Sir Ralph Abercromby, by John Hoppner (died 1810), given to the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1909
The National Library of Scotland has announced plans for a new online educational resource for Scottish schools. Featuring images from its own collection, as well as the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and the National Maritime Museum, it celebrates Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish pioneer medical missionary; Ralph Abercromby, the British lieutenant general who was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars; David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and explorer; James Watt, a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer and Florence Nightingale, made famous by her pioneering work in nursing
Sir Ralph Abercromby and a Companion seated in a room with two maps of Grenada and Carriacou. Originally thought to be possibly with his son. Painting by John Downman (1750 - 1824)
The Death of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, K.G
Monument of Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby at Cathedral St. Paul
Sir Ralph Abercromby KCB (sometimes spelt Abercrombie) (7 October 1734 – 28 March 1801) was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.
Sir Ralph Abercromby’s several important military victories were matched by his command of the British army, in which he restored discipline and morale. Historians Martin Windrow and Francis K. Mason write: “Although his career was crowned by several notable victories, Abercromby is remembered more as the restorer of high professional standards in the British Army than as a master of tactics.”
Abercromby was born in the village of Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, on 7 October 1734, the eldest son of George Abercromby. He was educated at the prestigious Rugby school and later studied law at the University of Leipzig and Edinburgh University. Entering into a military career, he was offered a cornet’s commission in the 3rd Dragoon Guards in March 1756. He saw action with this unit in the Seven Years’ War (1756–63) and rose to become a lieutenant colonel in 1773 and brevet colonel in 1780. In 1781, he was named a colonel in the King’s Irish Regiment. However, because he sympathized with the American colonists fighting for independence, he felt it better to leave the military than continue and possibly be forced to fight in a war in which he did not believe. He retired in 1783.
Abercromby decided to enter the political realm: He was elected to a seat in Parliament from Clackmannan, Scotland, but he quickly tired of his duties and left office; he was succeeded by his brother Robert (1740–1827), who also later served as a general in the British army. When France declared war on England in 1793, Ralph Abercromby again took up arms for England and was named as commander of a brigade under the duke of York, second son of George III. Serving for a time in Holland, he saw action at La Cateau (16 April 1794) and was wounded at Nijmwegen. He was in charge of the British withdrawal from Holland in the winter of 1794 and conducted this duty so well that he was honored with a Knighthood of the order of the Bath. In 1795, the king named him to succeed Sir Charles Grey as commander in chief of British forces in the West Indies.
In 1796, Abercromby once again went into battle, seizing the islands of Grenada, Trinidad, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and the then-French settlements of Demerara and Essequibo. He was then recalled to England, where in 1797 he was appointed as head of the English army in Ireland. However, the Irish government blocked his efforts to reform the army. Abercromby resigned his commission after less than a year in office. That same year, 1797, he was made second in command to the duke of York, with whom he had previously served, in the English drive to retake Holland, which ended in disaster and failure.
In 1801, Abercromby was sent to Egypt to help drive the French out of that country. When the English army landed at Aboukir Bay on 2 March 1801, 5,000 English soldiers faced a large French force under the command of General Louis Friant. Historian George Bruce writes: “The landing [of the English] was effected under a heavy musketry and artillery fire, which cost the assailants 1,100 killed and wounded. The French were driven from their positions with a loss of 500 men.”
Aboukir is known to historians as an important English military victory. After this success, Abercromby advanced to the important French threshold of Alexandria. In the midst of the battle on 21 March 1801, Abercromby was hit in the thigh by a rifle ball. He was taken from the field and placed on the English flagship Foudroyant, but surgeons were unable to remove the ball. As Abercromby lay dying, according to one account, one of his men placed a blanket under his head. “What is it you have placed under my head?” he inquired. When told it was a soldier’s blanket, he replied, “Only a soldier’s blanket? Make haste and return it to him at once!”
Seven days after being shot, Abercromby succumbed to his wound at the age of 66. His body was moved to Malta, and he was laid to rest there. The battle of Alexandria, where he lost his life, was a significant one for the French, who found the English troops to be their equal and whose casualties were extremely heavy. The English lost 1,464 men, including Abercromby.
His old friend and commander the Duke of York paid a tribute to the soldier's memory in general orders: "His steady observance of discipline, his ever-watchful attention to the health and wants of his troops, the persevering and unconquerable spirit which marked his military career, the splendour of his actions in the field and the heroism of his death, are worthy the imitation of all who desire, like him, a life of heroism and a death of glory." He was buried in the Commandery of the Grand Master, the Knights of St John, Malta.
By a vote of the House of Commons, a monument was erected in his honour in St Paul's Cathedral, Abercromby Square in Liverpool is named in his honour. His widow was created Baroness Abercromby of Tullibody and Aboukir Bay, and a pension of £2,000 a year was settled on her and her two successors in the title.
He had seven children. Of four sons, all four entered Parliament, and two saw military service!
Hon. Anne Abercromby (d. 17 September 1844)
Hon. Mary Abercromby (d. 1825)
Hon. Catherine Abercromby (d. 7 May 1842)
George Abercromby, 2nd Baron Abercromby (1770–1843)
General Hon. Sir John Abercromby (1772–1817)
James Abercromby, 1st Baron Dunfermline (1776–1858)
Lt.-Col. Hon. Alexander Abercromby (1784–1853)
A public house in central Manchester, the 'Sir Ralph Abercrombie', is named after him
Sources :
Book "World Military Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary" by Mark Grossman
The first of the images of Shah Abbas the Great shown here is an undated and unpublished portrait in a private collection. If its provenance can be confirmed, it is a unique and important representation: especially since it was apparently painted from life, and by an Italian artist. Abbas does indeed look very like John Cartwright’s 1600 description: the Shah was “of an indifferent stature, neither too high, neither too low. His countenance very stern, his eyes fierce and piercing, his colour fwaiffy [whatever that means!], his muftachees on his upper lip long, with his beard cut close to his chin, expressing his martial disposition, and inexorable nature, [so] that at the first a man would think to have nothing in him, but mischief and cruelty. And yet he is of nature courteous and affable, easy to be seen and spoken withal; his manner is to dine openly in the company of his greatest courtiers”.
Shah Abbas The Great
Abbas I of Persia in his court
Shah ‘Abbās King of the Persians. Copper engraving by Dominicus Custos, from his Atrium heroicum Caesarum pub. 1600-1602
Shah Abbas in later life with a page (wine boy). By Muhammad Qasim (1627)
Shāh ‘Abbās the Great (or Shāh ‘Abbās I) (Persian: شاه عباس بزرگ) (January 27, 1571 – January 19, 1629) was Shah (king) of Iran, and generally considered the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He was the third son of Shah Mohammad.
Abbas came to the throne during a troubled time for Iran. Under his weak-willed father, the country was riven with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who killed Abbas' mother and elder brother. Meanwhile, Iran's enemies, the Ottoman Empire and the Uzbeks, exploited this political chaos to seize territory for themselves. In 1587, one of the Qizilbash leaders, Murshid Qoli Khan, overthrew Shah Mohammed in a coup and placed the 16-year-old Abbas on the throne. But Abbas was no puppet and soon seized power for himself. He reduced the influence of the Qizilbash in the government and the military and reformed the army, enabling him to fight the Ottomans and Uzbeks and reconquer Iran's lost provinces. He also took back land from the Portuguese and the Mughals. Abbas was a great builder and moved his kingdom's capital from Qazvin to Isfahan. In his later years, the shah became suspicious of his own sons and had them killed or blinded.
Abbas the Great, known for his military exploits in the Persian Gulf and in what is now modern-day Iraq, was the grandson of Shah Tahmasp and the son of Shah Mohammed Mirza Khudabanda (d. 1595). Abbas may have been named after Abbas (d. 653), the uncle of Mohammed and of Caliph Ali. Abbas I was named as ruler of Khurasan (now modern Khorasan, Iran) in 1581, and six years later, he succeeded his father as shah when Mohammed abdicated.
