HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 311

bombardments and infantry assaults on
Zaragoza in June and continued their siege
until August. Palafox seemed to be every-
where, leading sorties, directing counterat-
tacks in threatened positions, raising the
spirits of his followers, and famously
responding to a French overture to surren-
der (“capitulation and peace”) with the
words “war and the knife.” As the fighting
wore on and the French effected breaches
in the city walls, the struggle continued
from behind street barricades and rooftops.
Palafox's example inspired the emergence
of other heroes among the ranks of the citi-
zens, notably Agustina Zaragoza y
Domenech, who rallied the defenders of an
abandoned battery and drove back the
advancing enemy with heavy losses. She
was appointed an officer by Palafox, and
under the name “Agustina of Aragon” has
remained a national hero.
The exhausted and battered invaders
withdrew in August, but under the goading
of the enraged Napoléon they mounted a
new siege in November. Despite Palafox's
success in bringing in some additional sup-
plies and reinforcements Zaragoza was
gradually overwhelmed by massive attacks
and the spread of disease among the hun-
gry and sick defenders. Palafox refused to
yield to the overwhelming odds, but while
he himself was incapacitated by illness, the
city's governing junta accepted terms of
surrender, and those still capable of doing
so marched out with full military honors
from the French in February 1809. Palafox
was held prisoner in France until the end of
hostilities and was then released to be
greeted as the country's greatest warrior
and patriot. The restored F ERDINAND VII
bestowed numerous honors on him includ-
ing the title duque de Zaragoza.

During the First Carlist War of 1834-38,
Palafox was in nominal command of the
forces supporting Queen I SABELLA II, and
his status as a national hero lent major
credibility to her cause. After gaining vic-
tory Palafox retired amid enduring demon-
strations of national admiration.

Panama (Panamá)
Within a decade of being sighted by C HRIS -
TOPHER C OLUMBUS on his last voyage in
1502, this area became the focus of intense
exploration and settlement activity due to
its central position in the Americas. Early
conquistadores, such as V ASCO N ÚÑEZ DE
B ALBOA realized that Panama was a nar-
row isthmus linking North and South
America and constituting only a minimal
obstacle to communication between the
Atlantic and the Pacific. The port of Darién
(a name sometimes applied to the entirety
of Panama) was established in 1510 and
soon thereafter Portobelo became the prin-
cipal transit point for transatlantic trade
with the west coast of South America. The
city of Panama was subsequently founded
on the Pacific side of the isthmus. Despite
her proximity to the Central American
dependencies of N EW S PAIN and her physi-
cal separation from South America, cre-
ated by mountains and jungles, Panama
was considered part of the latter continent
and included with in the Viceroyalty of
P ERU . It was transferred in the 18th cen-
tury to the newly created Viceroyalty of
N EW G RANADA . After the dissolution of
Spanish rule in the region, Panama
remained linked to the successor state of
C OLOMBIA until it achieved its own inde-
pendence in 1903. In the following decade
the construction of the Panama Canal