Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, a.k.a. El Pacificador (The Pacifier) (5 May 1775 – 27 July 1837) was a Spanish military officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and in the Spanish American Independence Wars. He fought against French forces in the Peninsular War, where he gained fame and rose to the rank of Field Marshall for his valiant actions. After the restoration of the Spanish Monarchy, Morillo, then regarded as one of the Spanish Army's most prestigious officers, was named by King Ferdinand VII as commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme with the goal to restore absolutism in Spain's possessions in the Americas.
Born to a peasant family in Fuentesecas, Spain, at the age of 16 he joined the Spanish Navy as part of the Spanish Marine Infantry, where fought in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar; both times he would be taken prisoner. After the outbreak of the Peninsular War, Morillo left the Spanish Navy and joined the Spanish Army and fought at the Battle of Bailen under the command of General Castaños; he would also be present at the Battle of Vitoria. He rose through the ranks quickly during the war. His actions at the Battle of Puente Sanpayo won him fame, as he commanded an army that defeated Marshal Ney and forced the French army to evacuate Galicia.
