| Sebastián Kindelán y Oregón | |
|---|---|
| 6th governor of Spanish East Florida | |
| In office 1797–1805 |
|
| Preceded by | Juan José de Estrada |
| Succeeded by | Juan José de Estrada |
| 4th colonial governor of Second Spanish Colony of Santo Domingo (1809-1821) | |
| In office 1805–1808 |
|
| Preceded by | Carlos de Urrutia y Matos |
| Succeeded by | Pascual Real |
| 71st Governor of Cuba | |
| In office 1809–1817 |
|
| Preceded by | Nicolás de Mahy y Romo |
| Succeeded by | Francisco Dionisio Vives |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1763 Ceuta, Spain |
| Died | 1836 Cuba |
| Profession | Political and colonel |
Sebastian Kindelán y O’Regan, also called Sebastián Kindelan y Oregón, (1763–1836) was a Spanish colonel of the Spanish Army and governor of East Florida (1812–1815), the Dominican Republic (1818–1821) and Cuba (1822–1823).
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Sebastián Kindelán y Oregón was born the December 30, 1757 in Ceuta, Spain. He was the son of Vicente Kindelan Luttrell of Lubrellitorn and Maria Francisca O’Regan. His father was an Irishman who settled in Spain and he held the positions of the Royal Army Brigadier and military governor of Zamora. His mother came from Barcelona but she probably descended of Irish.[1] He had a brother, Juan O´Kindelan y O´Regan and a sister, Maria de la Concepcion Kindelan O´Regan.[2] Kindelán y Oregón joined the Spanish Army as a Cadet on 18 November 1768. During this time he was a soldier of the infantry regiment of the square of Santiago de Cuba. Later, he reached to colonel. He commanded the "Regiment Joseph Napoleon".[3]
In July 1798 he was appointed political and military governor of Cuba in a very sensitive time for the situation of the island. Some residents of Cuba reported through a expedient, dated February 19, 1804, the dangerous situation of island, yet that it was establishing a relationship of understanding between blacks, mulattos and whites French of Santo Domingo -latter already was some twenty or twenty two thousand in the island and bought land in Cuba to settle- . In the expedient spoke of his atheism and they accused of leading a licentious life and dishonest and of be a bad example. But Kindelan defended the French and the said that they was peaceful people who had no intention of inciting a revolution as which took place in Santo Domingo. In a letter dated May 17, 1804, he left a record of the attacks on the British colonies by Privateers based in Cuba. He then requested a reassignment, and he was transferred to East Florida on September 22, 1811. He was promoted to Brigadier of Infantry in December of this year. In June 1812, Sebastian Kindelan y Oregon was officially named Royal Governor of the Spanish part of Florida.[4] In those moments, groups of Georgians tried to capture Florida in 1812 and transferred to the United States. The Seminoles and their "vassals" blacks came to the aid of Spain. The Spanish governor Sebastian Kindelan, bet black militia members in the Seminole villages and heads Payne and Bowlegs accounted for this by sending some of his warriors to fight alongside the Spanish as a gesture of goodwill. Kindelan Governor expressed his satisfaction when the Chief Bowlegs took two hundred of his men to fight alongside the Spanish in the St. Johns River, but he complained that every time the Seminoles captured a slave, a horse or anything else value, they left the field to try to secure the catch in their villages, so its use was only temporary. Like his predecessors, Gov. Kindelan used black translators, such as free mulatto militia Benjamin Wiggins and slave Tony Proctor, "the best translator of Indian languages in the province, to promote Spanish-Black alliance-India. Tony Proctor, in July 1812, traveled to the Seminole village of La Chua to meet with the head Payne, and he recruited and several hundred of his warriors to assist the Spanish.[5] He left the position of Governor of la Florida in June 1815. In this year he served as Attaché to the General officer Staff of Cuba, but on 12 August that same year was given the rank of Lieutenant of King in Havana.[4] Three years later, in 1818, he was elected acting governor of the Dominican Republic. As governor, he was faced with the Haitians who wanted to take over that region.[6] On September 12, 1819 he was awarded the Grand Cross of San Fernando, third class, for their efforts in Florida in 1813 to stop the American attacks in the colonie. He was also a Knight of the Order of Santiago. Kindelan y Oregon was replaced by Pascual Real in the Dominican government in 1821 prior to the occurrence of short-lived independence of the colony achieved by José Núñez de Cáceres.[4] The following year he was appointed Acting Captain General of Cuba to replace former Gov. Don Nicolás Mahy y Romo.[7] He also was appointed on 19 July of that same year top political leader of Havana, a post he left the May 2, 1823. There is evidence that between 1824 and 1826 he was Marshal Field of the same army. He died in Cuba in 1836.[4]
He married Ana Manuela Mozo de la Torre Garvey in the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba on December 11, 1801 or 1803. The couple had six sons, Don Juan Kindelan Mozo de la Torre Garvey (that was born in Santiago de Cuba on September 8, 1806) [1] Barbara Kindelan Mozo de la Torre Garvey.[8] Vicente Kindelan Mozo de la Torre Garvey (1808–1877), Fernando Kindelan Mozo de la Torre Garvey (1808–1889), Maria de los Dolores Kindelan Mozo de la Torre Garvey (1810–1879) and Mariana Kindelan Mozo de la Torre Garvey (1810–1880)