Malaga’s English Cemetery and Revolutionaries on the Rock. Part 2.

                               

After deciding that a rebellion of the army against the absolutist government would be hard to achieve, they first attempted a raid on Algeciras on the 24th October. By ‘virtue of invitation’ they understood that they would receive local support when the shooting started. Many of the men stationed in warships at Algeciras were committed to the liberal cause. Torrijos embarked with General Manzanares and Boyd and 100 men of all ranks and arms, leaving by sea. The intent was to surprise the Isla Verde but when none of the agreed signals appeared, he sent Antonio Lorenzo Gaitan to reconnoitre. He reported no sign of friends and the military in waiting. Later they learned that a timid soldier had made a revelation to Colonel Baza, who put the Regiment of San Fernando ready at arms and moved all the warships to directly in front of the town’s main artillery battery of 42 pounders; an obvious threat to those on board. Torrijos and company were obliged to retreat into the Bay.

“We have begun ill” wrote Kemble in a coded letter “the cause of our failure was the want of cooperation on the part of troops of Algeciras and that arouse from no treachery on their part. How the secret was discovered I know not.”

Meanwhile, King Ferdinand had issued an edict in La Gaceta de Madrid, on the 10^th October, ordering that the rebels be both shot and hanged the moment they were caught. Anyone failing to assist in putting down the rebels was to be sent to the galleys for two years and fined 500 dollars.

In a letter sent by Trench dated October 21st 1830, Kemble states: “When General Torrijos came out here, it was in the firm belief that all had been already arranged by the Junta here, they having told him so long back as last May that nothing was wanting but his arrival. They turn out - at least it seems so to me - a rout of the most lying imbeciles that ever formed that most imbecile of all associations, a Spanish Junta. All has had to be begun from a beginning since the General arrived, which has been the reason of our dreary and miserable delay.”  

Friends at home were becoming disheartened and money was not easily forthcoming.

A short time after the Isla Verde fiasco, Torrijos – dressed as a fisherman – went aboard a ship in the Bay in preparation for another excursion against the mainland. On the 11th of November, an attempt was made at Algeciras and once more it failed. Torrijos remained afloat for another two months, in company with Kemble and the chief officers. Finding that their ship was being dogged by two Royalist brigantines, they determined to capture one and indeed succeeded in subverting some of its crew.  For several nights they lurked in small boats, fully armed, and ready for the signal to board. Again it never came and their sympathisers among the crew were arrested.

The Royalists next attempted to lure Torrijos into their reach, mounting surprise attacks on his ship that were only foiled by keeping a constant guard and appearing on deck, swords drawn, whenever an enemy craft approached. General Manzanares, with about 100 men, managed to land near Algeciras but on the very evening that Torrijos planned to join in concerted attack, as he was raising his anchor to leave, the Captain of the Port arrived and placed them and their ship under arrest. The conspirators managed to delay the British officer and his men, in the hopes of cutting their anchor cable and setting off the moment the signal came. It appears that the British were to have been taken prisoner, respectfully treated and then released. But once again no signal came and Torrijos barely escaped deportation.

It would be naive to suppose that the British had not observed these activities; there were sufficient spies and chivatos to keep the Governor well informed. However, for nearly a decade Gibraltar had been home to Spanish liberal refugees who sought asylum here. There were many citizens who sympathised with them and indeed opened their homes to them. One of the most influential, Aaron Cardozo, had 20 refugees as his house guests. But Torrijo’s presence in Gibraltar generated enough steam in Madrid for them to threaten restrictions at the frontier. To avert this, the Governor, George Don, arranged for Torrijos to be sent to Malta on board a Navy frigate, writing personally to Ferdinand to confirm this had been carried out. The departure of HMS Actaeon was reported in Spain with delight… but the man on board was a look-alike… and Torrijos remained in Gibraltar, concealed by his friends. 

Was George Don the deceiver or was he himself deceived?

   Governor Sir George Don… sub Pontio Pilato?

Around the same time, the Royalist Corregidor (Mayor & Chief Magistrate) of San Roque, one Julian Ortega, had created an espionage cell in Gibraltar. Allegedly acting in collaboration with the British Governor and the Spanish Consul, his information was passed to the general in command of the field, to act against the attempts of the rebels. It may or may not be the case that George Don provided information, but his attitude to Torrijos & Co. was at best ambivalent. It is evident that the spy network was effective as each action by Torrijos’ men appears to have been known to the Royalists in advance.

