Julián Sánchez García

Julián Sánchez García (3 June 1774 – 19 October 1832), nicknamed El Charro or Don Julián,

Peninsular War

In August 1808 he joined a Cavalry unit formed in Ciudad Rodrigo, and led a small band of lancers that skirmished with the French forces in the south of the region of Salamanca. Sánchez's men surprised and defeated a French advance party of an officer and 23 men. to recruit troops from the province of Zamora, then occupied by the French, Sánchez had, by then, been able to recruit 1,200 men for the army. Sánchez, now a lieutenant colonel, provided 240 horse for carrying out sorties. and Sánchez's horse now numbered 340.

In another sortie, he led 200 horse through three siege lines, killing some 240 men and destroying their camp. The commanding officer of the Army of the Left, Marquis of La Romana, on recommending Sanchéz for a medal for that action, also pointed out that Sánchez had, throughout the siege, taken over 800 prisoners.

That September, he fought minor actions at Barco de Ávila, Valdecasas, Muñoz and Alaejos, killing a total of 73 enemy troops and taking 32 horses. At the same time, he was organising the 1st Regiment of Lancers and the Battalion of Castille Cazadores, formed by 1,200 men that he was able to arm, uniform and mount with the spoils of his attacks.

At the end of November, he was forced to retreat from a combat at Alaejos (Valladolid).

At Wellington's behest, Sánchez stayed on the roads between Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo to prevent the movement of troops and convoys, sending General Erskine's Light Division and Arentschildt's brigade of cavalry up towards the Agueda, near Ciudad Rodrigo, to co-operate with the Spanish commander, the idea being that Sánchez would nofify them of the approach of any convoy and they would ford the river to intercept it. However, on 13 April, this failed due to Erskine's slow reaction. The French garrison having been revictualled, Wellington desisted in his idea of besieging the place, especially as he had no siege-train. Sánchez captured the French governor of Ciudad Rodrigo, Renaud, and his escort. The following month his troops also made it difficult for Renaud's successor, General Barrié, to access the fortress.

Joining the vanguard of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army, Sánchez's brigade, now formally the 1st Brigade of General España's 3rd Division of General Castaños's 5th Army, participated in the combats leading up to the Battle of Salamanca, where it was incorporated into Lieutenant general Sir John Stapleton Cotton's Cavalry division. Following the battle, it chased the French towards Burgos, killing or capturing over 1,000 troops.

In September, as Wellington marched from Madrid to Burgos, Sánchez formed part of the vanguard and during the siege of the castle, his troops were stationed to the north to protect the sieging force. Sánchez formed the rearguard of Wellington's withdrawal to Portugal, and was able to prevent the capture of 1,500 fatigued Anglo-Portuguese troops that had fallen behind.

Towards the end of December, and the 1st Battalion of Castille Cazadores, he attacked a column of 1,500 French troops at Vitigudino, forcing them to retreat back to Ledesma.

1813 In May 1813, at the head of 1st Regiment of Lancers and an Artillery company, he joined the vanguard of the Anglo-Portuguese Army. In June he attacked and captured a detachment of dragoons at Castro Nuño, and later that month, he participated at the Battle of Vitoria. He then joined forces with Espoz y Mina at Pamplona and chased Marshal Clauzel's troops towards Aragón.

At the beginning of July, his troops entered Zaragoza with Espoz y Mina's Navarre Hussars.

In September 1813 he took the fortress at Fraga (Huesca).

Post-war career

In 1816 he was appointed governor of Santoña, post he held until February 1823. The following April, the constitutional government sent him to join the Ejército de Operaciones stationed in the north of Spain to repel the French invasion of Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis sent by the Holy Alliance to restore absolutism in Spain. On 18 April, at the head of his troops he was gravely wounded and taken prisoner. The Duke of Angoulême, nominal commander of the French forces, allowed him, on parole, to return to Madrid. Once the war was over, Fernando VII confined him to barracks at Salamanca, and the following December he was arrested and imprisoned for 27 months at Valladolid. On his release, at the beginning of 1827, he retired to his wife's estate at Etreros.