Blas de Lezo

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This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Lezo
and the second or maternal family name is Olavarrieta.
Blas de Lezo
Don Blas de Lezo -Museo Naval-.jpg
Portrait of Lezo, Museo Naval de Madrid
Birth name Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta
Born February 3, 1689
Pasajes, Guipúzcoa, Spain
Died September 7, 1741 (aged 52)
Cartagena de Indias, New Granada
Allegiance Bandera de España 1701-1760.svg Kingdom of Spain
Service/branch Royal Spanish Navy
Years of service 1704–1741
Rank Admiral
Battles/wars War of the Spanish Succession
Battle of Málaga
First Siege of Barcelona
Battle of Toulon
Second Siege of Barcelona
Spanish-Algerian War

Spanish conquest of Oran

War of the Austrian Succession

War of Jenkins' Ear

Battle of Cartagena de Indias
Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta, KOGF, OHS (3 February 1689 – 7 September 1741)
was a Spanish navy officer best remembered for the Battle of Cartagena de Indias
(1741) in modern-day Colombia, where Spanish imperial forces under his command
decisively defeated a large British invasion fleet under Admiral Edward Vernon.

Throughout his naval career, Lezo sustained many severe wounds; he lost his left
eye, left hand, complete mobility of the right arm, caught Typhoid fever and had
his left leg amputated in situ after being hit by the projectile of a cannon.[1]
Such injuries earned him the nicknames Captain Pegleg and Half-man, both
referencing his consequential physical attributes.[2] This has led to Lezo being
thought of as a model for the stereotypical peglegged pirate common in modern
fantasy novels.[3]

Lezo's actions at Cartagena de Indias consolidated his legacy as one of the most
heroic figures in the history of Spain and he has thus been promoted as one of the
greatest strategists in naval history.[4][5]

Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Early missions and injuries
1.2 First posting to the Americas
1.3 Return to the Mediterranean
1.4 General Commander and Battle of Cartagena de Indias
1.5 Death and blame
2 Legacy
3 Recent publications
3.1 Arms
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links
Biography
Early missions and injuries
Born in Pasajes (by then still part of San Sebastián), in the Basque Province of
Guipúzcoa in Spain, Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta commenced his naval career in the
French navy in 1701 as a midshipman. In 1704 he fought in the War of Spanish
Succession as a crew member in the Franco-Spanish fleet which fought the combined
forces of Great Britain and the Netherlands at the indecisive Battle of Vélez
Málaga. At this time, his left leg was hit by cannon-shot and was later amputated
under the knee.[6] Promoted to ensign, he was present at the relief of Peñíscola,
Spain, and Palermo in Sicily; his service in these and other actions resulted in
his promotion to ship lieutenant. Participating in the 1707 defence of the French
naval base of Toulon cost him his left eye. In 1711 he served in the Spanish Navy
under the orders of Andrés de Pez. In 1713 he was promoted to captain. In 1714 he
lost use of his right arm in the Siege of Barcelona. Later in this campaign, his
ship captured the Stanhope commanded by John Combes, sometimes claimed to be a 70-
gun but actually just a 20-gun merchantman.[7]

Thus, by age 25 or 27, depending on the sources, de Lezo had lost his left eye, his
left leg below the knee, and the use of his right arm.[8][9] Modern sources often
focus on these salient features and refer to Lezo with nicknames such as "Patapalo"
(Pegleg) and "Mediohombre" (Half-man). There is no contemporary proof that these
(or others) were actually used during Lezo's lifetime.

A 19th-century depiction of Blas de Lezo's frigate towing its prize, the Stanhope
(ca. 1710)
First posting to the Americas
Lezo served in the Pacific in 1720-1728. Although it has been claimed that he took
many prizes during this period, documentary evidence indicates that in fact he took
only two French frigates and not in the Pacific but in the Atlantic. He reached
Callao with them in January 1720 although he had left Spain in 1716 as second-in-
command of the Nuestra Señora del Carmen or Lanfranco as part of the expedition
commanded by Juan Nicolás de Martinet. He was separated from the expedition while
attempting to sail past Cape Horn. The prizes attributed to Lezo were taken by
Martinet, who reached Callao in June 1717 and left the Pacific in 1719 before
Lezo's arrival.[10] Lezo married in Peru in 1725.

Return to the Mediterranean

In 1730 he returned to Spain and was promoted to chief of the Mediterranean Fleet;
with this force he went to the Republic of Genoa to enforce the payment of two
million pesos owed to Spain that had been retained in the Bank of San Jorge.
Deeming the honour of the Spanish flag to be at stake, Blas de Lezo threatened the
city with bombardment.

