Independence of Chile

Proclamation and swearing of the Independence of Chileby Pedro Subercaseaux (1945).

The independence, emancipation or secession of Chile corresponds to the process during which this country left its status as a kingdom of the Hispanic Monarchy and it separated from the royalist Hispano-America, to establish an independent republic. Historiography defines this period as that comprised in the establishment of the Provisional Government Board (September 18, 1810) and the abdication of Bernardo O'Higgins as supreme director (January 28, 1823). For most of the process, a war was waged between "realists", Chilean supporters of the Spanish monarchy and the unity of the empire, and "patriots", Chilean supporters of independence.

This period is divided into three stages: the Old Homeland (1810-1814), the Reconquest, also called by some historians the Monarchical or Absolutist Restoration, (1814-1817) and the New Homeland (1817-1823). Meanwhile, the territory of Chiloé was incorporated through the Tantauco treaty in January 1826.

Officially, the emancipation of Chile was declared on January 1, 1818, through the Act of Independence of Chile, sworn on February 12 of the same year. This declaration was recognized by Spain on April 24, 1844.

Agitation in Chile

Fernando VII of Spain (left) and José I Bonaparte, Pepe Bottle (right), Spanish monarchs during the independence events.

There was already a history of independence agitation in Chile (specifically the Tres Antonios riot), but it seems that García Carrasco magnified the problem by taking various arbitrary measures, including the arrest of notorious citizens and their referral to Lima. This, added to his involvement in a noisy case of smuggling discovered in Topocalma (Scorpion Scandal), led to pressure for him to resign, which was finally achieved in 1810.

The oldest soldier in Chile at that time was Mateo de Toro Zambrano, Count of the Conquest, for which he temporarily took command. Charles IV) and his son (the future Ferdinand VII) had (forcedly) abdicated in favor of Napoleon who in turn had installed his brother José Bonaparte, known by the nickname Pepe Botella, as king from Spain. At the same time, the independence ideal gained strength, driven both by enlightened and liberal ideas and by the development of local social sectors independent of royal patronage or of their birth on the peninsula.

Political Currents

Thus, three major currents began to take shape:

• One that can be called a conservative or proto-persa monarchist who suggested that Chile was a colony not only of the king but of Spain and therefore had absolute allegiance not only to the king and his authorities but also to the Spanish authorities, whatever they were (represented locally by the Royal Audience of Chile and the Viceroyalty of Peru).
• Another one that can be called "progressive councilist" or "autonomist" claimed that although Chile owes allegiance to the King, this was not through intermediary authorities, since Carlos III of Spain itself declared in 1798 that Chile was independent of the virreinate "as always must have understood" and therefore had the right, like any region or province of Spain, to choose a government based on their trust (similarize in form to the
• A pro-independence current (called in those days "the exalted"), mostly Creole, claiming that loyalty had been given to a free king, but now that that person was held hostage sovereignty reverted to the people, which included an element called Jacobin that was decidedly "republican".

Inequality in Chilean society

It must be considered that the above overlapped or hid another fundamental aspect of colonial social reality: only Spaniards by birth (or escutcheons, as they were known in South America) had access to the institutions of power, which was denied to them even to their direct descendants, however much they considered themselves loyal subjects. According to contemporary descriptions, towards the end of the colonial period, when the population of the "kingdom" It reached half a million inhabitants, without counting the indigenous population, approximately 300,000 were mestizos, 150,000 criollos (that is, direct descendants of Spaniards) and only around 20,000 were peninsulars, who, together with the authorities appointed by the king or their representatives and a handful of nobles and encomenderos, were those who in practice constituted the class for whose benefit the country functioned (see also La Colonia).

Independence, Republicanism, Democracy

It is also necessary to remember that independence is not and was not equivalent to republicanism nor does it imply that it was or is a supporter of democracy. It is also worth bearing in mind that many people wavered between these positions or had intermediate views. Especially, among "liberals" and the "hotheads," there were those who vacillated between a democratic government and some form of constitutional monarchy.

Consequently, it was not evident what was the best solution to the situation, either politically or legally speaking. After much hesitation, Mateo de Toro y Zambrano agreed to convene an open meeting for all the heads of military and religious bodies, prelates, and "noble neighbors" de Santiago, for September 18, 1810, known as the day of the First National Government Board of Chile.

Old Homeland in Chile

First Board of Government.

In the session of September 18, 1810, the junta members shouted at the top of their voices: "Junta we want! Together we want!". The elder Mateo De Toro y Zambrano (then 82 years old) agreed and handed over the ceremonial staff, adding: "Here is the staff. Dispose of him and command". Seven of the most notable residents of Santiago were elected to the Governing Board, including Mateo de Toro Zambrano as president.

