[4] His father was an Irishman who settled in Spain[5][6] and joined the infantry of the Royal Spanish Army,[7] attaining the positions of Brigadier and military governor of Zamora.

[11] In a missive dated 19 February 1804, some of its influential citizens reported to the Spanish Crown the dangerous situation of the island, asserting that Governor Kindelán had encouraged white refugees from the uprisings in Saint-Domingue to settle in Cuba after the French withdrew from the western portion of Hispaniola.

[19] Governor Kindelán sent certain leaders of his black militiamen to meet with the Seminole chiefs King Payne and his successor Bowlegs, who allowed some of their warriors to fight alongside the Spanish as a gesture of goodwill.

[20] Kindelán expressed his satisfaction when Bowlegs took two hundred of his men to join the Spanish at the St. Johns River, but complained that every time the Seminoles captured a slave, a horse or anything else of value, they left the field to try to secure the catch in their villages, so their utility as fighters was only temporary.

[24] Kindelán left the position of Governor of East Florida on 3 June 1815,[25] when he was appointed Attaché to the General Staff of Cuba, but on 12 August that same year he was given the rank of Lieutenant in Havana.

[26] On 12 September 1819, Kindelán was awarded the Grand Cross of San Fernando, third class, for his efforts in Florida in 1813 to stop the American attacks in the colony; he was also a Knight of the Order of Santiago.

[30][31] Like his predecessor, Kindelán strove to unite the military and civil power in the office of the Captain-General; this effort aroused antagonism between the Spanish troops and the local militia.