3-097-608 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Captain General Francisco de Serrano y Domínguez, First Duke of la Torre, 1870-1871. (Detail). Francisco Serrano y Domínguez (1810-1885) was a Spanish military officer and politician; Regent of the Kingdom (1868-1874) and President of the Council of Ministers. He participated in the executions in Málaga of the members of Torrijos' failed expedition. In 1839, he was promoted to brigadier general, and became deputy for Málaga. He travelled to Russia, where he thoroughly studied its military organization. Following the 1854 revolution, he held the position of Director General of Artillery. In 1856, he was appointed ambassador to Paris, and later helped form the Liberal Union party, under whose government he served as Captain General of Cuba (1859-1862). During this three-year term, he amassed a fortune through the slave trade and received titles. He helped to harshly suppress the San Gil Barracks rebellion (1866), for which he was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece. Serrano y Domínguez was one of the men who orchestrated the revolution of 1868, and was appointed president of the provisional government, becoming regent with the style of Highness. When the Third Carlist War broke out, he assumed command of the armies of Navarre, Aragon, and Burgos.