Colonel Feliciano Ramón de la Merced de Montenegro y Colón, H.M.R.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feliciano_Montenegro_Col%C3%B3n

Ramon de la Merced Feliciano Montenegro and Columbus ( Caracas , 9 of June of 1781 - Ibid , 6 of September of 1853 ) was a military and pedagogue Venezuela .

Son of the Galician José Cayetano López de Montenegro, lawyer of the Royal Court , and the Creole Juliana Colón y Madrid from Caracas. On his mother's side, apparently, he was related to the family of Simón Bolívar . 1 He had a privileged childhood, with access to the best accessible education in Caracas, 2 because he belonged to one of the richest families in the country, owner of many cattle, houses and slaves. It is known that he began his formal education at the Seminary of Caracas, graduating in 1797 from the Royal and Pontifical University of Caracas with a Bachelor of Philosophy. 3

In 1798 he began his military career as a cadet of the Caracas Veteran Battalion , but thanks to his social position he passed to the De la Reina regiment , stationed at the San Carlos barracks , where he trained for five years until being sent to Spain in 1803 . 4 For the next seven years he continues his career as an officer but also studies math and other sciences. At the same time, he participated in the siege of Gibraltar against the English, the expedition to Denmark and in the Spanish War of Independence . In late 1810 , theCentral Supreme Board withdrew to Cádiz and was sent on a political mission to Caracas, considering that his origin and contacts would make it easier for him to act as a liaison; by then he was first captain of the Cadiz Light Infantry Battalion of Shooters . He landed in La Guaira the 27 of January of 1811 , but it was only in his hometown until July of that year. 5 It had happened that in Venezuela the Supreme Board of Caracas had already been organized and a First Congress had been convened , which began sessions on March 2. Faced with that situation, Montenegro decided to consider its mission completed and serve the new Venezuelan government that proclaimed itself to be the defender of the rights of King Ferdinand VII of Spain . 6

However, on July 5, the First Congress approved the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the First Republic of Venezuela . A few days before, Montenegro, being in disagreement with such a statement, decided to secretly leave Venezuela, for which he was named a traitor and accused of taking important documents from the Secretary of War, something that he always denied. Upon returning to Spain, he reported the situation in his native land and asked to return to fight the French, which he did until the end of the conflict. When Pablo Morillo's expedition was organized, he refused to participate and waited until November 1815., when news of the apparent pacification of Venezuela arrived, to return. 7 In January 1816 he had already returned and was president of the Council of War in Caracas, the Military Prosecution Court and the command of the Tuy valleys . In 1817 he was the military chief and governor of Barcelona , in 1820 Interim Governor of Maracaibo and in 1821 as lieutenant colonel, chief of the Royalist Army General Staff in Carabobo . He was accused of using his position of power to violate his personal enemies and take away their property, something that historians such asRafael Maria Baralt . 8 After the disaster he escaped to Valencia , Puerto Cabello , Puerto Rico and finally to Spain. 7

He was noted for his rejection of the practices of looting and summary executions perpetrated during the war to the death , 9 coming into conflict with officers Morillo, Francisco Tomás Morales , Juan Aldama , Salvador de Moxó Quadrado and others. 10 In 1817, during the siege of Barcelona, ​​he tried to prevent Aldama from executing the prisoners, the sick and the wounded. Five years later he presented a protest to the king and the Cortes against the behavior of the aforementioned Spanish officials. 11

Being on the peninsula, he suppressed the mutiny of the Royal Guard on 7 of July of 1822 , with the title of "National Hero" by the Liberal government . During that year he was promoted to colonel and was appointed Chief of the General Staff in Puerto Rico, however, the following year he requested his retirement and moved to Cuba . However, when absolutism returned , his request was denied and he was appointed Chief of the General Staff in Cuba. During that time he works on the elaboration of an Atlas of Cuba . 12 In 1826 , 11Despite his services, he learns that the absolutist government does not trust him and they plan to arrest and shoot him, so he escapes to Mexico , where he helps plan an expedition to Cuba but when a civil war breaks out in 1828 - 1829 he must move again. , this time to New York . 13

In 1831 he returned definitively to Caracas. 14 In the last years of his life, when he returned to his native country, he was begging for help, since the war had wiped out his family's fortune. 3 Already an old man, between 1831 and 1846 he devoted himself to education and writing. 15 He advocated creating an educational system, devised by him, that aimed to expand primary education, improve teacher training, and introduce practical studies. 16 In 1836 he opened the Colegio de la Independencia where he brought his ideas to reality. 17His curriculum included mathematics, geography, physics, music, drawing, Spanish, English, and French. 18 The exams were held in front of parents and friends, with music, speeches, and prizes for the best. Teachers had to take classes to courses much lower than the average (by that time it was usually 100 or more). 19 This institution received the patronage of several distinguished families in the country. 20