Juan Carrafa
Italian military officer in the Spanish army / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Juan Carrafa de la Rocella (1755–1825?) was an Italian-born commander of the Spanish Army.
Born in Naples in 1755 into a noble family with a long tradition of serving the Spanish Crown, in 1779 he enlisted in the Italian Company of the Spanish Royal Guard (Guardias de Corps).[1]
In 1785 he was promoted to colonel of the Milan Infantry of Line Regiment, composed of Italian soldiers in the service of Spain.[1]
Following the October 1790 earthquake in Oran, as commanding officer of the Milan Regiment, he went to Oran with the reinforcements sent over to defend Spain's fortress there, as part of the defensive wall had been destroyed. He stayed there until the siege was lifted in July 1791.[1]
In April 1792, he was promoted to brigadier and the following year to field marshal. In 1802, he was appointed captain general of Extremadura[1] and promoted to lieutenant general in October 1802, to lieutenant general in the same promotion as other notable Spanish military commanders of the Spanish armies during the Peninsular War, including the Duke of the Infantado, Manuel Lapeña, Juan Pignatelli, Francisco Castaños, Francisco Taranco, Francisco Eguía, and Arturo O'Neill.[2]