he was returned to the infantry in 1813. During 1815 he went to South America as a captain serving with General Pablo Morillo, who had been made commander-in-chief to quell the rebellions of the colonies on the Spanish Main. For eight years, Espartero distinguished himself in the struggle against the colonists. He was wounded several times, and was made major and colonel on the battlefields of Cochabamba and Sapachni. Espartero returned to Spain, and, like most of his companions in arms, was socially discredited for some time. He was sent to the garrison town of Logroño, where, on 13 September 1827 he married , an orphan since 16 raised by her maternal grandfather, the most important landowner in Logroño. The marriage did not have issue, but they went on to adopt Espartero's niece, Eladia, who was designated as their principal heir. Thenceforth, Logroño became the home of the most prominent of the Spanish political generals of the 19th century. Carlist War Espartero became, on the death of King Ferdinand VII during 1833, an ardent defender of the claim of his daughter, Isabella II, to the Spanish throne. With the beginning of the First Carlist War, the government sent him to the front as commandant of the province of Biscay, where he decisively defeated the Carlists in many encounters. He was quickly promoted to a divisional command, and then made a lieutenant-general. At times he showed qualities as a guerrillero quite equal to those of the Carlists, such as Zumalacarregui and Ramón Cabrera, by his daring marches and surprise maneuvers. When he had to move large forces he was greatly superior to these men as an organizer and a strategist, and he never disgraced his successes by cruelty or needless severity. Twice he obliged the Carlists to end the siege of Bilbao before he was appointed commander-in-chief of the northern army on 17 September 1836. At this time the course of the war seemed to favor the pretender in the Basque provinces and Navarre, even though Infante Carlos had lost his ablest lieutenant, the Basque Zumalacarregui. Defeat of the Carlists His military duties as commander of the principal national army did not prevent Espartero from showing for the first time his political ambition. He displayed such radical and reformist inclinations that he became popular among the lower and middle classes, which popularity lasted more than a quarter of a century; during