As he took the throne of Persia (now Iran), Abbas’s reign was challenged by a revolt in Persia and the threat of an invasion by forces of the Ottoman Empire (centered in what is now modern Turkey). Abbas paid tribute to the Ottomans to forge a peace and end the threat of incursion; he was then given a free hand to turn on the rebellious forces within his country and defeat them. A military campaign against rebelling Uzbeks (now part of Uzbekistan) in Khurasan was also successful. In 1598, after a lengthy and protracted war, he ended the threat from the Uzbeks when his forces took control of the city of Moshad (now one of Iran’s major cities). As the first of the Safavid leaders, Abbas helped establish modern Persia—later renamed Iran—as a single state, and his advocacy of a single language—in this case, Farsi—unified that nation.
With internal dissent and rebellion crushed, Abbas turned back to the potential external enemy: the Ottoman Empire. He opened his attack in 1601, with his forces taking the city of Tabriz (now the capital of East Azerbaijan province, Iran) in 1604. The mountainous area in what is now known as the Caucasus also fell to Abbas’s forces, most notably Georgia and Shirvan. Although Abbas’s military exploits in this area were largely successful, Ottoman resistance caused the conflict to last until the end of his reign.
In 1606, Abbas fought off a major offensive by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Ahmed II, including a significant clash at Sis, where 20,000 Turks were killed in a single battle. Although Turkey sued for peace, they continued to fight Abbas and his empire in various clashes. However, for many years there was relative peace in his kingdom. It was not until 1616 that Abbas again moved against the Turks, fighting a two-year war that culminated in a major victory in 1618. In 1622, Abbas’s army marched on the island of Hormuz, in the Strait of Hormuz, and, with the assistance of the English East India Company, threw out the Portuguese merchants who controlled that island’s trade. Abbas then moved the center of trading activity to the city of Gombroon (now in Iran), renamed it Bandar Abbas, and established a foothold in the major markets of the Persian Gulf. In 1623, Abbas’s forces took Baghdad, now in modern Iraq, but when they tried to extend their hold on Mosul (in modern northern Iraq) and Basra (in modern southern Iraq, near the Persian Gulf ), his troops were thrown back and could not hold either city. In another clash, he took the city of Kandahar (also Qandahar, in modern Afghanistan), but it was lost to the Uzbeks in 1630, a year after Abbas’s death.
During his reign, Abbas was also known for his numerous public works projects, most notably at the Persian capital of Esfahan. He died in 1629 at the age of either 58 or 59. His tomb at Kashan, located in the Shrine of Habib ibn-Musa, is considered one of the marvels of that age.
Of Abbas' five sons, three had survived past childhood, so the Safavid succession seemed secure. He was on good terms with the crown prince, Mohammed Baqir Mirza (born 1587; better known in the West as Safi Mirza). In 1614, however, during a campaign in Georgia, the shah heard rumours that the prince was conspiring against his life with a leading Circassian, Fahrad Beg. Shortly after, Mohammed Baqir broke protocol during a hunt by killing a boar before the shah had chance to put his spear in. This seemed to confirm Abbas’ suspicions and he sunk into melancholy; he no longer trusted any of his three sons. In 1615, he decided he had no choice but to have Mohammed killed. A Circassian named Behbud Beg executed the Shah’s orders and the prince was murdered in a hammam in the city of Resht. The shah almost immediately regretted his action and was plunged into grief.
In 1621, Abbas fell seriously ill. His heir, Mohammed Khodabanda, thought he was on his deathbed and began to celebrate his accession to the throne with his Qizilbash supporters. But the shah recovered and punished his son with blinding, which would disqualify him from ever taking the throne. The blinding was only partially successful and the prince’s followers planned to smuggle him out of the country to safety with the Great Mughal whose aid they would use to overthrow Abbas and install Mohammed on the throne. But the plot was betrayed, the prince’s followers were executed and the prince himself imprisoned in the fortress of Alamut where he would later be murdered by Abbas’ successor, Shah Safi.
Imam Qoli Mirza, the third and last son, now became the crown prince. Abbas groomed him carefully for the throne but, for whatever reason, in 1627, he had him partially blinded and imprisoned in Alamut.
Unexpectedly, Abbas now chose as heir the son of Mohammed Baqir Mirza, Sam Mirza, a cruel and introverted character who was said to loathe his grandfather because of his father’s murder. It was he who in fact did succeed Shah Abbas at the age of seventeen in 1629, taking the name Shah Safi. Abbas’s health was troubled from 1621 onwards. He died at his palace in Mazandaran in 1629 and was buried in Kashan.
Modern historians remember Abbas not only for his unification of Persia but for his skillful use of the military to crush internal rebellion and meet external threats. His drafting of two English brothers, the mercenaries Sir Robert and Sir Anthony Sherley, to train the Persian army in modern fighting methods unknown to most of the Middle Eastern world, rank him as one of the lesser-known but more important military leaders in world history. Historian Tom Magnusson writes: “A remarkable monarch, Abbas was intelligent and farsighted but sometimes cruel and harsh; he was a skillful and energetic administrator and general, and his reform of
the Persian army made it very nearly the equal of the Ottoman army.”
Sources :
Book "World Military Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary" by Mark Grossman
Painting of Bernardo O'Higgins holding the Chilean Constitution, Oil by Gil de Castro (1785-1841)
Lithograph of Bernardo O'Higgins by Narciso Desmadryl (1854)
The ostracism of General Bernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins, erroneously depicted attending the declaration of Chilean independence in 12 February 1818
Bernardo O'Higgins statue in Valparaíso
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (Spanish: [berˈnarðo oˈxiɣins]; 1778–1842) was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile (1817–1823), he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder of this title to head a fully independent Chilean state. O'Higgins was of Irish and Basque descent.
Bernardo O'Higgins was a member of the O'Higgins family who was born in the Chilean city of Chillán in 1778, the illegitimate son of Ambrosio O'Higgins, 1st Marquis of Osorno, a Spanish officer born in County Sligo, Ireland, who became governor of Chile and later viceroy of Peru. His mother was Isabel Riquelme, a prominent local lady and daughter of Don Simón Riquelme y Goycolea, a member of the Chillán Cabildo, or council.
O'Higgins spent his early years with his mother's family in central-southern Chile, and later he lived with the Albano family, who were his father's commercial partners, in Talca. At age 15, O'Higgins was sent to Lima by his father. He had a distant relationship with Ambrosio, who supported him financially and was concerned with his education, but the two never met in person. It is unclear why Ambrosio did not marry Isabel. High-ranking Spanish government officials in The Americas were forbidden to marry locals, but at the time of O'Higgins' birth, Ambrosio O'Higgins was only a junior military officer. It has been suggested[by whom?] that Isabel's family would not have seen the match as advantageous at the time. Two years later, she married Don Félix Rodríguez, an old friend of her father's. O'Higgins used his mother's surname until the death of his father in 1801.
Ambrosio O'Higgins continued his professional rise and became Viceroy of Peru; at seventeen Bernardo O'Higgins was sent to London to complete his studies. There, studying history and the arts, O'Higgins became acquainted with American ideas of independence and developed a sense of nationalist pride, coming to admire liberalism in the Georgian British model. He also met Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan idealist and believer in independence, and joined a Masonic Lodge established by Miranda, dedicated to achieving the independence of Latin America.
