Enrique MacDonnell y de Gonde (–1823) was a Spanish Navy officer known for his participation in several sea battles, including the Battle of Trafalgar.
He was born either in Ireland. González-Aller Hierro, José Ignacio. "Enrique Macdonnell y de Gonde". Historia Hispánico. Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 18 March 2025. or in Pontevedra, Spain into a prominent Irish-Spanish family, though his naval records state his origin as Irish. His father was a Spanish Army brigadier-general and colonel of the Irish Regiment of Irlanda, and his mother a lady-in-waiting to the royal household.
Spelling of surname Although his surname is often spelt MacDonell, it is signed as MacDonnell in his letters and reports to the admiralty, and appears as such in his biography at Spain's Royal Academy of History.
Irish family origins In the Central Archive of the Spanish Armada, he is listed as an Irish citizen. Few details exist of his youth, but his family had Irish origins and kept strong Irish connections.Nuestro Tiempo, Madrid, August 1908, Biography His grandfather was born in Dublin, and his grandmother was from Cork; they fled to Spain to escape the religious persecution in Ireland.
Army career His immediate family included several officers in the Spanish Army, and following that tradition, he entered his father's regiment, one of the Irish regiments of Spain's army, in 1760, aged seven. In 1764, he transferred to another Irish regiment, Regimento de Infantería de Ultonia, and was promoted to second lieutenant. MacDonnell was promoted to infantry lieutenant in 1769 and then to the rank of captain in 1774, before requesting a transfer to the Spanish Navy. In 1775, he was named a Knight of the Order of Santiago.
Early naval career
MacDonnell had a notable naval career, serving in several major engagements, including the battles of Roatán and Trafalgar. He was injured on several occasions but progressed through the ranks from Sub-Lieutenant to Vice-Admiral.
In July 1776, he joined the Spanish Navy as a sub-lieutenant and was assigned to the frigate as part of a mission against the Algerians in the squadron of Captain Felix de Tejada. In September, he was transferred within the squadron to the 34-gun frigate Nuestra Señora del Carmén. In November, Nuestra Señora del Carmen and her accompanying ships fought and burned two Algerian xebecs in Melilla Cove.
On 28 February 1777, he was promoted to lieutenant, and in April, his next posting was as lieutenant in command of the xebec Pilar, initially bound for Corsica. He later served in the West Indies. During this time, he was injured in a battle with a larger British ship before returning to Cádiz. MacDonnell was briefly assigned to the ships San Isidro and Andoluz in December 1778.
In February 1779, upon recovery from his injuries, he was posted to the 34-gun frigate . It was part of a six-ship squadron patrolling the Azores searching for a British squadron of 4–5 ships traveling from South America. The Spanish never made this interception, but on 11 September the squadron spotted a lone British ship off Terceira Island in the Azores. Santa Maria Magdalena and another frigate gave chase, but the British ship escaped as nightfall arrived. The frigates became separated from the fleet and sailed back towards Spain alone.Archive of the Spanish armada admiralty On 15 August 1779, Santa Maria Magdalena captured the British 10-gun privateer Duke Of Cornwall off Cape St Vincent by disguising herself as a merchant ship. The privateer surrendered after the first Spanish warning salvo.
MacDonnell was on board the 30-gun ship Andaluz as part of a convoy to Havana led by Don Jose De Solano transporting troops from the Regimento de Infantería de Hibernia to Cuba, arriving in August 1780.
In April 1781, he boarded the 74-gun ship , and participated in the Siege of Pensacola, where he went ashore with a detachment of marines and was wounded in action. Once recovered, on 4 August he was promoted and he received the command of the sloop , with the rank of commander (captain de frigata).
MacDonnell was one of the commanding officers in the March 1782 Battle of Roatán. He is recorded in Spanish Naval Gazettes as being in command of one of the frigates. Elsewhere, his role has been described as a dual role, as the second-in-command on the 40-gun but also as captain of one of the accompanying frigates. When the British defenders refused to surrender, MacDonnell who spoke fluent English and French was chosen to row ashore to offer terms of surrender. They were rejected. The Spanish stormed the island and took control after a short but fierce battle. The defenders surrendered on 17 March and 81 soldiers were taken on board the Spanish ships as prisoners. On 26 May, he took command of the sloop Santa Ana and transferred 400 soldiers from Trujillo, Colón, to the River Tinto in Honduras and other British settlements along that coast. This helped to take possession of them. He left Santa Ana and returned to Trujillo and was back on Santa Matilde. He moved to Havana and he took command of the Andaluz and was promoted to full captain on 23 June 1782.
In February 1783, he took command of the corvette . On 25 November, it left Havana en route to Spain. On 4 December, it engaged in a fierce battle against a heavier-armed British privateer north of Bermuda, sinking it. Diligencia travelled onwards to Cádiz, Spain.
He was in the admiralty in Madrid for first nine months of 1784 before taking brief command of the 74-gun and sailing it to Ferrol to be decommissioned.Nuestro Tiempo, Madrid - August 1908, Biography
MacDonnell returned to Cádiz in July 1787 and was appointed to the position of port captain in autumn of that year briefly and reappointed from May 1788 to March 1789. Whilst based in Cádiz he applied to join for the Swedish Navy after securing permission to do so from the Spanish Navy.
