64 Facts About Rafael Maroto

Rafael Maroto Yserns was a Spanish general, known both for his involvement on the Spanish side in the wars of independence in South America and on the Carlist side in the First Carlist War.

Rafael Maroto's father was a military captain who held several important positions in civilian life, such as acting as an administrator for the Visitador de Rentas in Lorca.

Rafael Maroto married Antonia Cortes Garcia, a Chilean, in 1816, and had seven children with her.

At the age of 18, Rafael Maroto took part in the conflicts and campaigns of Manuel de Godoy, which were collectively known as the War of the Oranges.

Rafael Maroto fought in the Spanish War of Independence, in which he was wounded and made a prisoner in Zaragoza.

Rafael Maroto then received a position in Peru and later fought in the war against the pro-independence Chileans.

At the age of 11, Rafael Maroto left for Cartagena in the province of Murcia where he joined as a minor subordinate cadet in the Asturias Infantry Regiment in 1794.

Rafael Maroto continued on, adding two years in the Navy of the Department of Ferrol, and later he returned to the Asturias Regiment.

Rafael Maroto fought as a soldier in the Spanish War of Independence against Napoleon's army.

Rafael Maroto defended the city with the batteries that he had at his position, in Santa Catalina and Torres de Cuarte.

Rafael Maroto gained control of Pilar, the batteries of San Jose, Puerta Quemada and Tenerias.

Rafael Maroto made forays from these batteries, often receiving gunfire.

Rafael Maroto was declared a "benemerito de la patria en grado heroico y eminente", roughly "Distinction of the Fatherland, in Heroic and Distinguished Degree".

Osorio succeeded in organizing, along with local elements, a mobile army of some five thousand men, of whom Rafael Maroto's troops were practically the only Spaniards.

The result was that Rafael Maroto's Talaveras, bombarded by the volley of shots, were forced to retreat with heavy losses.

When Rafael Maroto received word several months later that the list that had been sent to Madrid did not include his name, he lodged the appropriate complaint with Abascal, who had not liked the confusing way of proceeding and ended up finding in Rafael Maroto's favor on May 10,1815, granting him the grade of brigadier, backdated to 8 November 1814.

Immediately after, leading two companies, Rafael Maroto headed to Arica to aid in the campaign of Joaquin de la Pezuela in Upper Peru, now Bolivia.

Rafael Maroto, who succeeded in escaping thanks to the speed of his horse, was slightly injured during the retreat.

Pezuela, now the new viceroy, who still didn't much care for Rafael Maroto, considered nonetheless that "if perhaps he was not so skillful a commander in the unfortunate battle of Chacabuco, at the very least he performed with the valour and serenity expected of a Spaniard and an honourable officer," for which he received due consideration.

Rafael Maroto was then sent to Cuzco at the head of two companies from Talavera which had remained in Peru, with instructions to organize a new battalion.

Rafael Maroto Abdon Ignacio, Victor, Candida, and Faustino were born later, the last the child of a maidservant with whom he had a relationship during his stay in Asturias, and whom he did not initially acknowledge, but to whom he had to grant a pension following the accusation formulated by his mother.

The garrison of Potosi rebelled January 1,1821 and Rafael Maroto marched against them, defeating the insurgents and taking the city.

Rafael Maroto was next named by La Serna as chief of one of the three divisions that, under the orders of General Jose de Canterac had to face the invasion by Antonio Jose de Sucre.

Rafael Maroto himself relates in the "Manifiesto razonado de las causas del convenio de Vergara" how and why he joined the Carlist cause.

Rafael Maroto asserts that he decided to follow the pretender to the crown, the Infante Carlos, Count of Molina, brother of king Ferdinand VII's and uncle to the future queen Isabella II because he thought it was the best for Spain, thinking that the possible rule of Don Carlos was better than that of a 3-year-old girl, whose minority would bring forward an unclear regency.

Rafael Maroto confesses that by following an exiled prince, he was almost certain of failure and that the few victories they might achieve would be bleak, inch by inch, without large, spectacular advances, and that in addition they would not be treated as authentic soldiers but as bandits and traitors.

Rafael Maroto was in Toledo as commanding general of that province when he was visited by Ignacio de Negri y Mendizabal, Count of Negri, one of the principal Carlist conspirators of 1833.

Rafael Maroto was asked if, given his position and standing at the head of a garrison, he could carry out a military coup, which would have given great support to the cause.

Rafael Maroto was a proper and loyal man, and this proposal did not seem ethical to him.

Rafael Maroto did not want his enlistment in the Carlist ranks to start with a betrayal of the flag to which he had sworn allegiance, or with a flight.

Rafael Maroto decided to follow a legal path, and started by resigning his command and position within the comandancia general.

