Francisco de Eguía

Francisco Ramón de Eguía y López de Letona, 1st Conde del Real Aprecio was a Spanish military commander and politician.

Early career

After seeing action against the French in the War of the Pyrenees, Eguía was promoted to field marshal in 1795. Two years later, he was appointed governor of Jaca. In 1802 he was promoted to lieutenant general, in the same promotion as other notable Spanish military commanders of the Spanish armies during the Peninsular War, including the Duke of the Infantado, Manuel Lapeña, Juan Carrafa, Francisco Castaños, Francisco Taranco, Juan Pignatelli, and Arturo O'Neill.

Peninsular War

Eguía fought under General Cuesta at Medellin (March 1809), where he was in charge of the right wing of Cuesta's army. Following Cuesta's resignation in mid-August 1809, Eguía, as Cuesta's second-in-command, was, for some weeks, interim commander-in-chief of the Army of Extremadura until the Junta appointed Juan Carlos Areizaga. Eguía incurred Wellesley's wrath while trying to persuade him to postpone the withdrawal of British troops from Spain. to join Venegas's Army of La Mancha, a united force now exceeding 50,000 sabres and bayonets, with which the Junta intended to take Madrid. Venegas was then removed from the command of the united army, with Eguia again holding interim command for a few days until Areizaga arrived from Lerida to take up his command. mentions in his essay Autobiography of Madrid, a copla popular in Madrid in 1814 and 1815 about Eguía and two other generals, Francisco Javier de Elío (executed for treason during the Liberal Triennium) and Eroles, the three of whom were considered "uncouth, fanatical and cruel":

Eguía, Eroles, Elío...Dios te libre de los tres;porque si Dios no te libra,¡Santíguate y muérete!¡Santíguate y muérete!(Eguía, Eroles, Elío...God save you from the threebecause if God doesn't save youMake the sign of the cross and prepare to die!Make the sign of the cross and prepare to die!)