Editing Tomás de Zumalacárregui (section)

== The Carlist War ==
The proclamation of the king's daughter [[Isabella II of Spain|Isabel]] as heiress was almost the occasion of an armed conflict between him and the naval authorities at Ferrol, who were partisans of the liberal and so-called "constitutional" cause. He was put on half pay by the new authorities and ordered to live under police observation at [[Pamplona]] in Navarre.

When the [[First Carlist War|Carlist uprising]] began on the death of Ferdinand VII, he is said to have held back because he knew that the first leaders would be politicians and talkers. He did not take the field until the Carlist cause appeared to be at a very low ebb, and until he had received a commission from Don Carlos as Commander-in-Chief in [[Navarre]].

He escaped Pamplona on the night of 29 October 1833 and took the command next day in the Araquil Valley. At that time the Carlist forces comprised no more than a few hundred ill-armed and dispirited ''guerrilleros''; in a few months Zumalacárregui had organized them into a regular army. The difficulty he found in obtaining supplies was enormous, for the coast towns and notably [[Bilbao]] supported the "Cristino" (liberal) cause. It was mainly by seizing equipment from the government troops that he armed his forces. He gradually obtained full possession of the [[End of Basque home rule in Spain|Southern Basque Country]], outside of the fortresses, which he had not the means to besiege.<ref name="EB1911"/> He organized the forces known as ''[[aduaneros]]'' and the ''[[Guías de Navarra]]''. His chief bodyguard, and later biographer, was [[Charles Frederick Henningsen]].{{citation needed|date=October 2014|reason=not mentioned in EB1911}}

Whether as a guerrilla leader, or as a general conducting regular war in the mountains, he proved unconquerable. He won the battles of [[Battle of Alsasua|Alsasua]], [[Battle of Alegría de Álava|Alegría de Álava]], and [[Battle of Venta de Echavarri|Venta de Echavarri]], for example, by employing guerrilla tactics.

By July 1834 he had made it safe for Don Carlos to join his headquarters. Zumalacárregui was by then strongly envied by the courtiers that surrounded the pretender, as well as by other military officers. Besides, Don Carlos was a somewhat naïve and easily suggestible man, and Zumalacárregui had therefore to drag behind him the whole weight of the distrust and intrigues of the court. Yet by the beginning of June 1835 he had made the Carlist cause triumphant to the north of the [[Ebro]], and had formed an army of more than 30,000 men, of much better quality than the constitutional forces.  He won the [[battle of Artaza]] (20–22 April 1835).
[[File:Bilbao Begoña-Galeria.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Location where Zumalacárregui suffered his fatal wound]]
[[File:Zumalacarregui i Carles.jpg|thumb|Zumalacárregui (right) in his distinctive [[Basque beret]] and brown [[pelisse]], speaking to [[Infante Carlos, Count of Molina|Don Carlos]] (left) during a battle, 1837]]
If Zumalacárregui had been allowed to follow his own plans, which were to concentrate his forces and march on [[Madrid]], firstly seizing Logroño ([[La Rioja (Spain)|La Rioja]], [[Old Castile|Castile]]), he might well have put Don Carlos in possession of the capital. But the court was eager to obtain command of a seaport, because they thought this would facilitate the official recognition of Don Carlos as the legitimate heir to the Spanish Throne by other European courts. Thus, Zumalacárregui was ordered to besiege [[Bilbao]]. He obeyed reluctantly, and on 14 June 1835 was wounded in the calf by a [[musket]] shot, near the [[Basilica of Begoña]].<ref name="EB1911"/> The wound was trifling and would probably have been cured with ease, but Zumalacárregui decided to employ a famous Gipuzkoan quack called "Petriquillo", whom he trusted.<ref>Nowadays "Petriquillo" (= ''petrikilo'') is in [[Basque language|Basque]] a common name tantamount to 'quack' or 'dodgy healer'.</ref> Petriquillo proceeded to remove the bullet from Zumalacárregui's leg, provoking a great loss of blood and probably an infection.{{citation needed|date=October 2014|reason=not mentioned in EB1911}} Don Carlos had insisted on sending his own physicians, but they hesitated about the best prognosis to follow, losing precious time and failing to stop Petriquillo from trying his "procedure" (he acted when they were not present) and in their hands the general died on 24 June 1835, not without suspicion of poison and after Petriquillo had hastily left the scene.

Zumalacárregui is often popularly credited as the inventor of [[Spanish omelette]] (or ''tortilla de patatas''), which he allegedly elaborated during the Siege of [[Bilbao]], as a simple, fast and nutritious dish with which to satisfy the hardships of the [[Carlism|Carlist Army]]. In search of nourishment, he came across a poor housewife who had nothing other than eggs, onion and potatoes. When he mixed it up, he liked the result and fed it to his starving troops. It is said that after this, the tortilla became incredibly popular throughout the rest of the [[First Carlist War]], and is now one of the most renowned dishes in the world.<ref>Jack, Albert (2010). What Caesar Did For My Salad: The Secret Meanings of our Favourite Dishes. Penguin. p. 368. {{ISBN|9780141929927}}</ref>

Zumalacárregui was a fine type of the old royalist and religious principles of his people.<ref name="EB1911"/> The Carlist forces under his command were repeatedly refused quarter by the government's forces (which for years didn't recognize them as legitimate combatants). The increasing ferocity of the war, substantiated in routine executions of Carlist soldiers and officers, convinced him of the necessity of a similar retaliation against the liberal forces.  Zumalacárregui, however, would later sign the [[Lord Eliot Convention]], shortly before his own death, which aimed to end the indiscriminate executions by firing squad of prisoners on both sides.