Rafael Maroto went to Madrid, where Negri gave him instructions, and where the Carlist party was formally organizing.

Rafael Maroto then proposed to Don Carlos that they proclaim him regent during his brother's illness, but the Infante opposed the idea, "and those who suggested it were not considered loyal servants, because they did not wear habits or cassocks, because they claimed that in earthly matters it was necessary to do something in order that heaven would give help".

Rafael Maroto was taken to prison, where he remained for eight months, throughout which he was gravely ill; he lost nearly all of his eyesight and his hair fell out.

Rafael Maroto rapidly prepared his escape, disguised, helped physically and economically by friends and accompanied and guided on the voyage by some smugglers.

In Portugal, Rafael Maroto demonstrated to Don Carlos his skills as an expert soldier and as a loyal man without courtly ambitions.

Rafael Maroto left England a few days after Don Carlos's retinue had done the same, but to his surprise he was detained and arrested in Calais and from there was brought to Paris, where he was imprisoned in contradiction of all human rights; the arrest was not justified by any crime or lack of documentation.

Rafael Maroto was able effortlessly to go through southern France and arrive at Bordeaux.

When Zumalacarregui was injured in Bilbao, Rafael Maroto received a direct order from Don Carlos to replace him and took command of his army.

However, the written order, manipulated, was confusing and almost contradictory: Don Carlos ordered that Rafael Maroto remain in the army, but under the orders of field marshal Francisco Benito Eraso, until, for reasons of health, the latter retired from the Army of the North.

Rafael Maroto was told to remain patient and in the meantime to obverse the actions of said general, which could be suspicious.

Rafael Maroto confronted the Isabeline general Baldomero Espartero for the first time in the Siege of Bilbao; the citizens of Bilbao had decided to surrender to the Carlists if Espartero's troops weren't able to offer aid.

General Moreno was not a good strategist and soon showed his antagonism against Rafael Maroto, which led to a series of actions that were quite unfortunate from a military point of view.

Rafael Maroto obtained great help from the delegation of the Lordship and from the men of the battalions.

Rafael Maroto gained considerable advantage in skirmishes against the British forces who had disembarked to support the cause of Queen Isabella.

General Rafael Maroto continued defending his encampment around Bilbao as well as he could while pleading for artillery and reinforcements that never arrived.

Rafael Maroto put the battalions in order, expanding their ranks with dispersed soldiers.

Rafael Maroto reestablished discipline and ordered them to construct trenches and works of fortification that covered the city of Estella, giving strict orders to collect all types of foodstuffs.

Rafael Maroto planned the defence of Estella and its surrounding area, ordering the evacuation of villages on the path which Maroto believed Espartero's army would follow, as it was public knowledge that the latter had decided to besiege the town.

Rafael Maroto managed to achieve the general's retreat, subsequently improving the mood and hopes of his people as a result.

Rafael Maroto's idea was to maintain the entire Basque Provinces as a base of support and the residence of the future court of Don Carlos until the gates of Madrid were opened.

Rafael Maroto formed five battalions, increased the cavalry by contracting with foreign horsemen and for some time led skirmishes, defenses and attacks against the royalist troops for the Navarrese lands.

Rafael Maroto signed many death sentences against the principal generals, accusing them of sedition.

Rafael Maroto sent Carmona to Estella as an emissary to communicate his orders to the soldier Francisco Garcia, ringleader of the conspiracy against Rafael Maroto in that city.

Rafael Maroto's orders were that they wait in a determined place, with the entire regiment, in order that he might harangue them.

The chronicles that recount these events record that Rafael Maroto entered Estella in the company only of his escort, but with other forces following him at a distance.

At 8 o'clock in the evening Rafael Maroto received the news that Garcia had been preparing to flee disguised as a priest when he was arrested by Rafael Maroto's men.

Rafael Maroto commanded the battalions to assemble on the Camino Real from Vitoria to Pamplona.

Twenty-five individuals implicated in the attacks on Rafael Maroto were exiled: soldiers, clergy and civilians.

Rafael Maroto insisted that he would do what was best for the good of Spain.

La Torre and Urbiztondo went before the commission without Rafael Maroto and formalized with Espartero the Convention of Vergara, whose first written version still lacked Rafael Maroto's signature, although everything that it expounded was in his name.

Rafael Maroto first attempted to disembark in Peru, but President Ramon Castilla, whose brother had been a Carlist officer in Spain, barred him from entering the country.

Rafael Maroto then headed for Chile, where he still owned an hacienda that he had inherited from his deceased wife.

Rafael Maroto died in Valparaiso, on 25 August 1853, after moving there to receive better medical care for his illness.