The junta explicitly recognized the sovereignty of Ferdinand VII. The Royal Audience of Santiago continued to dispense justice in his name, and officials of the old regime (including military officials) were confirmed in their positions. The board even formally recognized the Supreme Council of Regency of Cádiz and justified its constitution noting that the same Regency with its manifesto of last February 14, has sent the one of the installation of the Board of Cádiz, warning the Americas that it can serve as a model for the peoples who want to elect a representative government worthy of their trust" (Act of Installation of the Most Excellent Governing Board). No Spaniard or Creole, conformist or not, suffered as a consequence of his political ideals. In this way, the Patria Vieja began.

However, this situation was rather confusing and did not contemplate or resolve the other fundamental problem: the exclusion from political life of many of the Creole sector and the totality of the mix (the indigenous population was not considered at all). In fact, the "electorate" of the time it was restricted, according to the political and legal system of the time, to the "noble neighborhood", a sector made up mostly of those born in Spain, those who considered themselves members of the nobility and members of the colonial administrative apparatus at the local level. Recklessly abusing that privilege, the monarchist sector did not believe it necessary to contemplate the aspirations of the Creoles or seek a consensus, which produced a sharpening of the "exalted" of that sector. This situation became obvious with the death of Toro y Zambrano (late February 1811), which allowed Juan Martínez de Rozas, who came to be seen as the leader of the criollos, to increase his power, which allowed him to promote other creoles to positions of authority and request military aid from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in their fight against the monarchy.

Under the influence of Martínez de Rozas and alleging that the Junta represented only the residents of Santiago, elections were called to designate a National Congress. However, and despite the growing influence of criollismo, the general feeling still He was of the moderate tendency that had made itself felt in the election and first acts of the Board. This being the case, it is possible that the political situation would have been consolidated in that commitment, at least until the end of the Napoleonic wars.

But the Royal Court considered that the situation in general and the election in particular were anti-monarchical and conspired with the royalist Colonel Tomás de Figueroa, commander of the troops, who on April 1, 1811 revolted with the intention of dissolve the Junta and prevent the elections to Congress. The event, known as the "Figueroa Mutiny", confronted the troops of the latter with those of the recently formed Grenadiers No. 1 under the command of Juan Mackenna, fighting in the Plaza de Armas of Santiago for what constitutes the first fight for the independence of Chile.

The riot ended with 56 deaths and the Colonel arrested, summarily tried and shot. The Royal Court was dissolved and replaced with a Chamber of Appeals. Continuing with the conciliatory spirit that had characterized the movement, the members of the audience were neither deprived of their liberty nor of their property. However, much of the population that remained undecided blamed the monarchist party for the situation and it lost support, with the result that in the congressional elections the monarchists joined the majority of the conciliationists, and, abusing the system, elected to all the monarchist and moderate candidates, around the proposals to establish a local government loyal to the monarchy but with some autonomy and help Spain in its war of independence. The exalted, who preached the independence of Chile, remained in a minority but with a growing representation in the Creole and mestizo sector. The underlying problems still remained unresolved.

The first debates of the first congress, established on July 4, 1811, were an expression of this situation, focusing on two main areas: the fact that 12 deputies had been elected for Santiago (when the original convocation was by 6 per province) and a request from the Regency that Chile contribute to the expenses of the war against Napoleon. The "exalted" managed to avoid this referral, arguing that the country was poor and needed the funds. However, his proposal to recognize Coquimbo as a province with the right to elect six deputies was rejected.

This led to two movements with similar but independent intentions. On September 4, 1811, the First Coup de Carrera took place, who -with only 26 years- sought to remove the sectors in favor of the old regime from congress. The next day, in what was known as the Revolution of September 5, an open town hall, organized by the exalted of Concepción, led by Juan Martínez de Rozas replaces the old deputies of the province, electing "independence" in their place..

This left Congress with a more progressive majority, giving rise to a stronger expression of the new enlightened and liberal spirit, but still unwilling to formally declare independence. The general sense of loyalty to the king of the original proclamation of the Junta was reaffirmed. At the same time, freedom of trade was proclaimed (with some exceptions in favor of textiles) and the councils were reformed, decreeing that the positions of aldermen and others (formerly obtained at public auction) would be elective positions. Some public administration positions considered useless were abolished and the salary of the rest decreased. Freedom of the press was decreed and it was established that the clergy would be paid by the treasury (prohibiting them from charging the public for their services). The establishment of an arms factory and other necessary institutions was ordered -including the brief publication of what was possibly Chile's first newspaper: "El Despertador Americano"-, doubting whether any issue was ever printed., for which "La Aurora de Chile" it continues to be the oldest newspaper in Chile.

Ultimately, it was the first legislative body in America to take gradual but practical steps to eliminate slavery nationwide (children of slaves born after the date of its first meeting were considered free persons (freedom of wombs), as it would be the slaves who entered the country after remaining in it for some time, etc. (See abolitionism.) Little of this was different or contrary, as has been noted, to the principles of the Spanish Enlightenment, principles that until recently Bourbons themselves had promoted in Spain.

