Military career of José de San Martín in Spain
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José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
was an Argentine-born general that moved from South America to Spain during his infancy. He served in the Spanish army from 1789 to 1811, fighting in the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. In 1811 he left Spain and returned to South America, to join the Spanish American wars of independence.
Early life
José de San Martín was born in Yapeyú, CorrientesYapeyú, Corrientes
Yapeyú is a town in the province of Corrientes, Argentina, in the San Martín Department. It has about 2,000 inhabitants as per the , and it is known throughout the country because it was the birthplace of General José de San Martín , hero of the War of Independence.-Etymology:The word Yapeyú comes...
, son of Juan de San Martín and Gregoria Matorras del Ser. The year is unknown and historians are divided between 1777 and 1778. Juan de San Martín was a military requesting a new destiny, and moved from Yapeyu to Buenos Aires in 1781. In 1783 the family moved to Madrid, where Juan made several requests of military promotion. In 1785 they moved to Málaga. José de San Martín reached the age to join the army in 1789.
First battles
José de San Martín joined Murcia's Infantry Regiment of Line on July 15, 1789. The minium age to join the army was at 16 years old, unless being son of the age an official. In this case, the minium age was of 12 years old. In his incorporation, he declares being son of an official, of Christian family and of twelve years old.He was destined to Melilla, an African Spanish city, the following year. In June 1791 he was among he Spanish forces under siege by moors in Orán. The siege lasted for 33 days, and he was promoted to grenadier. In June 1793 he was promoted to second sublieutenant, in July 1794 to first sublieutenant, and in May 1795 to second lieutenant. His father Juan died in 1796, and by that time he had his baptism of fire in a naval battle, against the British navy. He joined the staff of the "Santa Dorotea" in 1798, disembarking at Toulon. He learned a bit of the French language, and became aware of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Oral tradition says that Napoleón Bonaparte passed review of the Spanish troops, and when he passed near San Martín he saw his jacket and read "Murcia!" aloud. The ship was captured by the British ship "Lion", and he was prisoner of the British for some time.
The following reports of San Martín are found months later, now fighting against Portugal. He was attacked by thiefs in his way from Valladolid to Salamanca, receiving great injures in his chest and throat. He received medical aid in a nearby village.
Peninsular war
The Spanish monarchy got in crisis during the Abdications of Bayonne
Abdications of Bayonne
The Abdications of Bayonne is the name given to a series of abdications of kings of Spain that led to the Peninsular War.The Mutiny of Aranjuez forced king Charles IV to abdicate and give the throne to his son, Ferdinand VII. Napoleon Bonaparte forced Ferdinand to abdicate as well, ending the...
, when the Mutiny of Aranjuez
Mutiny of Aranjuez
The Mutiny of Aranjuez, or Motín de Aranjuez as it is known in Spain, was an early nineteenth century popular uprising against King Charles IV, which managed to overthrow him and place his son, Ferdinand VII, on the throne...
forced king Charles IV
Charles IV
Charles IV may refer to:* Charles IV of France, "the Fair" * Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor * Charles IV of Navarre * Charles IV, Duke of Anjou * Charles IV of Alençon...
to abdicate and give the throne to his son, Ferdinand VII. Napoleon Bonaparte, whose troops were in Spain en route to Portugal, forced Ferdinand to abdicate as well, ending the kingdom of the Bourbons and replacing them with the Bonaparte. Napoleon did not become king, but rather appointed his brother Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
. This was the start of the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, the Spanish resistance to the French invasion. Spain was already divided between the enlighten and the absolutists, but the French invasion divided the ideas even more. The Enlightenment was based in the ideas of the French revolution, but it was the French themselves who were invading the country. The Spanish afrancesado
Afrancesado
Afrancesado was the term used to denote Spanish and Portuguese partisans of Enlightenment ideas, Liberalism, or the French Revolution, who were supporters of the French occupation of Iberia and of the First French Empire.-Origins:...
s supported the French invasion as a way to remove the absolutist Spanish monarchy and replace it with a liberal monarchy, even if a foreign one. A higher portion of the enlighten Spanish rejected such a perspective, and opposed both the French invasion and an absolutist restauration. San Martín was part of this final group.
By this time, San Martín was second to Francisco María Solano Ortiz de Rosas, gobernor of Andalucía and a close friend. Solano, influenced as well by the enlighten ideas, had doubts about using his army to back the Dos de Mayo Uprising
Dos de Mayo Uprising
On the second of May , 1808, the people of Madrid rebelled against the occupation of the city by French troops, provoking a brutal repression by the French Imperial forces and triggering the Peninsular War.-Background:...