In 1798 O'Higgins went to Spain from England, his return to the Americas delayed by the wars[vague] and the British capture of the first ship he sailed with. His father died in 1801, leaving O'Higgins a large piece of land, the Hacienda Las Canteras, near the Chilean city of Los Ángeles. O'Higgins returned to Chile in 1802, adopted his father's surname, and began life as a gentleman farmer. In 1806 O'Higgins was appointed to the cabildo as the representative of Laja. Then, in 1808, Napoleon took control of Spain, triggering a sequence of events in South America. In Chile, the commercial and political elite decided to form an autonomous government to rule in the name of the imprisoned king Ferdinand VII; this was to be one of the first in a number of steps toward national independence, in which O'Higgins would play a leading role.
On September 18, 1810, O'Higgins joined the revolt against the now French dominated Spanish government. The criollo leaders in Chile did not support Joseph Bonaparte's rule in Spain, and a limited self-government under the Government Junta of Chile was created, with the aim of restoring the legitimate Spanish throne. This date is now recognized as Chile's Independence Day. O'Higgins was a close friend of Juan Martínez de Rozas, an old friend of his father, and one of the more radical leaders. O'Higgins strongly recommended that a national congress be created, and was elected a deputy to the first National Congress of Chile in 1811 as a representative of the Laja district. Tensions between the royalist and increasingly pro-independence factions, to which O'Higgins remained attached as a junior member, continued to grow.
The anti-Royalist camp in Chile was deeply split along lines of patronage and personality, by political beliefs, and by geography (between the rival regional groupings of Santiago and Concepción). The Carrera family had already seized power several times in different coups, and supported a specifically Chilean nationalism, as opposed to the broader Latin American focus of the Lautaro Lodge grouping, which included O'Higgins and the Argentinian José de San Martín. José Miguel Carrera, the most prominent member of the Carrera family, enjoyed a power base in Santiago; that of de Rozas, and later O'Higgins, lay in Concepción.
As a result, O'Higgins was to find himself increasingly in political and military competition with Carrera—although early on, O'Higgins was nowhere near as prominent as his later rival. De Rozas initially appointed O'Higgins to a minor military position in 1812, possibly because of his illegitimate origins, poor health, or lack of military training. Much of O'Higgins' early military knowledge stemmed from Juan Mackenna, another immigrant of Irish descent and a former client of Ambrosio's, whose advice centered mainly on the use of cavalry. In 1813, when the Spanish government made its first attempt to reconquer Chile—sending an expedition led by Brigadier Antonio Pareja—Carrera, as a former national leader and now Commander in Chief of the Army, was by far the more prominent figure of the two, and a natural choice to lead the military resistance.
O'Higgins was back on his estates in Laja, having retired from the Army the previous year due to poor health, when news came of the invasion. O'Higgins mobilised his local militia and marched to Concepcion, before moving onto Talca, meeting up with Carrera, who was to take command of the new army. Carrera sent O'Higgins to cut the Spanish off at Linares; O'Higgins' victory there resulted in his promotion to colonel. The unsuccessful Siege of Chillan followed, where O'Higgins produced a brave, but unspectacular, performance; however, as commander, Carrera took most of the blame for the defeat, weakening his prestige with the Junta back in Santiago. O'Higgins continued to campaign against the royalists, fighting with a reckless courage that would make him famous. In October, fighting at the battle of El Roble under Carrera, O'Higgins took effective command at a crucial moment and gave one of his more famous orders:
Lads! Live with honor, or die with glory! He who is brave, follow me!
Despite being injured, O'Higgins went on to pursue the royalist forces from the field. The Junta in Santiago reassigned command of the army from Carrera, who had retreated during the battle, to O'Higgins, who then appointed Juan Mackenna as commandant-general. Carrera was subsequently captured and imprisoned by the royalist forces; in his absence, in May 1814 O'Higgins supported the Treaty of Lircay, which promised a halt to the fighting. Once released, however, Carrera violently opposed both O'Higgins' new role and the treaty, overthrowing the Junta in a coup in July 1814 and immediately exiling Mackenna.
O'Higgins turned to focus on Carrera, and their forces met at the battle of Las Tres Acequias, where Luis Carrera inflicted a modest defeat on O'Higgins. Further conflict was postponed by news that the royalists had decided to ignore the recent treaty, and were threatening Concepción under the leadership of General Mariano Osorio. Carrera and O'Higgins decided to reunite the army and face the common threat. Carrera's plan was to draw the Spaniards to the Angostura del Paine, while O'Higgins preferred the town of Rancagua. They decided to make a stand at the Angostura de Paine, a gorge that formed an easily defended bottleneck. At the last hour, however, O'Higgins instead garrisoned the nationalist forces at the main square of Rancagua. Carrera did not arrive with reinforcements, and O'Higgins and his forces were promptly surrounded in October. After an entire day of fighting at the battle of Rancagua, the Spanish commander, Mariano Osorio, was victorious—but O'Higgins managed to break out with a few of his men, issuing the command:
Those who can ride, ride! We will break through the enemy!
Like Carrera and other nationalists, O'Higgins retreated to Argentina with the survivors, and remained there for three years while the royalists were in control. Mackenna, still a key supporter, was killed by Luis Carrera in a duel in 1818, deepening the ongoing feud. Whilst O'Higgins was undoubtedly a brave soldier, indeed often bordering on the reckless, and an inspirational commander, his qualities as a tactician have been questioned, both by his contemporaries and since.
While in exile, O'Higgins met the Argentinean General José de San Martín, a fellow member of the Lautaro Lodge, and together the men returned to Chile in 1817 to defeat the royalists. Initially the campaign went well, with the two commanders achieving a victory at the battle of Chacabuco. San Martín sent his troops down the mountain starting at midnight of February the 11th to prepare for an attack at dawn. As the attack commenced, his troops were much closer to the Spanish than anticipated, and they fought hard and heroically. Soler's troops had to go down a tiny path that proved long and arduous, and took longer than expected. General O'Higgins, supposedly seeing his homeland and being overcome with passion, defied the plan of attack and charged along with his 1,500 troops. What exactly happened in this part of the battle is fiercely debated. O'Higgins claimed that the Spanish stopped their retreat and started advancing towards his troops. He said that, if he were to lead his men back up the narrow path and retreat, his men would have been massacred one by one. San Martín saw O'Higgins' early advancement, and ordered Soler to charge the Spanish flank, which took the pressure off of O'Higgins and allowed his troops to stand their ground.
The ensuing firefight continued into the afternoon, and the tides turned for the Patriots as Soler captured a key Spanish artillery point. At this point, the Spanish set up a defensive square around the Chacabuco Ranch. O'Higgins charged the center of the Spanish position, and Soler got into place behind the Spanish forces, effectively cutting off any chance of retreat. O'Higgins and his men overwhelmed the Spanish troops, who attempted to retreat, but Soler's men cut off their retreat and pushed towards the ranch. Hand-to-hand combat ensued in and around the ranch, until every Spanish soldier was dead or taken captive. Five hundred Spanish soldiers were killed, and 600 were taken captive. The Patriot forces lost 12 men in the battle, but an additional 120 died of their wounds.
The Second Battle of Cancha Rayada in 1818, however, was a victory for the Royalists, and it was not until the Battle of Maipú that ultimate victory was assured.
San Martín was initially offered the position of power in the newly-free Chile, but he declined, in order to continue the fight for independence in the rest of South America. O'Higgins accepted the position instead, and became the leader of an independent Chile. He was granted dictatorial powers as Supreme Director on February 16, 1817. On February 12, 1818, Chile proclaimed itself an independent republic.
Throughout the war with the royalists, O'Higgins had engaged in an ongoing feud with José Miguel Carrera. After their retreat in 1814, O'Higgins had fared much better than Carrera, who found little support forthcoming from San Martín, O'Higgins' political ally. Carrera was imprisoned to prevent his involvement in Chilean affairs; after his escape, he ended up taking the winning side in the Argentine Federalist war, helping to defeat the pro-San Martin government in 1820. Marching south to attack O'Higgins, now ruler of Chile, Carrera was arrested by supporters of O'Higgins and executed under questionable circumstances in 1821; his two brothers had already been killed by royalist forces in the preceding years, bringing the long-running feud to an end. The argument as to the relative contribution of these two great Chilean independence leaders, however, has continued up to the modern day, and O'Higgins' decision not to intervene to prevent the execution coloured many Chileans' views of his reign.
