Pedro Caro, 3rd Marquis of la Romana

Pedro Caro Sureda, 3rd Marquis of La Romana (2 October 1761 – 23 January 1811) was a Spanish Army officer and nobleman who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. His two younger brothers, José Caro Sureda, and Juan Caro Sureda also served in the Spanish army during the Peninsular War.

Biography Early career Born at Palma de Mallorca to a family of Balearic nobility, La Romana was educated in Lyon, France. His education was classical; he read Greek and Latin, as well as speaking French and English. He entered the Seminario de Nobles in Madrid and later studied at the University of Salamanca.

Like many Spanish officers of the Napoleonic Wars, La Romana served in the American Revolutionary War in his youth. After entering the military academy in 1775, he reached the rank of frigate captain in 1791. He saw action at Minorca (1781) and at Gibraltar (1782).

He then transferred to the Army of Catalonia, serving first under the orders of Luis Firmín de Carvajal, Conde de la Unión and, following Carvajal's death at Black Mountain (1794), under Urrutia. At the news of his death, Wellington wrote, "his loss is the greatest which the cause could sustain."

Gallery The Marquis of La Romana owned eleven paintings by Goya, of which nine have survived.