Name Jose de | Role Politician | |
Died April 16, 1858, Paris, France | ||
Jose Alvarez de Toledo y Dubois (14 May 1779, Havana - 16 April 1858, Paris) was a politician and leader of a military force against Spanish rule in Texas.
Alvarez de Toledo was the son of Luis Alvarez de Toledo y Liche, a navy captain of Seville, Spain, and Maria Dolores Dubois. He was educated at the Escuela Naval de Cadiz and then joined the Spanish Navy in 1806. In 1808 he switched to serving in the British Navy (for a few years).
Toledo was elected a representative of Santo Domingo to the Cadiz Cortes. However he favored independence for Spain's American possessions and was exiled in 1811. He next went to the United States where Secretary of State James Monroe gave him funds to try and form a revolution in Cuba.
Along with William Shaler, Toledo then was one of the main backers of Jose Bernardo Maximiliano Gutierrez de Lara in his efforts to invade Texas in 1812. Toledo then published papers against Gutierrez after he set himself up as ruler of Texas in San Antonio, and the junta displaced Gutierrez and put Toledo in charge.
Toledo took control of San Antonio on August 1, 1813. He was defeated by the Spanish Army at the Battle of Medina on August 18, 1813.
Toledo fled Texas. In 1814 he led an unsuccessful attempt to invade Texas from Louisiana. They made it past the Sabine River but did not make any significant progress.
In 1816 Toledo sought to reconcile himself with the Spanish authorities. He opposed the work of Francisco Xavier Mina that year. He then returned to Spain where he was an adviser to King Fernando VII.