Argentine War of Independence
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The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine forces under Manuel Belgrano and José de San Martín against realista forces loyal to the Spanish crown. On July 9, 1816, an assembly met in San Miguel de Tucumán, declared full independence with provisions for a national constitution.
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[edit] Background
The territory known today as Argentina was part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and its capital city was the Intendency of Buenos Aires. It was ruled by a viceroy appointed by the Spanish Crown and guarded by the Spanish royal army. The beginning of the conflict was the full prohibition of trading with all countries except for Spain. English, French, and Portuguese ships were banned from the port at Buenos Aires. Despite this legislation, the citizens of Buenos Aires were well known as trafficants and they would often trade illegally with many foreign merchants. The resistance, organized by the local criollos during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata while viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte escaped to hide himself along with the state's treasure, helped to create up a national identity. On May 13, 1810, the arrival of a British frigate in Montevideo brought news that Napoleon Bonaparte had invaded Spain, capturing and overthrowing King Ferdinand VII, and triggered a brief period of political turmoil. This series of events is known as the May Revolution as citizens gathered in the Cabildo (City Hall) and decided to suspend Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros from office and to create the First Junta (Primera Junta) of government.
[edit] First Junta and Big Junta
With the power of the Crown transferred to the Regency Council in Cádiz, and besieged by French troops, a power vacuum existed and, on May 25, 1810, the First Junta was created in Buenos Aires, removing Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros from authority the same day. The junta, presided by Cornelio Saavedra (1760-1828), included Mariano Moreno (1778-1811) and Manuel Belgrano (1780-1820) and was later expanded to include deputies from the other provinces (Junta Grande or Big Junta). It was supposed that the revolutionary leaders remained nominally loyal to the Spanish King, but claimed the right to elect their own authorities (juntas), instead of having a viceroy appointed from Spain. Officially, the Junta was meant to keep the sovereignty of the King, but acted in the exact opposite. They attempted to gain support from the territories of the Upper Peru (Alto Peru) located in the border next to the Viceroyalty of Peru.
[edit] Armed Conflict
Two campaigns were ordered by the Junta Grande in order to gain support for the revolutionary ideas of Buenos Aires.
- Alto Perú campaign (1810-1811): The improvised militia was commanded by Antonio González de Balcarce and tried to penetrate the intendencies of the Upper Peru. The militia first engaged in combat with the Spanish army in the Battle of Suipacha and it was a victory for the Argentines. But the campaign would end unsuccessfully due to the second battle: the Battle of Huaqui. There, the militia was outnumbered and suffered a terrible loss.
- Paraguay campaign (1810-1811): Another militia, commanded by Manuel Belgrano, made its way up to the Intendency of Paraguay. The first battle was fought in Campichuelo and the Argentines claimed victory. However, they were completely outnumbered in the subsequent battles of Paraguarí and Tacuarí. This campaign was also ended in failure.
Violent internal disagreements and the undesired outcomes of the campaigns, led to the replacement of the Junta by a triumvirate in September 1811; see First Triumvirate (Argentina). The new government decided to promote another campaign to the Upper Peru with the reorganized Northern Army.
- Second Alto Perú campaign (1812-1813): Manuel Belgrano led the Northern Army to victory in the Battles of Tucuman and Salta in the north of present-day Argentina. These cities have remained under the Argentine government ever since. Again, they were stopped in Upper Perú in the battles of Vilcapugio and Ayohuma (today's Bolivia). In order to prevent the Spanish from getting supplies or taking prisoners in the city of San Salvador de Jujuy, Belgrano ordered the evacuation of the people and the burning of anything else left behind. This is known as the Jujuy Exodus.
During the campaign, the Triumvirate established recently arrived from Spain José de San Martín as Lieutenant Colonel and ordered him to create the professional and disciplined cavalry unit called Granaderos. The same division helped the revolution that collapsed the government and elected a Second Triumvirate (Argentina) in the late 1812.
In January 31, 1813, a Spanish squad coming from Uruguay landed near the town of San Lorenzo, in the Santa Fe province. The Second Triumvirate urged San Martín to stop this attempt to reconquer Buenos Aires. The Granaderos division met the Spanish in the town's convent and made an easy victory on February 3 in the Battle of San Lorenzo. After this battle, the Second Triumvirate awarded San Martín the rank of General.
Fearing another naval attack, a general assembly was called (asamblea del año XIII) in Buenos Aires on February 27, to discuss future military campaigns. It was finally decided to dissolve the Triumvirate status and to create a new regime of a one-person government. The same assembly elected the first Supreme Director in January 31, 1814: Gervasio Antonio de Posadas. Posadas decided to create a naval fleet with the help of Juan Larrea and appointed William Brown as Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Commander on March 1, 1814. This tiny fleet engaged in combat with the Spanish ships on the coasts of Montevideo in the Action of 14 May 1814 and defeated them three days later. This action secured the coast of Buenos Aires and William Brown was awarded the rank of Admiral.
