José de Barboza
Don José de Barboza (died 27 November 1781) was a Spanish Army officer and nobleman. Born at some point during the 18th century, Barboza was subsequently commissioned into the Spanish army, serving in an artillery unit, and was part of the Franco-Spanish force which attempted to capture Gibraltar from the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 27 November 1781, the British Army garrison in Gibraltar launched a sortie from their positions, attacking and destroying several Spanish artillery emplacements before withdrawing.
Though he was abandoned by his subordinates, Barboza continued to defend his position, attacking a British column head-on before being mortally wounded by a gunshot wound to the chest. British commander George Augustus Eliott came across Barboza and offered him assistance, which he refused, asking to be "left alone and perish amid the ruin of my post". In 1789, American painter John Trumbull included Barboza in his painting The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar. Trumbull later justified his inclusion of Barboza by arguing that he wished to celebrate "noble and generous actions, by whomsoever performed".[1]
References[edit]
- ^ Holger Hoock Empires of the Imagination: Politics, War, and the Arts in the British World, 1750-1850 (9781861978592) 2010 Page 114 "It shows the Spanish officer don José de Barboza who had refused the offer of British help when he lay dying. Trumbull later explained that, once again, he had wanted to celebrate 'noble and generous actions, by whomsoever performed'."
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