For six years, O'Higgins was a largely successful leader, and his government initially functioned well. Within Chile, O'Higgins established markets, courts, colleges, libraries, hospitals, and cemeteries, and began important improvements in agriculture. He also undertook various military reforms. He founded the Chilean Military Academy in 1817, aiming to professionalise the officer corps. O'Higgins remained concerned about the threat of invasion, and had declared after the battle of Chacabuco that "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea". Alongside the Military Academy, he founded the modern Chilean Navy under the command of the Scottish officer Lord Cochrane, establishing the First Chilean Navy Squadron, the Academy for Young Midshipmen (the predecessor of the current Naval Academy), and the Chilean Marine Corps. O'Higgins continued in his desire to see independence across Latin America, utilising his new forces to support San Martín, sending the Liberating expedition to Perú.
In time, however, O'Higgins began to alienate important political groupings within the still-fragile Chilean nation. O'Higgins' proposed radical and liberal reforms, such as the establishment of democracy and abolition of titles of nobility, were resisted by the powerful large landowners. He offended the church in Chile early on—in particular, the Bishop of Santiago, Jose Rodriguez Zorrilla. Having offended the aristocracy and the church, he also lost the support of the businesspeople, his last semi-powerful ally within the country. The government became bankrupt, forcing O'Higgins to send Antonio José de Irisarri to England to negotiate a £1 million loan—Chile's first foreign debt—whilst a massive earthquake in central Chile added more difficulty for the ruler. In 1822, O'Higgins established a new "controversial" constitution, which many regarded as a desperate attempt to hang on to power. The deaths of his political enemies, including Carrera and Manuel Rodríguez, returned to haunt him, with some accusing him of abusing state power. The provinces increasingly viewed him as centralising power to an excessive degree.
O'Higgins was deposed by a conservative coup on January 28, 1823. Chile's new dictator, Ramón Freire, formerly O'Higgins' "closest ally", had slowly turned against O'Higgins in the preceding years. Freire had fought under O'Higgins at the Battle of Maipú, was promoted to colonel for his services to the independence, and finally named Intendant of Concepción. His friendship with O'Higgins started to crack by degrees, however, until in 1822 he resigned his position in disagreement. His name became a rallying point for those discontented with O'Higgins, but the two of them never came to an armed conflict. O'Higgins' abdication was typically dramatic: baring his chest, he offered up his life should his accusers demand it of him. In return, the junta declared they held nothing against O'Higgins, and saluted him. O'Higgins was made governor of Concepción, an appointment which did not last long: it was time for O'Higgins to leave Chile.
After being deposed, O'Higgins embarked from the port of Valparaiso in July 1823, in the British corvette Fly, never to see Chile again. Originally he had intended to return to Ireland, but whilst passing through Peru he was strongly encouraged by Simón Bolívar to join the nationalist effort there. Bolívar's government granted O'Higgins the Hacienda de Cuiva and the Hacienda Montalván in San Vicente de Cañete, near Lima. O'Higgins lived in exile for the rest of his life accompanied by his illegitimate son, Pedro Demetrio O'Higgins (1817–1868), his mother, and his half-sister Rosa Rodriguez Riquelme (1781–1850). According to a 2001 documentary, Bernardo O'Higgins also had a daughter, Petronila Riquelme O'Higgins (b. 1809-?), by Patricia Rodríguez. As his father Ambrosio had done, Bernardo O'Higgins never acknowledged any of his children!
O'Higgins travelled to join Bolívar's army in its final liberation of Peru, but upon arrival, he found that Bolivar did not intend to give him a command—instead appointing him a general of Gran Colombia and making him a special court-martial judge for Chilean volunteers. Making his way back to Lima, O'Higgins heard of Bolivar's victory at the Battle of Ayacucho. He returned to Bolivar for the victory celebrations, but as a civilian. "Señor," he toasted, addressing Bolívar, "America is free. From now on General O'Higgins does not exist; I am only Bernardo O'Higgins, a private citizen. After Ayacucho, my American mission is over."
When Andrés de Santa Cruz became head of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation in 1836, O'Higgins endorsed his integrationist policies, and wrote a letter of support to him the following year when the Confederation came under attack from the Chilean forces of Diego Portales—ultimately offering to act as a mediator in the conflict. With the rise of Agustín Gamarra, O'Higgins found himself out of favour in Peru. Meanwhile, the Chilean government had begun to rehabilitate O'Higgins, reappointing him to his old rank of captain-general in the Chilean army. In 1842, the National Congress of Chile finally voted to allow O'Higgins to return to Chile. After travelling to Callao to embark for Chile, however, O'Higgins began to succumb to cardiac problems and was too weak to travel. His doctor ordered him to return to Lima, where on 24 October 1842, aged 64, O'Higgins died.
After his death, his remains were first buried in Peru, before being repatriated to Chile in 1869. O'Higgins had wished to be buried in the city of Concepción, but this was never to be. For a long time they remained in a marble coffin in the Cementerio General de Santiago, and in 1979 his remains were transferred by Augusto Pinochet to the Altar de la Patria, in front of the Palacio de La Moneda. In 2004, his body was temporarily stored at the Chilean Military School during the building of the Plaza de la Ciudadanía, before being finally laid to rest in the new underground Crypt of the Liberator.
O'Higgins is widely commemorated today, both in Chile and beyond. The Chilean village of Villa O'Higgins was named in his honor. The main thoroughfare of the Chilean capital, Santiago, is Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins. There is also the Bernado O'Higgins National Park in Chile. There is a bust of O'Higgins in O'Higgins Square in Richmond, south-west London. Each year the borough's mayor is joined by members of the Chilean Embassy for a ceremony, and a wreath is placed there. A blue plaque was erected in his honor at Clarence House in Richmond, where he lived while studying in London. There is also a plaque in his honor in Merrion Square in Dublin and in the Garavogue River Walkway in Sligo, Ireland, and a sculpture near Central Railway Station in Plaza Iberoamericana, near 58 Chalmers St, Sydney, Australia. In Buenos Aires, there is a large statue of him in the center of the Plaza República de Chile, and several localities in Argentina are named after him. A plaque has also been erected in Cadiz, Spain, in the Plaza de Candelaria, where he resided for four years. In 2005, a bust was erected "To the Liberator of Chile" by the Chilean Embassy in the Parque Morazan in San José, Costa Rica. A statue of Bernardo O'Higgins in the city of Concepción was destroyed during the 2010 earthquake in Chile.
Chile's highest award for a foreign citizen is named in honour of O'Higgins, whilst the Chilean Navy has named several ships in his honor, including an armored cruiser (1897–1946), a World War II–era light cruiser (the former USS Brooklyn, CL-40) (1951–1992), and a French-built Scorpene class submarine (2003–present). The Chilean Base General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme research station in Antarctica is named in his honor. It is located on the northernmost part of the continent.
On 28 October 2010, An Post (the Irish Post Office) and the Chilean Post Office, CorreosChile issued 82c se-tenant stamps to commemorate the bicentenary of the beginning of the struggle for Chilean Independence. The stamps honour two men with Irish backgrounds, who played a crucial role in the quest for Chile's liberation, Bernardo O'Higgins and John MacKenna.
The Battle of Bailén was one of the most important battles fought by José de San Martín at the Peninsular War
San Martín proclaims the independency of Peru in 1821
General San Martín in Paris, 1848
Statue of José de San Martín in Santiago de Chile, April 2005
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín (c. 1778 Yapeyú, Corrientes, Spanish Empire – 17 August 1850 Boulogne-sur-Mer, France ), was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.
