ANTILIA

REVISTA ESPAÑOLA DE HISTORIA DE LAS CIENCIAS DE LA NATURALEZA
Y DE LA TECNOLOGÍA
SPANISH JOURNAL OF HISTORY OF NATURAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

Historia de la Biología. Facultad de Biología.
Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
DL: M-34954-1995.                                                                                  ISSN: 1136-2049.

1995. Vol. I. Article Nº 3.

THE MARINE GUARDS ACADEMY OF CARTAGENA (1776-1824).

Juan Francisco López Sánchez.
Department of Physics. Cartagena Polytechnic, University of Murcia.
Manuel Valera Candel.
Teaching Division of the History of Medicine. Faculty of Medicine, University of Murcia.
Carlos López Fernández.
Mathematics Seminary. Instituto de Bachillerato Alfonso X. Murcia

The Marine Guards Academy of Cartagena (1776-1824). (*)

1. The teaching of nautical Sciences in the Spain of the XVIII century. The Cadiz Marine Guards Academy (1)

In the early XVIII century the very small number of Spanish naval units did not constitute a navy in the modern sense of the word. The disposition and conception of the forces meant that, in practice, they were a series of independent fleets. Although it was the intention of the first governments of Felipe V to establish a navy that would guarantee trade with the American colonies, the pressing needs arising from the war of Succession prevented such a project being carried out during the conflict.

Although the first preparations for the formation of a military navy began in 1714 with the unification of the different fleets and the appointment of Bernardo Tinajero de la Escalera as Secretary for the Navy and Indies, we should consider Jose Patiño, appointed Quartermaster General of the Navy in 1717, as the real instigator of the modern Spanish Navy. Patiño was well aware both of the need to construct boats for a specifically military purpose and to professionalize the people who would be in charge of them. Thus, one of his main aims was the training of future officers and, to this extent, he gathered reports on the methods employed by the naval academies of other countries. The organization of the Spanish Academy would be closer to the French model rather than the English, although neither was completely to Patiño's satisfaction (2).

The Company of the Marine Guards was established in 1717 and had its headquarters in the Castillo de la Villa, in Cadiz. The first ordinance that regulated its activities was the Instrucción para el gobierno, educación, enseñanza y servicio de los Guardias Marinas, y obligación de sus Oficiales y Maestros de facultades, of April 15, 1718. There is explicit mention therein of the need for scientific training for every good naval officer.

The requisites to be fulfilled by any aspiring marine guard (midshipman) were, according to Patiño's Instrucción were the following: that the candidate be of noble birth or the son of a military serviceman holding the rank of Captain or higher, of an age between 14 and 16 years and with a knowledge of reading and writing (3). It is interesting to underline the fact that amongst the lower nobility the crown enjoyed important support for its projects, since the army, navy and state administration provided this stratum of society with a social status denied them by birth. Contrariwise, these new openings to the military profession met with the reticence of the upper nobility, who preferred the old system of promotion in which military ability was barely taken into account.

The training received by the cadets prior to the introduction of the Ordinances in 1748 was not uniform, although all the cadets acquired at least a knowledge of arithmetic, geometry and trigonometry (4). The director had certain freedom in deciding on the exact contents of each subject but mathematics always formed the nucleus around which the other material was organized. The texts used by the midshipmen were to be (5): Compendio del arte de la navegación (Seville, 1717) and Trigonometria aplicada a la navegación (Seville, 1718) by Pedro M. Cedillo, former lecturer at the Colegio de San Telmo and head of the Academy since 1728, as well as Elementos geométricos de Euclides (Brussels, 1689) by Jacobo Cresa and several treatises from the Compendio matematico (9 Vols., Valencia, 1709-1715) by Tomás Vicente Tosca.

Two decades after the Academy had been founded it was discovered that Patiño's syllabus had never been put into practice in the manner intended by its author. To remedy the situation, a new syllabus was approved in 1735. Drawn up by the engineer Diego Bordick its title was: Instrucción que manda S.M. se observe por el Profesor Principal, y Maestro de facultades matemáticas (...) en que se trata del método universal de la enseñanza de estas facultades y de las pertenecientes a las fortificaciones y su dibujo.

Bordick's Instrucción was completed in 1740 with the promulgation of some norms obliging the marine guards, after completing the first two years at the Academy, to sit an examination in which they should demonstrate their improvement in arithmetic, geometry, plane and spherical trigonometry, navigation, pilotage and their handling of artillery. Those who did not pass the examination were discharged (6). However, these initiatives failed to achieve the desired effect and the Academy of Cadiz fell into deeper crisis.