Nevertheless, and given the different ideas about the best path to take (whether as a country related in some way to the Crown of Spain or as an independent one), there was a climate of great suspicion and insecurity regarding the intentions of the the rest. Many did not want the absolute power of a king they saw as foreign and distant but others feared that a democracy would inevitably lead to anarchy ending with a Napoleon-style dictatorship. Some were in favor of a unitary state while others feared a strong central power and sought a decentralized or regionalist system. There was no shortage of those who saw in the "loyalty" a prisoner king a way to re-implement the autarkic customs and laws that had given the encomenderos absolute power over their lands until not long ago (1791), while others sought to promote the new ideals of progress through generalized education and modern and fair legislation. etc (see, for example, Manuel de Salas)

Second Speech by the Carrera brothers

José Miguel Carrera.

These debates plus a disagreement with the politically dominant sector within that congress (the branch of Los Ochocientos of the Larraín family), led to the fact that on November 15, 1811, José Miguel Carrera (arguing that the country had no the necessary conditions for a division of powers into executive and legislative branches) gave another coup d'état that, beginning with a triumvirate, ended up leaving him total power.

The Carrerino government is generally seen as rightly pro-independence (since that was the goal proclaimed by it) however the point is debatable: despite the fact that the Provisional Constitutional Regulation of 1812 (published on October 27, 1812), stipulates that "no decree, institution or order that emanates outside the territory of Chile will have any effect, and those who try to give it value will be punished as prisoners of the State", the document begins by specifically establishing that Chile recognizes that & #34;Their King is Ferdinand VII".

This is not to doubt Carrera's independence intentions but to place them in the political context of the time, more complex than what is generally perceived. It is likely that Carrera was influenced by the discussions of the time in the peninsula - concerns with which he was familiar given his studies and military career there, especially his stay in Cádiz, where the half-brother of a great man lived in those days. his friend (see Joaquín Fernández de Leiva) The Regulation continues with the affirmation that the King will accept our Constitution in the same way as that of the Peninsula. In his name, the Superior Government Board established in the capital will govern, being in charge of the internal regime and foreign relations (...) & # 34;.

Additionally, and in relation to the other substantive problem, the Provisional Regulation establishes (article 24) that "Every free inhabitant of Chile has equal rights". This declaration ends the regime of privileges in favor of the peninsulares, one of the most heartfelt motivations of the "exalted" - especially criollos and mestizos (see also Statutes of cleanliness of blood) - but excludes both slaves and indigenous people. It is also ambiguous in relation to the nobility (Much later, Carrera accused O'Higgins of being a Jacobin when he abolished it)

Thus, in the context of the time, the Constitutional Regulation can be seen simply as a "consensualist" or "autonomist", seeking to satisfy some of the aspirations but at the same time marginalizing from the government on the one hand -before- the tougher monarchist sector and, on the other -later- the more " exalted" in order to establish in Chile, based on a reaffirmation of the validity of the edict of Carlos III, a "parliamentary monarchy", with a direct and independent relationship of other institutions with the crown. Something that, if it had become a reality, would perhaps have produced a system similar to the current British Commonwealth of Nations (see La Pepa a constitution for America - consequences of its abolition). However, it is undeniable that his intervention accelerated the movement towards independence.

In any case, it seems obvious that Carrera realized that in order to move in that direction, a national identity different from that of being a Spaniard or a subject of Spain was needed as well as a politically active sector broader than the usual &# 34;noble neighborhood" which until then had been the engine of the independence process (what came to be known as enlightened opinion), which in turn required a series of progressive measures and institutions. To this end, Carrera established the first patriotic emblems: the flag, shield and cockade of the Old Homeland. He published La Aurora de Chile, the first Chilean newspaper, in which its first director, Fray Camilo Henríquez, circulated, with the collaboration of people like Antonio José de Irisarri and Bernardo de Vera y Pintado, the ideas of independence and the Enlightenment. He established the Vaccine Board and drew up the project for a Philanthropic Society of Friends of the Country. At the same time he sought international recognition for Chile's position, which was facilitated by the US decision to send a "minister"; or Consul (Joel Robert Poinsett), who established close relations with Carrera. This was important not only practically for Chile, but also for Carrera's future political development, since he established a direct link with liberalism and the US system of government from the beginning of the country's creation. Finally, Carrera founded the National Institute, the National Library and opened education to women.

But such pro-independence or enlightened reforms do not clarify the character of the government that J. M. Carrera sought or in what position he saw himself, a situation that is always worrisome in a military regime. Article 4 of the Regulation of 1812 establishes that the legitimacy of the government of the time was recognized, and that its replacements will be elected "in case of death or resignation". The obvious implication is that José Miguel Carrera considered himself "elected" forever.

