Antonio Barceló
{{Short description|Spanish Navy officer}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}}
{{For|the Puerto Rican politician|Antonio Rafael Barceló}}
{{family name hatnote|Barceló|Pont de la Terra|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Antonio Barceló
| image = AntonioBarcelóAnónimo1848.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| nickname =
| birth_date = 1 January 1717
| birth_place = Palma, Majorca
| death_date = 30 January 1797
| death_place = Palma, Majorca
| placeofburial =
| allegiance = {{flag|Spanish Empire}}
| branch = Spanish Navy
| serviceyears = 1738–1792
| rank = Lieutenant general
General admiral
| unit =
| commands = Mediterranean expeditionary fleets
| battles = Conquest of Oran
Invasion of Algiers
Great Siege of Gibraltar
Bombardment of Algiers (1783)
Bombardment of Algiers (1784)
| awards =
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
Antonio Barceló y Pont de la Terra (1 January 1717 – 30 January 1797) was a Spanish privateer and general admiral of the Spanish Navy.
Of humble origins, Barceló rose to admiral on military merits alone, an unusual event at his time. He was active against Barbary piracy and slave trade in the western Mediterranean, adopting their tactics to counter them and serving himself as a pirate hunter for most of his career.{{Sfn|Rodríguez González|2016}} He later developed extensively the usage of naval artillery and gunboats, leading to the creation of the fuerzas sutiles.{{Sfn|Rodríguez González|2016}}
Biography
He was the oldest of the five sons of Onofre Barceló, a small time privateer against the Muslim piracy that attacked the coasts of the western Mediterranean. Antonio started his career as a cabin boy in Onofre's xebec Santo Cristo de Santa Margarita, eventually replacing Onofre as its captain, and added a job as a royal mail ship between Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona.{{Sfn|Rodríguez González|2016}}
With the Spanish Navy focused on the War of Jenkins' Ear since 1739, Barceló and other privateers were recruited and received the official mission to prevent further piracy.{{Sfn|Rodríguez González|2016}} Eventually he became lieutenant general of the Spanish Navy.{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.es/cultura/libros/abci-corsario-espanol-antonio-barcelo-machaco-nido-piratas-argel-sin-tener-apenas-bajas-201612200203_noticia.html |title=El corsario español Antonio Barceló machacó el nido de piratas de Argel sin tener apenas bajas |first=Manuel |last=P. Villatorio |date=20 December 2016 |access-date=11 May 2019 |newspaper=ABC |language=es |publisher=Vocento}}
He is also famous for his bombardments of Algiers (Bombardment of Algiers in August 1783 and 2nd Bombardment of Algiers in July 1784) and use of gunboats during the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
Antonio is also credited with putting sailors and ships under the patronage of the Virgin of Carmel and shifting away from the patronage of St. Elmo. Today, on the feast day of the Viring of Carmel, blessing of boats still takes place in many Spanish towns.{{cite book |last1=Raventós |first1=Carme |title=Nuestra Señora del Carmen |date=1998 |publisher=Centre de Pastoral Litúrgica |isbn=9788474674668 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZ05C3mI0IAC |access-date=3 July 2023}}{{cite web |title=Festa de la Mare de Déu del Carme |url=https://www.barcelona.cat/culturapopular/ca/festes-i-tradicions/festa-de-la-mare-de-deu-del-carme |website=www.barcelona.cat |publisher=Ajuntament de Barcelona |access-date=3 July 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|title=Antonio Barceló|last=Rodríguez González|first=Agustín|year=2016|publisher=EDAF|isbn=978-8441437135}}
- {{cite book|title=Breve historia de las batallas navales de las fragatas|last=San Juan|first=Víctor|year=2019|publisher=Nowtilus|isbn=978-8413050768}}
- {{cite book|title=Guerra naval en la Revolución y el Imperio: Bloqueos y operaciones anfibias, 1793-1815|last1=Guimerá Ravina|first1=Agustín|year=2008|publisher=Marcial Pons Historia|isbn=978-8496467804}}
External links
- [http://www.balearsculturaltour.es/itinerario.php?cod=30&id1=182&id=15&idioma=en College of the Theatine Fathers, the house where the Captain was born]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcelo, Antonio}}
Category:18th-century Spanish military personnel
Category:Spanish military personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Category:Military history of Gibraltar
Category:People from Palma de Mallorca
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