The arrival at the Ministry of the Marqués de la Ensenada marked the beginning of a new era within the Spanish Navy which consolidated the foundations laid down by Patiño. In 1743 Zenón de Somodevilla was appointed to the post of Secretary of State and of the Universal Office for War, Marine, Indies and the Treasury. Previously, he had held the posts of Secretary of the Admiralty and Marine Quartermaster General. Ensenada initiated a programme of modernization and strengthening of the Navy, the fulfillment of which was based heavily on the Royal Ordinances of 1748 (7).

The 1748 Ordinances served to clarify many aspects of organization that had until then been a source of tensions. This was the case of the relation between the officers of the Company and the Academy masters. The Ordinances made it clear that no master had command over the cadets, not even the director, who only possessed an academic jurisdiction over them, although always in accordance with the captain of the Company. At the same time, the director was above the masters in academic matters, regardless of military rank. With these dispositions, the teaching side became subject in all circumstances to the military nature and character of the institution.

The Ordinances also laid down the timetable and the contents of the subjects, not leaving this to the masters' judgement, whose numbers were reduced to three for Mathematics and one for each of the following subjects: artillery, ship-building, manoeuvres, languages, design, dancing and fencing. The third master of Mathematics was in charge of explaining elementary arithmetic, plane trigonometry and geometry: the second master taught the practice of navigation, with the use of instruments and charts, along with spherical trigonometry and cosmography. The director of the Academy took charge of those matters of greater depth which were not indispensable to an officer's basic training, such as geography, hydrography, mechanics, astronomy, algebra and higher geometry (8).

The middle of the century saw the beginning of a complete change in staff and in the instruments and books in use at the Academy. Of the masters, worthy of note is Louis Godin, appointed director in 1751. The purchase of new teaching materials was entrusted to Jorge Juan, then under commission in Great Britain for the contracting of ship-building technicians.

In 1751 Juan was appointed commander of the Company and he immediately began to put forward the dispositions he believed necessary for it to be revitalized. Among these proposals figured the increase to 300 of the number of cadets, since the foreseeable increase in the navy's units made it necessary to prepare sufficiently in advance for a greater number of officers. The rise in the number of marine guards meant, according to Jorge Juan, an increase to 15 masters on the teaching staff (9). This was not easy to carry out and Ensenada, therefore, authorised contracting outside of Spain, while at the same time he prepared to send young Spanish officers abroad in order to broaden their studies. This solution met with the opposition of the new commander. Juan also succeeded in bringing masters to the Academy from other Military Schools, such as that of the Royal Guard or the Marine Artillery, an action which indicates that the work hitherto realized by the Academy of Cadiz had not been sufficient to provide trained officers capable of filling the new teaching posts.

Juan also proposed the modification of the syllabus, maintaining, nevertheless, the objective of training officers well familiar with the scientific basics of navigation. In this way, it can be considered that in 1753, the renewed Academy began a new era under the leadership of Jorge Juan and Godin, although some of the proposals of the former were not put into practice and this fact is undoubtedly linked to his frequent absences from Cadiz. Such was the case with the increase in the number of marine guards, which would not reach optimum level until the forming of the Companies of Cartagena and Ferrol.

On the subject of textbooks, Jorge Juan was responsible for the edition of new works, for which the Academy had its own printing press. In this manner there appeared: Compendio de artilleria para el servicio de la marina (Cádiz, 1754) by Jose Diaz Infante, Compendio de Navegación (Cádiz, 1757) by Juan, himself, and Compendio de matematicas. Aritmética (Cádiz, 1758) by Louis Godin. It was not until 1771, when the Compendio de la geometria elemental y trigonometria rectilinea by Vicente Tofiño was published that the series of publications dedicated to the teaching of marine guards was resumed. All these books replaced the old manuals that had been employed almost from the beginning of the Academy. As in the case of Cedillo's writings, the old manuals were hardly appropriate for teaching, for they lacked much material and were often inaccurate (10).

The fall of Ensenada in 1754 had its repercussions in the Academy's progress, for while his successor, Arriaga, tried to maintain the levels of investment required by the Navy, the Academy did not have sufficient funds to sustain those activities introduced by Jorge Juan. If, to this, we add the ever decreasing influence of the latter in the overall design of the Navy, together with the heightening tensions between the officers of the Cuerpo Ceneral (General Corps) and the Ministry, -tensions which were used by the Academy as a permanent subject for argument (11)- we can understand the critical situation that the Academy was experiencing, and the scarce opportunity for Jorge Juan's plans to yield results.

