José de Garro
Encyclopedia
Marcos José de Garro Senei de Artola, nicknamed "El Santo" ("The Saint"), (1623–1702) was a Spanish
military man who served in many positions in the colonial administration of the Spanish Empire
. He served as governor
of Tucumán from 1675–1678, governor of Buenos Aires
from 1678–1682 and governor of Chile
from 1682-1692. In Spain
, he was military commander of the garrison at Gibraltar
and Captain General
of the Basque Country
, a charge which he held until his death in 1702. In the colonies, his nickname was "El Santo" ("The Saint") for his religious piety. He is most well known for his successful attack on the competing Portuguese
settlement at Colonia del Sacramento
, constituting the first Spanish capture of the town.
, Guipúzcoa. As a youth, Garro enlisted in the Spanish Army
and participated in campaigns in Catalonia
and Portugal
, until he reached the rank of colonel
(maestre de campo, the rank immediately below Captain General) of a tercio
. His career in Spain then suffered a setback: according to historian Diego Barros Arana
, "Due to a violent altercation with a General who had rank of Grandee
in Spain, Garro was subjected to the vengeance of a powerful enemy. Preferring instead to live away from the Court, he requested a post in the Indies
and obtained the governorship of the province of Tucumán
."
. During his tenure, he organized three punitive expeditions to Chaco
, with no major consequences except the foundation of Fort El Pongo to the east of Jujuy
to protect that city. After this, Garro was promoted to become the governor of Buenos Aires
, a province of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.
from Colonia del Sacramento
, founded in 1679-1680 in present-day Uruguay
by Manuel de Lobo, governor of Río de Janeiro
. In that campaign, Garro surprised the Portuguese garrison with a militia
including 3,000 Guaranían Indians from the Jesuit Reductions
. The city was captured after a battle in which 100 of the Portuguese colonial army of 1000 were killed, with the Spanish army taking enemy troops and residents prisoner and seizing Lobo himself, who was later remitted to the custody of Chile. The seizure of Colonia del Sacramento, as it was undertaken without his permission, was disavowed by the king of Spain, and the settlement was returned to Portugal the next year, in 1681, following a provisional treaty made in the expectation of further negotiations including the setting up of a boundary commission, eventually concluding with the Treaty of Utrecht
in 1713.
Garro was Royal Governor of Chile
in 1682-1692. As Royal Governor of Chile
, Garro could not embark on the major campaigns against the Mapuche
s that he desired, after such a plan was disapproved of by the King of Spain. After earlier Spanish failures, Garro had proposed to the viceroy of Peru, the Duke of La Plata
, and the King of Spain that the Mapuche chiefs and elders be invited to a conference where they were to be imprisoned so that Araucanía could be pacified relatively bloodlessly. However, in 1686, King Charles II of Spain
rejected the plan as deceitful. He was also unable to dedicate as much time to the frequent legal disputes that arose with the magistrates of the Real Audiencia de Chile, nor to the promotion of the monastic life to which he was especially devoted. Nevertheless, Garro was known for his moral leadership, for which he was known as "El Santo" ("The Saint"), particularly in the exile of two audencia judges, Sancho Garcia Salazar and Juan de la Cueva y Lugo, for sinful conduct. Instead, Garro's service was consumed with defeating the expeditions of privateer
s, which occurred more frequently each month.
in 1684, Englishman William Knight in 1686, and Frenchman Jean Strong in 1690. With the depopulation of the Isla Mocha, the man in charge of the project, Jerónimo de Quiroga, recorded that the local indigenous people: "went in baskets of bulrush a distance of 12 leagues all without losing a thing."
At the same time, Garro decreed the construction of the Castillo (Castle) San José de Valparaíso
, the first fortification of that port town. He also organized novena
s and acts of devotion
praying that the danger be averted.
. While there, in 1691, he was fined 4,000 maravedíes
for failing throughout his period of office there to order the reforestation of the nearby hills. Later, the position of Captain General (military governor) of the Basque Country
.
Garro died in San Sebastián
, Guipúzcoa in 1702.
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
military man who served in many positions in the colonial administration of the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
. He served as governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Tucumán from 1675–1678, governor 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...
from 1678–1682 and governor 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...
from 1682-1692. In Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, he was military commander of the garrison at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and Captain General
Captain General
Captain general is a high military rank and a gubernatorial title.-History:This term Captain General started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of commander in chief of an army in the field, probably the first usage of the term General in military settings...
of the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
, a charge which he held until his death in 1702. In the colonies, his nickname was "El Santo" ("The Saint") for his religious piety. He is most well known for his successful attack on the competing Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
settlement at Colonia del Sacramento
Colonia del Sacramento
Colonia del Sacramento is a city in southwestern Uruguay, by the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the oldest town in Uruguay and capital of the departamento of Colonia. It has a population of around 22,000.It is renowned for its historic quarter, a World Heritage Site...
, constituting the first Spanish capture of the town.
Beginning of his military career
Garro was born in MondragónMondragón
Arrasate or Mondragón - is a town and municipality in Gipuzkoa province, Basque Country, Spain...
, Guipúzcoa. As a youth, Garro enlisted in the Spanish Army
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
and participated in campaigns in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, until he reached the rank of colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
(maestre de campo, the rank immediately below Captain General) of a tercio
Tercio
The tercio was a Renaissance era military formation made up of a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square...
. His career in Spain then suffered a setback: according to historian Diego Barros Arana
Diego Barros Arana
Diego Jacinto Agustín Barros Arana was an educator, diplomat and Chilean historian. He is considered the most important Chilean historian of the 19th century and his most famous work is the General History of Chile...
