FOREIGN INTERVENTION
France, Portugal and especially Great Britain sent troops to help Spain in the framework of the Quadruple Alliance
Foreign intervention in the First Carlist War was carried out in application of the Quadruple Alliance between Great Britain, France, Portugal and Spain to defend the liberal monarchies. In the case of Spain the request for help came from the Cristino military chiefs who came to the conclusion that they needed help to end the Carlist uprising in June 1835. France sent the Foreign Legion commanded by General Bernelle. It was decimated in the battles of Huesca and Barbastro. The Portuguese expeditionary body did not have a big military relevance because it was deployed in Castile and extremadura where there was little Carlist activity.
For its part the British Auxiliary Legion, with some 10,000 volunteers and under the command of Sir George de Lacy evans, landed in San Sebastián between July and August 1835.
Initially the British were assigned to vitoria where they spent a hard winter and lost 800 men, mainly due to diseases. In this city the baker José elgoez was accused of introducing poison into the bread distributed to the Auxiliary Legion and was condemned to death by “vile garrotte”.
The British intervened in the battle of Luchana to support General espartero and break the second siege to Bilbao. They also helped in the conquest of the cities of Hernani and Irún, but above all, they participated in the defence of San Sebastián where they suffered the worst of their defeats in oriamendi, a fortified elevation that protected the capital of Gipuzkoa province on the southern front. Among the booty, the Carlists found a musical score to which they put their own lyrics in Basque language extolling their love for God, the King and the fueros of euskal Herria (Basque Country), song that would end up becoming the official anthem of Carlism.