Battle of the First Carlist War
The Battle of Majaceite was fought in the First Carlist War. Ramón María Narváez y Campos was ordered to intercept the expedition of the Carlist general Miguel Gómez Damas. Narváez left Madrid in October 1836 with three divisions, while Gómez Damas left Ronda on 18 November 1836, entering Algeciras on 22 November.
On 23 November, when he departed Algeciras, Gómez Damas found himself surrounded at the citadel known as Alcalá de los Gazules. Gómez Damas attempted to reach Arcos de la Frontera, but met Narváez's army at the Majaceite River. The battle resulted with Gómez Damas’ withdrawal to Villamartín. An English commentator wrote that “it was at Majaciete that [Narváez] rescued Andalucía from the Carlist invasion by a brilliant coup de main, in a rapid but destruction action, which will not readily be effaced from the memory of the southern provinces.”[1]
References
- ^ T. M. Hughes, Revelations of Spain in 1845 (London: Henry Colburn, 1845), 124.