This concern became significant, especially among the members of the Lautarina Lodge, when in May 1812 (while the new constitutional arrangement was being prepared) Camilo Henríquez (who was in charge of preparing that Constitutional Regulation) published in Aurora de Chile, an article in which he seemed to suggest as the best form of government a mixture between US federalism and an English-style monarchy, but more "tough" (in which he suggests that the executive power, and therefore, over the army, should reside in the monarch):

"The British government is a means between the monarchy, which leads to arbitrariness, democracy, which ends in anarchy, and the aristocracy, which is the most immoral of governments, and the most incompatible with public happiness. It is therefore a mixed government in which these three systems are tempered, observed, repressed. His action and reaction establishes a balance in which freedom is born. Executive power resides in the monarch." (....)"

The concern increased when, later, the Carrerino government prohibited criticism of the government, first in November 1812 under penalty of expulsion and exile and then on March 22, 1813 under penalty of death. At the same time, he publicly warned of punishment for "some young people with immoderate patriotism"; and promised that "every individual will be able to complain or denounce; Justice will be done to him and he will keep it secret." These acts began to resemble those of Napoleon's career who, proclaiming himself a defender of the citizen's will, came to harshly repress it when he declared himself emperor in 1804.

The actions of the Carreras, especially their way of obtaining power, and presumed intentions, intimidated many citizens, both on the pro-independence and conciliatory sides. The Carreras were unable to garner broader support for their positions, which was not helped by disputes among themselves (apparently over matters of family precedence: the older brother was not the one in charge) that even resulted in the temporary removal of one of the government brothers, during which there were many accusations of treason and threats of armed solutions to problems. Even worse, the political disagreements weakened the patriotic cause politically and militarily, specifically, because the Provincial Junta of Concepción ignored the legitimacy of the new Junta led by Carrera (until July 1812), which produced fears of a civil war.

First campaigns for independence

Flag of the Oldland

The situation worried not only the Chileans, but also the Viceroy of Peru, José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, Marqués de la Concordia (1806-1816), who saw an opportunity in the situation at the same time: the actions of The Carreras had caused the Valdivia garrison to end up being placed under the orders of the viceroyalty; members of the Junta de Concepción, which was dissolved, were confined near Santiago, strengthening the position of the former authorities in the mostly monarchist southern provinces. Abascal sent a military expedition led by the peninsular soldier Antonio Pareja. He disembarked, at the beginning of 1813, in Concepción, where his troops were received with open arms by the Governor of the city, a Spaniard appointed in charge during the colony and kept in charge by the Carrerino government. (see Barros Arana). The Chilean war for independence had begun.

However, Pareja failed in his endeavor, losing all the important armed encounters and being surrounded in Chillán, where he died of pneumonia, so he was replaced with the expedition commanded by Gabino Gaínza. The misguided military leadership of Carrera (who was taken prisoner) allowed his rival, the Republican Bernardo O'Higgins, to rise and become the supreme command of the patriotic forces. The civil government resumed its operation.

The military campaign continued under the command of O'Higgins (who assumed command on November 24, 1813). Gaínza, believing that the patriot forces would be unable to stop him due to a lack of cavalry, decided to attack Santiago quickly and directly, and managed to cross the Maule River before O'Higgins. The latter, however, with a remarkable tactic, managed to cross the Claro River -a tributary of the Maule- before Gaínza and entrenching himself in the Quechereguas hacienda, positioned his forces and those of Juan Mackenna, in such a way that they cut him off both to Santiago as towards Concepcion. Gaínza was forced to entrench himself in Talca where, devoid of supplies for a siege, his defeat was expected.

Faced with this, the Viceroy offered terms: free passage for Gaínza and his troops to Talcahuano, from where they would embark in a period of thirty days to Peru, leaving all the fortifications in the state in which they had found them. The viceroyalty would stop intervening, but the Chilean government had to agree to send representatives to the Cortes of Cádiz established in Spain during the captivity of Ferdinand VII and accept them as the legitimate government. On May 5, 1814, the Treaty of Lircay was accepted by both parties. The prisoners were released and hostages were exchanged. During this exchange O'Higgins himself offered himself as such, but this did not come to fruition. It is worth considering the following coincidence: the day before, May 4, 1814, Fernando VII promulgated a decree that restored the absolute Monarchy in Spain and declared null and void all the work of the Cortes of Cádiz. By extension, this decree implies that all conciliationist proposals would be invalid or in vain. That includes the treaty itself, which states that the Chilean government recognizes the authority of the very institution that Fernando has just declared void. Obviously this was not known in Latin America at that time.

At the same time, in Chile, political sentiments had changed as a result of the war. Independence ideas had gained acceptance and many perceived the Treaty as a missed opportunity to achieve independence once and for all. The Carreras were released by the royalists as a way of sowing discord among the patriots, which they succeeded in, since they took advantage of this frustration and on July 23 staged a new coup and seized power.

Osorio's campaign and the end of the Patria Vieja

This time the suspicion of sectors of the population towards the intentions of the Carreras materialized. Part of the civil government escaped to Talca, where they petitioned O'Higgins to restore democratic government. The civil war seemed imminent, since the first blows had already taken place in the Combat of the Three Acequias where the opposing troops clashed near Santiago, with a relative victory for Luis Carrera over O'Higgins. At that time a messenger arrived with an official letter from Abascal, the Viceroy of Peru, dated August 28, 1814.

