He played a prominent role in the 1808 to 1814 Spanish War of Independence and held a number of senior military positions but was executed in 1817 for leading a failed revolt against the government of Ferdinand VII.

They apparently quarrelled and on their return, de Lacy walked to Porto, in Portugal, intending to take ship to the Moluccas, before his stepfather brought him home.

Despite being transferred to El Hierro, he continued their feud; he was court-martialed as a result and sentenced to one year in the Royal Prison at the Concepción Arsenal at Cádiz.

[8] His jailers allegedly considered him mentally unbalanced; as a result, De Lacy was stripped of his commission, and barred from re-enlisting in the Spanish army.

A second defeat at Alba de Tormes on 29 November left the Spanish unable to confront the French in open battle and they resorted to guerrilla tactics.

[12] Although Cádiz was besieged by the French from February 1810 to August 1812, support from the Royal Navy allowed the Council to send small amphibious expeditions intended to bolster resistance elsewhere.

[13] After the loss of Tarragona in June 1811, de Lacy replaced the Marquess of Campoverde as Capitán-General of Catalonia, a position held by his uncle Francis from 1789 to 1792.

[15] Most major towns, including Barcelona, Tarragona and Lleida, remained in French hands and in early 1812, Napoleon made Catalonia part of France.

Ferdinand rejected a previous commitment to accept the Spanish Constitution of 1812 and established an absolutist regime; Spain also faced colonial wars in the Americas, which began in 1810 and continued until 1833.

This destabilised the regime and led to a series of attempted coups, by military officers like de Lacy backed by progressive civilian elements, often linked by Freemasonry.