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The Army of the Andes: Chilean and Rioplatense Politics in an Age of Military Organisation, 1814–1817

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2014

JUAN LUIS OSSA SANTA CRUZ
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Abstract

This article analyses the organisation of the Army of the Andes, created in Mendoza between 1814 and 1817 with the aim of reconquering Chile from the royalists. The first section studies the role of José de San Martín as an informal arbiter in Bernardo O'Higgins’ dispute with José Miguel Carrera. The aim is to explain why San Martín decided to support O'Higgins, and the immediate consequences of this alliance. The second section addresses the main characteristics of the Army of the Andes and the process of militarisation experienced by the local inhabitants. Everyday life in Mendoza became inseparable from the needs of the revolutionary army. The paper then considers the so-called guerra de zapa and the participation of irregular agents. The involvement of spies and guerrilla officers in the revolution increased as warfare intensified. The final section analyses the crossing of the cordillera by the insurgents and the revolutionary triumph of 12 February 1817 at Chacabuco.

Spanish abstract

Este artículo analiza la organización del Ejército de los Andes, creado en Mendoza entre 1814 y 1817 con el fin de reconquistar Chile de los realistas. La primera sección estudia el papel del José de San Martín como mediador informal en la disputa entre Bernardo O'Higgins y José Miguel Carrera. Se busca explicar por qué San Martín decidió apoyar a O'Higgins y las consecuencias inmediatas de esta alianza. La segunda sección trata sobre las características principales del Ejército de los Andes y el proceso de militarización que vivieron sus habitantes locales. La cotidianidad en Mendoza fue inseparable de las necesidades del ejército revolucionario. El artículo considera después la llamada guerra de zapa y la participación de agentes irregulares. El involucramiento de espías y de oficiales guerrilleros en la revolución se incrementó en la medida en que la guerra se intensificaba. La última sección analiza el cruce de la cordillera por los insurgentes y el triunfo revolucionario del 12 de febrero de 1817 en Chacabuco.

Portuguese abstract

Este artigo analisa a organização do Exército dos Andes criado em Mendoza entre 1814 e 1817 com o objetivo de reconquistar o Chile, dominado pelos monarquistas. A primeira seção do artigo trata do papel desempenhado por José de San Martín como mediador da disputa entre Bernardo O'Higgins e José Miguel Carrera. O objetivo é explicar as razões pelas quais San Martín decidiu pelo apoio a O'Higgins e as consequências imediatas de tal aliança. A segunda seção trata das principais características do Exército dos Andes e do processo de militarização vivido pelos habitantes da região. A vida cotidiana em Mendoza tornou-se inseparável das necessidades do exército revolucionário. O artigo então considera a chamada guerra de zapa e a participação de agentes irregulares. O envolvimento de espiões e guerrilheiros na revolução aumentou conforme as batalhas foram intensificadas. A seção final analisa a travessia da cordilheira por insurgentes e o triunfo revolucionário no dia doze de fevereiro de 1817 em Chacabuco.

Keywords

ChileO'HigginsSan MartínMendozaChacabucomilitary organisationrevolutionspiesChileO'HigginsSan MartínMendozaChacabucoorganización militarrevoluciónespíasChileO'HigginsSan MartínMendozaChacabucoorganização militarrevoluçãoespiões
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 29 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

1 Arana, Diego Barros, Historia general de Chile, vol. 10 (Santiago: Editorial Universitaria and DIBAM, 2002 [1894–1902])Google Scholar; Mitre, Bartolomé, Historia de San Martín y de la emancipación sudamericana (Buenos Aires: Ateneo, 2010 [1887–8])Google Scholar; Espejo, Gerónimo, El paso de los Andes: crónica histórica de las operaciones del Ejército de los Andes, para la Restauración de Chile en 1817 (Buenos Aires: Imprenta y Librería de Mayo, 1882)Google Scholar.

