- su trascendencia. En este estudio, se pretende complementar esa visión con la que nos aportan otras fuentes, también cercanas a los hechos, pero de perfil más local, civil o privado. Se trata, además, de materiales que permiten un acercamiento a derivadas hasta ahora inéditas del acontecimiento. Tomando como hilo conductor la figura de Francisco Pérez Pavón Cabezudo, ofrecemos esta nueva lectura en el bicentenario de la célebre batalla.

Este artículo analiza la artillería de los reinos de Nápoles y de Sicilia en los años 1575 y 1576, a la luz de los documentos conservados en el Archivo General de Simancas, que fueron redactados por los profesionales de este Arma, como Pedro Díaz Carrillo de Quesada y Sánchez de Torres y Bernardino de Velasco, capitanes generales de la artillería en ambos territorios. En ese bienio seguía latente el temor a nuevas incursiones otomanas en las costas napolitana y siciliana, lo que justifica los preparativos militares realizados por sus virreyes. Conocer, pues, el estado de las fortificaciones y del parque artillero resultaban asuntos de la máxima importancia. Además de los datos que facilitan estos informes sobre el número de piezas existentes, se indica en ocasiones las que serían deseables para garantizar una correcta defensa así como otros pormenores de carácter técnico, como la tipología de estas bocas de fuego y el calibre de las balas que disparaban. La distribución de las piezas en ambos reinos permite deducir que las zonas más artilladas, por ser las más expuestas, eran las del litoral jónico-adriático en Nápoles y su capital, y el estrecho de Messina, en Sicilia. Asimismo se incluyen una serie de tablas -ocho en total- que reflejan los datos facilitados en tales relaciones.


This article analyzes the artillery of the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily in the years 1575 and 1576, from the several sources preserved in the General Archive of Simancas, which were written by the professionals of this weapon, such as Pedro Díaz Carrillo de Quesada y Sanchez de Torres and Bernardino de Velasco, captains general of the artillery in both territories. In that biennium, the fear of new Ottoman incursions on the Neapolitan and Sicilian coasts was still latent. It justified the military preparations carried out by its viceroys. To know the state of the fortifications and the artillery park were matters of the importance. In addition to the data provided by these reports about the number of existing pieces, it is sometimes indicated which would be desirable to ensure a correct defense of the state, and other technical details, such as the typology of these pieces and the caliber of the bullets. The simple distribution of the pieces in both kingdoms allows us to affirm that the most armed areas, being the most exposed, were those of the Ionian-Adriatic coast in Naples and the Naples itself and the Strait of Messina in Sicily. Also included are a series of tables - eight in total - that reflect the data provided by such relationships.

During the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898), the Spanish military authorities put into practice a radical counter-insurgency strategy known as reconcentration. Usually identified as the context in which the modern concept of concentration camp emerged, that policy of mass relocation of the civilian population resulted in tens of thousands of victims, mainly due to starvation, poor sanitation, and the spread of epidemic diseases. This thesis analyses how that process was actually implemented on the ground, combining historical sources, oral tradition and the archaeological investigation of the physical effects that those measures had on the urban and rural landscapes. Through that approach, and using several case studies from the western province of Pinar del Río, this research offers new insights about the material and spatial transformations that took place during the conflict. It also establishes an innovative model for undertaking the study of later episodes in which regular armies had similarly resorted to reconcentration as a way to impose a complete segregation between guerrilla fighters and non-combatants.

This article examines the main characteristics of mutinies in the Spanish
tercios at the height of the Italian Wars (1494-1559), a surprisingly underresearched subject considering the high frequency of such upheavals in these core infantry units. Contrary to the severe legal and moral implications of modern military mutinies the dynamics of the mutinies in the tercios resembled more closely those of a modern workers’ strike, in that the soldiers were allowed room to organize, make representations, negotiate and reach relatively amicable conclusions. Generals and soldiers alike accepted the recurring mutinies as a way of maintaining the organizational status quo in a context of infrequent paydays and persistent supply problems.

In the last period there are more and more researches connected to the events of the 19th and 20th century military history processed by military historians including the book of José E. Alverez which focuses on the activities of the Legion during the first six months of the Spanish Civil War. The author is a particularly good acquaintance of the less  researched Spanish Legion subject, he has been researching and publishing books and articles on the organization's activities for many years. The author's work is also important because materials about the Legion and its activities are in the most access in Spanish-language, and only in a very limited extent is in English. I experienced it by myself as I was searching for the activities of the Legion in Western Sahara and for the Hungarians serving in the Legion.

Review of "Bernardo de Galvez" by Jose Rodulfo Boeta (Madrid: Publicaciones Espanolas, 1977).  This is a popular biography of the Spanish General Bernardo de Galvez (1746-1786).  It weaves his life into the history of the American Revolution,  As governor of New Orleans, Galvez provided munitions and money to the rebellious Americans, and the Spanish fleet and garrisons in the Caribbean added to the strategic problems faced by the British.  He led Spanish military expeditions against the British in Mobile and Pensacola in 1780 and 1781.  The narrative is adulatory and uncritical, but it well makes the case to count Galvez among the celebrated foreign soldiers who aided the American Revolution.

Resumen: El presente artículo analiza la figura y las obras de Ángel Salcedo Ruiz (1859-1921), miembro del Cuerpo Jurídico Militar, periodista y hombre de letras, además de académico de número de la Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas.

During the seventeenth century, intrepid settlers and devoted missionaries embarked upon a rigorous exploration of the Amazonian lowlands, situated to the east of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Seeking recognition and acclaim for their past and future efforts on the frontier, they submitted petitions to the Council of the Indies. These missives not only chronicled the indigenous peoples and idyllic landscapes of the Amazonia, but also drew comparisons to legendary realms such as El Dorado and Paititi. In this article, I posit that these depictions should not be relegated to the realm of mythos, but rather viewed as strategic discursive devices employed in the negotiation of honors, awards, and privileges between local actors and the Spanish Crown. While these petitions did indeed provide the Council of the Indies with information regarding far-flung domains and the undertakings of settlers and missionaries residing therein, the depictions of the Amazonian peoples and landscapes were markedly influenced by the political objectives of the petitions. = This article was originally written in Portuguese.

The Spanish ‘Blue Division’ has received significant historiographical and literary attention. Most research has focused on diplomacy and the role of the Division in fostering diplomatic relations between Spain and Germany during the Second World War. However, the everyday experience of Spanish soldiers on the Eastern Front, the occupation policy of the Blue Division and its role in the Nazi war of extermination remain largely unexplored. It is commonly held that the Spanish soldiers displayed more benign behaviour towards the civilian population than did the Germans. Although this tendency can generally be confirmed, Spanish soldiers were known for stealing, requisitioning and occasional acts of isolated violence; and also for the almost complete absence of collective, organized retaliation. Yet how did Spanish soldiers perceive the enemy, particularly Soviet civilians? To what degree did the better behaviour of Spanish occupying forces towards the civilian population reflect a different view of the enemy, which differed from that of most German soldiers?