Manuel Bulnes

Manuel Bulnes
5th President of Chile
In office September 18, 1841 – September 18, 1851
Vice President	Ramón Luis Irarrazaval
Preceded by	José Joaquín Prieto
Succeeded by	Manuel Montt
Personal details
Born	(1799-12-25)December 25, 1799 Concepción, Chile
Died	October 18, 1866(1866-10-18) (aged 66) Santiago, Chile
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Enriqueta Pinto

Manuel Bulnes Prieto (December 25, 1799 – October 18, 1866) was a Chilean military and political figure. He was twice President of Chile between 1841–1846 and 1846-1851.

Born in Concepción, he served as the president of Chile between 1841 and 1851. At the age of 16 he was imprisoned as a revolutionary by the Spanish authorities, but was soon released, and in 1818 joined the army of San Martin under whom he served as colonel throughout the Chilean War of Independence. After three years of continuous warfare (1820–23), he accomplished the temporary conquest of the Arucanian Indians. He was appointed brigadier general in 1831. In 1832 he crossed the Cordillera and defeated decisively the Pincheira brothers in the battle of Epulafquén. Then Bulnes commanded the Chilean army in 1838 against Gen. Santa Cruz in Peru; and, after taking Lima and winning the battles of Huaraz and Puente del Buin, combined his forces with those of Gamarra and defeated Santa Cruz at the Battle of Yungay (January 19, 1839), thus putting an end to the confederation between Peru and Bolivia.

Presidency 1841 - 1851

His presidencies were characterised by educational and cultural expansion, supported by the encouragement of foreign intellectuals to come to Chile. The National Institute was reformed and several junior schools were established along with the José Abelardo Núñez Upper School. In Santiago the University of Chile was founded during his watch, in 1842.

Bulnes also presided over a general amnesty in order to reconcile the groups who had opposed one another in the Civil War of 1829.

Regarding the nation's strategic goals, Bulnes founded Fuerte Bulnes in 1843 in order to establish and enforce sovereignty over the Magellan Straits. The settlement was relocated to Punta Arenas six years later because the original site offered insufficient space for the development of a settled community: it was and remains the most southerly municipality in the world, and has been a focus for economic development in the south of the country. Germans were targeted to colonise the hitherto very sparsely inhabited southern part of Chile in the wake of the 1848 revolutions which provided an impetus for emigration from the European perspective.

It was also during the presidency of Bulnes that the former colonial power, Spain, acknowledged the independence of Chile and became involved in the construction of Chile's first railway.

Manuel Bulnes Prieto died in Santiago.

Cabinet

Sources

• Juan B. Alberdi, Biografia de general Bulnes (Santiago, 1846)
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Moore, F., eds. (1905). "^{article name needed}". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. 

v t e Presidents of Chile Blanco Encalada Eyzaguirre Freire F. Pinto Vicuña Ovalle Ruiz-Tagle Ovalle Prieto Bulnes M. Montt Pérez Errázuriz Zañartu A. Pinto Santa María Balmaceda J. Montt Errázuriz Echaurren Riesco P. Montt Figueroa Barros Luco Sanfuentes Alessandri Palma Figueroa Ibáñez del Campo Montero Dávila Alessandri Palma Aguirre Cerda Méndez Ríos González Videla Ibáñez del Campo Alessandri Rodriguez Frei Montalva Allende Pinochet Aylwin Frei Ruiz-Tagle Lagos Bachelet Piñera Bachelet (elect) Timeline