Juana Maria de los Delores de Leon Smith
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Juana Maria de los Delores de Leon Smith (c. 1798 - d. October 12 1872). Wife of General Sir Harry Smith, Governor of the Cape Colony.
Born into an old Spanish noble family, she was a direct great-granddaughter of Juan Ponce de León.
At the age of 14 De Leon found herself in 1812, orphaned and only with a sister, when her home town Badajoz was sieged for the fourth time during the Peninsular War. After the siege ended in a successful but very bloody storming by the British and Portuguese forces, the sisters sought protection from the plundering and pillaging soldiers by some British officers they found camping outside the city walls. One of them was Brigade-Major Harry Smith, of the elite 95th Rifles scout regiment, whom she married a few days later.
Instead of letting herself be sent home to her husband's family, she choose to accompany him with the army. She remained with him throughout the rest of the war, accompanying the baggage train, sleeping in the open on the field of battle, riding freely among the troops, and sharing all the privations of campaigning. Her beauty, courage, sound judgment and amiable character endeared her to the officers, including the Duke of Wellington, who spoke of her familiarly as Juanita; and she was idolized by the soldiers.
With the exception of his stint in the British-American War of 1812 she accompanied her husband in all his deployments, most notably in two postings in South Africa, where Sir Harry (he had been knighted in the meantime) served as Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner.
Juana Smith was given a pension of £500 by Parliament on 5 December 1848 in recognition of her husband's services to the country. The pair were always hopeless with money and he fought to get her a pension in his final years.
Known as Lady Smith in her later years, Juana Smith is commemorated directly in the name of Ladysmith, South Africa and indirectly in the name of Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada.
References
- Harry Smith, "Autobiography", J. Murray, London, 1901
- Georgette Heyer, "The Spanish Bride", Heinemann, London, 1940
- Information on the pension via "The Scotsman" archives
External links
- Harry Smith, [Autobiography], from the University of Pennsylvania Digital Library Project, (the online edition is directly dedicated to Juana De Leon Smith)
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