Juan del Águila Frey Juan Del Águila y Arellano ( Ávila , 1545 - A Coruña , August 1602 ) was a Spanish general . He commanded the Spanish expeditionary Tercio troops in Sicily then in Brittany ( 1584 – 1598 , also sending a detachment to raid England ) , before serving as general of the Spanish armies in the invasion of Ireland ( 1600 – 1602 ) . As a soldier , and subsequently Field Master of the Tercios , he was posted to Sicily , Africa , Malta , Corsica , the Milanese , the Netherlands , Spain , Portugal , France and Ireland , where he participated in major military events of his time , such as the Siege of Malta , the Looting of Antwerp , the Siege of Antwerp , the Miracle of Empel , the Expedition in support of French Catholics , the Battle of Cornwall and the Expedition to support the Irish . Childhood . Juan Del Águila was born in Ávila in 1545 within a family of provincial nobility . He was the fourth son of Miguel del Aguila y Velasco and Sancha de Arellano , and grandson of Lord Villaviciosa . His childhood was spent in Berraco ( now El Barraco ) . From soldier to captain . Service in Italy . In 1563 , at eighteen years old , Juan Del Águila followed the Gonzalo de Bracamonte company which started to unite with the Sicily Tercio . He served there for 24 years . The following year he participated in the conquest of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , then a haven for pirates . In 1565 he was part of the contingent that was sent to the aid of Malta , besieged by the Ottomans . A year later he was sent to Corsica in support of the Genoese , who tried to quell the rebellion led by Sampiero Corso . Service in Flanders . In 1567 the Sicilian Tercio departed for Flanders . In 1569 Captain Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza promoted Águila to lieutenant of his company . In 1568 started the so - called Eighty Years ' War , also called Nederlands revolt against the Spanish Monarchy . This war will end in 1648 with the Westphalia Treaty . In 1574 Juan del Águila participated in the battle of Mook , which was a severe blow to the Protestant rebels . In 1576 Juan del Águila was sent to relieve the Ghent castle . That same year , the Tercio mutinied for lack of pay and made fortifications in Alost . Taking advantage of the situation and the power vacuum after the death of governor general Luis de Requesens , William of Orange held a general revolt , declared all Spanish and those who collaborated with them , " rebels " . So , German and Walloon troops of Antwerp switched sides and allowed Dutch rebels to enter the city , who besieged the citadel , commanded by Sancho d ' Avila . In this situation , Juan del Aguila convinced the mutineers from Alost to help his countrymen . Thus the troops took the city . Following this , the unfortunate Sack of Antwerp occurred . That same year ( 1577 ) Juan del Águila was named captain . Between Flanders and Italy . In May 1577 Juan del Águila ' s Tercio left Maastricht destined for Lombardy after signing the Perpetual Edict . But in August of that same year , Governor Juan de Austria once again claimed his presence to pacify Flanders . The death of his field master , Julian Romero , delayed his departure until the fall . Finally in December the Tercio reached the Netherlands . For three years they waged war without receiving a single salary . In February 1580 , the governor Alexander Farnese ( Juan de Austria had died in 1578 ) was forced to repatriate the Tercios because of the negotiations for submission by the Walloons . In 1582 the Tercio was again called to Flanders , which arrived in late July after a journey of forty days by the Spanish Road . After the conquest of the Tornhout castle in April 1583 , Farnese appointed Juan del Aguila as its governor , but not for long . Three months later , on July 23 , the major city Nieuwpoort surrendered to the Spanish and Juan became the new governor , and his company became the garrison . Field Master . Service in Flanders . On August 16 , 1583 the Field Master of the Tercio in which Juan de Águila served , died in Dendermonde . Ten days later , Farnese named him Field Master , at only 38 years old . At the end of 1584 Siege of Antwerp began , in which Juan de Águila and his Tercio particularly distinguished themselves by defeating the Dutch who tried to rescue the city from the Covenstein dyke ( May 27 , 1585 ) . After the capture of the city in the summer of that year , the Tercios received their back pay : 37 overdue salaries from July 1582 . After taking Antwerp , Farnese graduated a part of the army and sent the rest to the north to help the Catholic population harassed by the Protestants . The army commanded by Ernesto de Mansfield consisted of three Tercios , including that of Juan del Águila . On reaching the river Meuse , in late November , Mansfield divided the army , some camped on the shore and another on the island of Bommel , formed by the rivers Meuse and Waal . In this second group were the masters Juan del Águila and Francisco Arias de Bobadilla . The Dutch rebels then broke the levees protecting the area , the water level rose and flooded the island . The Spanish were thus isolated and unprotected in the Empel dam . On December 2 , a Dutch fleet entered the flooded land with the intention of annihilating the tercios . With the artillery that they had managed to salvage , the troops of Juan del Águila occupied an islet that had formed after the flood and staved off the rebel boats to prevent them from approaching . Meanwhile , the Dutch seized other islets and began construction of fortifications , which ended in record time despite the Spanish cannon shots . Mansfield got a few barges from the inhabitants of Den Bosch to attack the enemy fleet , but they were destroyed in a surprise attack . The situation was desperate . On the night of December 7 a soldier found , buried near the church of Empel , a table with the image of the Immaculada and , as December 8 was its feastday , the discovery was considered a good omen : " This very rich treasure that they discovered under the earth was a divine proclamation of good fortunes , and through the intercession of the Virgin Mary , they were waiting the blessed day " That same night , Bobadilla ordered an assault on the forts with the few boats available . Meanwhile , the temperature dropped sharply and a strong wind began to blow . The water then began to freeze . In As a result of this the Dutch ships were withdrawn for fear of being blocked and the Spanish were able to take the forts . This unthinkable situation was thereafter referred to as the Miracle of Empel ( in Dutch : : Het Wonder van Empel ) . The rebels exclaimed " God has become a Spaniard " and from then on the infantry began to devote itself to the Immaculada which led to her become its patron saint . In 1586 , Juan del Águila ' s Tercio participated in the conquests of Grave ( June 6 ) , Neuss ( July 26 ) Alpen ( 13 August ) and the rescue of Zutphen ( September 22 ) , forcing the English army that had besieged it to lift the siege . On June 12 , 1587 the siege of the Esclusa began at the mouth of the Scheldt river . In July Juan del Águila was seriously wounded . Before completing his recovery he was called to the Court , where he arrived in the spring of 1588 . There , he was presented to Philip II with these words : " Your Majesty , meet a man born without fear . " The king assigned him a newly created tercio which was waiting in Santander . The troops were part of the second landing army from the campaign against England . In September , the operation was canceled when the Great Armada disaster occurred . Service in Spain . After nearly a year of waiting , the Tercio embarked for La Coruña where they arrived on August 17 , 1589 . Ten days later they embarked again , this time with orders to escort the Indian fleet in the final stretch of its journey to Lisbon . They were joined by six companies and another Tercio , and together they returned to take to sea to go back to Galicia , where they would spend the winter . Meanwhile , in France , after the assassination of the Duke of Guise ( December 23 , 1588 ) , pretender to the French throne and king Henry III himself ( August 1 , 1589 ) , the crown passed to Henry III of Navarre , a Protestant , something that the Catholic League and Philip II of Spain could not tolerate . Thus , in August 1590 , in Ferrol Juan del Águila ' s Tercio embarked and headed for France to support the Catholics . Service in France . On October 25 , 1590 he landed in Nantes ( Brittany ) , with his army . He established as an operational base the port of Blavet ( now Port - Louis ) . At the end of the year he began the fortification of the city undertaken by Cristóbal de Rojas , who built the magnificent " Fuerte del Águila " ( Águila Fort ) , named after the camp master . On November 21 , 1591 he took the castle of Blain . On May 21 , 1592 he defeated an Anglo - French army in Craon and , after chasing the English contingent , he completely derailed it in Ambrières . On 6 November of that year he took Brest . In 1593 part of the Juan del Águila army landed on Camaret and built " La Pointe des Espagnols " ( The Tip of the Spain ) fort in the Crozon peninsula , dominating the entrance to the Brest port . On November 2 , 1594 an Anglo - French army started a siege of the small fort , while an Anglo - French - Dutch fleet blasted it from the sea . The garrison could only hold out until November 15 , while the auxiliary army , led by Juan del Aguila , was blocked in at Plomodiern . There were only 13 survivors . Thanks to Spanish victories in the north of France between 1595 and 1596 , the French army that fought in Britain had to go quickly to Flanders , easing the situation of Juan del Águila ' s men a bit . Expedition to England . Taking advantage of the " break " that he got from the French troops , Juan del Águila decided to organize a punitive expedition against England , for helping Henry IV of France . Thus , on July 26 , 1595 , three companies of musketeers from his Tercio under the command of Captain Carlos de Amézquita sailed in four galleys . They first made landfall in Penmarch to get supplies . On July 31 they left for England and landed on August 2 in $ 3 , Cornwall . In two days the expedition sacked and burned Mousehole ( where only a pub survived ) , Newlyn , Paul and Penzance . They also cleared the heavy artillery of the British and then re - embarked on the galleys . On 5 August , a day after setting sail back to France , they found a Dutch squadron of 46 ships from which they managed to escape but not before sinking two enemy ships . On August 10 , Amézquita and his men landed victoriously in Blavet . The expedition resulted in 20 casualties , all of them in the skirmish against the Dutch . On May 2 , 1598 the Peace of Vervins was signed , through which Spain returned all conquered places ( including Blavet ) in exchange for France vacating Charolais and places taken in Flanders . Therefore , Juan del Águila and the tercio had to return to Spain . Service in Spain . The tercio was sent to Cadiz from where they would make trips escorting galleons coming from America . In May 1600 , Juan del Águila was imprisoned for " having taken advantage of the tax of the king more than what was just , " as reported by Luis Cabrera de Córdoba . He was able to prove his innocence , so that , in reparation , he was given the command of the expedition to support the Irish rebellion against England . Expedition to Ireland . On September 2 , 1601 33 ships sailed from Lisbon to Ireland . In total 4 , 432 men of the Juan del Águila