.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Born into a noble family in the Alava region near Vitoria, the young Miguel Ricardo de Alava joined the 11th Sevilla Regiment of infantry under the command of his uncle José de Alava as a cadet at the age of 13 and rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant two years later in 1787. In 1790 he followed another uncle, Captain Ignacio Maria de Alava, into the Navy in which he served for a number of years and took part in several actions, most notably the Battle of Trafalgar when he served under Admiral Gravina aboard the Prince of Asturias (his uncle captained the Santa Ana). His first loyalty lay with Spain although his liberal politics did not always find favour with his King. In May 1808 Napoleon forced the abdication of Ferdinand VII of Spain and installed his brother Joseph on the throne in his place, an action which led Alava to join the patriotic National Independence Party and take up arms against the French. In 1811, with the Peninsular War in its third year, the chief command of the Spanish Army was given to Wellington and Alava was attached to his staff for the remainder of the conflict. Alava served with distinction in many actions including Talavera, Bussaco, Ciudad Rodrigo (where he commanded) and Vitoria, an action rewarded with the presentation of this sword. Following the end of the war against France in 1814 he was appointed Spanish Ambassador to the Netherlands enjoying British patronage. Being posted to The Hague allowed him once more to serve on Wellington's staff during the Hundred Days, Alava being present at the Duchess of Richmond's Ball on the eve of the Battle of Quatre Bras, at the battle itself and at Waterloo, where his great friend Lord FitzRoy Somerset was to lose his arm. It is thought that Alava holds the distinction of being the only person to have been present at both Trafalgar and Waterloo, at the former in opposition to and the latter in alliance with the British.
It is speculated that this sword was given to Lord FitzRoy Somerset by General Don Miguel Alava at the Waterloo Banquet held at Apsley House in June 1836. Alava, by this time the Spanish Ambassador to Great Britain, was one of three foreign officers present at the banquet who had fought at Waterloo; William IV and the Prince of Orange also being in attendance. Somerset and Alava were close friends having served together on Wellington's staff during the Peninsular War and are depicted seated next to each other in William Salter's painting of the 1836 banquet (see lot 72 for a print of this painting). Wellington had begun the tradition of a banquet on the anniversary of Waterloo prior to 1836 and as Alava had spent much of the preceding decade living in London at Wellington's invitation it is unlikely that 1836 was the first banquet that both Somerset and Alava had attended.
It is speculated that this sword was given to Lord FitzRoy Somerset by General Don Miguel Alava at the Waterloo Banquet held at Apsley House in June 1836. Alava, by this time the Spanish Ambassador to Great Britain, was one of three foreign officers present at the banquet who had fought at Waterloo; William IV and the Prince of Orange also being in attendance. Somerset and Alava were close friends having served together on Wellington's staff during the Peninsular War and are depicted seated next to each other in William Salter's painting of the 1836 banquet (see lot 72 for a print of this painting). Wellington had begun the tradition of a banquet on the anniversary of Waterloo prior to 1836 and as Alava had spent much of the preceding decade living in London at Wellington's invitation it is unlikely that 1836 was the first banquet that both Somerset and Alava had attended.