At the start of the Anglo-Spanish War, José Caro was given command of the Magdalena that sailed from Cádiz in April 1805 as part of the Spanish squadron led by Federico Gravina, headed for Martinique[1] where, at the Battle of Diamond Rock, a large combined Franco-Spanish fleet[note 1] was able to oust the British garrison the following month.
Promoted to brigadier, with his 2,000-strong column[3] of the newly raised Regiment of Cazadores de Valencia,[1] he was able to help repel Moncey's two successive attacks on the city.[4]
As captain general of Valencia, Caro was later able to repel Marshal Suchet's attack on Valencia (7 March 1810), forcing the French general to withdraw to Catalonia, and for which Caro was promoted to lieutenant general the following May.[1]
Eventually forced to flee to Mallorca, he was replaced as captain general of Valencia by Field Marshal Luis Alejandro Bassecourt in August 1810.[1]
