José de San Martín

South American military and nationalist leader

  • Born: February 25, 1778
  • Birthplace: Yapeyú, Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata (now in Argentina)
  • Died: August 17, 1850
  • Place of death: Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

San Martín ranks among the great liberation leaders of the Western Hemisphere. He altered the course of history with his bold movements in Argentina, Chile, and Peru, accomplishing feats that lesser leaders could never have accomplished, while changing the map of South America.

Early Life

José Francisco de San Martín (sahn mahr-TEEN) was born in a village on the Uruguay River in what is now northeastern Argentina, where his father, Juan, a career army officer, was administrator. The youngest of four sons, he was educated in Madrid following his father’s transfer there in 1785. Two years later, following in the footsteps of his father and older brothers, he requested a cadetship in the Spanish army.

San Martín’s first military experience began at the age of fifteen in Morocco, in a Spanish engagement against local Muslim warlords. He also fought in the French Revolution and in the Napoleonic Wars. In 1808, Napoleon I sent French troops into Spain to reach Portugal, which had traded with France’s archenemy Great Britain in defiance of Napoleon’s wishes. This invasion, along with Napoleon’s removal of the Spanish king, caused a furor among the Spanish, who mounted a guerrilla war against the French invaders. San Martín joined the fight against the French by enlisting in the service of the Spanish provisional government (junta), which had been established at Seville. San Martín distinguished himself in battle, receiving a medal and promotions.

For more than twenty years, San Martín served his king with faith and dedication. He had gained valuable experience and had received recognition for his distinguished service. It has been speculated that he did not believe that he had been adequately recognized and, for that reason, he decided to return to his native land and participate in revolutionary events there. San Martín was a Creole, a Spaniard born in the New World, and there was discrimination against Creoles in favor of Spanish-born Peninsulars. Also, in Spain, he had formed friendships with English officers who had imbued him with the revolutionary ideas of the Enlightenment. In 1812, he refused a promotion and returned to Buenos Aires to embark on an enterprise that would gain for him everlasting fame—the independence of South America.

Life’s Work

The thirty-four-year-old San Martín returned to Buenos Aires, which in 1812 was in the middle of revolutionary activities. Creoles in Argentina had created a provisional government in the name of the deposed Spanish king Ferdinand VII. Realizing that San Martín would be a valuable member of their military forces because of his experience in Spain, the government gave him command of the army of Upper Peru, which had been defeated by Royalists and was recuperating in Tucumán. San Martín’s military genius shone as he improved the soldiers, who lacked discipline and training.

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Although not all biographers agree, many have asserted that San Martín founded a secret pseudo-Masonic society, the Lautaro Lodge, whose members dedicated themselves to the independence of South America from Spain. At any rate, San Martín was strongly dedicated to his native country’s independence, and he believed that the provisional government should declare independence and abandon any pretense of loyalty to Ferdinand.

In 1814, San Martín asked to be relieved of his command, declaring that he was in poor health. He was then appointed governor-intendant of the province of Cuyo, which enjoyed a better climate than his previous residence in Tucumán. The real reason for this change, however, was San Martín’s secret plan to defeat the Spanish in South America by attacking their stronghold in Peru, not through Upper Peru as the provisional government proposed but by creating a small, well-disciplined army in Mendoza, the capital of Cuyo, to cross the AndesMountains and defeat the Royalists in Chile and then proceed to Lima, the capital of Peru, by sea. Mendoza was located at the eastern end of a strategic pass leading across the Andes to Chile. San Martín believed that independence would not be accomplished until the Spanish stronghold of Lima was captured.

For three years, San Martín devoted all of his considerable energy to his bold and daring plan—recruiting, training, and equipping his army of the Andes. The years in Cuyo were in many ways the happiest years of his life. Shortly after his arrival in Buenos Aires, he had married fifteen-year-old María de los Remedios Escalada, the daughter of a wealthy Creole merchant. Their only child, Mercedes, was born in 1816, during his governorship in Cuyo. San Martín was an efficient administrator, accomplishing much for the people of Mendoza. He was popular there, proving to be charming and persuasive with the people even though he never pretended to be a politician. He was a tall, broad-shouldered, handsome man with a large aquiline nose, thick black hair, and large, bushy whiskers. His complexion was dark, and he had dark, piercing eyes. He looked every inch the soldier, with a commanding presence.

In 1816, San Martín persuaded the Buenos Aires government to assist him in his bold scheme. Juan Martín Pueyrredón, head of the government, appointed him commander in chief of the army of the Andes. By January, 1817, San Martín’s army of more than three thousand soldiers was ready to march across the snow-covered Andes and fulfill its mission. His soldiers successfully traversed the rugged mountains and, twenty-one days later, appeared before the astonished Spaniards on the Chilean side of the Andes. This amazing feat has been compared to Napoleon’s march across the Alps in 1800 and Hannibal’s similar march in the Punic Wars. San Martín’s feat, however, had a greater effect on history, because it prepared the way for the independence of Chile and Peru from Spain.

San Martín’s forces inflicted a decisive blow against the Royalist army on February 12 at Chacabuco, which opened the way to Santiago, the Chilean capital. Two days later, his army jubilantly entered Santiago unopposed. Declining offices and promotions from the grateful Chileans, he continued with his plan to attack Lima by sea from some fifteen hundred miles away. To accomplish that, a navy was needed. There were still substantial Royalist forces in Chile, and another battle had to be fought to secure Chile’s independence. This battle, fought in April, 1818, at Maipú, near Santiago, ended any further Royalist threat.