José de San Martín was the fifth and last son of Juan de San Martín, an unsuccessful Spanish soldier, and Gregoria Matorras del Ser. He was born in Yapeyú, Corrientes. The exact year of his birth is disputed, as there are no records of his baptism. Later documents formulated during his life (such as passports, military career records, wedding, etc.) gave him varying ages. Most of these documents point to his year of birth as either 1777 or 1778. The family moved to Buenos Aires in 1781, when San Martín was three or four years old.
Juan requested to be transferred to Spain, leaving the Americas in 1785. The family settled in Madrid, but as Juan was unable to earn a promotion, they moved to Málaga. Once in the city, San Martín enrolled in Malaga's school of temporalities, beginning his studies in 1785. It is unlikely that he finished the six-year long elementary education, before he enrolled in the Regiment of Murcia in 1789, when he reached the required age of 11. He began his military career as a cadet in the Murcian Infantry Unit.
After joining the Regiment of Murcia, San Martín participated in several campaigns in Africa, fighting in Oran against the Moors in 1791 among other places. Later, by the end of the First Coalition of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1797, his rank was raised to Sub-Lieutenant for his actions against the French in the Pyrenees. On August of the same year, after several engagements, his regiment surrendered to British naval forces in 1798. Soon afterward, he continued to fight in southern Spain, mainly in Cádiz and Gibraltar with the rank of Second Captain of light infantry. He continued to fight Portugal on the side of Spain in the War of the Oranges in 1801, and was soon after promoted to captain in 1804.
When the Peninsular War started in 1808, San Martín was assigned ayudante (Spanish, adjutant) of the First Regiment Voluntarios de Campo Mayor. After his actions against the French, he became captain in the Regiment of Borbon. On 19 July 1808, Spanish and French forces engaged in the Battle of Bailén, in which Spanish forces prevailed, allowing the Army of Andalucia to attack and seize Madrid. For his actions during this battle, San Martín was decorated with a gold medal, and his rank raised to lieutenant colonel. On 16 May 1811, he participated in the Battle of Albuera under the command of general William Carr Beresford. By this time, the French armies held most of the Iberian Peninsula under their control, with the exception of Cádiz. San Martín resigned from the Spanish army, by controversial reasons, and moved to South America, where he joined the Spanish American wars of independence.
With the help of Lord MacDuff, San Martín obtained a passport to England where he met several criollos, American-born Spaniards like himself, who were part of the Logia Lautaro founded by the Venezuelan Francisco de Miranda. According to Argentine historian Felipe Pigna, San Martín was introduced to the Maitland Plan by members of the lodge founded by Miranda and Lord MacDuff.
In 1812, San Martín set sail for Buenos Aires aboard the British frigate George Canning.
Following his arrival in Buenos Aires on 9 March 1812, his rank of lieutenant colonel was recognized by the Triumvirate and he was thus entrusted with the creation of the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers (Spanish: Regimiento de Granaderos a Caballo), which would become the best-trained military unit of the revolution!
During 1812, he focused on training troops by following the modern warfare techniques he had acquired during the Peninsular War. With Carlos María de Alvear and José Matias Zapiola, he also established the Lodge of Rational Knights, an offspring in Buenos Aires of the independence lodge in Cádiz. On September of the same year, he married María de los Remedios de Escalada, a young woman from one of the local wealthy families.
In October, when news of the victory of the Army of the North (Spanish: Ejército del Norte) commanded by Manuel Belgrano reached Buenos Aires, the Lautaro Lodge initiated political pressure, backed by San Martín's armed forces and popular demand, to impose its candidates into government, thus forcing the First Triumvirate to an end and initiating the Second Triumvirate with members Juan José Paso, Nicolás Rodríguez Peña, and Antonio Álvarez Jonte (Rodríguez Peña and Álvarez Jonte were members of the lodge). This new government strengthened the position held by the Army, and decided to lay siege to Montevideo, which was controlled by loyalists to the Spanish Crown. On 7 December 1812, San Martín was promoted to Colonel.
Although not technically a battle (in Spanish the battle is referred as Combate de San Lorenzo ("San Lorenzo Combat")), references in English language refer to the event as the "Battle of San Lorenzo".
On 28 January 1813, San Martín with his Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers was sent to protect the Paraná River shore from the Spanish Fleet's ships under command of General José Zavala. On the morning of 3 February, the Spanish forces disembarked and fought against San Martín in the Battle of San Lorenzo.
During the fight, San Martín's horse was shot dead. The horse fell, trapping one of San Martín's legs underneath it. This made him an easy target, but Sergeant Juan Bautista Cabral helped him extricate himself. While he was helping the Colonel, Cabral was attacked himself, and died from his wounds after the battle. After the battle, San Martín was promoted to General. This was San Martín's first military action in South America.
After the victories of Tucuman and Salta, the Army of the North, commanded by Manuel Belgrano, lost much ground after serious defeats at Vilcapugio (1 October) and Ayohuma (14 November 1813). The Triumvirate then decided to send San Martín to the North with a small infantry army and his cavarly regiment.
After joining the defeated Army of the North in Yatasto, he took command of it on January 1814, and Belgrano became second in command. During his command, the Army camped in Tucumán, where he started instructing the troops, created a new military school, and sent Colonel Martín Miguel de Güemes to fight against loyalists coming from Peru to gain time. However, after minor struggles in Salta and Jujuy, news of the victory of Commander Guillermo Brown against the royalists' navy, and the resulting blockade of Montevideo, made the loyalist forces from Peru retreat to regroup.
During his command of the Army of the North, San Martín confirmed one of the reasons behind the Maitland Plan's scheme: royalist forces that came down from Upper Perú (roughly present day Bolivia) were easily defeated by the independentist forces in the valleys of Salta and Jujuy. But because of the geographical advantage, forces attacking Upper Peru were easily defeated by the royalists for the very same reasons.
In Córdoba, San Martín continued preparing his plan of attacking Lima — the Capital city of the Viceroyalty of Peru — through Chile. He realized that it would be impossible to enter the large city without having conquered the land to the south. To this end, he requested to be appointed governor of the Province of Cuyo. Later, Juan Pueyrredón was sent by the provisional government of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, and gave San Martín full support on his Liberatory Campaign (Spanish: Campaña Libertadora).
One month after he took office, royalist forces defeated rebel forces under Bernardo O'Higgins' command (O'Higgins fled to the Andes). San Martín strengthened his espionage network with the so-called Guerra de zapa ("War of Zapa"), a pun on the expression Trabajo de zapa, which means hidden work done slyly towards some particular aim. He kept his troops in Mendoza to train and prepare them.
On this behalf, San Martín sent his Aide-de-camp and amateur cartographer Álvarez Condarco (carrying a copy of the Declaration of Independence of the "United Provinces of South America" (today Argentina) to Chile as an excuse) through Los Patos pass (the longest path), and returned through the Uspallata (the shortest one), to perform reconnaissance of several locations, mainly the Chacabuco area. Other measures included a disinformation campaign in Chile by sending fake information on the possible attack routes, and information gathering of the situation in Chile in order to prevent a possible attack from there.
During his governorship of Cuyo, he organized the Army of Cuyo. On 8 November 1814 he created the 11th Infantry Battalion (Spanish: Batallón Número 11 de Infantería) which included the argentinian Corps of Chile (Spanish: Cuerpo de Auxiliares Argentinos o Cuerpo de Chile), which was under command of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Gregorio de las Heras. By October 1815, after contributions of several provinces, the army had 1,600 infantry soldiers, 1,000 men in cavalry, 200 men in artillery and 10 cannons. However many problems arose, such as low supplies of powder, iron, and uniforms. Because existing local industries were not enough to supply the Army, San Martín handled the problem by creating local industries in Cuyo to meet the requirements of it.
