José de San Martín

José de San Martín José de San Martín (1778–1850) was an Argentine general and statesman who led the southern part of South America to independence from Spain. Alongside Simón Bolívar in the north, he is regarded as one of the two great liberators of Spanish America. His campaigns freed Argentina, Chile and Peru, and his decision to withdraw from political power rather than divide the patriot cause earned him a reputation for selflessness rare among revolutionary leaders.

From Spain to the River Plate

San Martín was born on 25 February 1778 in Yapeyú, in the viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the son of a Spanish official. His family moved to Spain when he was a child, and he entered the army as a young man, serving in Africa and in the Peninsular War against Napoleon. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and gained a thorough professional education in the tactics and organisation of European armies.

In 1812 he returned to Buenos Aires, which had declared its autonomy from Spain in 1810. He joined the patriot cause and distinguished himself in the defence of the city against royalist forces. He joined the secret lodge of Lautaro, a group of patriots committed to independence across the continent, and was given the task of organising a professional army disciplined enough to face the well-trained royal troops.

His experience in Spain taught him that irregular militias could not win a war of liberation. He created a regiment of mounted grenadiers, drilled it rigorously, and imposed standards of order, hygiene and training that became a model for the whole patriot army. This insistence on professional discipline, unusual in a revolutionary movement, was one of the keys to his later successes.

The Andes Campaign and the Liberation of Chile

San Martín's great strategic insight was that the independence of the Río de la Plata could never be secure while the Spanish held Peru, the source of royalist power in the south. Rather than attack Peru directly by sea, he planned to cross the Andes into Chile, defeat the royalists there, and then reach Lima from the sea. It was one of the boldest operations of the age.

Between 1816 and 1817 he assembled an army of some five thousand men, built supply depots, mapped the passes and arranged for the crossing of artillery and provisions over high mountain routes. In January and February 1817 his force crossed the Andes in several columns, an achievement compared to Hannibal's crossing of the Alps, and defeated the royalists at the battles of Chacabuco and, in 1818, Maipú.

The victory secured the independence of Chile, where Bernardo O'Higgins became supreme director. San Martín refused the offer of political power there and pressed on with the larger plan. He organised a naval squadron under Lord Cochrane and prepared for the expedition to Peru, the last great royalist stronghold in South America.

Peru, Guayaquil and Withdrawal

In 1820 San Martín's expedition landed on the Peruvian coast and advanced toward Lima. The royalist position crumbled, and on 28 July 1821 he proclaimed the independence of Peru in the plaza of Lima and was named Protector. He governed briefly, introducing reforms including the freedom of the press and steps toward the emancipation of the enslaved, but the Spanish still held the interior and the mountains.

Needing reinforcements to finish the campaign, San Martín sought the help of Bolívar, who had liberated the north. The two liberators met privately at Guayaquil in July 1822. What passed between them is not fully known, but San Martín returned to Lima and soon resigned his protectorate, withdrew from public life, and left the completion of the Peruvian campaign to Bolívar. His reasons have been debated for two centuries.

Some historians see the meeting as a clash of ambitions; others emphasise San Martín's reluctance to plunge the continent into civil conflict between rival patriot leaders. Whatever the motive, his withdrawal cleared the way for a single commander and avoided the danger of a war within the independence movement. Bolívar's armies went on to win the decisive battles of Junín and Ayacucho.

Exile and Legacy

After 1822 San Martín lived in exile, first in Europe and later in France. He wrote his account of the campaign, encouraged his old comrades, and declined repeated invitations to return to Argentina and take up political office, believing that his presence would stir up rivalry. He supported the cause of stability and unity from a distance, and he watched with sorrow the civil wars that divided the new republics.

He spent his last years near Paris, in his house at Boulogne-sur-Mer, supported by his daughter and son-in-law. He offered his services in the war between Argentina and the Peru-Bolivian Confederation but his offer was not accepted, and he refused to be drawn back into the political struggles of his homeland. He died on 17 August 1850 at Boulogne-sur-Mer.

San Martín is honoured as the liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru. His decision to cross the Andes, his refusal of personal power, and his restraint in the face of provocation set him apart among the leaders of the independence era. Argentina observes a national holiday in his memory, and monuments to him stand throughout South America. He is remembered as the soldier's soldier of the independence movement and a rare example of a revolutionary who knew how to lay power down.

See also

• Simón Bolívar
• Chilean War of Independence
• Peruvian War of Independence
• Bernardo O'Higgins