In 1732, on board the Santiago, he and José Carrillo de Albornoz commanded the
enormous expedition to Oran and Mers-el-Kébir with more than 300 ships and around
28,000 troops, comprising infantry, cavalry and artillery. In the Battle of Aïn-el-
Turk they recaptured the cities lost to the Ottoman Empire in 1708. After the
defeat, Bey Abu l-Hasan Ali I managed to reunite his troops and surrounded the city
of Oran. Lezo returned to its aid with six ships and 5,000 men and managed to drive
off the Algerian pirate after a hard fight. Dissatisfied with this he took his 60-
gun flagship into the corsair's refuge of Mostaganem Bay, a bastion defended by two
forts and 4,000 Moors. He inflicted heavy damage on the forts and town. In the
following months he established a naval blockade, preventing the Algerians from
receiving reinforcements from Istanbul, thereby gaining valuable time for the
securing of Oran's defense, until an epidemic forced him to return to Cadiz.
General Commander and Battle of Cartagena de Indias
Main article: Battle of Cartagena de Indias
In 1734 the king promoted him to Lieutenant General of the Navy. He returned to
South America with the ships Fuerte and Conquistador in 1737 as General Commander
of the Spanish fleet stationed at Cartagena de Indias, in modern-day Colombia. He
took up his new post just prior to the conflict between Great Britain and Spain
that would become known as the War of Jenkins' Ear and that would later be subsumed
into the War of Austrian Succession.

Monument to Lezo in Columbus Square, Madrid

In the early stages of the conflict, the British Admiral Edward Vernon undertook
attacks on various Spanish outposts in America. One early victory involved the
capture of Portobelo (Panama), the dismantling of its fortifications and the
withdrawal of British forces having left the place defenceless.

Statue of Blas de Lezo in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

Admiral Vernon tested Cartagena de Indias on three separate occasions. Both Vernon
and Edward Trelawny, British governor of Jamaica, considered the Spanish gold
shipping port to be a prime objective. The first attempt, in March 1740, was
essentially a reconnaissance in force by a squadron including ships of the line,
two fire ships, three bomb vessels, and transport ships. Vernon's intention was to
gather information on topography and troop strength and to provoke a response that
might give him a better idea of the defensive capabilities of the Spanish.

In May, Vernon returned to Cartagena de Indias in charge of 13 warships, with the

intention of probing the city's defences.

The actual attack on Cartagena de Indias took place on March 13-May 20, 1741. The
British concentrated a fleet consisting of 196 ships, including 2,620 artillery
pieces and more. There were 10,000 soldiers, 12,600 sailors, 1,000 Jamaican slaves
and 4000 recruits from Virginia. The defences of Cartagena de Indias comprised
between 3,000 and 6,000 combatants, including regular troops, militia, Indian
archers and the crews of six Spanish warships. Blas de Lezo's advantages consisted
of a formidable primary fortress and numerous secondary fortifications.

On the evening of April 19, the British mounted an assault in force upon San
Felipe. Three columns of grenadiers supported by Jamaicans and several British
companies moved under cover of darkness, with the aid of an intense naval
bombardment. The British fought their way to the base of the fort's ramparts but
were unable to overcome the defence and withdrew. After comprehensively destroying
the forts in their possession, the British began an orderly withdrawal back to
Jamaica.

Following the news of the disaster Robert Walpole's government soon collapsed.[11]
Spain retained control over its most strategically important colonies, including
the vitally crucial port in the Caribbean that helped secure the defense of the
Spanish Main and its trans-Atlantic trade with Spain.

News of Britain's defeat reached Europe at the end of June, 1741 and had immense
repercussions. It caused George II of Great Britain, who had been acting as
mediator between Frederick the Great of Prussia and Maria Theresa supporting
Austria over Prussian seizure of Silesia in December 1740, to withdraw Britain's
guarantees of armed support for the Pragmatic Sanction. That encouraged France and
Spain, the Bourbon allies, revealed to also be allied with Prussia, to move
militarily against a now isolated Austria.[12] A greater and wider war, the War of
the Austrian Succession, now began.
Death and blame
Lezo died four months after the siege was raised and a contemporary source
indicates that the cause of death was epidemic typhus: "unas calenturas, que en
breves días se le declaró tabardillo".[13] The site of his grave is unknown.[14]

Blas de Lezo was blamed[by whom?] for not having used his naval forces to full
effect and for having sunk his own ships to no gain and at an immense cost to the
Crown.[citation needed] He was later honoured for his part in the siege of
Cartagena de Indias as a square and an avenue in the city of Cartagena are named
after him. A modern statue stands in front of the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas.
In 2011, during a conference on Blas de Lezo's place in history and honouring the
270th anniversary of Cartagena de Indias' defence, a plaque was placed on the wall
at the Plaza de los Coches, by the Clock Tower portal.[15] And in November 2014, a
35,000 kilo statue of Lezo was erected in Madrid's Plaza Colón.[16]

Legacy

Blas de Lezo (F-103) in Tallinn

Several Spanish warships have been named Blas de Lezo in his honour, including:

An Elcano-class cruiser, named General Lezo, built in 1884.