2 Mitre, Historia de San Martín, p. 200. All translations from Spanish into English are mine.

3 Pasquali, Patricia, San Martín: la fuerza de la misión y la soledad de la gloria (Buenos Aires: Emecé, 2004)Google Scholar; Lynch, John, San Martín: Argentine Soldier, American Hero (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009)Google Scholar.

4 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, pp. 103, 109.

5 See ibid., p. 102; and Eyzaguirre, Jaime, O'Higgins (Santiago: Zig-Zag, 1946), p. 152Google Scholar. See also Pasquali, San Martín, pp. 210–14.

6 Del Solar, Felipe Santiago, ‘La francmasonería en Chile: de sus orígenes hasta su institucionalización’, Revista de Estudios Históricos de la Masonería Latinoamericana y Caribeña, 2: 1 (2010), pp. 6–7Google Scholar. Del Solar has said that ‘while Pueyrredón had the mission to administrate the Logia inside the United Provinces, San Martín was in charge of its expansive project’: see ‘Masones y sociedades secretas: redes militares durante las guerras de independencia en América del Sur’, Amérique Latine: Histoire et Mémoire. Les Cahiers ALHIM, 19 (2010).

7 Bragoni, Beatriz, José Miguel Carrera: un revolucionario chileno en el Río de la Plata (Buenos Aires: Edhasa, 2012), p. 122Google Scholar.

8 See Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 104.

9 Ibid., p. 106.

10 Juan de la Cruz Vargas to San Martín, 19 Oct. 1814, Archivo Histórico de la Provincia de Mendoza, Argentina (hereafter AHM), box 235, doc. 38.

11 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, pp. 113–17.

12 Ibid., p. 116 n. 33; the list is at the Archivo General de la Nación, Argentina (hereafter AGN), room 10, 4-2-5, pp. 2–4.

13 See San Martín to Nicolás Herrera, 19 Nov. 1814, cited in AGN, Paso de los Andes y Campaña Libertadora de Chile, tome 1149, vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1917), pp. 229–30.

14 Balcarce to San Martín, 19 Jan. 1815, AGN, room 10, 4-2-5, p. 63.

15 Las Heras to San Martín, 21 June 1815, AGN, room 10, 4-2-5, p. 212. The letter makes reference to an event that occurred on 8 November 1814.

16 Anonymous to San Martín, 27 Jan. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, p. 99.

17 San Martín to supreme director of the United Provinces, 10 March 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, p. 240.

18 Supreme director to San Martín, 31 March 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, p. 239.

19 22 Aug. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-6, p. 186.

20 Lira, Cristián Guerrero, La contrarrevolución de la Independencia en Chile (Santiago: DIBAM, 2002), p. 99Google Scholar.

21 AHM, box 497, doc. 9.

22 Eduardo to governor of Mendoza, undated, AHM, box 497, doc. 9.

23 The decisions of the authorities appear in the top-left margin of every application.

24 Alarcón, Camilo, ‘Soldados sin ejército: la vida de la emigración militar patriota en las Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata (1814–1817)’, Cuadernos de Historia Militar (Santiago), 5 (2009), pp. 46–7Google Scholar.

25 Escanilla to governor of Mendoza, undated, AHM, box 497, doc. 9.

26 Noya to governor of Mendoza, 7 Feb. 1816, AHM, box 497, doc. 9.

27 González to governor of Mendoza, undated, AHM, box 497, doc. 9.

28 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 144; Eyzaguirre, O'Higgins, pp. 160–1. A copy of O'Higgins’ plan can be found in AGN, Paso de los Andes, pp. 248–51.

29 Quoted in Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 143. A copy of Carrera's plan can be found in AGN, Paso de los Andes, pp. 245–6.

30 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 144. San Martín's answer can be found in AGN, Paso de los Andes, pp. 246–7.

31 Vicuña Mackenna, Vida del capitán, p. 221 n. 124.

32 Cabildantes of Mendoza to supreme director, 2 April 1815, AGN, room X, 5-5-5, pp. 282–3.

33 14 Aug. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-6, pp. 115–16.

