José Pascual de Zayas y Chacón

José Pascual de Zayas Chacón (1772 – 27 October 182) was a Spanish military officer and deputy of the Cortes of Cádiz, representing La Habana. As a leading Spanish Army general in the Peninsular War, he is renowned for his great skill and daring, in particular for his initiative at the Battle of Albuera.

Military career Born on Cuba, he was sent to mainland Spain to join the Asturias Regiment as a cadet in 1783. He first saw action, as a second lieutenant, in Oran, where he was wounded. He later had to be rescued from the rubble following the 1790 Oran earthquake. at the head of which he fought at Talavera (July 1809), and following which he was promoted to field marshal. By September, his infantry division had increased to an effective force of 530 officers and 7,376 troops.

In April 1811, Zayas was sent with his six thousand men to join Ballesteros in Estremadura. However, on landing at Moguer, Zayas was forced to retreat when faced by the seven battalions and two regiments of cavalry under General Maransin that Marshal Soult had sent to intercept them. and in December at the defence of Mislata, but in January 1812, when the Siege of Valencia came to an end, with Blake capitulating to Marshal Suchet, Zayas and Blake were taken prisoner and interned at Vincennes.

Zayas was released in December 1813 in order to accompany the Duke of San Carlos in negotiating the return of Ferdinand VII before the Cortes. Finally, however, Zayas only accompanied the King on his return to Spain. He was promoted to Lieutenant general in March 1814.

Trienio Liberal

In July 1820 he was appointed deputy in the Cortes for La Habana and, at the end of that same month, captain general of Estremadura.

On 7 July 1822, Zayas participated in the defence of the Royal Palace of Madrid during the failed coup d'etat carried out by the Absolutist forces and in 1823, at the head of the liberal government's troops in Madrid, refused to hand the city over to the Duke of Angoulême's Royalist troops, combatting them until the Duke himself arrived at the head of the so-called army of the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis towards the end of May. Forced to flee, Zayas took refuge in Málaga.

On 30 May 1823, Zayas was stripped of all his posts and honours and in November 1826, he was declared an "impure liberal and mason".

Zayas died in Chiclana in 1827. A royal decree of 2 August 1840 restored all his previously held posts and honours.