, "Due to a violent altercation with a General who had rank of Grandee
Grandee
Grandee is the word used to render in English the Iberic high aristocratic title Grande , used by the Spanish nobility; Portuguese nobility, and Brazilian nobility....
in Spain, Garro was subjected to the vengeance of a powerful enemy. Preferring instead to live away from the Court, he requested a post in the Indies
Indies
The Indies is a term that has been used to describe the lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the present India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and also Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Malaysia and...
and obtained the governorship of the province of Tucumán
Tucumán Province
Tucumán is the most densely populated, and the smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the capital is San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighboring provinces are, clockwise from the north: Salta, Santiago del Estero and...
."
In Argentina
For four years, from 1675 to 1678, Garro served as governor of the isolated province of Tucumán, dependent to the Real Audiencia de Charcas and part of the Viceroyalty of PeruViceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
. During his tenure, he organized three punitive expeditions to Chaco
Gran 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...
, with no major consequences except the foundation of Fort El Pongo to the east of Jujuy
Jujuy Province
Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.-History:...
to protect that city. After this, Garro was promoted to become the governor 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...
, a province of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.
Expulsion of the Portuguese from Uruguay
In 1680, Garro undertook the expulsion of the PortuguesePortuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
from Colonia del Sacramento
Colonia del Sacramento
Colonia del Sacramento is a city in southwestern Uruguay, by the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the oldest town in Uruguay and capital of the departamento of Colonia. It has a population of around 22,000.It is renowned for its historic quarter, a World Heritage Site...
, founded in 1679-1680 in present-day Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
by Manuel de Lobo, governor of Río de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. In that campaign, Garro surprised the Portuguese garrison with a militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
including 3,000 Guaranían Indians from the Jesuit Reductions
Jesuit Reductions
A Jesuit Reduction was a type of settlement for indigenous people in Latin America created by the Jesuit Order during the 17th and 18th centuries. In general, the strategy of the Spanish Empire was to gather native populations into centers called Indian Reductions , in order to Christianize, tax,...
. The city was captured after a battle in which 100 of the Portuguese colonial army of 1000 were killed, with the Spanish army taking enemy troops and residents prisoner and seizing Lobo himself, who was later remitted to the custody of Chile. The seizure of Colonia del Sacramento, as it was undertaken without his permission, was disavowed by the king of Spain, and the settlement was returned to Portugal the next year, in 1681, following a provisional treaty made in the expectation of further negotiations including the setting up of a boundary commission, eventually concluding with the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
in 1713.
Governor of Chile
Garro was Royal Governor of Chile
Royal Governor of Chile
The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district known as the Kingdom of Chile. This district was also called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General...
in 1682-1692. As Royal Governor of Chile
Royal Governor of Chile
The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district known as the Kingdom of Chile. This district was also called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General...
, Garro could not embark on the major campaigns against the Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
s that he desired, after such a plan was disapproved of by the King of Spain. After earlier Spanish failures, Garro had proposed to the viceroy of Peru, the Duke of La Plata
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, , was the last and most short-lived Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in America.The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 out of several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata basin, roughly the present day...
, and the King of Spain that the Mapuche chiefs and elders be invited to a conference where they were to be imprisoned so that Araucanía could be pacified relatively bloodlessly. However, in 1686, King Charles II of Spain
Charles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
rejected the plan as deceitful. He was also unable to dedicate as much time to the frequent legal disputes that arose with the magistrates of the Real Audiencia de Chile, nor to the promotion of the monastic life to which he was especially devoted. Nevertheless, Garro was known for his moral leadership, for which he was known as "El Santo" ("The Saint"), particularly in the exile of two audencia judges, Sancho Garcia Salazar and Juan de la Cueva y Lugo, for sinful conduct. Instead, Garro's service was consumed with defeating the expeditions of privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s, which occurred more frequently each month.
Privateers
Garro decreed the depopulation of the Isla Mocha, with the goal of denying resources to pirates who had ravaged the Pacific coast. Notable privateers operating in the area at this time included Englishmen Edward Davis and Charles SwanCharles Swan
Charles Swan was a reluctant buccaneer, killed 1690.Captain Swan was forced into piracy by his crew in the 1680s, and proceeded to write letters to the owners of his ship Cygnet in London, begging them to intercede with James II of England for his pardon - even as he looted his way up and down the...
in 1684, Englishman William Knight in 1686, and Frenchman Jean Strong in 1690. With the depopulation of the Isla Mocha, the man in charge of the project, Jerónimo de Quiroga, recorded that the local indigenous people: "went in baskets of bulrush a distance of 12 leagues all without losing a thing."
At the same time, Garro decreed the construction of the Castillo (Castle) San José de Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, the first fortification of that port town. He also organized novena
Novena
In the Catholic Church, a novena is a devotion consisting of a prayer repeated on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces. The prayers may come from prayer books, or consist of the recitation of the Rosary , or of short prayers through the day...
s and acts of devotion
Catholic devotions
A Roman Catholic devotion is a gift of oneself, or one's activities to God. It is a willingness and desire to dedicate oneself to serve God; either in terms of prayers or in terms of a set of pious acts such as the adoration of God or the veneration of the saints or the Virgin Mary.Roman Catholic...
praying that the danger be averted.
Return to Spain
Garro's actions in America were well received at the Court, and he was given the command of GibraltarGibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
. While there, in 1691, he was fined 4,000 maravedíes
Spanish maravedí
The maravedí was the name of various Iberian coins of gold and then silver between the 11th and 14th centuries and the name of different Iberian accounting units between the 11th and 19th centuries.-Etymology:...
for failing throughout his period of office there to order the reforestation of the nearby hills. Later, the position of Captain General (military governor) of the Basque Country
Basque Country (historical territory)
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....
.
Garro died in San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, Guipúzcoa in 1702.