34 Lynch, San Martín, p. 73.

35 Espejo, El paso de los Andes, p. 365.

36 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, pp. 242–3; San Martín to secretary of war, 29 Dec. 1815, AGN, room X, 5-5-6, pp. 370–1v.

37 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 244.

38 Supreme director to governor of Mendoza, 20 Nov. 1815, AGN, room X, 4-2-5, pp. 442, 442v.

39 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 240.

40 April 1816, AGN, room 10, 4-2-6, p. 162.

41 1 June 1816, AGN, room 10, 4-2-6, p. 283; 1 Aug. 1816, AGN, room 10, 4-2-6, p. 344. Detailed reports of the development of the army between December 1814 and February 1816 can be found in AHM, box 485.

42 For a summary of the history of slavery in the River Plate, see Diggs, Irene, ‘The Negro in the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata’, Journal of Negro History, 36: 3 (1951), pp. 281–301CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43 See Colección documental de la Independencia del Perú, tomo 6, vol. 2, p. 145 (20 Sep. 1820); and de Bohigas, Nuria Sales, ‘Esclavos y reclutas en Sudamérica, 1816–1826’, Revista de Historia de América, 70 (1970), pp. 289–93Google Scholar.

44 Blanchard, Peter, Under the Flags of Freedom: Slave Soldiers and the Wars of Independence in Spanish South America (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008), p. 15CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

45 Andrews, George Reid, ‘The Afro-Argentine Officers of Buenos Aires Province, 1800–1860’, Journal of Negro History, 64: 2 (1979), pp. 85–100CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

46 Lynch, San Martín, p. 76.

47 An interesting example can be found in AHM, box 368, doc. 5 (dated between late January and early February 1815). The name of the person investigated was Francisco Segura.

48 4 Feb. 1815, AHM, box 368, doc. 7.

49 4 Feb. 1815, AHM, box 368, doc. 8.

50 Quoted in Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 263. A copy of Guido's report can be found in AGN, Paso de los Andes, pp. 263–8.

51 San Martín was appointed general-in-chief of the Army of the Andes on 1 August 1816: see Lynch, San Martín, p. 86.

52 Quoted in ibid., p. 267.

53 Ibid., pp. 86–7.

54 O'Higgins to secretary of war, 14 Sep. 1816, AGN, room 10, 4-2-7, p. 57.

55 Lynch, San Martín, p. 75.

56 San Martín to supreme director, 16 Jan. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, pp. 72, 72v.

57 Supreme director to San Martín, 9 Feb. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, pp. 71, 71v.

58 San Martín to supreme director, 15 Feb. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, pp. 155–6.

59 10 March 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, p. 237. For a list of donations given by merchants, shoemakers and dueños de carretas, see 10 March 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5.

60 Sep.–Oct. 1815, AHM, box 500, doc. 1.

61 San Martín to secretary of war, 2 May 1816, AGN, room 10, 4-2-6.

62 San Martín to supreme director, 23 Aug. 1816, AGN, room 10, 4-2-6, p. 402.

63 Manuel Obligado to ‘General Ministers’, 31 Aug. 1816, AGN, room 10, 4-2-7, p. 26.

64 San Martín to secretary of war, 21 Oct. 1816, AGN, room 10, 4-2-7, pp. 199, 199v.

65 San Martín to secretary of war, 6 Dec. 1816, AGN, room 10, 4-2-7, p. 263; San Martín to secretary of war, 4 Jan. 1817, AGN, room 10, 4-2-8, p. 21.

66 For summaries of the amount of money and resources spent by these three cities, see AHM, box 368, doc. 2, and AGN, room 10, 5-5-7, pp. 200–5.

67 Nicolás Aranda, Pedro Molina and Manuel Corvalán to governor of Mendoza, 20 Aug. 1816, AHM, box 489, doc. 50.

68 A good example of a case against two Chilean deserters can be found in AHM, box 442, doc. 13, March–April 1815.

69 AHM, box 442, doc. 42, 28 May 1815.

70 Sep. 1815, AHM, box 442, doc. 36; Sep. 1815, AHM, box 442, doc. 40; Oct. 1815, AHM, box 233, doc. 87; Dec. 1815, AHM, box 443, doc. 11.

