| Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Blas de Lezo in the Naval Museum of Madrid |
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| Nickname | "Patapalo" (Pegleg), "Mediohombre" (Half-man). |
| Born | 3 February 1689 Pasaia, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain |
| Died | 7 September 1741 Cartagena de Indias, Colombia |
| Allegiance | Spain |
| Service/branch | Spanish Navy |
| Years of service | 1704–1741 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Battles/wars | War of the Spanish Succession War of Jenkins' Ear |
Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta (3 February 1689 – 7 September 1741), also known as "Patapalo" (Pegleg), and later as "Mediohombre" (Half-man) for the many wounds suffered in his long military life, was a Spanish admiral, and one of the greatest strategists and commanders in the history of the Spanish Navy. He is best known for leading the defence of Cartagena in 1741.
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Born in Pasajes, Guipúzcoa, Basque Country of 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 threw back the combined forces of Britain and Netherlands at the Battle of Vélez Málaga. There Lezo lost his left leg. He received a cannon-shot and he had his leg amputated under the knee without anesthesia and without saying a word or making a noise. Promoted to ensign, he was present at the battles off Peñíscola, Spain and Palermo in Sicily; his service in these and other actions resulted in his promotion to ship's lieutenant. The defense of Toulon cost him his left eye. He demonstrated a shrewd command in a number of convoys, deceiving the Royal Navy off east Spanish coast. In 1711 he served in the Navy under the orders of Andrés de Pez. In 1713 he was promoted to captain. In 1714 he lost his right arm in the Siege of Barcelona. Later in this campaign, at the head of one frigate, he captured eleven British ships, including the Stanhope.
At the conclusion of the War of Spanish Succession he was entrusted with the command of the flagship Lanfranco and with it the control and generalship of the South Seas Fleet on February 16, 1723. He destroyed and drove out British and Dutch pirates from the Pacific coasts of the Americas, and captured twelve ships. He was married in Peru in 1725.
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 menaced the city with bombardment.
In 1732, on board the Santiago, he and José Carrillo de Albornoz commanded an expedition to Oran with 54 ships and 30,000 men and recaptured the city from the Ottoman Empire. Bay Hassan managed to reunite his troops and surrounded the city; 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's 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.
In 1734 the king promoted him to General Lieutenant of the Navy. He returned to America with the ships Fuerte and Conquistador in 1737 as General Commander of Cartagena de Indias, a city that he had to defend against the British admiral Edward Vernon in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1741), which proved a turning point in the War of Jenkins' Ear. The complex series of ship to ship skirmishes, sieges and land battles against overwhelming forces lasted sixty-seven days. It was de Lezo's finest victory.
Also, Defending Cartagena from Vernon, he only had six ships and 2,830 men, including soldiers, free slaves and civil population. Vernon had 186 ships and 25,000 men when -from the sea and land- surrounded the city. An army only in second place after Normandy during World War II. Facing all these difficulties, it was a victory for Blas de Lezo, who had missed an eye, an arm and a leg in previous battles.
The defeat of the British invasion force assured the preservation of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Blas de Lezo contracted the plague and died at Cartagena de Indias that year. His burial site remains lost to history.
Several Spanish warships have been named Blas de Lezo in his honour including:
The Colombian Navy also had a ship named after Blas de Lezo
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blas_de_Lezo_%28F-103%29