Rafael Maroto Yserns (October 15, 1783 – August 25, 1853) 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.
Childhood and early life Maroto was born in the city of Lorca in the Region of Murcia, Spain, to Margarita Isern, a native of Barcelona, and Rafael Maroto, a native of Zamora. His 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.
Maroto was baptized in the San Cristóbal parish church, where his baptismal certificate was preserved and later helped biographers clarify details of his family. During his childhood, he lived on the Calle Mayor (Main street) of the Barrio de San Cristóbal, across from Plaza de la Estrella. He married Antonia Cortés García, a Chilean, in 1816, and had seven children with her. Antonia and two of his daughters died in a shipwreck in 1830 en route to Chile.
At the age of 18, Maroto took part in the conflicts and campaigns of Manuel de Godoy, which were collectively known as the War of the Oranges. He also fought in the Spanish War of Independence, in which he was wounded and made a prisoner in Zaragoza. He then received a position in Peru and later fought in the war against the pro-independence Chileans. However, he was defeated by General José de San Martín in the Battle of Chacabuco (1817). In Spain, he also participated in the First Carlist War and was one of the signers, along with liberal general Baldomero Espartero, of the Convention of Vergara (Convenio de Vergara, also called the Abrazo de Vergara: "embrace of Vergara"), which ended the civil war between Carlists and the Isabelinos with the victory of the latter.
Military career At the age of 11, Maroto left for Cartagena in the province of Murcia where he joined as a minor subordinate cadet in the Asturias Infantry Regiment in 1794. He was promoted to second lieutenant on June 15, 1798.
Portugal and Ferrol
In 1800, he was sent by his superiors to Ferrol, Spain. On 25 August, British forces landed on the beach near A Graña and launched the unsuccessful Ferrol Expedition as part of the War of the Second Coalition. Maroto participated in the repulse of the expedition, for which he was awarded a Shield of Honor. In mid-1801, he served in the War of the Oranges, a successful Franco-Spanish invasion of Portugal. Moroto continued to be stationed for Ferrol for two years before returning to the Asturias Regiment. On 15 October 1806, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Spanish War of Independence Maroto also fought as a soldier in the Spanish War of Independence against Napoleon's army. The French attacked the plaza of Valencia on June 28, 1808. Maroto defended the city with the batteries that he had at his position, in Santa Catalina and Torres de Cuarte (this was the name that was given to it at the time). Forced to surrender to the enemy after a heroic defense, he was recognized with distinction to the mother country and was awarded a Shield of Honor.
On November 23 he took part in the Battle of Tudela in Navarre. On December 24, Monte Torrero and Casa Blanca—suburbs of Zaragoza—were attacked, and shortly after Maroto used bayonets in order to dislodge the enemy that had taken them.
With the grade of captain (promoted September 8), Maroto participated also in the Siege of Zaragoza in 1809. He gained control of Pilar, the batteries of San José, Puerta Quemada and Tenerías. He made forays from these batteries, often receiving gunfire. When the city of Zaragoza was captured, Maroto was made a prisoner of war by the French, but managed to escape. For his heroic acts in Zaragoza he received a Shield of Distinction that held the motto "Recompensa del valor y patriotismo" ("Reward for Valor and Patriotism"). He was declared a "benemérito de la patria en grado heroico y eminente", roughly "Distinction of the Fatherland, in Heroic and Distinguished Degree". On March 9 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
In 1811 he was assigned to the Infantry Regiment of the line in Valencia. On October 24 and 25, he occupied the defense of the attacks against Puzol, Heights of Sagunto Castle, and Murviedro. On October 25, 1812, he defended the lines of Grao, Monte Olivet, Cuarte, the line of Valencia, and the square of the city. When this plaza was captured, he was made a prisoner, along with his regiment, and once again, he seized the opportunity to escape. After these events, he was assigned control of the General Depot of troops destined overseas.
In the Americas
On November 16, 1813, he was named colonel in charge of the Queen's Talavera Regiment. At the head of this unit, he set sail for Peru on December 25, 1813. On April 24, 1814 they disembarked at Callao to aid the Viceroy José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, who had been working arduously to maintain his viceroyalty and the bordering territories under Spanish control. Maroto and his troops, placed under the orders of Brigadier Mariano Osorio, were sent to Chile, which, during the Napoleonic Wars, had risen in rebellion. They embarked July 19, 1814, arriving at the naval base of Talcahuano, the nucleus of royalist activity, August 13. Osorio succeeded in organizing, along with local elements, a mobile army of some five thousand men, of whom Maroto's troops were practically the only Spaniards.