, even when requested by the Junta of Seville. Some historians consider him an afrancesado, others just hesitant. A popular uprising overran the barracks, killed him and dragged his corpse in the streets. San Martín was close to being killed as well during the uprising. He would kept an image of him for years later, because of their friendship, but unlike him he fully supported the popular uprising. He would say years later that "even the rocks have risen in Spain to reject the foreign invader".
After those events, San Martín gets involved into the democratic revolution that moves across Europe. Cádiz was by then a very active city, with discussions about Jovellanos, Flórez Estrada, the French and British democratic advances, popular intervention in politics, the role of the Juntas and the military leaders. The initiated planned revolutionary steps within lodges, while the war against the French occupation continued. San Martín joins the army of Andalucía, and moves first to Sevilla and then to Jaén. In June 1808 he joins a force that combines regiments and militias, organized by Juan de la Cruz Mourgeón, thus learning further ways to wage war beyond the classic military discipline. This would influence him in the future to have a good opinion of Güemes and Artigas. By this time, San Martín was becoming a renowned military. Spanish historian Barcia y Trelles considers that San Martín is a new man since May 1808, but this turning point of his life was overlooked by both the Argentine and Spanish historians. Argentine historians talk in little detail about San Martín's military career is Spain, because they were unrelated with the Argentine War of Independence, and the Spanish ones would not be much interested in him because he departed to America in the middle of the war.
San Martín took part in the combat of Arjonilla, being promoted to First Captain for his brave actions. Once again, his life was risked during the battle: a French official was near to kill him with a sword, but he was saved by Sargeant Juan de Dios, who died saving him. The following July 19 he took part in the Battle of Bailén
Battle of Bailén
The Battle of Bailén was contested in 1808 between the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by Generals Francisco Castaños and Theodor von Reding, and the Imperial French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang...
, where 14.000 Spanish defeated 10.000 French. San Martín was promoted to Liutenant Colonel, and his prestige kept rising. This victory gave new hopes to the Spanish front, forcing Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
to leave Madrid and allowing later the liberation of Andalucía. However, San Martín is forced to take a license, because of a pulmonar affection.
He resumed service in Cataluña, under the command of the marquis of Coupigny. He helped Torres Vedras at Portugal, and returned to Cádiz. By this point, San Martín joined the Lodge of Rational Knights. However, Napoleón Bonaparte gane new strength to the French forces by leading hem personally, and Joseph returned to Madrid. Despite of the Spanish victory at the Battle of Albuera
Battle of Albuera
The Battle of Albuera was an indecisive battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French Armée du Midi at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about 20 kilometres south of the frontier fortress-town of Badajoz, Spain.From...
, where San Martín fought next to William Carr Beresford
William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford
General William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior, GCB, GCH, GCTE, PC , was a British soldier and politician...
, France prevailed and conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, with the exception of Cádiz. San Martín would leave the Peninsular War by this point, but the exact nature of his resignation is unknown because it was lost from the Spanish records, and San Martín himself did not kept a copy of it among his documents. He moved briefly to Britain, and then to Buenos Aires.
Return to South America
The reasons that San Martin left Spain in 1811 to join the Spanish American wars of independence as a patriotPatriot (Spanish American Revolution)
Patriots was the name the peoples of the Spanish America, who rebelled against Spanish control during the Spanish American wars of independence, called themselves. They supported the principles of the Age of Enlightenment and sought to replace the existing governing structures with Juntas...
remain contentious among historians. The action would seem contradictory and out of character, because if the patriots were waging an independentist and anti-Hispanic war, then that would turn him into a traitor or deserter
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
. There are a variety of answers and explanations by different historians.
Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...
, one of the earliest historians of San Martín, wrote that "the American criollo had paid with usury his debt to the mother country, joining her during her conflicting days, and could consequently separate himself from her without deserting during an hour of need, leaving her protected by the powerful aegis of Great Britain that guaranteed the definitive triumph under the command of the future victor of Waterloo. Then, he turned his eyes to South America, whose independence he had presaged [...] and decided to return to his distant nation, which he had always loved as a true mother, to offer her his sword and devote her his life". Besides extrapolating future events (the defeat of Napoleon and the independence of South America), Mitre provided a long-standing explanation: San Martín returned because he missed South America, and the war of independence justified changing sides to support it. This perspective was held by mitrist historians, rosist revisionists and socialists. Those groups shared a common perspective about the revolutions and rebellions that took place in the Americas between 1809 and 1811: they considered that they were, from this early stage, separatist wars, intending to create new countries aparted from Spain.
Later historians, such as Norberto Galasso
Norberto Galasso
Norberto Galasso is a historian and essayist from Argentina, who wrote many books related with the history of Argentina. His career as historian spans nearly forty years.-Biography:He studied economy in the University of Buenos Aires, graduating in 1961....
