José de Barboza

Trumbull The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, 1789 (detail), the death of Don José de Barboza

Don José de Barboza (1700s-November 27, 1781) was an officer of the Kingdom of Spain.[1]

Biography

José de Barboza was one of the young officers sent to the Great Siege of Gibraltar. Though abandoned by his men, Barboza fought on and attacked the British column head-on and was mortally wounded by a gunshot wound to the chest. He refused aid by the British Governor of Gibraltar, George Augustus Elliott, earning the respect of the British. His last moments are romanticised in John Trumbull's famous painting, The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, 1789.

References

  1. ↑ Holger Hoock Empires of the Imagination: Politics, War, and the Arts in the British World, 1750-1850 (9781861978592) 2010 Page 114 "It shows the Spanish officer don José de Barboza who had refused the offer of British help when he lay dying. Trumbull later explained that, once again, he had wanted to celebrate 'noble and generous actions, by whomsoever performed'."


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