Supreme Director Posadas was replaced by Carlos María de Alvear the next year, on January 11, 1815, and was quickly followed by Ignacio Álvarez Thomas on April 21. Álvarez Thomas appointed Alvear as the new General of the Northern Army to replace José Rondeau, but officials would not recognize this act and remained loyal to Rondeau.
- Third Alto Perú campaign (1815): The Northern Army, unofficially commanded by José Rondeau , started another campaign, but this time without the authorization of Supreme Director Álvarez Thomas. With the lack of official support, the army faced anarchy and later would lose the aid of the Provincial Army of Salta, commanded by Martín Miguel de Güemes. After being defeated in the battles of Venta y Media (October 21) and Sipe-Sipe (November 28), the northern territories were lost. They were reannexed by the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, and later became present-day Bolivia. This unsuccessful outcome to the campaign would spread rumors in Europe that the May Revolution was over.
Despite this final defeat in the north, the Spanish Army was eventually stopped and could not advance further. With King Ferdinand back in power, an urgent decision was needed regarding independence. On July 9, 1816, an assembly of representatives from all of the provinces (except Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Corrientes, and along with the Banda Oriental, present-day Uruguay) met in San Miguel de Tucumán declaring the full independence of Argentina from the Spanish Crown and provisions for a national constitution. Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Corrientes later joined.
The following year, San Martín took command of the Northern Army preparing a new invasion of Upper Perú (now Bolivia), but quickly resigned, foreseeing another defeat. Instead, he became governor of the province of Cuyo (now the provinces of Mendoza, San Juan, and San Luis). He developed a new strategy to attack the Viceroyalty of Perú through the Captaincy of Chile. San Martín largely based this plan on the writings of Sir Thomas Maitland who was quoted to say that the only way to defeat the Spanish at Quito and Lima was by attacking Chile first. At this point, the Argentine War of Independence gets mixed with the Chilean independence War as both armies joined forces.
- Chile campaign (1817): Installed in the city of Mendoza, San Martín reorganized the Granderos unit along with the Army of Cuyo and crossed the Andes Mountains to attack the Royalists in Chile at the beginning of 1817 in the Battle of Chacabuco. With the aid of Chilean patriot Bernardo O'Higgins he made a triumphant entry in the liberated city of Santiago de Chile. Argentine and Chilean armies merged in the unofficial South American Patriot Army and continued the campaign together against the Spanish division commanded by Osorio. However, their forces were surprised and very badly beaten at the Battle of Cancha Rayada on March 18, 1818. In the confusion, a false rumor spread that O'Higgins had died, and a panic seized the patriot troops, many of whom agitated for a full retreat back across the Andes to Mendoza. Crippled after his defeat at Cancha Rayada, O'Higgins delegated the command of the troops entirely to San Martín in a meeting on the plains of Maipú. Then, on April 5, 1818, San Martín inflicted a decisive defeat on Osorio in the Battle of Maipú, after which the depleted royalists retreated to Concepcion, never again to launch a major offensive against Santiago.
This is considered to be the conclusion of the Argentine War of Independence, but battles continued by land and sea in Perú until 1824 when the last Spanish garrison surrendered in the Battle of Ayacucho and Peru proclaimed its independence. These events were part of San Martín's own campaigning with O'Higgins and Simon Bolivar and Buenos Aires no longer recognized his authority.
[edit] The meeting of Guayaquil
On 26 July 1822, San Martín met with Simón Bolívar at Guayaquil to plan the future of Latin America. Most of the details of this meeting are secret, and this has made the event a matter of much debate among historians. Some believe that Bolívar's refusal to share command of the combined forces made San Martín withdraw from Perú and resettle as a farmer in Mendoza, Argentina. Another theory claims that San Martín yielded to Bolívar's charisma and avoided a confrontation. It is widely believed that both men were members of Masonic societies, and the outcome of the meeting might have been arranged by hidden players, however this has been denied by the Great Masonic Lodges [1] . See Lautaro Lodge.
[edit] Annual commemoration
Today, the Día de la Revolución de Mayo (May Revolution Day) on May 25 is an annual holiday in Argentina to commemorate these significant events in the history of Argentina. These and other events of the week leading to this day are referred to as the Semana de Mayo (May Week). Argentine Independence Day is celebrated on July 9, to commemorate the Argentine Declaration of Independence declared in 1816.