71 Lynch, San Martín, p. 89.

72 Alarcón, ‘Soldados sin ejército’, p. 50.

73 AGN, room X, 4-4-2; see also Alarcón, ‘Soldados sin ejército’, pp. 50–5.

74 AGN, room X, 4-4-2; see also Alarcón, ‘Soldados sin ejército’, pp. 50–5.

75 Espejo, El paso de los Andes, p. 420. See also pp. 477–8.

76 Lynch, San Martín, p. 79, defines the guerra de zapa as ‘an underground war of espionage and sabotage, with a network of spies in the mountain provinces reporting on the movements of the enemy, directing black propaganda across the Andes, keeping the cause alive and the resistance movement active in readiness for the invasion, while San Martín himself organized hit-and-run attacks on the enemy’.

77 Castedo, Leopoldo, Resumen de la Historia de Chile de Francisco Antonio Encina, vol. 1 (Santiago: Zig-Zag, 1954), pp. 609–10Google Scholar.

78 24 Feb. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, pp. 142–3v.

79 San Martín to supreme director, 8 Feb. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, pp. 159–60.

80 San Martín to supreme director, 3 May 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-5, p. 304.

81 25 Sep. 1815, AGN, room 10, 4-2-5, pp. 321–2v. According to Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 236 n. 33, Silva was a ‘double agent’.

82 Ibid., p. 238. Buenos Aires’ appointment of Guzmán and Picarte as spies can be found in AGN, Paso de los Andes, pp. 299–300; and San Martín to supreme director, 27 Sep. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-6, p. 201.

83 Nov. 1815, AGN, room 10, 4-2-5, p. 461.

84 Zapiola to San Martín, 27 Nov. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-6, pp. 351–2.

85 According to Ricardo Latcham, ‘Español’ was one of the pseudonyms used by the spy, Manuel Rodríguez. See Latcham, Ricardo, Vida de Manuel Rodríguez: el guerrillero (Santiago: Nascimento, 1932), p. 151Google Scholar.

86 AGN, Paso de los Andes, p. 298.

87 The title of the account was Estado que manifiesta el dinero dado por esta Tesorería por Orden del Señor Gobernador Intendente para gastos secretos de Guerra en el año pasado y dos más de este.

88 Ibid., p. 307.

89 Ibid., p. 308.

90 Marcó to Joaquín Magallar, 5 Aug. 1816, Archivo Nacional de Chile, Ministerio del Interior (hereafter ANC), vol. 26, pp. 251v, 252.

91 See Latcham, , Vida de Manuel Rodríguez; Gabriel Salazar, Construcción de estado en Chile (1800–1837): democracia de los ‘pueblos’. Militarismo ciudadano. Golpismo oligárquico (Santiago: Sudamericana, 2005), pp. 466–7Google Scholar; and Guajardo, Ernesto, Manuel Rodríguez: historia y leyenda (Santiago: Ril, 2010)Google Scholar.

92 Marcó to intendant of Concepción, 12 Sep. 1816, ANC, vol. 26, pp. 259v, 260.

93 Ibid. Marcó is referring to the Butalmapu of the Llanos.

94 Marcó to Quintanilla, 28 Sep. 1816, ANC, vol. 26, p. 263v.

95 Marcó to Abascal, 28 Jan. 1817, Archivo General de Indias, Diversos 5.

96 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, pp. 349–50.

97 San Martín to supreme director, 26 Sep. 1815, AGN, room 10, 5-5-6, pp. 197, 197v.

98 Sepúlveda, Alfredo, Bernardo: una biografía de Bernardo O'Higgins (Santiago: Ediciones B, 2007), p. 301Google Scholar, says that during his time in Buenos Aires O'Higgins met Álvarez and was introduced to the Logia Lautaro.

