José Enrique Varela Iglesias, 1st Marquis of San Fernando de Varela (17 April 1891 – 24 March 1951) was a Spanish military officer noted for his role as a Nationalist commander in the Spanish Civil War. Early career Varela started his military career as an enlisted man in the Spanish Marines for three years starting in 1909. Varela initially enlisted as a recruit in the same regiment his father served as sergeant. He rose from private to the rank of sergeant and then enrolled at infantry school in Spain and graduated as a lieutenant. Returning to Morocco, he distinguished himself in action and King Alfonso XIII awarded him the Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand, Spain's highest military award, on two separate occasions, an unmatched honor for bravery in battle. He commanded native Moroccan troops of Regulares and rose to the rank of captain by merit and participated in several campaigns in the Morocco war, the principal one being the joint Franco-Spanish amphibious landing at Alhucemas in 1925. This landing altered the course of the Morocco War and hastened its end. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and to colonel at the end of the war. During the early 1930s, he was assigned as a member of a military mission that spent time in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and France to broaden their military knowledge. With the coming of the Republic, he participated in the abortive José Sanjurjo uprising in 1932 for which he was imprisoned. He was released and joined the Carlists and organized the militia or the paramilitary units of the Carlists, the Requetés, into the formidable military organization that it became in the Spanish Civil War. Disguised as a priest, Uncle Pepe, he traveled along the Pyrenean villages organizing the people and readying them for war. He actively participated in the planning for the rising that started the Spanish Civil War. In April 1936, the government found out about his plotting and imprisoned him. The Civil War In jail in Cadiz when the rising started, he was released on 18 July and helped secure Cadiz for the insurrection. He participated in many of the campaigns of the War including, Seville, Córdoba, Malaga, Extremadura, Tagus Valley, Alcázar, Madrid, Jarama, Brunete, Teruel and the Ebro. In Francoist Spain Ending the war with the rank of major general, he was appointed minister of war in Franco's August 1939 government and