Jose Fernando de Abascal y Sousa , XXXVIII viceroy of Peru. He became Marquis de la Concordia and Knight of the Order of Santiago. He was born in Oviedo (Asturias) on May 30, 1743. Son of Don José de Abascal y Sainz de Trueba and Doña Gertrudis de Sousa y Sánchez. From an early age he had a distinguished military career that led him to participate in successive missions in America. He was first assigned to reinforce the garrison of Puerto Rico (1767); later he took part in the expedition led to Montevideo by Pedro Cevallos (1776); and later it was found on the island of Santo Domingo (1781).
Abascal is designated as viceroy
Towards the end of the century he received the designation of president of the Guadalajara audience and captain general of Nueva Galicia. He eventually earned promotion to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, but before reaching his destination he was taken prisoner by the English, who took him to Lisbon. Finding himself in this difficult situation, the dispatches were signed in court that invested him as supreme authority of the Viceroyalty of Peru and president of the audience of Lima (November 10, 1804) . As soon as he could, he took the sea route to Brazil and continued along the Charcas land road until he reached the Peruvian capital in mid-1806. He received the command insignia of his predecessor, the Marquis of Avilés, and made his entrance solemn in the city of Lima on August 20 of that year .
Government of Abascal
Abascal remained in the government of the viceroyalty for a whole decade, and although he had to face a profound crisis (due to the Napoleonic invasion of Spain and attempts at independence in the countries neighboring Peru), he managed to overcome the difficulties thanks to his political skill and his knowledge of men. Moreover, he managed to deploy an effective activity in the fields of health, urban planning and education .
He had the new general cemetery of Lima built, a work designed by the architect Matías Maestro (1808), as well as the doorway of Maravillas, on the road that led to the pantheon. He also participated in the founding of the capital's Bar Association (1808); he inaugurated the medical college of San Fernando (precisely baptized in his honor), on land bordering the hospital of Santa Ana (1809); and he reopened the college of the Prince, instituted for the education of noble Indians (1810). he organized the regiment of the Spanish Concord of Peru, for the defense of the Bourbon cause, with similar conditions for Creoles and peninsulares (1811) .
Situation after the abdication of Ferdinand VII
After the abdication of Fernando VII and the Napoleonic usurpation, he disregarded the suggestions that were made to proclaim himself King of Peru. When news arrived of the taking of Buenos Aires by the English, he adopted emergency measures to increase troops and weapons. He created a new gunpowder factory, with the Santa Catalina barracks as a warehouse. He improved the capacity and power of the naval forces by creating a nautical station in Callao and establishing the admiralty in 1807, abolished in Spain itself. To suffocate the insurrections in Upper Peru and stop the progress of the Argentine armies on that side, he organized one which, under the orders of Generals Goyeneche and Pezuela, obtained over them the repeated victories of Guaqui, Vilcapuquio, Ayohuma and viluma; To subdue the insurrection that broke out in Huánuco, he sent the mayor of Tarma, Joseph González Prada, who achieved it by shooting the perpetrators of it; To contain the revolution in Quito, he sent an army under General Montes, who achieved it with the greatest success; to stifle the revolution in Chile, he sent repeated expeditions under the orders of Generals Gaínza, Pareja and Osorio, who finally succeeded; and to suffocate the revolution that broke out in Cuzco, led by Brigadier Don Mateo Pumacahua, he sent General Ramírez who beat him in Umachiri and executed him in Sicuani.
Abascal resigns as viceroy
Abascal tired of the government, or perhaps convinced that the triumph of the cause of independence was inevitable, and not wanting Peru to be lost in his hands, he urgently requested that he be relieved of the viceroyalty. On October 14, 1815 his resignation was accepted and on July 7, 1816 he handed over command to General Pezuela. . On November 13 of the same year he left for Spain in the corvette "Cinco Hermanos". Arriving in Spain, he was promoted to the class of Captain General and appointed War Counselor.
He served as deputy general of the principality of Asturias before the courts. By royal dispatch of 1812 he obtained the title of Marquis of the Spanish Concord of Peru. He was married to Doña María de la Merced de Asencio O'Ryan. Finally, his life was extinguished in Madrid on July 30, 1821, at the age of 78 .