In that document it became evident that Abascal refused to recognize the terms of the treaty and continued to affirm that the only solution was the unconditional surrender to the forces of a new military expedition, under the command of General Mariano Osorio; since otherwise he would arrive "with the sword and fire, not to leave a stone upon another, in the towns that deaf to my voice want to follow his own blind will".

It is noteworthy that such threats came in a letter from Osorio (addressed "To those who rule in Chile") dated August 20 and that gave a peremptory term of ten days for such surrender. In other words, on the date the document was received, the term had already expired, leaving no other recourse than war. On the Spanish side, only Gaínza was left with any honor, since he effectively withdrew to Peru, but he still broke his word, since with various excuses he remained in Talcahuano for more than the two months that had been agreed as the deadline for departure. of him and his troops, until the arrival of Osorio and his reinforcements. Abascal's stratagem was so well organized that these troops were already at the heights of San Fernando, around 120 kilometers south of Santiago, when the documents were received.

Given the new situation, the patriots (because despite their differences both O'Higgins and the Carreras sought independence) joined forces and O'Higgins took command of Carrera's forces. However, strategic (and possibly personal) differences made themselves felt almost immediately. O'Higgins was in favor of fighting on the banks of the Cachapoal, while the Carreras preferred the Angostura de Paine. Both plans sought to allow time to reform the regiments that had been disbanded after the Treaty of Lircay. Given Osorio's proximity, that time was of the essence. A general agreement was reached: O'Higgins, with his 900 men, would try to prevent Osorio and his more than 4,000 soldiers from passing through the Cachapoal, retreating to Angostura if necessary with the support of the troops under the command of Luis Carrera, while José Miguel Carrera organized the defense in Santiago.

O'Higgins was unable to stop Osorio on the banks of the Cachapoal and was forced to retreat to Rancagua where he entrenched himself, joining a faction led by Juan José Carrera. Curiously, the command corresponded to him, because he was of a higher rank than O'Higgins, but he handed it over to him and stayed in the Rancagua church.

The plan was to give the troops commanded by Luis Carrera (1,500 in number) the opportunity to attack the Spanish from behind. However, José Miguel Carrera, who took direct command, either misinterpreted the situation or was waiting for the withdrawal towards Angostura and, despite the fact that he advanced until very close to the combat, which lasted two days, he did not intervene. According to independent sources, this advance caused Osorio to give the withdrawal order, an order that was rescinded when Carrera's attack did not materialize. The result was the Rancagua Disaster (October 1-2, 1814). O'Higgins broke through the saber encirclement in an epic charge and managed to escape with around 300 men, while those who remained behind had worse luck: in the church, set up as a hospital, the royalists massacred the wounded and only respected some illustrious, such as Juan José Carrera.

The Rancagua Disaster caused panic in Santiago. Plans to defend Angostura and Santiago itself were forgotten and the patriotic population and the government abandoned the city to escape to Argentina, accompanied by some of the conciliationist juntas fearful of reprisals. The rest of the monarchists prepared to receive Osorio's forces with open arms. These, like the monarchists in Rancagua - who had given aid to the Spanish forces - soon realized their mistake. The Spanish troops had really come with the intention of punishing. And those who suffered the worst deprecations were those who were present when those troops entered the reconquered cities.

Thus ended the period called the Patria Vieja, not only with a military disaster, but with a disaster that put an end to the possibility of an agreement between the colonies and the nineteenth-century Spanish monarchy on the one hand, and on the other to the political ambitions of the Carreras. That disaster also buried, even before being born, the possibility of federalism and/or constitutional monarchy (if someone was looking for them) in Chile.

Absolutist Plan

Casimiro Marcó del Pont.

Viceroy Abascal confirmed Mariano Osorio as governor of Chile, but in 1815 a dispute between Osorio and Abascal led to the removal of the former, and Casimiro Marcó del Pont was appointed governor. The monarchists, continuing with the policy they practiced against the peninsular juntas and the so-called afrancesados (a term that included the "liberals") after the restoration of Fernando VII (King who began being called "El Desired" and ended up known as "El Felón"), they considered it necessary to administer a good lesson to the population in general, for which they began a political persecution by a Surveillance Court, headed by Captain of the Talavera de la Reina Regiment, Vicente San Bruno. These were the times that reputedly led Talleyrand to observe that the Bourbons remembered everything, but learned nothing.

Abuses of all kinds, including rape and murder, were systematically practiced by those from Talavera. The monarchist government offered an amnesty, but exiled to the Juan Fernández archipelago those who accepted it, mostly members of the conciliationist side, including several members of the Junta of 1810, including the elderly and the sick. The "infidentes", as the patriots or those suspected of being patriots were called, who did not present themselves voluntarily, were arrested and locked up in the Santiago jail, being murdered at close range. This and other similar things Far from extinguishing the desire for freedom and justice, they exacerbated them and even the most moderate decided that enough was enough, that in the face of that absolutist Spain there was nothing left but absolute submission or independence.