A Blas de Lezo-class cruiser built in 1924, sunk in a shipwreck in 1932.
The former USS Noa (DD-841) a Gearing-class destroyer – 1978 to 1991.
An Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate, F103 was built at the Spanish Izar shipyard and
launched in May 2003. She was commissioned in December 2004 and has a displacement
of 5,800 tonnes. During the Neptune Warrior exercises off Scotland in September
2007 she suffered damage after a "slight grounding". After the incident, her
Captain, Federico Supervielle, was relieved of his command.[17]
The Colombian Navy also had a ship named after Blas de Lezo:

ARC Blas de Lezo (BT-62), acquired: 26 November 1947, Struck: January 1965. This
ship was the former USS Kalamazoo (AOG-30), a Mettawee-class gasoline tanker.
In 2013 the Naval Museum of Madrid organised an exhibition on Blas de Lezo,
including portraits, uniforms and layouts of battle plans.[18]

Recent publications

Unknown oil on canvas of Blas de Lezo.

Francisco Hernando Muñoz Atuesta, compiler of "Diarios de ofensa y defensa" has
shown that it has "traditionally been affirmed that the English King forbade any
writing on the failure of his armed forces at Cartagena de Indias, which is
absolutely false". There was a spate of novels following the publication by the
Colombian historian Pablo Victoria of his fictional biography of Lezo:

Francisco Hernando Muñoz Atuesta (2015), Diarios de Ofensa y Defensa. Ataque inglés
sobre Cartagena de Indias" (Diaries of Offense and Defense. English attack on
Cartagena de Indias). Ediciones Genealogía e Historia. Bogotá. Colombia.
Carlos Alonso Mendizábal (2008), Blas de Lezo, el malquerido ("Blas de Lezo, the
unloved one"), Dossoles, Burgos.
Ramiro Ribas Narváez (2009), La conjura de la mentira. Derrota de Inglaterra en
Cartagena de Indias ("Conspiracy of lies: the defeat of England at Cartagena de
Indias"), Akrón.
Alber Vázquez (2010), Mediohombre. La batalla que Inglaterra ocultó al mundo
("Half-man: the battle that England hid from the world"), Inédita Editores.
Felipe Blasco Patiño (2010), El hombre sin rey. ¿Pudo un solo hombre cambiar el
destino de América? El desastre de la Armada Invencible inglesa ("The man without a
king: could one man change the fate of America? The 'invincible' English fleet
meets disaster"), Bohodón Ediciones, Madrid.
Santiago Iglesias de Paúl (2011), El marino que cazaba lagartos... y que luchó
junto a Blas de Lezo ("The sailor who hunted lizards... and fought alongside Blas
de Lezo"), JM Ediciones.
Orlando Name Bayona (2012), Blas de Lezo. El almirante patapalo. ¡Anka Motz! ("Blas
de Lezo: the pegleg admiral"), Oveja negra.
Juan Antonio Pérez-Foncea (2012), El héroe del Caribe. La última batalla de Blas de
Lezo ("The Caribbean hero: Blas de Lezo's last battle"), Libroslibres.
José Vicente Pascual (2013), Almirante en tierra firme. La aventura de Blas de
Lezo, el español que derrotó a Inglaterra ("Admiral on dry land: the adventures of
Blas de Lezo, the Spaniard who defeated England"), Áltera, Madrid.
Francisco Javier Romero Valentín (2013), El paisano de Jamaica ("The Jamaican
compatriot"), Amazon Media.
David López (2013), El aventurero Vivar ("Vivar the adventurer"), Rocaeditorial.
Víctor San Juan (2014), Morirás por Cartagena ("You shall die for Cartagena"),
Punto de Vista Editores.
Rafael Vidal & José Pablo García (2014), Blas de Lezo. El marino invicto ("Blas de
Lezo: the undefeated sailor").
Pablo Victoria (2014), Los amores prohibidos de Cecilita Caxiao. La extraña
historia de cómo se salvó el diario de guerra de Blas de Lezo ("The forbidden loves
of Cecilita Caxiao: the strange story of how Blas de Lezo's war diary was saved"),
Amazon Media.
Fernando de Artacho (2015), El almirante Mediohombre ("Admiral Half-man"), Algaida,
Sevilla.