Godin died in 1760 and was succeeded as head of the Academy by Gerardo Henay, who kept the post until 1768. The following year, Victor Tofiño took over as director and in the same year the Company moved to the Isla de León, known today as San Fernando. In 1770 Jorge Juan was sent to Madrid, as director of the Seminary of Nobles. Projects to revitalize the Academy again did not take long to appear and they culminated in the decision to divide the Cadiz Company in two, thus giving birth to those of Cartagena and of Ferrol.

2. Creation of the Marine Guards Academy of Cartagena.

The idea of dividing the Academy had already been considered by Jorge Juan, but his wishes had been halted due, among other reasons, to the lack of teachers who would be able to provide with the preparation that, according to the captain of the Company of Cadiz, the navy would require of them. The lack of teachers was so apparent that the Ordinances themselves established that it was preferable to appoint new masters from among the Academy's own officers, and they read:

"the War Officers who wish to follow the career of Masters of the Academr will not only not suffer for this reason, but rather this service will be considered very special in their advancement." (12)

When Jorge Juan left the leadership of the Company, it had become little more than an instrument of selection for new officers which channelled young noblemen towards positions of command in the navy. Proof of this is the absence of any definite projects for the renewal of the teaching aspects during the first years of the seventeen seventies.

The number of midshipmen did not increase during the Seven Years' War nor during the decade of the sixties, although what did increase importantly was the number of ships in the fleet. This fact lead to a decrease in the length of time that each midshipman was in the Company, with the subsequent loss of scientific training. The cadets obtained the rank of Frigate Lieutenant when they possessed but basic notions of geometry, trigonometry and navigation. The situation worsened so much during the seventies that it became necessary to appoint officers from the pilots corps (13).

The first attempt to straighten out matters came from the Director General of the Navy, Juan José Navarro, Marqués de la Victoria, who in August, 1771, pointed out to the minister Arriaga the need to increase the number of days at sea of the midshipmen. Two months later he formalised his proposal, putting forward the idea that the number of midshipmen should be increased to two hundred, while adding that it would be convenient that those students of low performance should abandon the Academy of Cadiz. At the same time it would be advisable to insist upon a minimum knowledge for a candidate to be admitted as well as to forbid the admission of any candidate under the age of fourteen years. In 1773, Navarro's successor , Andrés Reggio, showed that he was in agreement with the ideas of his predecessor, and he made this known to Arriaga. In June 1772, confidential reports were requested from the intendents of Cartagena and Ferrol regarding the possibility of renting buildings which might serve for the installation of new centres of training for midshipmen. However, this initiative was never finalised (14).

Two years later, in 1774, the number of midshipmen of the Company of Cadiz was increased to two hundred, while at the same time it was ordered that four of the best students should stay posted at the Academy in order to broaden their knowledge, mainly in the management of ephemerides and in the method of lunar distances. The aim of this order was to specialize officers who would be able to fill the new posts of masters allocated to cope with the increase in the number of cadets. According to the report forwarded to the minister Arriaga by Gonzalo Cañas, one of the students sent to the Academy of Cádiz, the teaching received at the Academy was sufficient for one to become a good pilot, but did not qualify one to teach.

In August of the same year reports were again requested from the intendents of Ferrol and Cartagena and from the squadron leader González de Castejón, regarding the possibility of establishing a Company of Midshipmen in each of the department towns. The replies of the intendents coincided in pointing out the convenience of sending fifty midshipmen to Cartagena and another fifty to Ferrol, once they had completed their studies in Cadiz. The first would further their studies and later become engineers while the latter would specialize in shipbuilding, careening and in general all that related to arsenals. For his part, Castejón proposed the establishment in each Company of one hundred midshipmen, nineteen military men and subalterns and eight masters. Of these eight, three would be dedicated to the teaching of Mathematics, and one to each of the following subjects: artillery, manoeuvres, dancing, fencing and management of instruments.

The reform project was left pending until the arrival, on January 31, 1778, at the ministry of Castejón himself (he was the first minister to come from the Academy of Midshipmen of Cadiz). Very swiftly Castejón decided on the constitution of the Companies of Midshipmen of Cartagena and of Ferrol. The constituent Royal Order of August 13 1776 explained the motives for the creation of both military institutes:

"The King (...) determined, before the number of vessels had increased so much, and before other establishments that now exist had been built to respond to these needs to increase the number of his cadets, as was indicated when these were formed in the year 1717 by his August Father; but His Majesty knew that, even so, such a number was not sufficient, since he has had to replace the vacancies with subjects from other corps, who lack the principles established in this corps, and who have no practice in, and who are unaccustomed to, the fatigues of the sea, and for which it is very convenient that these should be experienced and exercised by those starting as cadets, so that their progress and improvements might be repeatdly checked through examinations such as have always been practised in the Academy, so that they might with equality and fairness gain promotion." (15)

