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José de San Martín was born on February 25, 1778 at Yapeyú, a village on the northern frontier of Argentina, where his father was an official of the Spanish colonial government. At the age of 7, San Martín returned to Spain with his parents.
From 1785 to 1789 José was instructed at the Seminary of Nobles in Madrid, leaving there to start his military profession as a cadet in the Murcia infantry regiment.
By seventeen José was a lieutenant and as a member of the Spanish army, he fought in some of the campaigns against French forces in the Peninsular War and by 1811 had acquired the rank of lieutenant colonel. Hearing of the revolt against Spain in his native Argentina, San Martín resigned from the Spanish army in 1812 and sailed for Buenos Aires to join the patriot forces.
José took a prominent part in organizing Argentine troops and soon became military governor of the north to organize defense against Spanish troops in Upper Peru. In 1814 he secured the governorship of the province of Cuyo at the foot of the Andes. After the Battle of San Lorenzo and time commanding the Army of the North during 1814, he organized a plan to defeat the Spanish forces that menaced the United Provinces from the north, using an alternative path to the Viceroyalty of Peru. This objective first involved the establishment of a new army, the Army of the Andes, in Cuyo Province, Argentina.
In January 1817 San Martín led his army of Argentines and fugitives from Chile over the Andes and surprised the Spanish army in Chile. After having captured and occupied Santiago on February 15, San Martín was offered the supreme dictatorship of Chile but declined in favor of his friend and colleague Bernardo O'Higgins. He made Chile completely free of Spanish troops by May 15, 1818, and began planning for an invasion of Peru.
San Martín was 2 years assembling a fleet which, under the able command of Lord Cochrane, swept Spanish shipping from the west coast of South America.
In August 1820 the army of San Martín was transported toward Peru, convoyed by warships under Lord Cochrane. Within a year San Martín was able to occupy the capital, and on July 28, 1821, he proclaimed the independence of Peru from Spain. On August 3 he accepted the position of supreme protector of Peru. However, considerable fighting was still needed before Peruvian independence was assured, since the bulk of the Spanish army had merely withdrawn into the mountains and was still a viable fighting force and a threat.
San Martín considered that he did not have enough force to meet the Spaniards and would need the aid of the armies of Simón Bolívar, who had just liberated the areas of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. For that purpose, San Martín and Bolívar met at Guayaquil; that conference is one of the most disputed points in South American history. Possibly they disputed over Guayaquil, which Bolívar had just occupied and which San Martín wanted to be a part of Peru. Possibly they disagreed on the type of government to be instituted in South America. Possibly they disagreed on the terms by which the armies of Bolívar would be brought into Peru. At any rate, San Martín left the conference in a precipitous manner, returned immediately to Peru, resigned his power and positions to the Congress, and left Bolívar in undisputed leadership.
San Martín made his way to Argentina and then to Europe, where he spent the rest of his life. He died on August 17, 1850, at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
José de San Martín is viewed as a national legend of Argentina, Chile and Peru and one of the Liberators of Spanish South America. He played an important role in winning the independence of several South American countries from Spain. He triumphed at the Battle of Chacabuco and the Battle of Maipú, thus liberating Chile from royalist rule. Besides, in the result of his sucessful leadership in Spanish American wars of independence, Peruvian independence was officially declared and he was appointed Protector of Peru.
The Order of the Liberator General San Martín (Orden del Libertador General San Martín), created in his honor, is the highest decoration conferred by the Argentine government. Statues of San Martín appear in most cities of Argentina, as well as in Santiago and Lima.
He was a Roman Catholic, who have immense faith and believe in God. He was born and raised as a catholic who lived his entire life being and devoting his success and achievements to the Lord. A true christian.
San Martín did not believe that the South Americans were ready for democracy, and he probably preferred a constitutional monarchy, whereas Bolívar believed, at that time, in complete democracy. He recruited and trained his Army of the Andes, since he believed that Argentina could not be safely independent unless Spanish forces were dislodged from Chile, Peru, and Bolivia.
Quotations: "If there is victory in overcoming the enemy, there is a greater victory when a man overcomes himself."
San Martín was a quintessential military expert, who carried on with a Spartan life. He was an independent man, systematic, watchful, clear, and extremely tireless. He was not magnetic and not seen as a legend like Bolivar until years after his demise.
San Martín married María de los Remedios de Escalada, a 14-year-old girl from one of the local wealthy families. He had two chldren.
