1. Field Marshal Demetrio O'Daly was the first Puerto Rican to attain the rank of Field Marshal in the Spanish Army.
16 Facts About Demetrio O'Daly
1. 2.
Demetrio O'Daly was awarded the Cruz Cruz Laureada de San Fernando, the highest military decoration bestowed by the Spanish government.
3.
Demetrio O'Daly lived there with his parents, Tomas O'Daly and Maria de la Puente y Franco, and his older brother and sister.
4.
Demetrio O'Daly's father, Tomas, was a colonel in the Spanish Army Corps of Engineers.
5.
Demetrio O'Daly was sent to Puerto Rico to revamp the El Morro fort, which was then known as the Castle of Saint Philip.
6.
Demetrio O'Daly's father went on to become a successful businessman, playing a key role in the growth of commercial agriculture.
7.
Demetrio O'Daly received his early education at private schools, and as he grew older, he was sent to Spain, where he received training at a military education institute.
8.
Demetrio O'Daly was a Sergeant Major in the army when he participated in the 1809 Peninsular War, known as the Spanish War of Independence, after the Napoleonic Invasion of 1808 and the kidnapping of both king Charles IV and Prince Ferdinand, later king Ferdinand VII.
9.
Demetrio O'Daly was elected as senior MP for his native Captainship General of Puerto Rico.
10.
Demetrio O'Daly and Riego stopped the army from sailing and went to Madrid.
11.
Demetrio O'Daly was responsible for the Act of Parliament which created the position of Military and Civil Governor in all Spanish provinces worldwide.
12.
In 1823, when the Trienio Liberal ends, Demetrio O'Daly was exiled by the king and went to live in London.
13.
Demetrio O'Daly later went to the Danish island of Saint Thomas with the intention of returning to Puerto Rico.
14.
However, and due to his participation and fumble in the 1820 Revolt of the Colonels which meant the loss of the South American kingdoms, on May 15,1824, Lieutenant General Miguel Luciano de La Torre y Pando, the governor of Puerto Rico issued an order for his arrest in the event that Demetrio O'Daly returned to the island.
15.
Demetrio O'Daly died in Madrid, the capital of Spain, in 1837.
16.
Demetrio O'Daly redacted, censored and doctored the 400 years of Puerto Rican history.