The Royal Order established the creation in each Department of a Company of Midshipmen whose structure would be composed of one captain, one lieutenant, one second lieutenant, two adjutants, four brigadiers, sub-brigadiers, ninety-two midshipmen, a chaplain, two musicians and a drummer. Likewise the structure of the Academy, integrated in the Company, was detailed:

"(...) for the teaching of the Midshipmen there will be in each Department one Academy staffed by one first Master (under whose order the others will be), another two for Mathematics, to hold the distinction of second and third masters, one Master of Manoeuvres, one of Artillery, one of fortification and Design, one of Languages. one of Dancing, one of Fencing." (16)

There also had to be several auxiliary personnel in the Company along with one «instrumentario» (orderly) in charge of the cleaning and care of the scientific and teaching materials. For the purchase of such materials there was a monthly allocation of 25 copper escudos.

The Royal Order clearly established the control to be exercised by Cadiz over the «subaltern» Companies:

"That the Commander of the three Companies, and, hence, Squadron Leader, shall be the Captain of that established in Cadiz, and, likewise, the first Master of the said Academy shall be the Director of them all and, to this extent their orders will circulate so that there might be uniformity in the methods of Discipline and study and they will propose for the posts that may fall vacant therein. That the Captains of the subaltern Companies shall inform the Commander every month as to the enrollments and the discharges of that Company under their control and, similarly, as to the Midshipmen to have embarked or disembarked and, likewise when examinations were held they would send a confidential report of the results of each (...)." (17)

The captains of the Companies of Cartagena and Ferrol held the rank of captain, while the general captain of the Department was the inspector of the Company, although he should not interfere "in the regime and discipline of the Academy and its Barracks for this was peculiar to each Captain in charge there and according to the orders he might receive from his Commander."

The wages received by the directors of the academies of Cartagena and Ferrol indicate clearly the initial subordination of these to that of Cadiz. While the director of the latter received 250 escudos, the other directors were assigned 150 escudos. The wages of the remaining teaching staff, however, were similar in the three academies: 80 escudos to the second masters, 70 to the third, 60 to those of manouvres, 50 to those of artillery and 40 to those of fortification, design, languages, dancing and fencing. The same dependence of the new Companies on Cadiz was also reflected in their military structure, since the commander received 300 escudos, while the captains of Cartagena and Ferrol received but 150 escudos. Naturally, these wages were paid only as long as the rank itself did not entitle one to a higher wage. The Royal Order allowed for the possibility that two of the masters of Cadiz might transfer to Cartagena and Ferrol as directors, but this never occurred.

On October 21, 1776, Jacinto Ceruti was appointed director of the Academy of Midshipmen of Cartagena, although he did not take over the post until July 29, 1777 (18). Cipriano Vimercati, infantry captain and first master of the Segovia Academy of Artillery director of the Academy of Ferrol was appointed director of the Ferrol Academy on December 23, 1776. On February 25, 1777, orders were given for the transfer of 60 midshipmen from Cadiz to Ferrol, aboard the ship San Miguel, under the command of Francisco Winthuysen, the captain of the new Company. Shortly afterwards, in June, 1777,the sixty midshipmen based at the Company of Cartagena under the command of their captain, Jose de Mazarredo, were taken to their destination aboard the ships San Eugenio and Vencedo (19).

The Company of Cartagena established its first barracks in the Plaza de San Agustin, opposite the Convent of San Leandro, and in the building that later became known as «Mayoría General» (Sergeant-major's office), the site of which is now occupied by a clinic. The building had previously belonged to the trader Pedro Bergés but due to bankruptcy it passed into the hands of the receivership on October 15, 1767 (20). Owing to lack of space within the barracks, the Academy was set up inside the Arsenal, on the ground floor of the headquarters building, as can be seen in the following Royal Order, communicated to the lieutenant general of the Department, Alfonso de Alburquerque by the minister González de Castejón:

"The King has resolved that to Doña Ana Bryant, widow of the builder Don Eduardo Bryant, there be paid ten pesos monthly, in order that she might be able to pay for dwelling in a house within that town and that she might vacate that which she occupies within the Arsenal together with her extensive family and that the Commander of the Arsenal and his office do forthwith move into the dwelling of the aforesaid widow, thus vacating the dwelling which he occupies and all the rooms of the ground floor and leaving them clear for the establishing in the same of the Academy of Midshipmen and that all the lower and upper rooms of the Casa del Rey situated in the Fishmonger s that you were using as classrooms for the Academy be reduced to lodgings for the Midshipmen, and not for one or two only but capable of lodging at least four or six in each one; on the understanding that none of them should live outside the barracks, not even should they have their parents living in the same town." (21)

