Vicente Nieto was a Spanish general, a royalist of the Spanish American wars of independence.

Biography

Vicente Nieto had a long military career in Spain, fighting in the French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

. He was under the command of Antonio Ricardos

Antonio Ricardos

Antonio Ricardos Carrillo de Albornoz was a Spanish general. He joined the army of the Kingdom of Spain and fought against Habsburg Austria, the Portugal, and the First French Republic during a long military career. By embracing the Spanish Enlightenment, he earned the displeasure of conservative...

, during the War of the Pyrenees

War of the Pyrenees

War of the Pyrenees refers to the Pyrenees front of the First Coalition's war against the First French Republic. Also known as Great War, War of Roussillon, or War of the Convention, it pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal from March 1793 to July 1795 during the...

, which ended with the Peace of Basel

Peace of Basel

The Peace of Basel of 1795 consists of three peace treaties involving France .* The first of the three treaties of 1795, France made peace with Prussia on 5 April; , * The Second was with Spain on 22 July, ending the War of the Pyrenees; and*...

.

He moved to the Americas in 1795, to the 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...

. He helped Joaquín del Pino

Joaquín del Pino

Joaquín del Pino Sánchez de Rojas Romero y Negrete , was a Spanish military engineer and politician, who held various positions in the South American colonial administration.-Early life:...

 to take the rule of the Viceroyalty of the Río de 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 managed the military of Buenos Aires up to the government of Rafael de Sobremonte. He was appointed then governor of Potosi, but did not take office.

He fought in the British invasions of the Río de la Plata

British 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...

 under the command of Santiago de Liniers

Santiago de Liniers

Jacques de Liniers was a French officer in the Spanish military service, and a viceroy of the Spanish colonies of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He is more widely known by the Spanish form of his name, Santiago de Liniers...

. He returned to Spain in 1808 because 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...

, and fought at the Battle of Medina de Rioseco. He returned to the Americas with the newly appointed viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros

Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros

Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros de la Torre was a Spanish naval officer born in Cartagena. He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar, and in the Spanish resistance against Napoleon's invasion in 1808. He was later appointed Viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la...

, being appointed military commander of Montevideo.