Reconquest Plan

A good group of patriots (among them Carrera and O'Higgins) were already in exile in Mendoza (Argentina), where José de San Martín was governor. This immediately favored O'Higgins, probably due to their connections with the Lautaro Lodge, which worked at the Hispanic-American level to obtain independence, as well as the discredit suffered by the Carreras after the Rancagua disaster and, ultimately, and perhaps mainly, due to a series of attitudes on the part of the Carreras that were interpreted as an attempt to ignore the Argentine authorities in general and that of San Martín in particular (See, for example, Barros Arana. General History of Chile. Volume 10, chapter III, points 4,5,6,7.pps 135-150 approx.) Carrera's fate would get worse and worse, and he eventually ended up being shot in 1821.

(There are more modern antecedents that imply that San Martín and Carrera already knew each other since their stay in Spain at the beginning of the Napoleonic wars, a situation in which, J.M. Carrera wanting to change military units - in order to fight on the front - he committed an offense and was arrested: the officer in charge of his arrest would have been José de San Martín himself ^{[citation required]} In the end, Carrera would manage to fight and distinguished himself in battle, like the Argentine).

But also, at that time, San Martín was preparing an invasion plan to Peru through Chile. With the defeat of the independence movement in Chile, San Martín now had to think about the need to liberate Chile in order to now reach Lima. For the organization of the army it now had part of the emigrated Chilean patriots led by O'Higgins, who joined the army of the Andes as a Brigadier. The Chilean historian P. Guzmán in his book "Historia de Chile& #3. 4; (Volume I, p. 400) refers in detail to the emancipatory company:

"The Chilean fugitives gathered in Mendoza, when they tried to plant the great project of recovering their beloved homeland; but they did not correspond to their current invalidity to their fiery desires, they happened to the supreme government of Buenos Aires, which in that time played D. Ignacio Alvarez and successively occupied the Lord of Pueyrredón, requesting their help and powerful protection to achieve such a great company. Compadecida la superioridad argentina de la sad situacion de los Chilenos, libró con generosity oportunas providencias, de Mendoza, el Sr. D. José de San Martin, the organization of the troops and appointing him at the same time as General in Chief of that expedition.

In the election of our general, the former government of Buenos Aires was certainly not deceived, and he certainly chose him as a leader for being penetrated in advance of his expertise and military talents that he had perfected in the war of the Peninsula, where he had distinguished himself among the most outstanding officers. In fact, after he was granted the position of general of the new expedition, His Excellency was dedicated to forming some companies of recruits, and he took so much effort to discipline his people, that in a short time he could form an army capable of measuring his forces with the realistic of Chile, with only the short reinforcement of four hundred and fifty men of the batallon n.o 1 and two hundred of the regiment of horse farms that came to him from Buenos Aires.

The news of these preparations for war in Mendoza even though they came to Santiago, they mocked the realistics of the project and attributed it to a lack of truth and others to an imaginary delirium in the fantasy of the fugitives; however, acquiring Marcó later for his spies more individual news that assured him the truth, put him in great care and no less confusion, for he did not know the fixed point where the restorative army should come. It was then composed of about four thousand men of line troops, when the realistic forces of Marco were seven thousand six hundred and thirteen places without counting the armed militias and counted on wages. To counterbalance the inequity of forces, General San Martin proposed to force Marco to divide hiss through a war ardid.

As part of the so-called "Zapa War" Lawyer Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza was commissioned to initiate a series of guerrilla activities that would disturb the royalists, ridicule San Bruno, and raise patriotic morale. In this way, Rodríguez became a kind of romantic hero of independence and recognized by the people who protected him and gave him support and affection. One of his most celebrated feats -probably fantastic but deeply rooted in the popular soul- was to disguise himself as a beggar and obtain a coin in charity from Governor Marcó del Pont himself, who had put a price on Rodríguez's head: he later gave it to him. returned on a satirical note. Rodríguez continued his guerrillas to all corners of the country, sending information to San Martín on the state of the Spanish forces and not being captured until the royalist army was too tired and reduced. Manuel Rodríguez's group of armed guerrillas was formed mainly by the band of bandits led by José Miguel Neira, who would also become a patriot.

In December 1816 the Army of the Andes completed its formation and in January 1817, with the endorsement of the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, Juan Martín de Pueyrredón, began the Crossing of the Andes to liberate Chili. Crossing the mountain range through several passes (see San Martin's Routes): more than 4,000 men with cavalry and artillery, without casualties and at more than four thousand meters of altitude, complete the feat. The army met on February 8 in the town of Curimón, where the Franciscan order provided the interior gardens of their convent, in the Aconcagua valley north of Santiago.

