José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 1778 - 17 August 1850), also known as the Liberator of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and central parts of South America's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire who served as the Protector of Peru. He was born in Yapeyú, Corrientes, Argentina, and left the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata at the age of seven to study in Málaga, Spain.
After participating in the Peninsular War against France in 1808, San Martín contacted South American independence supporters in London. In 1812, he sailed for Buenos Aires, where he offered his services to the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, which is now Argentina. Following the Battle of San Lorenzo and his command of the Army of the North in 1814, he devised a strategy to defeat the Spanish forces that threatened the United Provinces from the north by taking an alternate route to the Viceroyalty of Peru. This goal began with the formation of a new army, the Army of the Andes, in Argentina's Cuyo Province. From there, he led the Crossing of the Andes to Chile, where he triumphed at the Battles of Chacabuco and Maipú (1818), freeing Chile from royalist rule. Then he set sail for Lima, Peru, to attack the Spanish stronghold.
After seizing partial control of Lima on July 12, 1821, San Martín was appointed Protector of Peru, and Peruvian independence was declared on July 28. After a closed-door meeting with fellow libertador Simón Bolívar in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on July 26, 1822, Bolvar took over the task of fully liberating Peru. In 1824, San Martín unexpectedly left the country, resigned as commander of his army, and moved to France, excluding himself from politics and the military. Later historians would argue about the specifics of that meeting.
San Martín is regarded as an Argentine, Chilean, and Peruvian national hero, a great military commander, and one of the Liberators of Spanish South America. The Order of the Liberator General San Martín (Orden del Libertador General San Martín), created in his honor, is Argentina's highest decoration.
