Carlos de Vargas Machuca y Cerveto (8 September 1803-10 October 1876) was the Governor of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo from 24 September 1863 to 31 March 1864, succeeding Felipe Ribero y Lemoyne and preceding Jose de la Gandara y Navarro.
Biography[]
Carlos de Vargas Machuca y Cerveto was born in Ceuta, Spain in 1803, and he came from an illustrious family. He became a Spanish Army cadet at the age of 5 and was already in command of provincial militias in Ronda and Pontevedra in 1816, and he became a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1830. Vargas served under Tomas de Zumalacarregui during the First Carlist War, and he was wounded several times. In 1850, he was sent to Cuba, commanding the Eastern Department until 1855. From 1861 to April 1862, he served as the Spanish military governor of Veracruz during the intervention in Mexico, and, in 1862, he took part in the campaign to reconquer the Dominican Republic. From 1863 to 1864, he served as Governor of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, crushing the Dominican insurgents at several battles. In 1864, he left his position as Governor, and the Spanish evacuated the island a year later. He went on to serve as Captain General of the Basque Country, and he took part in a further Carlist revolt against Queen Isabella II of Spain. He died in Madrid in 1876.