Cayetano Valdés y Flores

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Cayetano Valdés y Flores Bazán (1767–1835) was a Spanish Navy officer and explorer. He fought in major wars and sailed on both sides at different times as Spain’s fortunes changed. He took part in important battles like Cape Spartel, Cape St. Vincent, and Trafalgar. He is also known for exploring the Pacific Northwest, where he and Dionisio Alcalá Galiano completed the first circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, working in part with George Vancouver. He reached the highest ranks in the Spanish Navy, and was named Captain General of Cádiz and Captain General of the Navy.

Cayetano Valdés was born in Seville in 1767 and was the nephew of Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán. He joined the Naval Academy in Cádiz as a midshipman in 1781. After finishing his studies, he sailed with the fleet of Luis de Córdova and fought at Cape Spartel in 1782 during the Great Siege of Gibraltar. In 1783 he took part in a Spanish operation against Algiers to crush Barbary corsairs.

In 1789 Valdés became a lieutenant on the scientific expedition of Alejandro Malaspina. In 1791 Malaspina gave him command of the goleta Mexicana to explore the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia, in a voyage led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano. The Mexicana began as a topsail schooner but was changed to a brig. Galiano and Valdés named Goletas Channel after their ships. In the summer of 1792 they circumnavigated Vancouver Island and met George Vancouver along the way. They arrived at Nootka Sound separately and are regarded as the first Europeans to fully circumnavigate the island.

In 1797 Valdés commanded the ship Infante don Pelayo at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, where the Spanish were defeated by the British. He earned a promotion to captain and earned a reputation as a strong fighter. After the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, Infante don Pelayo was given to the French Navy and Valdés took command of the Neptuno at Brest.

In 1801 he helped a Franco-Spanish operation in Haiti during the Haitian Revolution. He returned to Cádiz in 1802 and was promoted brigadier de la Real Armada. In 1805, during the Trafalgar campaign, Valdés and the Neptuno fought with the French and were overwhelmed; Valdés was wounded and the Neptuno was damaged and surrendered. He survived the battle and later found himself in England when the Peninsular War began.

Back in Spain, Valdés joined the land army and led a brigade in Galicia under Joaquín Blake. He fought at the Battle of Espinosa and was seriously wounded again. He was appointed captain-general of Cádiz, but when Ferdinand VII returned to the throne he was imprisoned. He was released in 1820 after Riego’s revolt and was made governor of Cádiz during the Trienio Liberal, defending the city after the Battle of Trocadero. He faced a death sentence, was arrested by the French governor, and was sent to Gibraltar under the French flag, eventually going into exile in England for ten years.

In 1833 Isabel II recalled Valdés and named him Captain General of Cádiz and later Captain General of the Navy. He died on June 6, 1835, in San Fernando, Cádiz. Valdés Island in the Strait of Georgia is named after him, as is Cayetano Point on the island. Other place names related to his 1792 voyage include Mexicana Hill, Dibuxante Point for artist José Cardero, and Vernaci Point for officer Juan Vernacci y Retamal.