Francisco Sánchez Fernández (11 September 1762 – 13 November 1811),íoCamuñ commonly known as Tío Camuñas (Spanish: Uncle Camuñas) or Francisquete, was one of the most famous guerrilla fighters of La Mancha during Peninsula War.
Early life
Francisco Sánchez Fernández was born on 11 September 1762 in Camuñas (Toledo), son of Pedro Sánchez Sierra and María Fernández Cano, both natives and residents of the same town, although she is thought to come from Navalpino. His godparents were Francisco Redondo and his wife María Sánchez, the newborn's aunt, who is named after his godfather. His birth certificate was issued on 16 September by Don Miguel Bermúdez.
His life passed peacefully in Camuñas where he married on 30 May 1785, at the age of 23, with Águeda María Martín de Consuegra, a native of Madridejos, with whom he had six children: Hilario (born 1788), Mauricia (born 1793), Antonio Eustaquio (born 1796), Antonio Pantaleón (born 1798), Francisco (died 1809), and Ramona de la Cruz (born 1800). It is believed that he was a deliverer of mail, which would serve him later during his time as a guerrilla, due to his agility on horseback and his knowledge of the area.
His brother, Juan Pedro Sánchez, must have been a notorious character in Camuñas. In 1804 there was a lawsuit between the mayor and diocesan finance officer (oeconomus) to determine who was in control of the Corpus Christi festival and the appointment of piostres (major member of a confraternity), being Juan Pedro from the confraternity Cofradía del Santísimo Sacramento, appointed by the priest. On April 23, 1809 (already in the time of Napoleonic Spain), one of the members of the village council, the Frenchified Vicente Hidalgo Saavedra (with whom he maintained the previously mentioned lawsuit) killed Juan Pedro together with some French soldiers.
A new French assault on the brothers' house took place a month after this incident. Fernández managed to escape by jumping over the walls and fleeing to the field, but his brother was hit by several shots and held in the town hall until May 28, when he was executed by the French and hung on one of the blades of the Old Windmill.
The death of his brother, the abuses of the French domination over Camuñas and the death of his son Francisco (aged 10) leads Fernández to visiting the neighboring towns and calling some friends to help him, gathering thirty men on horseback, skilled marksmen and horsemen. This way began Fernández's fight against the French, who will popularize the phrase "¡Que viene el tío Camuñas!" ("Uncle Camuñas is coming!") due to his fame as a ruthless fighter.
Military successes
Tío Camuñas became one of the most important guerrillas in La Mancha, with his attacks often taking place on the royal road from Madridejos to Despeñaperros.
On 5 October 1809, he attacked 80 soldiers who were in La Guardia with his 40 guerrillas (killing eleven, wounding seven and making the rest flee). Tío Camuñas guerrilla attacked a French detachment in Puerto Lápice on 24 October, stabbing several soldiers and taking the rest prisoner. In December 1809, with his guerrillas, he escorted Juan Antonio Miranda from Madridejos to Valdepeñas, who traveled with his family from Madrid to Seville as an envoy of the Junta General. Juan Antonio was traveling with his family from Madrid to Seville to warn of the invasion of Andalusia that Napoleon and Marshal Soult were preparing.
In April 1810 he surprised a detachment of 120 Frenchmen in Lillo who tried to take refuge in the houses. Facing the threat of setting them on fire if they did not surrender, the entire detachment finally surrendered and were made prisoners.
Later, on May 10 he seized a large convoy made up of sixty cars loaded with tobacco, gunpowder, and other effects. On May 17, two soldiers from his party seized the mailbags that were carrying a French and a Spanish courier in the mountains around Consuegra and Mora. The 50-soldiers escort that guarded them ran to their aid but fled when Francisco and his companions arrived. The afternoon of 24 May Tío Camuñas encountered and caused some casualties on a detachment of 400 infantry and 90 horses that were heading from Alcázar de San Juan to Mota del Cuervo; the following days other French detachments near Pedernoso were also forced to retreat to San Clemente.