Which Countries Did José de San Martín Liberate? The General Who Crossed the Andes

First steps in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires lacked good cavalry, so the government asked San Martín to create a cavalry unit, and he organised the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers. In September 1812 he married María de los Remedios de Escalada, a 14-year-old girl from a wealthy local family. After the Battle of San Lorenzo, he commanded the Army of the North in 1814.

The northern route toward Peru, the centre of Spanish power in South America, had failed again and again. San Martín drew a different plan: build a new army in western Argentina, cross the Andes into Chile, free Chile, and then attack Peru by sea.

The Army of the Andes

He built that army, the Army of the Andes, in the Cuyo region, with Mendoza as its base. It did not carry the flag of Argentina, because it was not an exclusively Argentine army; instead it used its own banner of light blue and white.

The crossing of the Andes in early 1817 was not the first time an army had crossed the mountains, but it was unusual in its size and in the need to be ready to fight as soon as it arrived. The army was split into six columns on different passes, and the whole operation took nearly a month. The soldiers carried dried food and ate garlic and onions to prevent altitude sickness, and of the animals, only 4,300 mules and 511 horses survived, less than half of those that set out.

How Chile was freed

On the Chilean side, San Martín's army won the Battle of Chacabuco and later the Battle of Maipú in 1818, freeing Chile from royalist rule. After Chacabuco he was offered the post of Supreme Director of Chile, but he declined and proposed the Chilean leader Bernardo O'Higgins instead, saying the country should be led by a Chilean. It was the first of several moments when he turned down political power.

The expedition to Peru

Peru was the real target. With a navy built in Chile and led by the British captain Thomas Cochrane, the expedition sailed on 20 August 1820. The odds were poor: royalist forces in Peru numbered nearly 23,000 soldiers, against about 4,000 in the Army of the Andes and 1,600 in Cochrane's navy. So San Martín tried to avoid open battles. He divided and isolated the enemy, encouraged revolts, and promised freedom to enslaved people who deserted their masters to join his army.

He besieged Lima but did not force his way in, because he did not want to look like a conqueror. When the viceroy suddenly left the city with his army, San Martín declared the independence of Peru on 28 July 1821. He became Protector of Peru, abolished forced labour systems imposed on Indigenous people and declared the "freedom of wombs", which freed the children of enslaved people. But the war was not over, and royalist armies still held much of the country.

The mystery of Guayaquil

To finish the war, San Martín hoped to join forces with Simón Bolívar, who was fighting in the north. The two liberators met at Guayaquil, in present-day Ecuador, on 26 July 1822, and held two private meetings over two days. There were no witnesses and no minutes, so what they said can only be guessed from their later actions and letters. Possible topics included a request for reinforcements and an offer to merge the armies, with San Martín serving under Bolívar.

Whatever happened, the result was clear. Bolívar took over the task of liberating Peru, and San Martín unexpectedly left the country, resigned his command and withdrew from politics and the army. Historians still debate why.

Exile and death in France

San Martín moved to France in 1824 and spent the rest of his life in Europe, still following news from South America in his letters. He died in his house at Boulogne-sur-Mer on 17 August 1850. In his will he asked to be buried without a funeral and later moved to Buenos Aires. His remains were finally brought home on 29 May 1880, and his mausoleum was placed inside the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires.

How he is remembered

San Martín is a national hero of Argentina, Chile and Peru, and the Order of the Liberator General San Martín is the highest decoration the Argentine government awards. Statues of him stand in most Argentine cities, as well as in Santiago and Lima, and an equestrian statue was raised in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1909.

So which countries did San Martín liberate? Argentina, where he built the armies; Chile, which he freed on the battlefield; and Peru, whose independence he declared. Bolívar is linked with the north of the continent, San Martín with the south, and together they are remembered as the two great liberators of Spanish South America.

Learn with San Martín: English phrases

Phrase	Meaning	Example
to step down	to leave an important position	The leader stepped down after ten years.
against all odds	despite great difficulty	They won against all odds.
to pave the way	to make something possible later	His work paved the way for independence.
behind closed doors	in private, without witnesses	The deal was made behind closed doors.
to cross that bridge when you come to it	to deal with a problem only when it happens	We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Try this: Write three English sentences about a leader you admire, using "against all odds" and "to step down".