and Francisco de Toledo Tercios . Juan held the supreme command of the expedition as its General Field Master . The aim was to take the port of Cork , key southern port of the island and perfect for a landing . A strong gale dispersed the fleet near the island of Ouessant . The admiral , Diego Brochero , managed to reach Kinsale on October 1 with the greater part of the vessels . Thus , most men were able to land on Irish soil , but eight or nine ships under Pedro de Zubiaur , along with 650 soldiers and most of the provisions , returned to Galicia . As soon as they landed , the fleet returned to Spain in search of reinforcements . Juan del Aguila stayed with 3 , 000 men isolated in Kinsale . Allied troops were far from the town and so they could only get 900 poorly armed rookies . He decided to fortify the camp and wait for reinforcements . At the entrance of the bay he had built two forts : Castle Park and Ringcurran . An English army of 10 , 000 infantry , 600 horsemen and several cannons under the command of Charles Blount , VIII Baron of Mountjoy soon came . Additionally , a small fleet blockaded the harbour . In November , Mountjoy ordered an attack on Kinsale . The British took the Ringcurran fort , but were ultimately rejected . Soon after , Juan del Águila offered to surrender , which was rejected . From the north of the island , Hugh O ' Neill , Earl of Tyrone and Red Hugh O ' Donnell , Lord of Tyrconnell headed toward Kinsale in command of 5 , 500 men . In Spain , Pedro de Zabiaur , left port on December 7 in command of ten ships with 829 soldiers and abundant provisions and ammunition . But a new storm caused four ships to get lost . The rest managed to reach Castlehaven , about 48 km south of Kinsale on December 11 . Blount , alerted to the presence of a new Spanish force in Ireland , sent a fleet of seven ships to Castlehaven . On December 16 , after five hours of fighting , the British were only able to sink the Maria Francisca galleon and , unable to take the port , defended by a battery of five guns , fled the scene . In the morning of that day , December 16 , 1500 men left Kinsale to try to break the siege . They managed to destroy twenty guns and kill more than seven hundred British , but they had to return to the city , unable to cross enemy lines . Spanish casualties were relatively low , which encouraged the troops . After the victory against the English in Castlehaven , the nobles of the area swore allegiance to the King of Spain ( then Philip III ) and provided 550 infantry and a company of cavalry . In addition , the castles of Dunboy ( near Castletownbere ) and Donneshed ( near Baltimore ) were given to the Spanish forces . The rebel army coming from the north , finally managed to link with the Spanish , then decided to help Juan del Águila . But Zabiaur did not want to lose control of a number of places from Castlehaven to Baltimore that could be used for future landings . So he divided his troops , giving the Irish army 200 auxiliary infantry while he and the other men secured positions . So , just under 6 , 500 men set off Kinsale . At that time , the British army had been reduced to 8 , 000 men due to casualties caused by the Spanish , diseases and desertions . On January 3 the two armies met at Kinsale . The lack of coordination between the rescue army and the besieged , coupled with the disorganization of the Irish and the superiority of the English cavalry , turned the Battle of Kinsale into a major defeat for the Spanish - Irish coalition . The Irish began the attack , but were repulsed by the English . Under pressure from the British army , some Irish began to abandon the fight . After that , the English cavalry launched a counterattack , which drove them back and the Irish army fled . The cavalry then began to chase them , causing heavy casualties among the deserters . The intervention of the Spanish infantry prevented greater carnage at the expense of 90 deaths and 52 prisoners . Juan del Águila left the city with his men , but it was already late and they were rejected . In total , 1 , 200 Irish died at Kinsale . On January 12 , Juan del Águila surrendered . The terms of the surrender forced the Spanish to surrender their places and castles in Kinsale , Castlehaven , Dunboy , Donneshed and Donnelong ( on the island of Sherkin ) . In return , the Spanish army ( then reduced to 1 , 800 men ) and all the Irish who so wished , would receive supplies and transport to return to Spain . Also , they would keep their weapons , flags and money . On January 14 , just two days later , Martín de Vallecina arrived in Kinsale with reinforcements , but returned to Spain as soon as he learned of the surrender . Return to Spain . On 13 March the fleet arrived in La Coruña . There , Juan del Águila paid from his pocket for a field hospital to treat the many wounded . He remained under house arrest in La Coruña , which prevented him from going to Madrid to explain his actions in Ireland . In Court a War Council was prepared against him but he did not face it as he died in August . According to Emilio González López ' s account : " Overwhelmed by this arrest , which involved a severe censure of his military conduct in Ireland , Don Juan del Aguila died , probably in early August . " Supreme War Council . On July 12 , 1603 , the Supreme War Council concluded that " his surrender had represented a loss of reputation . " He was also accused of laxity for failing to leave the city in time during the battle . However , the impossibility of him telling his version of the events caused the story to reach the Court via the hands of others who were not involved , and his subsequent death made the Council decide without Juan del Águila ' s testimony and without him relating his defence of Kinsale for three months against superior forces .