A year later, in preparation for his expedition against Peru, San Martín was appointed brigadier general of the Chilean army, projected to be some six thousand strong. In the meantime, a navy was being created in Chile for the upcoming invasion. The Chileans had enlisted the valuable assistance of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, a former English naval officer, who was made the commander of Chile’s navy. San Martín’s plans, however, were almost thwarted by events in Argentina, where political leaders were arguing over what form the government should take. Many favored a monarchy, as San Martín did, but agreement could not be reached. Amid this discord, the Argentine government ordered San Martín and his army to recross the Andes and return to Argentina. He refused but left his resignation up to his men, who insisted that he remain their commander. The Chilean government reinforced this revolutionary act by appointing San Martín commander in chief of liberation.

In August, 1820, the invasion of Peru, the last stronghold of Spanish power in South America, began. San Martín made it clear to his soldiers that their objective was to free, not to conquer, their Peruvian brothers. Upon his arrival in Peru, Spanish officials in Lima attempted to negotiate a compromise with San Martín, who insisted that Spain recognize the independence of Peru. San Martín proposed that a junta govern Peru for the time being; ultimately, he envisioned a constitutional monarchy for South America, with a king or emperor from the Spanish royal family. Soon, however, the negotiations broke down.

Peruvians in the north had been influenced by San Martín’s writings and speeches calling for independence, and it was undoubtedly their demand for independence that caused the viceroy to evacuate the loyalist troops from Lima and the coast, leaving the way clear for San Martín to occupy the capital, which he quietly did on June 12, 1821. The independence of Peru was proclaimed officially on July 28, 1821, amid jubilation. Events, however, would soon turn against San Martín.

In August, 1821, San Martín announced that he would assume the title of protector of Peru, with full military and civil power, in order to deal with counterrevolutionary plots and the opposition of the powerful elite in Lima to San Martín’s social reforms. Although he declared that he had no ambitious motives, many of his followers voiced criticism. There were also rumors that he wanted to be king. Matters were exacerbated when Lord Cochrane quarreled with San Martín and left Peru with his squadron of ships. San Martín was struck with a sudden illness that confined him to bed. Meanwhile, a large Royalist army gathered near Lima, challenging San Martín to a battle that he refused to join because of his smaller force.

Amid this unhappy state of affairs, San Martín announced that he would meet with Simón Bolívar, the liberator of Colombia, at Guayaquil to discuss plans for the complete liberation of Peru. The famous meeting of the two giants of South American independence took place on July 26 and 27, 1822. It has never been clear exactly what transpired at the meeting, but after it San Martín abruptly withdrew from public life. It is possible that San Martín withdrew because he saw that Bolívar possessed the greater resources necessary to win the final victory over the powerful Royalist army in Peru.

San Martín returned to Argentina, where he received the news of his wife’s death. He left an indifferent and hostile Argentina with his young daughter and spent the remainder of his life in exile in Europe, where he suffered from poor health, poverty, and bitterness. He died in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, on August 17, 1850, unaware that history would elevate him to legendary stature.

Significance

José de San Martín’s claim to fame emanated from his bold and daring plan to cross the Andes, liberate Chile, and establish a base from which to attack Peru by sea and thus complete the liberation of southern South America. He was a great leader of men, inspiring them to great feats of endurance. He was a man of action rather than of reflection; he won battles and left other matters to statesmen. At the same time, it should be noted that he was a man who reflected the spirit of his age, because he was a believer in the ideals of the eighteenth century Enlightenment as evidenced in his ideas of independence and his strong support of education and social reforms. He was a rational man who correctly reasoned that South America was not ready for the republican type of government found in the United States. He supported monarchy as the solution to the chaos he saw emerging around him.

San Martín altered the course of history with his bold movements in Argentina, Chile, and Peru. A lesser man would never have accomplished what he did. He truly deserves to be remembered alongside other liberators in the New World, such as George Washington and Simón Bolívar.

Bibliography

Harvey, Robert. Liberators: Latin America’s Struggle for Independence, 1810-1830. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 2000. A history of Latin America’s struggle to overthrow Spanish rule, focusing on San Martín and six other liberation leaders.

Metford, J. C. J. San Martín: The Liberator. New York: Philosophical Library, 1950. A very readable, well-balanced, and scholarly account of San Martín’s life. The author attempts to separate the man from the legend.

Mitre, Bartolomé. The Emancipation of South America. Translated by William Pilling. London: Chapman & Hall, 1893. A translation and condensation of Mitre’s exhaustive multivolume Historia de San Martín y de la emancipación sud-americana (1887-1888), which is considered a classic. Poetically written. Combines a helpful index and a map.

Robertson, William Spence. Rise of the Spanish-American Republics as Told in the Lives of Their Liberators. New York: D. Appleton, 1918. Contains an excellent chapter on San Martín. Offers a well-written and well-researched summary of San Martín’s role in the independence of Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

Rodríguez O., Jaime E. The Independence of Spanish America. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Covers the wars for independence in Mexico and South America between 1808 and 1826, including information about San Martín’s role in the independence movement.

Rojas, Ricardo. San Martín: Knight of the Andes. Translated by Herschel Brickell and Carlos Videla. New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1945. A sympathetic, very readable biography. The author believes that San Martín belongs to the “race of armed Saints” that includes Lohengrin and Parsifal. Helpful backnotes and an index.

Schoellkopf, Anna. Don José de San Martín, 1778-1850: A Study of His Career. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1924. A small volume, taken almost entirely from Mitre’s works, including several verbatim quotations. Contains several illustrations and a helpful map of South America.