99 Supreme director to San Martín, 30 Oct. 1815, AGN, room X, 5-5-6, p. 199.

100 The instructions, dated 21 December 1816, are in AGN, Paso de los Andes, pp. 284–7. The emphasis is mine.

101 Thibaud, Clément, Repúblicas en armas: los ejércitos bolivarianos en la guerra de Independencia en Colombia y Venezuela (Bogotá: Planeta, 2003), p. 130CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

102 Clément Thibaud, ‘La ley y la sangre: la “guerra de razas” y la constitución en la América Bolivariana’, Almanack: Revista Eletrônica Semestral, 1 (May 2011), pp. 5–23, available at www.almanack.unifesp.br/index.php/almanack/article/view/711.

103 Another example of San Martín's anti-Spanishness is a proposal on 28 October 1815 to expel all Spaniards from Mendoza (San Martín to secretary of government, AGN, room 10, 5-5-6, pp. 254, 254v).

104 AGN, Paso de los Andes, p. 287.

105 Lynch, San Martín, p. 91.

106 Luzuriaga was appointed governor of Cuyo in October 1816 so that San Martín could devote himself exclusively to preparing the invasion of Chile: see Araujo, Enrique Díaz, ‘Historia institucional de Mendoza: notas para servir a su estudio’, Revista de la Junta de Estudios Históricos de Mendoza, segunda época, 4, pp. 187–9Google Scholar.

107 Ortemberg, Pablo, ‘Las Vírgenes Generalas: acción guerrera y práctica religiosa en las campañas del Alto Perú y el Río de la Plata (1810–1818)’, Boletín del Instituto de Historia Argentina y Americana “Dr. Emilio Ravignani”, 35/36 (2012), p. 28Google Scholar.

108 31 Dec. 1816, AHM, box 4, doc. 50; 1 Feb. 1817, AHM, box 4, doc. 55.

109 Ortemberg, ‘Las Vírgenes Generalas’, p. 33.

110 3 Jan. 1817, AHM, box 4, doc. 5.

111 Carmen Gutiérrez, ‘La música en el pensamiento estratégico del general San Martín’, in San Martín, gobernador y Libertador de América, exhibition held at the Archivo General de la Provinicia de Mendoza, August 2006.

112 The lyrics of this anthem can be found in AGN, Paso de los Andes, p. 92.

113 Lynch, San Martín, p. 93.

114 Ibid., p. 97.

115 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 377. This quotation comes from a letter sent by San Martín to Tomás Guido on 14 June 1816.

116 Espejo, El paso de los Andes, p. 525.

117 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 372 n. 5.

118 Lynch, San Martín, p. 92; Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 382.

119 Lynch, San Martín, p. 92.

120 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 384 and n. 14.

121 Pueyrredón to San Martín, 17 Jan. 1817, in AGN, Paso de los Andes, p. 287.

122 Bertling, Hans, Documentos históricos referentes al paso de los Andes efectuado en 1817 por el General San Martín (Concepción: Litografía e Imprenta Concepción, 1908)Google Scholar.

123 Ibid., p. 39.

124 Ibid., p. 48.

125 Ibid., pp. 58–9.

126 Ibid., p. 10.

127 Lynch, San Martín, pp. 93–4.

128 For the battle of Chacabuco, see Luis, Miguel and Amunátegui, Gregorio Víctor, La reconquista española (Santiago: Imprenta Litografía y Encuadernación Barcelona, 1912), pp. 449–56Google Scholar; Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, pp. 425–31; Eyzaguirre, O'Higgins, pp. 168–72; and Lynch, San Martín, pp. 94–5.

129 Lynch, San Martín, p. 94.

130 Barros Arana, Historia general de Chile, p. 427.

131 Lynch, San Martín, pp. 94–5.

132 Ibid., p. 95.

133 Ibid., p. 95.

134 Bertling, Documentos históricos, p. 135.

135 Lynch, San Martín, p. 95.