The barracks in the Plaza de San Agustin lacked the necessary installations to accommodate the Company, as can be deduced from the description Mazarredo gave of the building in 1783:

"Rooms few and small where if three are lodged, excluding some, they will not fit, and two may not be lodged: with Brigades far apart: all nooks and corners: impossible to store luggage apart correctly: making study impossible, since each will study as and when: making it necessary to expell those who incline to darkness and to fraternizing with the servants: the imposing of arrests and other punishments is unfavourable, since the discomfort of the place makes them worse, on account of the impossibility of study and the falling into abandon of those punished: in a word, all that should not be when training gentleman for such high aims". (22)

In order to give a solution to these deficiencies, Mazarredo proposed the construction of a new building. However, the initiative of the captain of the Company of Cartagena was not attended to at once, for several years passed before the decision was taken to build new barracks.

Finally, in 1810, the midshipmen had their own building opposite the bay, on the avenue formed when the Muralla del Mar was built. The plans were drawn by the architect Juan de Villanueva, while Simón Ferrer y Burgos was in charge of the construction. The first stone was laid on August 25, 1789, when the captain of the Company was Domingo de Nava and the director was of the Academy was Gabriel Ciscar. In the foundations of the new barracks was placed a lead box containing a parchment bearing a latin text. A translation of part of the text reads:

"(...) was built and dedicated this College for the education and instruction in the Mathematical Sciences of the noble and illustrious youth who, abandoning their comforts, wish to serve and defend their homeland with the aid of navigation, by serving in the Royal Navy in a Company of one hundred individuals, known as Midshipmen." (23)

We can form a pretty good idea of the building, thanks to the description made by Vargas Ponce while it was under construction:

"The figure of the barracks is that of a rectangle of 195 feet in length and 168 feet in width: it is made up of three sections and on the third one there is an Attic, at the front there are those rooms pertaining to the Observatory: along the sides are the rooms of the Midshipmen and at the back is the Infirmary and all its offices. The height of the building, including the Attic is 85 feet with the Observatory Tower rising a further 33 feet to its highest point The interior of the building is distributed as follows: On the ground floor are the rooms for Studies, the Armoury, the Guardhouse, the Kitchen, the Mess, Pantries, Butler's Room etc., etc. The main floor is taken up by the quarters of the Commander of the Company, which overlook the façade. Bedrooms, Drawing rooms, Hairdressers , Quarters for the Orderlies and the Servants are on the sides; and at the rear are the Chapel, Library and several rooms for the Chaplain, etc. In The Third Section, the front part is for the Lieutenant and the Second Lieutenant; Drawing Rooms and Bedrooms, etc., likewise along the sides; and a Games Room. Rooms to deposit clothes, books; these are at the rear. The Patio is surrounded by a gallery of Ashlar; that is, the first section with pillars and flat arches; the second with rounded arches and the third with Doric columns, with their flattened cornices covered by a small flat roof on a level with the floor of the Attic. The roofs are tiled, except for the main façade which are useable terraces, with their parapets, stone balustrade, which crown the said attic of the façade." (24)

The barracks, the cost of which was 6,595,490 copper reales (25), would come to be considered during the XIX century as one of the most beautiful and emblematic of the buildings of Cartagena, as can be appreciated in the Diccionario de Madoz:

"The barracks of the Midshipmen is another of the most beautiful of the town, made completely of stone with an elegant although unfinished façade, spacious rooms, a beautiful chapel,..." (26)

The Estrada brothers are similar in their praise:

"The Palace-Barracks of the Midshipmen, which occupies the centre of the line of houses of the Muralla del Mar, is one of the best finished and perfect constructions that Cartagena can boast. Its extraordinary height, its generous dimensions, its solid construction and the agreeable proportion of its forms, all enable one to assure that it is the best building the town posseses." (27)

When the Company of Cartagena was closed down in 1824, the Midshipmen's Barracks were converted into the residence of the Captain General of the Maritime Department, until 1853, when the latter was transferred to its present day building in the Puerta de Murcia. Since then the old barracks since then has housed different bodies of the navy -Service Corps, Academy of Administration, School of Torpedoes- while, today many administrative dependencies are based in the building, along with a military residence and the Mediterranean Maritime Zone library.