On the other hand, despite having the support of the Supreme Director Juan Martín de Pueyrredón, opinions about his campaign were not as favorable on the national level. His efforts were often undermined by the skepticism of some local leaders about the viability of the campaign against the Viceroyalty of Peru through the Andes. However, on 1 August 1816, Pueyrredón renamed the army to Army of the Andes (Spanish: Ejército de los Andes), appointed San Martín as its General in Chief, and gave the Army a national priority level. By the end of this difficult process, San Martin’s army had grown immensely.
In September 1816, San Martín relocated the Army of the Andes to El Plumerillo, in the northern part of Mendoza Province, where he finished the details to start his crossing of the Andes. The army was divided in two main columns and four minor ones, keeping the decided paths in secret.
On 18 January 1817, a main column parted with the artillery to Chile through Uspallata, under command of Brigadier Juan Gregorio de las Heras, reaching Las Cuevas on 1 February 1817. The second main column, led by San Martín, left on 19 January through Los Patos pass, and reached San Andrés de Tártaro on 8 February, where he was later joined by Las Heras, concluding the first part of the crossing. By the time the main columns reunited, both had already had minor skirmishes: the first column had fought royalists in Potrerillos, while the forces led by San Martín had fought the Battles of Achupallas and Las Coimas.
The crossing of the Andes was extremely difficult and took 21 days due to high altitudes and low temperature. It is considered a major feat in military history. For instance, the army at Pass El Espinacito reached a maximum altitude of 4536 meters!
After crossing the Andes and entering Chile, the Spanish royalist forces were taking positions in Mount Cuesta Vieja, preparing themselves for the confrontation against the Army of the Andes.
By 10 February 1817, the Army of the Andes was in the Aconcagua valley, and the Spanish royalist forces had not still taken full positions. San Martín then took the initiative and hastened preparations for his attack. Despite a severe attack of Rheumatoid arthritis, San Martín commanded the battle, and seeing the Spanish forces under numerical inferiority and considering the surprise factor, developed a strategy for the Spanish forces to surrender, avoiding bloodshed. The charge was a stalemate until Soler's division joined the battle turning the odds in favor of the patriot side.
After the battle, the royalist forces had suffered five hundred casualties and six hundred royalist soldiers had been taken prisoner. On the Army of the Andes side, there were twelve killed and around one hundred wounded. The army also gained new artillery and other weapons, besides restoring the Chilean revolution. San Martín sent a message reporting the victory: "The Army of the Andes has attained glory and can report: In twenty-four days we have completed the campaign, passed through the highest mountain range on the globe, defeated the tyrants and given freedom to Chile".
On 14 February 1817, San Martín and O'Higgins triumphally entered Santiago, and on 18 February, in a meeting held in the town open hall, San Martín was appointed Governor of Chile. San Martín immediately resigned, thus O'Higgins was elected Supreme Director of the State of Chile (Spanish: Director Supremo del Estado de Chile). The United Army (Spanish: Ejército Unido) was created with Chilean and Argentine soldiers. The Chilean soldiers were under O'Higgins command, while San Martín was General in Chief of the whole United Army.
Then San Martín, in order to raise funds for a fleet, left for Buenos Aires. After negotiating with Pueyrredón, a delegation was sent to London to provide ships for a new fleet in the Pacific Ocean. Back in Chile in the last days of 1817, San Martín sent a delegation to Lima under the pretext of proposing to the Viceroy Joaquín de la Pezuela of Peru the regularization of the war and exchange of POWs. The real purpose was to gain as much information as possible about the enemy's plans. The delegation brought the news that a Spanish army under General Mariano Osorio was about to set sail in four frigates to southern Chile.
Despite the success in the Battle of Chacabuco, and while leaving Santiago and the northern Chile under patriot control, the royalist forces still had strong presence in southern Chile. The men under Osorio's command joined the royalist forces in the south by sea. The royalists also had allied themselves with Mapuche native Americans.
On 19 March 1818, the royalist forces concentrated and fortified in Talca with around five thousand men under General Osorio, while the independent Osorio was not eager to engage in battle, fortifying in Talca. However, after a suggestion from Colonel José Ordóñez an attack was agreed, under Ordoñez' command. In a bold move, Ordoñez made the kind of attack San Martín had feared: circumventing the city and making a surprise attack at night behind the vanguard where the patriot forces were still taking positions. The surprise attack happened before the patriot army had re-positioned itself, and was a directed at the battalion under O'Higgins command, near San Martín's position. Soon, the vanguard soldiers dispersed, leaving O'Higgins in a bad position; his horse was shot dead and he was wounded in one arm. In an uncharacteristic move, instead of ordering retreat San Martín held the position, which made more patriot soldiers flee under enemy fire, leaving weapons and supplies behind. After the initial disorder, however, he ordered retreat. The rear and reserves had already re-positioned, somewhat withstanding the attack, but had no-one in command (Colonel Hilarión de la Quintana had left to headquarters to receive orders after the re-position and had not yet returned). Las Heras took command, and led the men during the retreat, while trying to recover as much artillery and weapons as possible. San Martín and O'Higgins (who were also retreating at full speed) were being closely chased by royalist forces.
By 21 March 1818, the remaining patriot forces of around three and half thousand men reunited in San Fernando, while news of the defeat reached Santiago. Rumors of deaths of O'Higgins and San Martín were spreading, and an exodus from Santiago to Mendoza started.
The battle (which was the only defeat the campaign had suffered) resulted in around 150 killed, and two hundred men taken prisoner. Several hundred had deserted, the whole artillery of the Argentine side was lost along with considerable amounts of horses, mules and weapons from both the Chilean and Argentine parts of the army. Despite the royalist victory, the action proved pyrrhic for their side: an estimated two hundred soldiers had been killed, three hundred men captured and around six hundred had deserted, a total comprising more than half the two thousand men that had charged into the battle. Because of historical records these numbers cannot be completely confirmed.
After the sorpresa de Cancha Rayada (surprise of Cancha Rayada), the royalist forces concentrated and marched towards Santiago. On 4 April 1818, the United Army took positions in Loma Blanca, near the Maipú plains. The army separated into three divisions: Las Heras commanding the column on the right, Colonel Rudecindo Alvarado commanding the column on the left, and Quintana at the rear. O'Higgins (still wounded) was in charge of the reserves.
The royalist forces under General Osorio's command took defensive positions, despite the convictions of some Colonels (among whom was Ordoñez) that taking the offensive as in Cancha Rayada was the best option. According to Irish Mounted Granadier John Thomond O'Brien, San Martín, seeing Osorio's disposition of the forces, exclaimed "Osorio is clumsier than I thought. Today's triumph is ours. The sun as witness!".
Around 11 am on the morning of 5 April 1818, the patriotic forces charged against the royalist forces with devastating resolution: after the sustained six-hour battle, the royalists were defeated. Osorio attempted to retreat to a property called Lo Espejos (The Mirrors) but failing to reach it, fled to Talcahuano with around twelve hundred men, although virtually rendered useless as they had lost most, if not all, of their weapons.
The royalist forces suffered two thousand dead, three thousand prisoners taken, and the loss of all its artillery. The patriotic forces, in contrast, suffered one thousand casualties. Historian and Colonel José Luis Picciuolo stated in his book Argentina Cavalry in the History of the Army that "this battle was executed as a typical act of annihilation".
As result of the battle, the Spanish control over southern Chile ended, and the independence declared on 12 February 1818 was partially accomplished. Viceroy Pezuela considered southern Chile lost, and Osorio set sail for Peru, leaving Colonel Juan Francisco Sánchez in charge of one thousand men in Talcahuano.