, Oriol Anguerra or Rodolfo Terragno
Rodolfo Terragno
Rodolfo Terragno is an Argentine politician and lawyer, former Senator and journalist.-Life and times:Terragno was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1943 and obtained a Law Degree from the University of Buenos Aires in 1967, founding the law firm of Terragno & Associates. He married Sonia...
, consider this to be unlikely. San Martín was thirty-five years old by then, and left America when just seven years old. He was completely Spanish, and ideas such as "the call of the jungle" or the "telluric forces" have no room in modern psychology to explain a change like this. They consider instead, that the wars in the Americas were not initially separatist, but instead wars between supporters of absolutism and liberalism. This fight took place in both Spain and the Americas, and became independentist when Ferdinand VII returned to the throne and started the absolutist restoration. Under this logic, those historians consider that San Martín's move to the Americas to continue a fight about to be lost in Spain would make complete sense. Other historians like Tulio Halperín Donghi
Tulio Halperín Donghi
Tulio Halperín Donghi is an Argentine historian.Halperín Donghi was born in Buenos Aires, in 1926. He received both a juris doctor and a Doctorate in History from the University of Buenos Aires, in 1955. Halperín Donghi has since become among Latin America's most renowned historians...
or Ricardo Levene hinted the similarities of both fights, but avoid giving clear or deep explanations in order to avoid a conflict with the Mitrist perspective. Most Spanish historians, with a deeper understanding of the conflicts of the Peninsular War, endorse this point of view. José de San Martín moved to Buenos in the George Canning ship, with other American born generals like Carlos María de Alvear
Carlos María de Alvear
Carlos María de Alvear was an Argentine soldier and statesman, Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1815....
or José Matías Zapiola, but also with Spanish born generals like Francisco Chilavert and Eduardo Kailitz, for whom the "telluric forces" would bear absolutely no value.
There are writings of San Martín that may clarify those reasons, but whose terms allow either interpretation. José Pacífico Otero found a report of a speech of San Martín to his soldiers, where he said that "I knew of the revolution in my country and, when I left my fortunes and my hopes, I only regretted not having anything else to sacrifice to the desire of contributing to the freedom of my country". For the Mitrist perspective, "revolution" and "freedom" mean emancipation from Spain, for the later one, they mean the revolution against the absolutist status quo. Similarly, his resignation as head of the Army of the Andes
Army of the Andes
The Army of the Andes was a military force created by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and mustered by general José de San Martín in his campaign to free Chile from the Spanish Empire...
says "...I had the first news of the general movement at both Americas and that their original purpose was to emancipate themselves from the Peninsular Tyranic Government. [note: with capital letters in the original] From that moment on, I decided to employ my short services to either point that stand insurgent: I preferred to return to my native country where I had been employed at anything within my reach, my nation has rewarded my short services giving me plenty of honours that I do not deserve. Here, San Martín does not talk about emancipation from Spain itself, but from its government, capitaling "tyranic". He also mentions that, even if preferred returning to his native country, he could have been destined to either South or Central America. A 1848 letter to the president of Perú Ramón Castilla
Ramón Castilla
Ramón Castilla y Marquesado was a Peruvian caudillo and President of Peru four times. His earliest prominent appearance in Peruvian history began with his participation in a commanding role of the army of the Libertadores that helped Peru become an independent nation...
says "In a meeting of Americans in Cádiz, knowing about the first steps taken in Caracas, Buenos Aires, etc; we decided to return each one to our native countries, to offer them our services in the struggle that we calculated would be waged soon". This quote is more strange, as it does not mention an ongoing conflict, but a conflict that would be waged soon (but not by then). Such a conflict may be a possible absolutist restauration, which took place when Ferdinand VII returned to the throne, but could also happen if the Regency Council prevailed over the Junta of Seville.
The similarity between San Martín's military campaign and the British Maitland Plan
Maitland Plan
Maitland Plan , refers to a plan created by Scottish Major General Thomas Maitland in 1800. The plan was titled Plan to capture Buenos Aires and Chile, and then emancipate Peru and Quito...
may suggest that San Martín was actually a British agent or spy. This perspective was first proposed by Ricardo Piccirilli in 1957, and supported by Carlos Steffens Soler or J.C.J.Metford. This perspective, however, fails to give an explanation for the hostility between San Martín and the anglophil Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...
, or his support to Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...
during his conflicts with Britain. Patricia Pasquali pointed similar causes but arriving to a different conclusion: San Martín may have moved to South America in order to get higher military promotions, which would be more difficult to get at the Peninsular War. However, the author does not include the promotions (including promotions to national government) that were actually rejected by San Martín in her essay.