3. Teaching staff of the Academy of Midshipmen of Cartagena.

From the book Plana Mayor de la Compañia de Guardias Marinas del Departamento de Cartagena, deposited in the Historical Records Office of the Navy in Cartagena, and from the personal records of the masters, which can be consulted at the Don Alvaro de Bazan Records Office-Museum in Viso del Marqués (Ciudad Real), we have been able to draw up the complete list of the teaching staff at the Academy of Midshipmen of Cartagena. We present the list here, in order of the teaching post held, together with a few, brief biographical notes, where this has been possible.

Directors (first masters of Mathematics):

1) Jacinto Ceruti (1777-1787). Doctor of Philosophy and Theology of the University of Turin. Secretary of the School of Theologians of Wisdom of Rome (28). He took over the post on July 29, 1777 and retired on June 16, 1787

"with the enjoyment of half his salary so that he might employ it for his pleasure in Rome, his homeland, in attention to his delicate health and in particular to his eyesight." (29)

At the time of his appointment he wasin the Artillery Corps of the Army. On September 3, 1777, he read the speech of the opening of the Academy, which he had entitled: Elogio de las ciencias náuticas por los infinitos bienes de que les es deudora la sociedad y en elogio también de los sublimes y constantes talentos a quienes se debe su tan alto estado (30). When in charge of the Course of Higher Studies, he proposed, in 1783, a syllabus based on Lacaille's Leçons élémentaires de mathématiques, but this project was not approved, in spite of the support of Vicente Tofiño, the then director of the Academy of Cadiz. He left in manuscript form an Tratado elemental de Cosmografía según el método de estudios seguido por el director de la Academia de Guardias Marinas del Departamento de Cartagena, Don Jacinto Ceruti (31).

2) Gabriel Ciscar (1788-1798) (32). He enrolled at the newly established Company of Midshipmen of Cartagena in 1777. After studying for only five months he obtained the highest qualifications in the examinations and in 1778, he put to sea aboard the San Juan Bautista to perform his practical training in the waters around Sicilly and in the Adriatic. He was promoted the same year to Commissioned Officer and, in 1782, to sublieutenant. In August, 1783, he returned to Cartagena to study on the Course of Higher Studies, along with six other officers, but he was excused attending classes by the director, Jacinto Ceruti, «as he was able to prevail over the studies without the aid of the master». In October of the same year, he took charge of the class of navigation at the Academy of Cartagena and, having been promoted to frigate lieutenant, he was appointed Adjutant of the Company. In 1785 his syllabus for the Course of Higher Studies was approved and it represented a considerable increase in the content and scientific level of the same.

In April, 1788, he was promoted to full Lieutenant and appointed director of the Academy of Midshipmen of Cartagena.

In 1792 he engaged on preparing the second edition of the Examen Maritimo which Jorge Juan had written in 1771. In 1795 and 1796 he published treatises on arithmetic, spherical trigonometry and cosmography for the Academy of Midshipmen.

In 1798 he resigned as director of the Academy on account of his being appointed Provincial Commissioner of Marine Artillery. The same year he was chosen, along with Agustin Pelayo, to represent Spain in the meetings called by the French Institute in order to fix the units of the decimal metric system. (33) In 1800 he published his Memoria elemental sobre los nuevos pesos y medidas decimales (...), which was considered as the introductory work in Spain of the new system. On returning to Cartagena, he was appointed Second Commander General of the Marine Artillery.

In 1803 he published, at the request of the minister Grandallana, the Curso de estudios elementales de Marina. In the same year there appeared in Madrid his Explicación de varios métodos gráficos para corregir las distancias lunares (34). From 1808 on, political events caused Ciscar to move away from all scientific activity. In February of that year he took command of the Company of Midshipmen of Cartagena. In May he became a member of the Junta de Defensa of the town and was entrusted with the defence of the kingdom of Murcia. In August he resigned the command of the Company and joined the Junta Central. When the Central Junta was transferred to Seville, he was appointed Secretary of the War and Marine Board. In March, 1809, he became Military and Political Governor of Cartagena, and in February, 1810, Secretary of State and of the Marine Department.

On October 28, 1810, the Cortes elected him member of the Regency Council, a post which he held until 1812 when he became State Councillor, although he was again appointed Regent in March, 1813.

With the return to Spain of Fernando VII, Ciscar was arrested and confined in Murcia, Cartagena and at the end of 1815, in Oliva, where he remained until the liberalist pronunciamiento of 1820. He was then restored to his post of State Councillor, promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed Regent for the third time when the Cortes declared the king mentally deranged. With the reaffirment of the absolutist régime of Fernando VII, Ciscar had to flee to Gibraltar to escape persecution. There he was able to subsist thanks to the pension granted him by the Duke of Wellington. During his exile in the British Colony he wrote many works, among them the Poema fisico-astronómico in which he presented in 6.000 hendecasyllabic lines, an overall view of astronomy and physics of the period, with references to the most outstanding scientists and Spanish seamen responsible for the scientific upsurge in Spain at the end of the XVIII century.