Since the Battle of Chacabuco, San Martín had urged both governments of Santiago and Buenos Aires to build a fleet on the Pacific. Convoys had been sent to the United States and England in order to buy and hire several ships, however, lack of political cohesion in Argentina, a Spanish blockade in Valparaíso, and the Battles of Cancha Rayada and Maipú heavily delayed the project. On the other hand, the mountainous landscape of the region lent itself to a large dependence of the colonial Chilean economy on maritime trade routes and shipping. This meant that there was an abundance of shipyards and a ready supply of sailors.
Right after the Battle of Maipú, San Martín left for Buenos Aires in order to speed up the process (and meet his wife and daughter which he had not seen since the start of the Campaign of the Andes). Once in Buenos Aires, after learning the fact that half a million pesos would not be available for the project from Pueyrredón, San Martín resigned as Commander of the Army under the pretext of being prescribed by his doctor to take rest in Chile's hotsprings. The resignation was not accepted and San Martín was granted a license.
After Supreme Director José Rondeau was defeated in the Battle of Cepeda, San Martín sent his resignation of the Army's command from Santiago to Rancagua, where Colonel Las Heras had settled with the army, arguing that the authority to which he had to report had ceased to exist, and thus his own authority had expired. The officials of the army rejected his resignation on the basis that the army's goal was to hasten the happiness of the country and the authority was given ultimately by the health of the people, something that was immutable and could not expire.
On August 20th 1820, a fleet of eight warships and sixteen transport ships of the Chilean Navy, under the command of Thomas Alexander Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, set sail from Valparaíso to Paracas, southern Peru.
On September 7th, the army landed on Paracas and successfully attacked Pisco. On 11 September 1820, San Martín sent a "manifesto" to the Peruvian people stating "My announcement is not that of a conqueror that tries to create a new enslavement. I cannot help but be an accidental instrument of justice and agent of destiny. The outcome of victory will make Peru's capital see for the first time their sons united, freely choosing their government and emerging into the face of earth among the rank of nations".
While previous campaigns had been militaristic, San Martín avoided confrontation in Peru and emphasized diplomacy; the reason was that Lima, as the center of the Spanish Empire, would be more against the nationalist cause if its forces used violence and/or threatened to break the established monarchical-style order. Also, San Martín's army was smaller than that of the royalist forces in Peru, and he was wary of attacking the Spanish head on. His strategy consisted of waiting for the Peruvian people to begin the uprising by themselves. This resulted in many diplomatic envoys to Lima, urging viceroy Joaquín de la Pezuela to grant the independence of Peru. However, these diplomatic efforts proved fruitless.
After seizing Pisco, the army set sail on 26 October toward the north and landed at Huacho — a better place from a strategic point of view — on 12 November. Huacho was used by San Martín as his main headquarters from thereon. While there, San Martín first heard of the emancipation of Guayaquil under the leadership of Peruvian Gregorio Escobedo. This and other events such as the maritime blockade of Callao by Cochrane and the victories over royalists by Alvarez de Arenales in Guacarillo (6 October) and Pasco (20 December) strengthened the position of the main independentist effort led by San Martín.
On 29 January, Pezuela was deposed by José de la Serna. On 21 February 1821, San Martín promulgated the Provisional Rules (Spanish, Reglamento Provisional) aimed to provide legal guarantees to the Peruvian citizens, and designed the first flag of Peru. Soon afterwards he started preparing to march on Lima.
In March, 1821 the army set sail and landed in Ancón (near Lima), while dispatching general Guillermo Miller to the southern coasts and Álvarez de Arenales toward the eastern hills, furthering Lima's isolation. Diplomatic efforts once again failed, as Viceroy Serna did not agree to declare independence, and San Martín did not accept Serna's proposal of acceptance by the independentists of the Spanish Constitution of 1812 and the sending emissaries to the Cortes Generales.
On 2 July, San Martín met Viceroy Serna. This time San Martín proposed to create a constitutional monarchy with a European monarch to be appointed later. Serna, arguing that he did not have the power to make such a decision, asked for two days to discuss the issue. However, after discussing the issue with the royalist forces' commanders, the proposition was turned down on the basis that they did not have the power to grant independence, even to create a monarchy. On 8 July, Serna and his forces simply abandoned the city, in order to reinforce in the countryside.
San Martín occupied Lima, the capital of Peru, on 12 July 1821. This was a huge loss for the Spanish forces. Independence from Spain for Peru was finally declared on 28 July 1821 and he was voted the "Protector" of the newly independent nation. During the same year, he founded the National Library of Peru, to which he donated his collection of books, and praised the new library as "... one of the most efficient means to spread our intellectual values". After Peru's parliament had been assembled, he resigned his command.
On 26 July 1822, he met with Simón Bolívar at Guayaquil to plan the future of Latin America. Most of the details of this meeting were secret at the time, and this has made the event a matter of much debate among later historians. Some believe that Bolívar's refusal to share command of the combined forces made San Martín withdraw from Peru and resettle as a farmer in Mendoza, Argentina. Another theory claims that San Martín yielded to Bolívar's energy and avoided a confrontation. Many argue that San Martin was a military genius but not as charismatic a leader, or as politically ambitious, as Bolivar.
In 1824, soon after his return to Argentina, his wife Remedios de Escalada de San Martín died. Then he moved to Europe with his daughter Mercedes, first to England, then to Brussels. To keep a neutral position during the 1830 Belgian Revolution he moved to Paris, where he contracted cholera. Cured but weakened, he bought a house and retired at Grand-Bourg, near Évry. His daughter married Mariano Antonio Severo de Balcarce, illegitimate son of Juan Manuel de Rosas, in Paris on 13 December 1832, and they had two daughters. In 1848, when the revolution started in Paris, he decided to move to London, but settled instead at Boulogne-sur-Mer,[4] where he spent the remainder of his days.
He always excluded himself from every possible meddling at the internecine wars of his native country, and refused several offers he had to do so. He even returned to Buenos Aires, but refused to leave the ship when he learned that Juan Lavalle had deposed and executed governor Manuel Dorrego, and returned to Europe. The only occasion in which he offered himself to return to Argentina was at the time of the French blockades of 1838 and 1845. In recognition of the successful defense of Argentine rights in those conflicts, he handed down his sword to Buenos Aires Province Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas through his will. He died on 17 August 1850 in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France.
In 1880 his remains were taken from Brunoy to Buenos Aires and reinterred in the Buenos Aires Cathedral. The mausoleum also has the remains of Generals Juan Gregorio de las Heras and Tomás Guido, as well as those of the Unknown Soldier of the Independence.
Portrait of Prince Diponegoro. Lithograph by C. C. A. Last in 1835 to an original pencil drawing by A. J. Bik from 1830
The submission of "Diepo Negoro" to Lieutenant-General Hendrik Merkus Baron de Kock, 28 March 1830, which ended the Java War (1825–30). Painting by Nicolaas Pieneman (1835)
The same scene as above, this time painted by Indonesian celebrated painter, Raden Saleh
Prince Diponegoro back to his residence after the defeat in Magelang. Lithograph made by Francois Vincent Henri Antoine de Stuers
Statue of Prince Diponegoro in Magelang, Central Java
Diponegoro (Mustahar; Antawirya; 11 November 1785 – 8 January 1855), also known as Dipanegara, was a Javanese prince who opposed the Dutch colonial rule. He played an important role in the Java War (1825–1830). In 1830, the Dutch exiled him to Makassar.
From the foundation of Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in 1619 until its bankruptcy in 1798, the Dutch East India Company carved out a far-flung trading empire for itself in the Indonesian archipelago. In the seventeenth century, the Company secured a near monopoly of the Indonesian spice trade, but it had not yet extended its control territorially except in some areas in West Java where coffee and sugar were grown for export. Only in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when Java was drawn into the Revolutionary (1792-99) and Napoleonic wars (1799-1815), was the modern fate of the archipelago sealed. In quick succession, a Franco-Dutch regime (1808-11) under Napoleon’s only non-French marshal, Herman Willem Daendels (1762-1818), and a five-year British occupation (1811-16) under the equally dictatorial Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), transformed the colony.