On February 12, the Battle of Chacabuco began. In it, the army of the Andes of San Martín, and the royalist of Rafael Maroto, who suffered a decisive defeat, measured their forces. Another epic charge from O'Higgins, followed by the battalions of "blacks" -among which soldiers of that ethnic group and mestizos and mulattoes abounded- broke the lines of the hated Talaveras Regiment and beat the royalist resistance. Captured on the battlefield, the infamous Captain San Bruno is summarily tried and executed.

The battle allowed the patriots to settle in Santiago. The assembly met under the presidency of Governor Francisco Ruiz Tagle, temporarily elected by the people at the time of the escape of Marcó del Pont, those present declared by acclamation that the unanimous will was to appoint Don José de San Martín Governor of Chile with all-encompassing faculty, and so they recorded in the minutes that were drawn up and all signed before a notary public. The general, faithful to his instructions, and to his political plan, refused to accept the command offered to him, ("Chile must be governed by a Chilean") and convened a new assembly through the Cabildo popular event attended by 210 notable residents. The auditor of the Army of the Andes, Dr. Bernardo de Vera y Pintado, publicly reiterated San Martín's resignation, and General O'Higgins, Supreme Director of the State of Chile, was immediately acclaimed, declaring Vera that the election was to his liking. of General San Martin

The new Director appointed Mr. Miguel Zañartu, a solid character and determined supporter of the Chilean-Argentine alliance, as Minister of the Interior, and Lieutenant Colonel José Ignacio Zenteno, Secretary of San Martín, in the Department of War and Navy. His first act of government, on February 17, 1817, was to address the people in a proclamation with honorary allusion to the United Provinces and San Martín: San Martiniano National Institute.

"Citizens: elevated by your generosity to the supreme command that I could never consider myself worthy is one of my first obligations to remind you of the most sacred to be fixed in your heart. Our friends the children of the Provinces of the Rio de la Plata of that nation that has proclaimed its independence as the precious fruit of its constancy and patriotism have just regained the freedom usurped by the tyrants. These have vanished from their shame to the first impetus of a virtuous army and led by the master hand of a courageous general and determined to the death or extinction of the usurpers. Chile's condition has changed in the face of the great work of a moment when the preference is disputed the disinterest merit of the liberators and the admiration of the triumph. What should be our gratitude to this unthinkable and prepared sacrifice with the last efforts of the brotherly peoples? You wanted to manifest it by depositing your direction in the hero. Oh, if the circumstances that prevented him from accepting would have been able to contend with your desires, I would dare swear to the permanent happiness of Chile. But I am covered with blush when you have replaced my weakness to the strong hand that has saved you. Instruct from the background that you yourselves have formed for this election and you will join my feelings. Those of unity and concord should inflate the spirit of the Chileans. An eternal oblivion of those petty personalities who alone are enough to ruin the peoples. I demand from you that mutual trust without which the government is the impotence of authority or is forced to degenerate into despotism. Do not lose the laurels acquired with so many sacrifices. Resolve not to exist before being oppressed again from the Spanish barbarian, that the last citizen perish in the defense of the precious soil in which he saw the first light an eternal recognition to his liberators, a love to the homeland that is the distinctive of all American, an active ice for justice and honor an irreconcilable hatred for the machiners of our slavery, here we have freed your character and those who are to be your director. Cooperate and you will be the example of gratitude, the terror of tyranny and the envy of peace"

Santiago, February 17, 1817.

BERNARDO O'HIGGINSMiguel Zañartu, Secretary.

Bernardo O'Higgins would be Supreme Director until 1823. On the first anniversary of the battle of Chacabuco, he proclaimed independence (February 12, 1818) in the city of Talca, Independence that he had proclaimed on January 1 of that same year in the city of Concepción.

New Homeland (1817-1823)

Bernardo O'Higgins as Supreme Director.

The new viceroy of Peru, Joaquín de la Pezuela 1816-1821, decided to appeal to Mariano Osorio by sending him another expeditionary force. He landed in Concepción and recruited huge amounts of troops. Meanwhile, Bernardo O'Higgins retreated further north trying to somehow stop the advance of the royalists, being surprised and widely defeated at Cancha Rayada. In the confusion, a rumor spread that O'Higgins had died, and panic spread among the patriots, many of whom even prepared to recross the Cordillera toward Mendoza. In such critical circumstances, Manuel Rodríguez harangued the people yelling at them: "We still have a homeland, citizens!", and named himself Supreme Director; He would last exactly 30 hours in office, which is the time that O'Higgins used to return to Santiago and take command again.

Posthumous portrait of the founders of the Republic of Chile. From left to right: José Miguel Carrera, Bernardo O'Higgins, José de San Martín, Diego Portales

Disabled after Cancha Rayada, O'Higgins delegated command of the patriot troops to San Martín. He brought them together in the Maipú plains, on the outskirts of Santiago. In the battle of Maipú, fought on April 5, 1818, where the Borgoño artillery and the Cavalry of Colonel Santiago Bueras - who died in the battle - would show off, while the Black Battalion of Mendoza would give up their lives to the last man in middle of the fight. The royalists, on the other hand, lost the regiments "Infante Don Carlos" and "Burgos" (This one's rallying cry was "19 battles won, 0 battles lost!").

