Appointed lieutenant colonel of the María Luisa Regiment of Hussars at the beginning of 1801, Henestrosa saw action during the War of the Oranges.
[1] Having been given command of the Regiment of Light Infantry Volunteers of Spain in August 1807, he refused to obey orders to join French General Dupont's forces,[note 1] and instead marched his regiment to Extremadura, for which he was promoted to brigadier in June 1808 by the local Junta.
[1] By October that year, Henestrosa was leading the 2nd Division of Galluzo's 12,800-strong Army of Extremadura,[2] an army which the following month, then under the command of the Conde de Belvedere, would be routed at Gamonal.
[2] He was promoted to lieutenant general of Cavalry following the Battle of Medellín (28 March 1809).
[3] Henestrosa was appointed captain general of Spain's Royal Armies in 1825.