A series of misadventures overtook each of his plans. At the end of January 1831 Torrijos and 34 men attacked the garrison of 200 men, including cavalry, at La Linea. The attack was successful but the uprisings that were to coincide with it failed to materialise and once again Torrijos was obliged to retreat. In mid February a further attack was planned; Kemble waited in a ramshackle brig in the bay for the invasion to start:

“For five days have I been living in the hold of this cursed vessel among contrabandists, sleeping on a sail between two cannon, unable to stand or sit upright, damp, cold and dark, not daring to go on deck and compelled to spend half my day without books, or ink, by the light of a very foul lamp: chair or table, a change of clothes, soap, comb or toothbrush quite out of the question. All ended as before; as usual nothing was done.”

 

At the end of February another attempted rebellion was to cost the life of Colonel Salvador Manzanares, a hero of the war of independence. Manzanares left Gibraltar on the 21^st February 1831, with 17 men, and seized Los Barrios, Campo de San Roque. Having successfully invaded the coast Manzanares advanced upon Los Barrios, which he quickly gained and summoned the local authorities; the Mayor being sympathetic to the cause of liberty. He demanded that they hand over shotguns and release a number of constitutionalist prisoners, who immediately joined his band.

On the 25^th, accompanied by 80 of Torrijo’s best men, Manzanares disembarked at dawn in the shallows of Getares beach; probably the only place where they could land undetected. His mission depended on promised support from various military and citizen groups and around 40 men joined from La Linea, San Roque and Los Barrios. Then the famous bandit Jose Maria Hinohosa Cobacho, El Tempranillo and 40 of his band arrived from the Serrania de Ronda, to swell the force. This tiny army of just 160 men then marched towards the province of Malaga, despite previous instructions from Torrijos to go to Vejer and take command of the patriots there.

 The rebels were pursued by a group of 25 men on horseback, whilst 100 infantry from the Alcazar de San Juan militia were being organized in San Roque by Julian Ortega. Whether because of the haste of the rebellion or the lack of promised support, before noon they found themselves surrounded by government forces and royalist volunteers from Estepona. When passing Arroya Del Vaquero, the tower keeper had made smoke signals to warn the waiting royalists of the rebels approach. So, at the Port of Babonaque, just a short distance from Estepona the fight began, decimating the rebels. It lasted from 3 am until 3 in the afternoon and 12 rebels were taken prisoner. Jose Maria was one of the few who promptly came to Manzanares aid, arriving just in time to help him flee towards the Sierra Bermeja. Initially he found refuge amongst the shepherds - who eventually betrayed him - and he was assassinated by the Gil brothers on March 7th.

 

 

               Salvador Manzanares                                             El cortijo Ingles

 La Gaceta de Madrid of March 8^th comments: “It is known that not only Royalist troops and volunteers but also simple countrymen have come from everywhere to exterminate the villains. Only the famous criminal Jose Maria is the one who swelled the faction with his bandits.”

Only Jose Maria escaped; all the surviving rebels were captured and shot, variously at Estepona, Jimena, and Los Barrios and against the cemetery wall in San Roque.  Of the forty prisoners delivered to San Roque on 4^th March, four were residents and nine were Gibraltarians. A Royal Order was issued against El Tempranillo offering 8000 reales to whoever turned him in, dead or alive.

It seemed impossible to act in the Gibraltar area because of the extreme vigilance, of the Spanish military. After six months of unsupported raids, and running short of money, they were disheartened. So Torrijos was in high spirits when he received secret letters from a very confidential friend, with the nickname of Viriato, who informed him that the best place to land was Vélez Málaga, and that with the assistance of the Málaga troops first, and later those of all Andalusia, they would rebel against King Fernando. It was of course… a trap. This trap was planned by his old comrade-in-arms and now Governor of Málaga Vicente González Moreno, who under the name of Viriato took advantage of Torrijos´s impatience and planned his capture. Moreno was allegedly ‘burning to join the glorious constitutional cause.’ 

The trap was about to close.