By the time Java was restored to the Dutch in August 1816, the commercial dealings of the Company had been replaced by the beginnings of a modern colonial administration. Over the next century, this would reduce the power of the local rulers and establish Dutch authority in nearly every corner of the archipelago. The boundaries of present-day Indonesia were determined at this time.
As the influence of the West penetrated ever more deeply into the lives of ordinary
Indonesians, events in the Middle East also began to shape the fortunes of the local populations and Dutch colonists alike. The eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries witnessed an increase in Arab and Ottoman Turkish influence in Indonesia when increased numbers of Arab migrants from the Hadhramaut (present-day South Yemen) – an area renowned for its religious schools and Muslim scholars – began to settle in the archipelago. The quickening tempo of pilgrim traffic across the Indian Ocean also exposed Indonesians to the teachings of Islamic reformers, in particular those linked to the strict Wahhabi sect which briefly controlled the holy cities of
Islam (Mecca and Medina) (1803-1812).
Further west, the fading glory of the Ottoman empire inspired Indonesian Muslims with an admiration for the one Islamic state which had withstood the might of Christian Europe. Such examples stiffened the resolve of Indonesian Muslim rulers and Islamic divines in the face of post-1816 Dutch imperial expansion. In West Sumatra, a Wahhabi-influenced religious leader (tuanku), Imam Bonjol (1772-1864), emerged as the principal leader of armed resistance to the Dutch in the so-called Paderi (from the Dutch padre = ‘priest’) War (1821-37).
Pangeran (Prince) Diponegoro was born on 11 November 1785 in Yogyakarta, and was the eldest son of Sultan Hamengkubuwono III of Yogyakarta. Despite being of noble blood, Diponegoro did not distance himself from his people. When the sultan died in 1814, Diponegoro was passed over for the succession to the throne in favor of his younger half brother who was supported by the Dutch. Being a devout Muslim, Diponegoro was alarmed by the relaxing of religious observance at his half brother's court, as well as by the court's pro-Dutch policy.
But it was in Java that the nascent imperial power of the Netherlands came closest to defeat during a five-year struggle which became known as the Java War (1825-30). The main Javanese protagonist of this conflict, Pangéran (prince) Diponegoro (1785-1855), whose name literally means ‘the light of the country’, was the eldest son of the third sultan of the central Javanese kingdom of Yogyakarta. A witness to the humiliation of his father’s realm at the hands of both Daendels and Raffles, the prince’s personal experiences as a young man led to his own decision to wage a holy war (jihad) against the Dutch in 1825-30. Although his attempt to force Java’s colonial masters to return to their late eighteenth-century role as merchants proved ultimately unsuccessful, Diponegoro’s struggle would become an inspiration for future generations.
Unusually for a member of the Javanese aristocracy, the young prince spent his childhood in a village environment, having been ‘adopted’ at the age of seven by his great-grandmother, the widow of Yogyakarta’s charismatic founder, Sultan Mangkubumi (r. 1749-92). A lady of great piety and forcefulness, she proved a stern stepmother to the future Java War leader. Growing up on her country estate two miles to the northwest of Yogyakarta, Diponegoro was taught to mix in his youth with Javanese of all classes, in particular farmers and wandering students of religion (santri).
He also learnt to withstand great physical hardships, embarking in his teens on long journeys on foot to local religious schools and places associated with the spirit guardians of southcentral Java. His stepmother’s example may have also quickened such practical skills as his ability to read character from the study of faces, financial acumen and capacity for honest administration. A keen chess player and connoisseur of sweet Cape wine (Constantia), the mystic prince tempered his asceticism with a powerful and vivid intelligence which impressed even his Dutch adversaries. In 1805, Diponegoro made a significant pilgrimage to the south coast which marked his coming of age as a young man.
There in meditations in caves and holy sites near the thunderous surf of the Indian Ocean, he received the early visions which foretold his future role as a Javanese ‘Just King’ (Ratu Adil), a ruler who would restore the moral balance of the universe after a period of corruption and decline. Marked by destiny to ‘raise up the high state of the Islamic religion in Java’, Diponegoro would see himself as an agent of purification. But he was torn between his intensely lived inner life as a mystic and his visionary calling as a military and political leader.
These were exceptional times, however. The world of Diponegoro’s youth – the seemingly ageless Java of custom and tradition – had been washed away by the tsunami that was post- Revolutionary Europe. The years between 1816 and 1825 were particularly bad for the Javanese peasantry. Mercilessly taxed by the newly restored Dutch government, the rural communities also suffered from drought, famine and cholera. Such calamities quickened popular expectations of a coming Ratu Adil, expectations which Diponegoro appeared to embody. The casus belli when it came was relatively minor. A highway project--demarcated with intentional insolence by the Dutch-appointed prime minister of Yogyakarta across Diponegoro’s estate-- led to an armed stand off which in turn precipitated a Dutch led military expedition.
Fleeing on horseback to his meditation cave in the limestone hills to the south of Yogyakarta as the Dutch torched his residence, the prince set up the standard of revolt. The Java War had begun. In the next five years, it would cause the death of 200,000 Javanese and damage the livelihoods of two million more. Many others would feel its indirect consequences. At the end of hostilities in March 1830, the Dutch remained in undisputed control of Java.
In 1821, famine and plague spread in Java. His half brother Hamengkubuwono IV (r. 1814-1821) who had succeeded their father died. He left only an infant son as heir, Hamengkubuwono V. When the year-old was appointed as new sultan, there was a dispute over his guardianship. Diponegoro was again passed over, though he believed he had been promised the right to succeed his half brother. This series of natural disaster and political upheaval finally erupted into full scale rebellion.
Dutch colonial rule was becoming unpopular by the local farmers because of tax rises, crop failures and by Javanese nobles because the Dutch colonial authorities deprived them of their right to lease land. Because the local farmers and many nobles were ready to support Diponegoro and because he believed that he had been chosen by divine powers to lead a rebellion against the Christian colonials, he started a holy war against the Dutch. Diponegoro was widely believed to be the Ratu Adil, the Just Ruler predicted in the Pralembang Joyoboyo.
The beginning of the war saw large losses on the side of the Dutch, due to their lack of coherent strategy and commitment in fighting Diponegoro's guerrilla warfare. Ambushes were set up, and food supplies were denied to the Dutch troops. The rebellion turned out to be a massive mutiny. Tens of thousands of Javanese nobles and peasants rallied together under the banner of the courageous prince. The Dutch suffered one defeat after another. Each year, the Dutch lost one third of their army. The Diponegoro war suddenly became the most expensive and one of the largest wars ever fought by the Dutch in the Netherlands Indies.
The Dutch finally committed themselves to controlling the spreading rebellion by increasing the number of troops and sending General De Kock to stop the insurgencies. De Kock developed a strategy of fortified camps (benteng) and mobile forces. Heavily-fortified and well-defended soldiers occupied key landmarks to limit the movement of Diponegoro's troops while mobile forces tried to find and fight the rebels. From 1829, Diponegoro definitely lost the initiative and he was put in a defensive position. Many troops and leaders were defeated or deserted.
In 1830 Diponegoro's military was as good as beaten and negotiations were started. Diponegoro demanded to have a free state under a sultan and he wanted to become the Muslim leader (kalief) for the whole of Java. In March 1830 he was invited to negotiate under a flag of truce. He accepted but was taken prisoner on 28 March despite the flag of truce. De Kock claims that he had warned several Javanese nobles to tell Diponegoro he had to lessen his previous demands or that he would be forced to take other measures. The Dutch exiled him to Manado, and later Makassar. He died while still on custody on 8 January 1855.
Today Diponegoro is a National Hero of Indonesia, and Kodam IV/Diponegoro, the Central Java Military Region, is named after him.