On October 1, the insurgents started to battle in Rancagua in an attempt to prevent the expeditionaries from taking Santiago. Maroto, manifesting a disdain for his opponents typical of officials recently arrived in the Americas, ordered his troops to attack the enemy fortifications without bothering to send in either scouts or guerrillas. The result was that Maroto's Talaveras, bombarded by the volley of shots, were forced to retreat with heavy losses. On the next day, Bernardo O'Higgins managed to make his way past the royal troops and retreat to the capital, where his opponents entered without resistance a few days later. Whether due to a belief that Maroto had conducted himself clumsily in battle or due to other, unknown reasons, although the list of officials who ought to be promoted after the latest victories sent by Osorio to viceroy Abascal included Maroto's name, the messenger who delivered the list nonetheless had confidential instructions to let Abascal know that Osorio believed that Maroto should not be promoted. When 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 Maroto's favor on May 10, 1815, granting him the grade of brigadier, backdated to 8 November 1814.
During his stay in Santiago, Maroto entered into a relationship with Antonia Cortés, who belonged to a noble and wealthy family of the local oligarchy; they married at the end of March 1815, just before he left Santiago, a place which he apparently did not find particularly to his taste. Immediately after, leading two companies, Maroto headed to Arica to aid in the campaign of Joaquín de la Pezuela in Upper Peru, now Bolivia. On July 15 he joined his troops, but he did not remain with them long because, for unknown reasons, Pezuela sued him and sent him to Lima. The trial was interrupted through the mediation of Abascal, who convinced Pezuela that it wasn't worth the trouble to continue. After spending some time in Lima, Maroto returned to Chile, whose command had fallen back into the hands of Field Marshal Casimiro Marcó del Pont, with whom he soon fell in disfavor.
At the beginning of February 1817 the troops of José de San Martín crossed the Andes to put an end to Spanish dominion in Chile. In the face of the disintegration of the royalist forces, Maroto proposed abandoning the capital and retreating southward, where they could hold out and obtain resources for a new campaign. The military conference called by Marcó on February 8 adopted Maroto's strategy, but the following morning the captain changed his mind and ordered Maroto to prepare for battle in Chacabuco. The night before the combat, Antonio de Quintanilla, who would later distinguish himself extraordinarily in the defense of Chiloé Archipelago, confided with another official regarding the ill-chosen strategy and that, given the position of the insurgents, the royalist forces ought to retreat a few leagues towards the hills of Colina: "Maroto overheard this conversation from a nearby chamber and either couldn't or refused to hear me because of his pride and self-importance, called on an attendant with his notorious hoarse voice and proclaimed a general decree on pain of death, to whoever suggested a retreat." Although Maroto and his troops fought with valor, the battle turned into a complete defeat. Maroto, who succeeded in escaping thanks to the speed of his horse, was slightly injured during the retreat.
After another military conference in Santiago, Maroto, his wife, and most of the troops left for Valparaíso, from where they sailed to Peru. Pezuela, now the new viceroy, who still didn't much care for 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,""si no dirigió con acierto la desgraciada batalla de Chacabuco, al menos se portó con el valor y serenidad propios de un español y pundonoroso oficial" for which he received due consideration. 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. Unhappy with everything and everybody,Correspondencia de Rafael Maroto on February 22, 1818 he was appointed President and Head of Government of the City and Province of Charcas, in Upper Peru, a village far removed from war, where he performed a notable administrative labor. After the 1820 Revolution in Spain, and once having received appropriate stipulation, Maroto proclaimed the ConstitutionThe Spanish Constitution of 1812 had been abolished by Fernando VII and during his reign it was in effect only during the three years of the Trienio Liberal. in Charcas October 23, 1820. Four of his children were born and baptized in Charcas: Manuel María Rafael, María del Carmen Agustina, Margarita Antonia, and Justa María Mercedes Rufina. Rafael Abdón Ignacio, Víctor, Cándida, 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 Potosí rebelled January 1, 1821 and Maroto marched against them, defeating the insurgents and taking the city. Nonetheless, on the arrival of General Pedro Antonio Olañeta, who as deputy of the viceroy exercised his authority throughout Upper Peru, he was ordered to return to Charcas. After a heated argument, Maroto complied with the orders he'd received. The disagreements between the two were further amplified when, during the brief invasion of Upper Peru by Andrés de Santa Cruz, Maroto refused to comply with the orders of Olañeta, who protested hotly against him to viceroy José de la Serna, stating, among other things, that "ever since this man set foot in America, he has done nothing but foment insubordination and express ill against the authorities.""desde que este señor puso los pies en América, no ha hecho más que fomentar la insubordinación y expresarse mal contra las autoridades" The viceroy, who did not have excessive confidence in Olañeta, opted to promote both to the rank of field marshal, despite the fact that Olañeta had played only a limited role in the campaign, and Maroto none at all.