Arthur Goodall-Wavell in the siege of Tarragona 1811

Reproduction of an article published in the newspaper, Diari de Tarragona about the forgotten english soldier, Arthur Goodall-Wavell, who volunteered to join the spanish army during the Peninsular war. He was decorated by the kings of two nations for heroic acts he performed during the siege of Tarragona in 1811.

  

What possible connection could there be between the foundation of the State of Texas, a famous general of the second world war, and the napoleonic siege of Tarragona in 1811?

If we follow this historical thread we come across a remarkable and wholly unique individual, Arthur Goodall-Wavell (Ediburgh 1785). A british officer forgotten by the mists of time whose thirst for adventure had him travel around half the world, enlisting in the armies of several different Nation States. In 1810, in the middle of the Peninsular war, he enrolled as an unpaid volunteer in the spanish army, obtaining within two years the rank of leuitenant colonel in the Ultonia Regiment.

Arthur Goodall Wavell’s spanish army service record (Archivo Militar Segovia)

At the height of the bitter fighting of the siege of Tarragona in 1811, he was posted at the Oliva fort and another advanced bastion near the mouth of the Francolí river, until this latter fort was reduced to rubble by french artillery.

Undoubtedly, the fiercest resistance to the french during the siege was that led by the beligerent Brigadier called Pedro Sarsfield who commanded at the point of attack in the lower town. Once the french artillery had systematically knocked out all the defender’s cannons and reduced the baluarts to rubble, Sarsfield bravely encouraged his men to keep fighting with the muskets and grenades that they had left. This way he did everything possible to slow down the advance of the besiegers. Sarsfield later explained in a report that Arthur Goodall-Wavell:

Sarsfield’s report (Segovia)

 “helped as a volunteer and as my Aide de Camp in the sortie which he led the night of the 16th of june whose objective was to undo the Works of the enemy, being himself the first to assault the trenches, surprising the enemy that occupied them and completing the objective under his command”.

A spanish sortie

Indeed, Goodall-Wavell took part in all the sorties against the enemy during may and june that year, a feat which seems all the more remarkable if it is taken into account the fact that he had previously lost the use of his right arm, after being wounded months before at the battle of Barrosa.

After the siege of Tarragona he continued under Sarsfield’s orders in Aragon. In february 1813 he was present at a combat which took place around the village of Ateca, near Zaragoza. 

Noticing that a body of french troops were forming up in front of the spanish line , Sarsfield promptly sent Goodall-Wavell to convey an order “for the German lancers to charge”. Even though the englishman still had no use of his arm and suffered terrible pain, he rode over to convey the order, after which, he gallantly placed himself “at the head of the squadron and together with its commander charged heroically against the enemy, providing this way and by his example a day of glory for the king’s arms”.

As a result of this action Brigadier Sarsfield beat general Severoli’s división, forcing him to abandon the city of Calatayud.

Five years later Arthur Goodall-Wavell was decorated simultaneously by two nations. In Britain with “The Order of the Cross of Charles the III” and in Spain with “The Royal Military Order of San Fernando, first class”. He recieved these honours for distinguished enterprise shown during the sortie on the night of the 16th of june 1811, in Tarragona.

London Gazette 15 december 1818

However, this figure did not dedicate his life exclusively to bellicose affairs. The Peninsular war over, he accepted a comission as Brigadier General in the mexican army, a post which led to a friendship with an american called Moses Austin and his son Stephen S Austin. Goodall Wavell soon became interested in a business plan the Austins were working on which consisted of colonizing territory along the Rio grande.
 

After the death of Moses Ausitn, Goodall-Wavell helped Stephen transfer the rights from the Moses Austin Company into his name. They agreed to share the profits that they hoped to gain with the establishment of the future colonies. Years later, the english soldier would audaciously confirm that, had it not been for his financial and legal support for Stephen S Austin’s ambitions, the very State of Texas would never have come into existance. To sum up, without his influence at the time, the State, whose Capitol is called Austin, would not form part of the United States today.

General Archibald Wavell (Arthur’s grandson)

As if that wasn’t enough interference in the threads of history, the influence of this extraordinary man lasted even generations after his death. One of his numerous grandsons, perhaps inspired by the stories of his grandfather’s actions, followed in the military tradition, coming to command entire armies. This grandson, Sir Archibald Wavell, as a Field Marshall in the british army and at the head of only 30,000 troops, defeated and took prisoner 250,000 italian soldiers who tried to invade Egypt, in december 1940, during the second world war.

Italian surrender Egypt 1940

Arthur Goodall-Wavell had ten children. He died in London on the 10th of july 1860.