Don Jose de Barboza

Death of Don Jose.

Don Jose de Barboza (1700s-November 27, 1781) was an officer of the Kingdom of Spain.

Biography

Jose de Barboza was one of the young officers sent to the Great Siege of Gibraltar. Though abandoned by his men, Barboza fought on and attacked the British column head-on. The don was mortally wounded by a gunshot wound to the chest, and earned the respect of the British. He refused aid by the British commander, George Augustus Elliott, and died heroically. His last moments are romanticized in John Trumbull's famous painting, The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, 1789.