 

                 Malaga Governor Vicente Gonzalez Moreno  

 On the 30th November 1831 a party of 60 left Gibraltar in two boats, shortly to discover that they had been betrayed. When they reached Punta de Calaburras they were intercepted by the Guarda Costa cutter Neptune, who opened fire on them. This forced them to run their boats onshore at Mijas Costa (Charcón beach) and flee inland. First they arrived in Mijas where they received several gunshots from the military forces and then crossed the mountains to Alhaurín de la Torre where they had a similar welcome. They eventually found refuge in Cortijo Ingles, a farmhouse belonging to the Count of Mollina, with its ancient Arab tower, near the old road to Cártama. They were soon surrounded by troops sent by General Moreno and Torrijos was forced to surrender along with his 52 men on the 5^th December, being captured and sent to Málaga.

When British Consul William Mark heard that there were British subjects amongst the prisoners, he approached General Moreno, in an attempt to have Boyd handed over along with the three other British subjects. But Moreno denied any knowledge of foreign captives. Clearly, that was a lie. On his official list, the third man shown was Ingles, Don Roberto Boyd. Undeterred, Mark’s intervention continued with an appeal to Madrid, urging Moreno not to act before a reply was forthcoming. On December 10^th General Narvaez arrived from Madrid carrying a reply from King Fernando which read; ‘Execute them all, I, the King.’  Moreno proceeded to march the captives to Malaga’s San Andres beach and have them all shot - in two batches. Consul Mark’s son was present and laid a British flag over Boyd’s body to help deter any potential looter. In fact, there were actually five British subjects executed; as well as Boyd there were four Gibraltarians. A copy of La Gaceta de Madrid lists all the victims and includes several family surnames that are current in Gibraltar today.  

In this 1888 painting by Antonio Gisbert Perez, (Prado Museum) Boyd is seen in the centre of the line, sandy haired, in a frock coat and yellow waistcoat, with hands tied. General Torrijos, in a brown coat and Hessian boots, is seen holding the hands of two of his followers; to his left Francisco Fernandez Golfin, being blindfolded by a friar, and to his right Manuel Flores Calderon.  This was on the 11^th of December 1831.

Some have argued that this whole series of operations was foolhardy; the chances of success were very limited, at best. However, the French revolution had changed the whole balance of society and when Wellington had finally driven the French from Spain, La Pepa, the Liberal Constitution of Cadiz, was considered by many to be worth fighting for. It seemed a righteous and noble thing to help the cause of freedom or perish in the attempt. It is significant that these rebels were subsequently honoured by Queen Isabella’s administration and are now considered martyrs of the liberal cause and heroes of Spain.

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Opposite the original home of Pablo Picasso, in La Plaza de la Merced, stands the historic Torrijos Monument. It is a tall neo-classical obelisk erected in 1842 to commemorate:

“The 49 victims that for their love of their country and liberty were sacrificed in this city on the 11^th     December 1831.”  

Each of the four faces carries a plaque on which names of the victims may be seen and a smaller plaque exhorts all citizens: 

                          “In view of this example rather die than consent to tyrants.”

            

            

                

Initially, Torrijos and his men were buried San Miguel Cemetery, until 1842 when, by popular demand, the City Council built the funeral monument under which they all rest; except for Robert Boyd who lies in the English Cemetery. On the promenade, a cross marks the place of execution and Malaga has a Plaza de General Torrijos and a Calle Robert Boyd.  The General’s widow was honoured with the title Countess of Torrijos.

Within the English Cemetery there is a rather severe monument to Robert Boyd with the accolade; “A friend and fellow martyr of Torrijos, who fell at Malaga in the sacred cause of liberty.” Elsewhere in the English Cemetery is another tribute:

“To the memory of Mr Robert Boyd, native of Londonderry, shot together with General Torrijos and 47 comrades on the Malaga beach of San Andres, on December 11^th 1831, for defending the constitution 

and liberty of the Spanish people.”

               

William Mark’s monument carries a rather more flamboyant tall fluted column, surmounted by an urn and surrounded by a display of dolphins, perhaps reflecting his naval past. Seven members of Mark’s family are interred there.

               

For more than 175 years the cemetery was run by successive British consuls with a little funding from the British government which was withdrawn in 1903, with the result that by the end of the 20th century it had fallen into a state of neglect. With the cemetery in a legal vacuum, The British Consul, Bruce Alexander McIntyre, M.B.E. proposed to the British Government that the best solution would be to put it into the hands of a Spanish charitable Foundation that would attempt to raise funds to maintain it as a historic monument. With the agreement of the HMG the ownership of the cemetery was transferred in 2006 to the non-profit making ‘Fundación Cementerio Inglés de Málaga’ entrusted with the mission of preserving, maintaining, and administering it as part of the city’s heritage.

 

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