San Martín inflicted such a harsh defeat on Osorio, that he opted to return to Concepción; the royalists would no longer attempt another raid on Santiago, thus ensuring independence. In the final moments of the battle, with the royalists already in retreat, O'Higgins came with reinforcements of dispersed troops, armed peasants, children and even women, who pursued the Spaniards to the houses of Lo Espejo. When honoring San Martín as the savior of the country, both greet each other in what would be known as the Maipú embrace.

On the other hand, O'Higgins fostered the development of the First National Squad, to prevent new Spanish expeditions from Peru. It would be precisely this squadron that would lead the Liberating Expedition of Peru. To fill the position of admiral, he called on the Scotsman Lord Thomas Cochrane. He dealt a decisive blow to the royalists when, in 1820, he seized the Valdivia Fort System in the famous Toma de Valdivia; later he sent a small force by Jorge Beauchef to persecute the royalist army that fled from Valdivia to Chiloé and in the process occupy the cities located further south of Valdivia, (among them Río Bueno and Osorno), concluding his campaign with the battle of El Toro, in March 1820.

Similarly from Valdivia, Cochrane headed for Chiloé; but he failed in a land attack on Ancud and therefore he had to return; Thus, by the year 1820, after the battle of El Toro, the Chilean presence in the southern region also began to consolidate, except even in Chiloé.

In terms of ensuring independence, San Martín also waged a series of wars against the montoneras, groups of bandits, royalists, and Indians who had taken advantage of the chaos of military expeditions and forced recruitment to engage in looting and pillage. This was known as the war to the death, because neither the montoneras nor the regular soldiers took prisoners; once the band of Vicente Benavides was liquidated, in 1822, the pacification of the Concepción region was assured.

In any case, San Martín and O'Higgins agreed that the danger would not end until the Viceroyalty of Peru itself was independent from Spain. In this way they prepared the Liberation Expedition of Peru, with ships and soldiers. San Martín and Cochrane were sent to Peru in 1820. However, Cochrane's confident and bold character collided with San Martín's excess of prudence. He missed several opportunities to deal the final blow to the Viceroy but he began the independence process of Peru avoiding further bloodshed and entered the command of the victorious army with the reception of all the Peruvian people (not so the upper classes). Some time later, independence was declared, although the north of the country still had to be liberated. Not being able to reach an agreement on the way to achieve it due to the differences and conditions demanded by the person in charge of the army that had been carrying out the emancipatory campaign in the north, he finally met with Simón Bolívar (who was descending from Colombia), and withdrew from Peru; Peruvian independence would be complete after the battle of Ayacucho, on December 9, 1824, fought by Sucre, a lieutenant of Bolívar.

O'Higgins ruled until 1823, but his strong and authoritarian character, the death of the brothers Juan José and Luis Carrera in Mendoza in 1818 and the subsequent assassination of Manuel Rodríguez, the same year, coupled with an unpopular political tax and fiscal make him many enemies: the final abolition of slavery and the decree ordering the withdrawal -under great pain- of all coats of arms and noble symbols earn him powerful enemies. The death of José Miguel Carrera himself in Mendoza and some excesses committed by those close to him end up undermining his power.

At the beginning of 1823 an uprising by his old comrade, Ramón Freire, in the south, is supported by almost the entire national political spectrum and O'Higgins, true to his character, wants to resist by arms, but At the last minute, he changed his mind and on January 22, 1823, he appeared at the Cabildo that accused him, where, invoking his past glories, he resigned his command to avoid the Civil War and then, dramatically, ripped his shirt and showed his chest, offering it to the revenge of his adversaries: he will come out amid cheers.

Completion of the Independence process

In Chilean historiography, the New Homeland ended in 1823, with the resignation of O'Higgins. However, the last Spanish territory in Chile, the island of Chiloé, would only be conquered in 1826, during the government of Ramón Freire, successor to O'Higgins.

Regarding the territory south of the Biobío river, and the Araucanía region; In January 1825, a general parliament (the Parliament of Tapihue) was held with the Mapuches who inhabited this area in order to agree on the statute that would regulate relations between the nascent republic and the Mapuche people. however, the definitive inclusion of this territory to Chile (with which there would be effective territorial continuity of the Chilean territory) would be the product of the conflict known as the Pacification of Araucanía.

Finally, in relation to the vision of O'Higgins regarding Patagonia and the Strait of Magellan (whose Spanish domain in this area had not really been sufficiently recognized at the level of other European nations), it would only be fulfilled in 1840 through the beginning of the implementation of the plans to take possession of the Strait of Magellan; and thereby strengthening the territorial expansion of Chile towards this area.