Biography
Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros was born on January 6, 1756, which is the religious feast of Epiphany day, Hence he was named Baltasar after one of the Biblical Magi. Son of Francisco Hidalgo de Cisneros y Ceijas, lieutenant of the Spanish Royal Navy, and Manuela de la Torre y Galindo de Espinosa. He commenced his naval career in 1770 and went to the coasts of Africa and Peru and took part in the military campaign at Algiers. He was involved in the capture of an enemy ship in the English Channel, and was promoted to ship's lieutenant. In 1795 he was promoted to commander of the San Pablo, part of the Spanish fleet under José de Córdoba. Spain at that time was engaged in the Anglo-Spanish War. The fleet engaged a smaller British fleet, but was defeated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent.
In 1803 he was in charge of the arsenal of Cartegena, his city of birth. In 1805 he was the captain of the largest Spanish ship Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad during the battle of Trafalgar, a major British victory over the combined Spanish and French fleets. The ship, whilst engaged in battle, lost a mast which fell over Cisneros' head. This caused concussion, which left him partially deaf for the rest of his life. After that Cisneros was nicknamed "El sordo" (Spanish: "The deaf"). His ship, regarded as one of the most powerful of its time, was captured by HMS Neptune but sank the following day. Cisneros was taken prisoner and received medical care. Whilst under capture he was awarded battle honours and on returning to Spain he was promoted to Lieutenant General.
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