Gabriel Ciscar died on August 12, 1829 and in 1860 his remains were moved to the Pantheon of Illustrious Seamen of San Fernando.

3) Francisco Collin (interim) (1798).

4) Felipe Gutiérrez Varona (1798-1812). He completed the Course of Higher Studies in the Department of Cadiz during the years 1789-1791. In 1786 he was Commissioned Officer and master of the Academy of Cadiz. In 1788 he was promoted to Sublieutenant and was designated master of artillery. In 1793, he was promoted to Frigate Lieutenant and became second master of Mathematics in Cadiz. With the rank of full Lieutenant he was appointed director of the Academy of Cartagena on August 28, 1798, and he took over the post on February 22 of the following year. In 1804, he asked to be incorporated into active service. His petition was denied because the other two masters of Mathematics had died during the yellow fever epidemic - a circumstance which obliged the class of arithmetic to be given by the master of languages. He remained director until his death on March 12, 1812.

5) José Sánchez Cerquero (1812-1818). He joined the Navy in 1798. In 1805, a member of the Engineers Corps, he was posted to the Arsenal of Carraca. Appointed director of the Academy of Cartagena on June 25, 1812, he took over the post on February 27 of the following year. He left this post on March 12, 1816, as he had been posted to Astronomical Observatory of San Fernando. After a period as observer, he was appointed director, a post which he held until 1846 and which he used to reorganize the institution. He made visits to several European Observatories, both to study their organization and to acquire instruments for the San Fernando Observatory. He published a wealth of scientific works (35) and he belonged to the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Meteorological Society, among others.

Second masters of Mathematics:

1) José González Ortiz (1777-1783). He took over the post on July 29, 1777. Previously with the Infantry Regiment of Navarra. Made full Second Lieutenant in April, 1779. Commissioned Officer in December, 1782. On April 19, 1783 he was appointed First Adjutant of the Company. He worked assiduously in the Observatory, especially during his first years at the Academy, which earned him the professional esteem of Mazarredo. In 1827 he wrote a Memoria sobre el establecimiento de cinco observatorios astronómicos en España (36), addressed to the minister Luis Maria de Salazar, in which he proposed the creation of a Spanish network of observatories, with one in Madrid, Barcelona, San Fernando, Ferrol and Cartagena.

2) Antonio Federichi (1783-?). Genovese. He took over the post on June 25, 1783. After obtaining six months leave, he went back to his native land, but he died off the Playa de la Pineda (Catalonia), when the boat he was on was shipwrecked.

3) Fernando Noguera y José Salazar (interim). Commissioned Officers. They occupied the post until April 23, 1787.

4) José Miguel Sarasa (1789-1799). He took over the post on August 26, 1789. He resigned from the post of second master when he was appointed Adjutant to the Inspección General de Caminos.

5) Juan Gutiérrez de Santa Clara (1800 1804). He was appointed on April 1, 1800. He died in Cartagena on October 23, during the yellow fever epidemic.

6) Francisco Ibáñez (1805-1824). Teniente de brulote of the Royal Marine Artillery Corps. He took over the post on April 29, 1805. He transferred to the Registers section on April 23, 1824.

Third masters of Mathematics.

1) José Atienza y Salvatierra (1777). Commissioned Officer. He took over the post on July 29, 1777 and resigned on September 16 of the same year and returned to the General Corps. He retired from active service in 1784. He died in Cadiz in 1815.

2) Nicolás Buggiano (1777-1791). First class pilot. He took over the post on November 18, 1777. He retired on September 16, 1791, with the rank of Commissioned Officer.

3) Francisco Collin (1791-1813). He was appointed by Royal Order on November 8, 1791, when also occupying the post of master of languages. He retired on August 1, 1813, with the rank of Teniente de Brulote. He was interim first master from July to September of 1798. He died in Madrid in 1833.

4) Antonio Moreno Duque (1813-?). He took over the post on October 8, 1813.

Fourth masters of Mathematics.

1) Juan Gutiérrez de Santa Clara (1791-1800). The post was created on November 8, 1791 and Santa Clara was the first and only master to hold it. In 1800 he became second master.

Masters of manoeuvres:

1) Juan Grau (1778-1783). Navy Boatswain. He took over the post on November 8, 1778 and held it until his death on November 30, 1783.

2) Bartolomé Cardiel (1783-1789). Navy Boatswain. Ne took over the post on December 17, 1783. He died on March 23, 1789.

