Ignacio Warnes
Encyclopedia
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, 1772 – El Parí, 1816) was an Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
soldier who fought in the Argentine War of Independence
Argentine War of Independence
The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown...
. Son of the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of the city of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
Manuel Antonio Warnes y Durango and Ana Jacoba García de Zúñiga y Lizola. His sister Manuela married José Joaquín Prieto
José Joaquín Prieto
José Joaquín Prieto Vial was a Chilean military and political figure. He was twice President of Chile between 1831 and 1841. José Joaquín Prieto was of Spanish and Basque descent.-Early life:...
, president of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
Career
He enlisted in the Blandengues army regiment when very young. Between 1806 and 1807 he fought against the British invasionsBritish invasions of the Río de la Plata
The British invasions of the Río de la Plata were a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colonies located around the La Plata Basin in South America . The invasions took place between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, when Spain was an ally of...
. In 1810 he supported the May Revolution
May Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...
, joining the revolutionary army with the rank of lieutenant. He was part of Manuel Belgrano
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...
's expedition, which fought the royalist army in Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
.
He was taken prisoner during the Paraguay campaign at Tacuarí
Battle of Tacuarí
The Battle of Tacuarí was a battle in Southern Paraguay between revolutionary forces under the command of General Manuel Belgrano, member of the Primera Junta government of Argentina, and Paraguayan troops under colonel Manuel Atanasio Cabañas, at the time at the service of the royalists.- History...
, and was later released rejoining the forces that later would fight in the Army of the North
Army of the North
The Army of the North , contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest and the Upper Peru from the royalist troops of the Spanish...
campaigns under general Belgrano. Warnes distinguished himself at the battles of Tucumán
Battle of Tucumán
The Battle of Tucumán was a battle fought on 24 and 25 September 1812 near the Argentine city of San Miguel de Tucumán, during the Argentine War of Independence. The Army of the North, commanded by General Manuel Belgrano, defeated the royalist troops commanded by General Pío de Tristán, who had a...
and Salta
Battle of Salta
The Battle of Salta took place on February 20, 1813 on the plains of Castañares, near the present-day Argentina city of Salta, during the Argentine War of Independence. The Army of the North, under the command of general Manuel Belgrano, defeated for the second time the royalist troops of general...
, when the army attempted the liberation of Upper Peru
Upper Peru
Upper Peru was the region in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and after 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, comprising the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Los Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas...
(present-day Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
). He also fought with distinction in the defeats of Vilcapugio
Battle of Vilcapugio
The Battle of Vilcapugio was an action fought on October 1, 1813 during the second Campaign of Upper Peru in the Argentine War of Independence, where the republican forces led by General Manuel Belgrano were defeated by a pro-Spanish royalist army, led by Joaquin de la Pezuela.The campaign was...
and Ayohuma
Battle of Ayohuma
The Battle of Ayohuma was an action fought on 14 November 1813, during the second Upper Peru Campaign of the Argentine War of Independence...
.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
After these battles, Belgrano ordered him to command (1813) a troop to advance through the Gran ChacoGran Chaco
The Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it is connected with the Pantanal region...
to liberate Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...
. Warnes was successful and assumed the government of the city. Theoretically he was bound to the authority of the province of Cochabamba
Cochabamba
Cochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the fourth largest city in Bolivia with an urban population of 608,276 and a metropolitan population of more than 1,000,000 people...
, part of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, but in practice he worked with absolute independence.
He organized a local army, personally training the men and organizing local arms manufacture. While the rest of the army was retreating to Salta
Salta Province
Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy...
, Warnes mainatined control of his province as military governor. He proved to be a brilliant military organizer. He created battalions of Pardos y Morenos (mulattoes), Coraceros (heavy infantry) and Cazadores (Hunters - light infantry). A little by his convictions and in order to recruit and fill the first of these battalions, he decreed the immediate release of slaves in the province.
He did not send help (nor asked) disregarding the insistent pleas from governor Arenales. Even though they disagreed, Arenales proved generous and marched his troops to help when Warnes was defeated by the royalist colonel Blanco at Angostura. Together they defeated the royalists at the battle of La Florida on 25 May 1814. During that battle, Arenales was seriously wounded when attacked by a small enemy party and left for dead, but he suurvived. Following that skirmish, when the battle was almost over, Warnes fought a sabre
Sabre
The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...
duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
and killed the commander, colonel Blanco.
Reintegrated to the Army of the North, he contacted general Rondeau
José Rondeau
José Casimiro Rondeau Pereyra was a general and politician in Argentina and Uruguay in the early 19th century.-Biography:...
, offering him horses and cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
troops, plus services of coordination and messengers. Rondeau, declined the offer and instead sent ex-governor of Córdoba
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
Santiago Carrera to replace Warnes in the government of Santa Cruz. When Carrera arrived, Warnes' supporters revolted and killed Carrera and several of his party.
Defeat and death
A few days later, when Rondeau was defeated at the Battle of Sipe Sipe, Warnes was again in charge of Santa Cruz "until when this army woul return replenished...", as Rondeau told him. But the Army of the North never returned and Warnes was pressured by the royalist army ever more.In September 1816, colonel Francisco Javier Aguilera, a Santa Cruz native defeated the rebel army at Santa Cruz. Warnes went to help with his 1,000 men and fought Aguilera at El Parí. The royalist cavalry was defeated and Aguilera lost half his men but Warnes was hit by a bullet and killed. Seeing their leader killed, led to a patriot defeat. The few survivors were taken prisoner and executed.
Aguilera entered the city with Warnes' head on a pike
Pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
. Ignacio Warnes became a hero of Santa Cruz and today there is a city and a province
Ignacio Warnes Province
Ignacio Warnes is one of the fifteen provinces of the Bolivian Santa Cruz Department and is situated in the department's central parts. The province name honors Colonel Ignacio Warnes , a military leader in the South American war of independence....
in Bolivia that carry his name.