Irish Carlist, John Scannell Taylor

John Scannell Taylor was a 23 year old man from Cork, Ireland, who fought and died in the army of King Carlos VII of Spain. He was born around 1850 and was a law student at University College Cork before he left for Spain to enlist as a Private under the Carlist General Don Antonio Lizárraga y Esquiroz. However, he was soon made a Lieutenant in the Cazadores de Azpeitia unit. He was presented to the King by Lizárraga as a young man of much promise. However, in his first action, at the Battle of Ibero (near Iruña, or Pamplona) on 23rd July 1873, he was wounded twice and continued to lead a charge, before being shot a third and fatal time. His gallantry and bravery was lauded by his fellow Irishmen and women, as well as by his Spanish Carlist comrades. He was buried in the Campo Santo of nearby Ororbia, and there is a funerary monument to him in his native city of Cork in St. Joseph’s Cemetery.
The Third Carlist War (1872-6) was a popular insurection in northern and eastern Spain to place the head of the Bourbon dynasty – Carlos María de Borbón y Austria-Este, ducque de Madrid - on the Spanish throne as King Carlos VII, in succession to his great-grandfather King Carlos IV of Spain. The Duke of Madrid also claimed the throne of France as King Charles XI.


King Carlos VII of Spain
Carlism (Karlismo, Carlisme, or Carlismo as it is known in the Basque, Catalan, and Spanish languages) has been an important force in Spanish politics since 1833, especially in north-eastern Spain. Throughout the Third Carlist War the fighting was reported in Ireland by newspapers like The Nation, who supported King Carlos VII’s struggle. The Irish people were keenly interested in the fight, and there were many who joined the ranks of the Carlist forces. Three Corkmen were prominent amongst the Irish contingent: John Scannell Taylor, William Nash Leader, and John Smith Sheehan.
Taylor travelled to Spain with alongside Lieutenant John Smith Sheehan, a veteran pf the Papal Zouaves who had fought in the 1860 Papal War. Sheehan wrote soon after Taylor’s death:
‘The poor fellow that came with me, John Taylor, is now no more. He fought like a Bayard and died like a hero. At the attack on Ibero, on the 23rd July, he advanced with a company of Castilian guides, and at the first assault he received two wounds – one in the leg and another in the arm. The attack being renewed, and the officer of the company being hors de combat, poor Taylor limped at their head, when the fatal ball struck him in the head, leaving my poor friend on the field to rise no more. I don’t know whether you are aware of the cause of my leaving him at Lekunberri. Knowing that there were a lot of letters for us at Baiona, and fearing that we were about to enter the interior, and consequently would find it more difficult to get our letters, we proposed to have one of us return to Baiona. A favourable opportunity presented itself. The New York Herald correspondent being obliged to return to France I procured permission for three days. After poor Taylor and I “tossing up” to know who would remain, I lost and had to go. I had to walk seventy-five miles the two following days before reaching Donibane Lohizune. I got masses offered up for him. I have marked his grave, and will keep some of his things for his family.’

General Don Antonio Lizárraga y Esquiroz
Major William Nash Leader rose to become a high-ranking officer on King Carlos VII’s staff. He wrote soon after Taylor’s death:
‘In the attack on the fortified town of Ibero, in this province, Lieutenant Taylor was twice wounded, firstly in the arm, and afterwards in the leg, but, refusing to retire, continued to advance in front of the company, when he was struck by a third ball in the head and instantly killed. The Carlists are high in praise of his undaunted gallantry, and join with us, his compatriots, in deeply mourning his loss. We have had masses offered from his soul, and on the first opportunity will pay proper respect to his grave.’ After describing the late successes of the Carlists, and stating that they are now in almost undisputed possession of the northern provinces of Spain, Mr. Leader says: ‘Lizárraga is at or near Azpeitia and tomorrow I start to rejoin him, accompanied by another Corkman, Mr. Joseph Smith Sheehan, a lieutenant of the Papal Zouaves, who joined the Carlist army some time since, and, with me, is about to return to the front, in order, if possible, to avenge the death of poor Taylor, whom the King told, a few days previous to his death, that all Irishmen would be welcome to his standard, and that he felt deeply for our unhappy country.’

