San martin
San martinJOSE' DE SAN MARTIN- THE KNIGHT OF THE ANDES.
One of the principal liberators of South America from Spanish rule was Jose de San Martin. He is also known as Argentina's liberator, and was one of the principal revolutionary fighters against royalist forces in South America. He was a master of military strategy, a skill which led him to success. San Martin became a national hero in many South American countries, particularly in Argentina, where he also had strong personal ties, as he was born there, and enforced his ties by later marrying an Argentine. In this paper, I will discuss the biography of San Martin, a person who made important history in colonial America.
Jose de San Martin was born on February 25, 1778 in Yapey'u, located in the viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata', which is now known as eastern Argentina. His mother was Gregoria Matorras, and his father was Juan de San Martin, a professional soldier and government administrator of Yapey'u. In 1784, when San Martin was six years old, the family returned to Spain, where he was educated at the "Seminario de Nobles" from 1785 until 1789. He started his military career early in the Murcia infantry regiment (South Eastern Spain). He served as an army officer against the forces of Napoleon between 1808 and 1811.
Even though San Martin was loyal towards his mother country (Spain) when he fought against Napoleon, he disliked the traditional absolute monarchy and the existing colonial system. In 1811, he decided to resign from Spanish service. After meeting revolutionary Spanish Americans in London, England, he sailed for Buenos Aires, and was almost immediately taken into service in the revolutionary regime. As a very experienced soldier, he was a great asset in the revolutionary movement in South America.
Upon his arrival in Buenos Aires in March 1812, he was given the task of organizing an armed force to be used against the Spanish royalists in Peru. These royalists were threatening the government of Argentina, thus endangering the opposition movement in the country. San Martin appears to have always felt that he was tied to the country he was born. He "Reinforced these ties when he married Maria de los Remedios Escalada in September, 1812." Maria came from an Argentine upper-class family of Spanish blood. He became more involved in internal politics of the area by helping to form the "Lautaro Lodge", which was an underground movement which later aligned itself with the opposition to the government that was in power. The organization that the "Lautaro Lodge" was aligned with was the "First Triumvirate", which was led by Bernardino Rivadvia. The political objectives of the two aligned organizations were however quite different, as Rivadavia was interested in Buenos Aires on a local level, and the Lautaro Lodge's main mission was to liberate Spanish America from a broader perspective. These differences created a split in the coalition, and in December 1812, Rivadavia was overthrown....
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