Swedish Navy and return to Spain
During the summer of 1789 MacDonnell joined the Swedish Navy to take part in the Russo-Swedish War and was assigned command of the hemmema Oden with Måns von Rosenstein. During the 1789 Battle of Svensksund he had a ten-and-a-half-hour cannonade battle with several Russian ships. MacDonnell eventually surrendered after becoming surrounded by seven ships. Having already lost one-third of his crew and with only four cannons still operating, he was badly injured himself. He was taken as a prisoner of war in St Petersburg. Upon his release he was awarded military honours by Gustav III of Sweden. He was reportedly offered the supreme command of the entire Swedish Navy with 35 ships and 20,000 sailors. He declined the position as a condition of his early release from Russia was that he would not go to war with Russia again. Correspondence with the King of Spain approved his decision to decline the offer. He did remain as a naval advisor to the king sitting on his war council.
In July 1791, he returned to Spain, taking command of the 68/64-gun conducting operations off the coast of Morocco until December.
MacDonnell was captain of the 60-gun from 5 May to 31 August 1793 and sailed with a fleet of 24 ships under the command of Don Francisco De Borja, in the Campaign of Sardinia. The fleet succeeded in the Capture of San Pietro and Sant'Antioco islands. Heavily outnumbered, the French garrison of 800 men and 400 sailors surrendered without a battle, and the 36-gun frigate was captured. From August 1793 until January 1794, he was captain of the 74-gun , with Admiral De Borja's fleet.
On 25 January 1794, he was promoted to commodore. In August 1794, he was commodore of the 94-gun . Sailing from Cádiz it travelled to Havana and the Sea of the Antilles in the squadron of Amistizabal before leaving Havana in February 1795 with the ship and both returning to Cádiz arriving in April 1795 laden with money, gold and goods.
In May 1795 he was commodore aboard the 80-gun . It was a short command and in February 1796 he passed command of San Nicholas de Bari to Commordore Tomas Geraldino, who later died on board during a battle with Horatio Nelson's ship in the 1797 Battle of Cape St. Vincent. Geraldino and MacDonnell were his colleagues while living in Cádiz.
He changed ship to Angel de la Guarda and returned to Havana. During this time, he was brought before his superiors following a dispute with a lieutenant, Fernando Morillo. The case was dismissed and he once again returned to Spain in 1799. That year he was made a Commander de Palmoas en la Order Santiago.
Retirement and return In 1800, MacDonnell was in Spain and the following year, he retired from the navy with the honorary use of his uniform and rank.
He wrote the Coordinated offensive plan of land and sea against the United States of America in 1804. It was submitted to Minister Dom Grandallana, returned apparently unread or uncommented upon. The plan submitted to the Spanish Admiralty for a full-scale war and invasion of the United States, involving naval and ground battles. Spain was becoming increasingly concerned at the growth of American power. The Third Coalition and the 1808 French destruction of the Spanish naval fleet saw this plan withdrawn.
In 1805 MacDonnell came out of retirement and rejoined the navy and fought at the Battle of Trafalgar commanding the 100-gun . After the battle, he led a sortie alongside Julien Cosmao to try and recapture Spanish and French ships captured during the battle. They managed to recapture two prizes that had been abandoned by the British, but lost three ships of the line (including Rayo) and one recaptured prize in the storm that followed the battle. Three more prizes rose up against their prize crews and tried to sail back to Spain, though only one managed to do so. The sortie also captured 150 members of British prize crews, which resulted in a prisoner exchange between the Spanish and French and the British several days later. He was promoted to rear-admiral the following fortnight on 8 November.
Battle of Trafalgar In 1804, Federico Gravina was short of senior officers and MacDonnell volunteered to come out of retirement. Both men wrote to the Spanish admiralty at the same time seeking his reappointment. MacDonnell offered to take any rank the navy considered suitable but he was reinstated as commodore. Gravina appointed him commodore of Rayo.
Before the battle itself, a war council meeting of the fourteen leading Franco-Spanish admirals and commodores was held on Pierre-Charles Villeneuve's ship in Cádiz's port. MacDonnell, a French speaker, was chosen as one of the seven senior Spanish naval officers on the Spanish side. It was a meeting that got very argumentative with raised voices.
Despite Spanish warnings, Villeneuve in command of the combined fleet, decided to put to sea on 21 October. On leaving port the fleet encountered Nelson's fleet which attacked and began the Battle of Trafalgar. At the battle Rayo was positioned in the rearguard. Due to the weak wind conditions Rayo initially found it difficult to turn and join the battle. Later MacDonnell ignored the orders of the French commodore in charge of the rearguard and was one of only two ships from the rearguard that turned back to join the centre of battle.
Rayo had four deaths during the battle and its mast was seriously damaged. After the battle at sunset Rayo escaped capture and MacDonnell was the highest-ranking Spanish officer to escape the battle uninjured and return to Cádiz.
Post-Trafalgar sortie