Here is The Nation’s report of Taylor’s death:
‘But in the north and east the Carlists have been carrying everything before them the past week, and as we write the important position of Bilbo may have been surrendered to their kingly chief. One trifling repulse, indeed, they have appeared to have suffered near Iruña, but even there the gloom of defeat was lighted up by at least one act of singular daring and heroism, which chances to have been performed by an Irishman. “Lizárraga’s men,” says the telegraphic account, “had the folly to rush on a stone wall pierced with loopholes. A former law student of Cork College, of the name of John Scannell Taylor, was foremost in the attack. He gallantly advanced after receiving two wounds, but a third bullet struck him in the forehead and killed him instantly.” Even the curt brevities of the telegraph cannot conceal the heroism of our countryman, who, it is added, was but twenty-three years of age.’

And another report of Taylor’s death:
‘He arrived from England in the middle of June and attached Himself to the partida of General Lizárraga in order to be near his fellow Corkman, Smith Sheehan. Previous to Mr. Sheehan’s returning to Baiona with despatches, he tossed up a coin to decide whether he or Taylor should have the choice of the duty. Poor Taylor won, and elected to remain with Lizárraga, as there was likelihood of fighting at hand. The very next day Ibero, where the enemy held a strongly entrenched position, was attacked, and the young Irish volunteer made himself conspicuous in the onset. While advancing in the open, setting a pattern of bravery to all by the steady way he delivered his fire, the gallant fellow was struck by a bullet in the leg. He kept on limping until he was touched a second time in the arm, but still he persevered with a dogged courage, when a third bullet struck him in the forehead, and he dropped with outspread arms, raising a little cloud of dust. He must have been stone-dead before he reached the ground. His conduct was “muy valiente,” so said his Spanish comrades. He was picked up after the affair, and decently interred side by side with two officers who met their deaths in his company. This was the first time he was under fire, as it was the last; but there is a fatality in those things.
This young Irishman, Taylor, was luckier than some of his fellows in one respect. Short as he had been in the service, he had attracted the notice of Don Carlos. His comrade Sheehan and he were pointed out to the King by Lizárraga as two modest deserving young soldiers who had offered to fight in the ranks—a trait of unselfishness that must have astonished the Carlist leaders, as most of the volunteers they had from France came out with the full intention of commanding brigades, when divisions were not to be had.
“I wish I had a thousand like them,” said Lizárraga, who was a genuine soldier, and one of the few Spaniards not unjust to foreigners.
Don Carlos shook hands with Mr. Taylor and thanked him. His Majesty spoke some few minutes in French with Mr. Sheehan, and, as the conversation gives some insight into Carlism, I may venture to repeat it.
Don Carlos: You have served before?
Sheehan: Yes, sire, in the Pontifical Zouaves.
Don Carlos: Ha! good. In the same company with my brother, perhaps?
Sheehan: No; but I had the privilege of knowing Don Alfonso.
Don Carlos: He is in Catalonia now, and has many of your old companions in arms with him. You are serving the same cause here as in Rome—the cause of religion and of order and of legitimate right.
Sheehan (bowing): I should not be here if I did not feel that, your Majesty.
Don Carlos (smiling): I thank you sincerely. General Lizárraga tells me you are Irish.
Sheehan: I come from the south of Ireland, sire.
Don Carlos. A country I feel much sympathy for. She has been very unhappy, has she not? Are things better now?
Sheehan: For some years Ireland has been improving, sire.
Don Carlos: That is well. She deserves better fortune, for she has a noble, faithful people.
Don Carlos drew back a pace and made a stiff military nod; the Irishman brought his rifle to the “present arms,” turned on his heel, and marched back to the ranks, and thus the interview terminated.’


Dedicated to the memory of a gallant and brave Corkman, Lieutenant John Scannell Taylor.

Irish Carlist, John Scannell Taylor | Irish Carlist John Scannell Taylor