Antonio González Balcarce

Antonio González Balcarce (Buenos Aires, June 24, 1774 – August 5, 1819) was an Argentine politician and military man, prominent in the Argentine War of Independence and who briefly served as Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata.

Family

Antonio González Balcarce was the son of an officer of the Blandengues regiment, the Barcelona colonel Francisco González Balcarce Lat, and the Buenos Aires woman Victoria Damasia Martínez Fontes, and the brother of Juan Ramón, Marcos, Lucas, José, Diego and Francisco. Curiously, the only one of the Balcarce brothers who is usually cited with the full surname of González Balcarce is Antonio; all others are generally known with the surname Balcarce.

Beginning of his military career

Antonio González Balcarce, at the age of 13, joined the Corps of Blandengues as a cadet under the orders of his father, being named captain in 1801.

The English Invasions

Antonio González Balcarce participated in the defense of Montevideo during the English Invasions (1806), being taken prisoner in 1807 and taken to London.

Released in Europe, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of cavalry in 1807. In Spain he fought alongside José de San Martín against the Napoleonic armies.

The May Revolution

Back in Buenos Aires, Antonio González Balcarce was part of the Lautaro Lodge, contributing to the independence cause.

He took part in the triumphant May Revolution of May 25, 1810 that deposed Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

First expedition to Alto Perú

He was sent to Upper Peru as Francisco Ortiz de Ocampo's second in the First Aid Expedition to Upper Peru ordered by the First Junta. In Córdoba he pursued and arrested the former viceroy Santiago de Liniers. He replaced Ocampo in the leadership of the expedition.

He then advanced north, being defeated in the Battle of Cotagaita. For his victory in the Battle of Suipacha, fought on November 7, 1810, - the first victory of the Army of the North - he was named brigadier by the First Junta.

He commanded the independence army in the defeat of Huaqui. He was put on trial for his performance in said fight, but ended up exonerated of guilt.

Intendant Governor and Supreme Director

He participated in the Revolution of April 5 and 6, 1811 or the Orilleros Porteños Revolution, a civic-military coup that demanded in one of its petitions:

To maintain the degree of brigadier exclusively Cornelio Saavedra and Antonio Balcarce, must be collected the others granted until the General Congress resolves to give others.

The moderate sector of the Saavedra party, called saavedrista, secured control of the Junta Grande government by eliminating the radical minority in favor of Mariano Moreno, called morenista.

In 1813 Antonio González Balcarce was appointed governor-intendant of Buenos Aires and, in 1816, supreme director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, a position he held for only three months.

Army of the Andes

Designed to the Army of the Andes, he was General San Martín's second in the battles of Cancha Rayada and Maipú. Chief of the Liberation Army in the absence of San Martín, he commanded the Army of the South during the Second Campaign in southern Chile and triumphed in the Battle of Biobío in 1819.

Death

Due to his illness, Antonio González Balcarce had to return to Buenos Aires, where he was once again appointed chief of the General Staff, but he died shortly after.

His mortal remains rest in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary and Convent of Santo Domingo, next to those of Manuel Belgrano, in the city of Buenos Aires.

Offspring

One of Antonio González Balcarce's sons, Mariano Balcarce (1807-1885), married Merceditas, the only daughter of General San Martín. Another of them, Florencio González Balcarce, was a romantic poet who, although he died early, was considered by some "the first in his generation."

Tributes

Balcarce Street in the city of Buenos Aires, a road artery in its historic center, commemorates the figure of Antonio González Balcarce.

The Balcarce Party, from the province of Buenos Aires, also pays tribute to Antonio González Balcarce, who, as leader of the First Expedition to Upper Peru, on November 7, 1810, defeated the royalist army in the Battle of Suipacha, resulting in the first victory of the weapons of the May Revolution.