3) Gabriel Puch (1789-1809). Navy Boatswain with rank of Officer. He took over the post on April 6, 1789. He died on September 14, 1809, holding the rank of teniente de fragata. Masters of artillery:

1) Raimundo Girona (1777-1791). High Constable of Marine Artillery Brigade. He took over the post on September 19, 1777. He left the Academy on September 16, 1791 when he was reposted to the Artillery Brigade with the rank of capitán de brulote.

2) Antonio Reina (1792-1804). Teniente de brulote. He took over the post on June 28, 1792. He died in Cartagena on November 21, 1804, holding the rank of Captain.

3) Francisco Vera (1805-1809). Teniente de brulote. He took over the post on April 29, 1805. He asked to be relieved from the post on account of his ailments. His request was granted on July 22, 1809.

4) Serapio Hernández (1809-1813). He was second master of the Academy of Pilots of the Department of Cartagena. He took over the post of master of artillery on August 9, 1809. He died on February 26, 1813.

Masters of fortification and design:

1) Manuel de Villena y Mociño (1777 -1787). Born in Portugal. Draughtsman at the Academy of Pilots of Cadiz. He took over the post on April 21, 1778, with the rank of graduate Commissioned Officer. He left the Navy on May 15, 1787 after being appointed to the Préstamo Santa Maria del Campo, in the diocese of Cuenca.

2) Antonio Rodriguez (?-?). High Constable of the Marine Artillery Corps. He took over the same post at the Academy of Cádiz.

3) José Guzmán (interim) (1791-1792). First Corporal of the Marine Artillery Corps. He took over the post on January 15, 1791. He was relieved of the post on November 6, 1792, when he went to Cádiz as Second Brigade High Constable.

4) Manuel de Rosas (1793-1794). Teniente de brulote. He took over the post on April 1, 1793 and left it on May 19, 1794.

5) Manuel Ferreyro y Losada (1795-1802). Academic of San Fernando and San Isidro. He filled the post on April 21, 1795.

6) Francisco Ibáñez (1802-1805). First High Constable of the Marine Artillery Corps. He took over the post on June 3, 1802. On April 29, 1805 he became second master of Mathematics.

7) Juan José Panive (1805-1808). He occupied the post on April 29, 1805. He died on October 2, 1808.

Masters of languages:

1) Francisco Collín (1778-1797). He held the post from January 22, 1778 until October 8, 1797.

2) Antonio Gervais (1797-1806). Presbyter. His occupation of the post took place on October 24, 1797. He resigned, by Royal Order, on December 14, 1806.

3) Francisco de Paula Panisse (1807-?). He took over the post on February 7, 1807. He died on January 23, 1827.

Masters of fencing:

1) Miguel Terán (1778-1797). His occupation of the post took place on January 30, 1778. He died on April 30, 1797.

2) Vicente Terán (1796-?). He took over the post on June 6, 1796.

Masters of dancing:

1) Francisco Guardini (1777-1781). He took over the post on September 9, 1777 and he resigned from it on December 21, 1781, «on account of his ailments».

2) Alejandro Narichi (1785-1786). His occupation of the post took place on June 18, 1785.

3) Pantaleón Rodríguez (1786-1796). He took over the post on January 24, 1786. He died in Saragossa on June 9, 1796, while on leave.

4) Antonio Furtó (1797-1805). He filled the post on March 17, 1797. Dismissed from the Company «on account of his bad conduct», according to the Royal Order of May 11, 1805, he was discharged from the company on the 18th day of the same month.

5) Pedro Agustini (1806-1823). He took over the post on September 5, 1806. He died on September 19, 1823, with the King having granted him the habilitation of his post on October 4, 1817.

Instrumentario (orderly) master

1) Francisco Anestares (1777-?).

We cannot conclude this section devoted to the teaching staff of the Academy of Cartagena without mentioning the work carried out by José de Mazarredo who, in spite of not being one of the masters there, played an extremely important role in teaching during his period as Captain of the Company of Cartagena. Mazarredo put especial emphasis on the midshipmen's assimilating the latest techniques in navigation, and in particular those which enabled one to determine longitudes at sea, using chronometers or lunar distances. Thus, as well as proposing changes in the syllabuses, he wrote many notes which updated and completed Jorge Juan's Compendio de navegación. These notes were used as textbooks by the cadets and they were printed in 1790 under the title of Lecciones de navegación. We should also emphasize that Mazarredo was Commander of the San Juan Bautista, the first Spanish training ship, used for the practical training of the Cartagena cadets. The practical training was supervised on board by Mazarredo himself (37).