When still a Colonel and military governor of the province, Moscardó was described by the English Major Geoffrey McNeill-Moss[1] as "a tall, reserved, gentle-mannered man, a little awkward, rather punctillious: happy enough with a few people he knew well, but shy in company.

The Siege of the Alcázar commenced and Moscardó held out for General Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces for 70 days from 22 July to 27 September 1936.

His defiance heartened the Nationalists everywhere and maddened the Republicans, who committed vast forces in vain assaults on the Alcázar.

Of the priests in Toledo, only seven who were in hiding escaped massacre by the Republicans, so the Canon was in that respect lucky to be alive, said to be because of his left-wing sympathies.

"[7] The rebel forces executed some of the hostages Moscardó kept in the Alcázar; also 100 wounded interns at the Tavera Hospital had their throats slit, 20 pregnant women were taken out of the Maternity and were shot down because they were deemed "red", and a number of additional republican militiamen were killed in the ensuing repression, including those burned alive by the rebels in the College of Maristas, 80 in the Archbishopric Palace and more than 100 militiamen in the seminary Seminario.

[8] A similar incident in Spanish history is that concerning Guzmán el Bueno, who chose the death of his son to surrendering the Tarifa fortress in 1296.

Franco, however, knew the value of propaganda and authorized Moscardó to wear a special black cloak of mourning for his son over his army uniform.

In late 1944, Moscardó, in command at Barcelona, led the successful defence against incursions by Spanish communists via the Val d'Aran into Lleida.

In 1947, he was responsible for returning the Spain National Football Team main colour to red, which had been changed in 1939 due to its association with the Republicans.