AGUSTINA DE ARAGON
And
to finish this female hero trilogy that I decided to share during
this month for the 1 year anniversary of this blog, the (long
awaited?) post about Agustina de Aragon.
Baptized
Agustina Raimunda Maria Zaragoza y Domènech, she was 22 when she
fought int he Sitios
of Saragossa. She is the most know female hero of the War of
Independence.
The
text of the following picture sums up what Agustina did:
Agustina de Aragon, painted by Juan Galvéz and Fernando Brambilla in 1812/13.
« Agustina de Aragon
– Conocida generalmente con el nombre de La
Artillera. En el ataque
del 4. de Julio quando los Franceses embistieron furiosamente á la
bateria del Portillo, Agostina,
viendo caer muertos o heridos á todos los que la Servian, trepa
denodadamente por encima de los cadaveres, coge la mecha de manos de
uno que acababa de espirar, y la aplica á un Cañon de 24., jurando
no desampararle, mientras durase el sítio. Este heroyco exemplo
alento á los Patriotas que corrieron á la bateria y rechazaron de
ella á los enemigos. La heroina fue condecorada con un escudo de
honor y com las insígnia de Oficial.»
«Agustina de
Aragon
– generally known by the name of La
Artillera.
In the attack of July 4th
when the French furiously aimed against the battery of Portillo,
Agustina, seeing the dead or wounded fall, bravely climbed over the
bodies, took the fuse of the hands of one who had just died, and
applies it to the 24th
Cannons, promising not to desert them at the duration of this Siege.
This example of heroism encouraged the patriots that ran to the
battery and fought the enemy. The Heroin was awarded a shield of
honor and an Officers badge.»
But the one fact she was
known the best for was that she was the only woman accepted as an
officer in Wellington's army. Agustina was given training from the
British, even achieving the rank of captain. She was one of the
battery commanders of the War of Victoria under the command of Major
Cairncross.
Agustina de Aragon, Hero of Saragossa, painted live by and for Chermans in Gibraltar in 1809.
Her
upbringing and origins are somewhat contradictory, even her 1st
marriage. It is said she married at the age of 16 or 17 for pregnancy
reasons but it's uncertain, not even of a child being born. What is
known is that Agustina had a child, the gravestone with his name –
Eugenio – proved it so and this 1st
born died later by the hands of the French. Also her 1st
husband – a Corporal of the First Regiment
of the Spanish Royal Artillery by the name of Juan Roca
Vila-Seca - is mentioned during her
participation in the War of independence. She later married a doctor
at the age of 37, never stoped wearing her medals and visiting the
location of Portillo. Today, her remains lay in the Church of
Nuestra Señora del Portillo. More
details on her life at this link:
And back to her role as a
hero in 1808/09: like the picture above says, when the French stormed
the city of Saragossa through the gates of Portillo, the outnumbered
Spanish army, mostly outranked buy volunteering civilians, was almost
destroyed to completion. Popular romantic tales say that the maiden
named Agustina was offering apples to the Spanish fighter when she
became a witness of the death and destruction herself. She saw how
they the remaining survivors fled when the French were just a few
yards away. This is the exact moment that made her so famous:
Agustina loaded an abandoned cannon and killed a few of the
attackers. This gesture was enough for the Spaniards to turn around
and return to the fight.
The 2nd Siege
of Saragossa was the one that gave the French the chance to
definitely overtake this part of Spain. It was nearly impossible for
a starved and diseased population to fight them off. A final strike
of a typhus epidemic of which not only Agustina suffered but also
Palafox and thousand of Spaniards – civilians and military – were
captured, after their capitulation and surrender. In February 21st
of 1809.
When it became of the
French's knowledge that amongst them was Agustina, the hero of the
1st Siege, they gave her a promise of mercy which
consisted of letting her march with the remaining prisoners until
their gallows. I guess in opposition of death... It is during this
forced march that her son dies in her arms.
Popular tales also tell of
a daring escape, probably planned by other civilians, but I couldn't
found more infos on that. What is known is that she then became a
undercover rebel, alongside with her husband and then joined the
British army.
Agustina's life and
actions are the most celebrated ones, not only in Aragon but in the
entire country of Spain. A monument in honor of the volunteers with a
spectacular statue of her on the top sits in the Plaza of Portillo.
Monument of the Plaza del Portillo in honor of Agustina and other civilian volunteers.
*
All of these female
heroes stories are so very interesting to me, not only because of
their gender but also, and in Agustina's particular case, of the fact
that she was recognized as an equal by her military husband and had
full liberty to organize her rebellious life and follow/join other
regiments. In a time where women were not even recognized by law, it
is very interesting to see that these women owned their own lives,
did as they pleased and were official recognized by the government. I
think it is true what they say: In times of trouble the best and the
worst comes out of people.
