Person1778 – 1850

José de San Martín

Argentine general who crossed the Andes to liberate Chile and proclaimed the independence of Peru, leading the liberation of southern South America

An officer in the Spanish army who had fought in the Napoleonic Wars, he returned to his native Argentina in 1812 and joined the struggle for independence. In 1817 he led the Army of the Andes across the mountains to victory at Chacabuco, and the Battle of Maipú in 1818 secured Chile’s independence. In 1821 he entered Lima and proclaimed Peru’s independence. After meeting Bolívar at Guayaquil in 1822 he handed over command and withdrew, spending his last years in France.

Show on the map

Where they went

Open the full map

OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap contributors

1 related event

1
1810 – 1825Latin American Wars of Independenceleader
With Spain occupied by Napoleon, criollos launched wars of independence. Led by Bolívar and San Martín, most of Latin America was independent by the mid-1820s.

People who appear alongside

Simón Bolívar1783 – 1830
Venezuelan-born criollo who led the independence wars of northern South America; called “the Liberator”, he was president of Gran Colombia, and Bolivia is named after him

Themes this person appears in

Revolutions and Nation-States1776 – 1871
From the Declaration of Independence to the German Empire — a century in which liberalism and nationalism toppled the old order in Europe and the Americas and built nation-states