José de la Mar
José de La Mar | |
---|---|
José Bernardo de Tagle | |
Personal details | |
Born | 12 May 1776 Cuenca, Real Audiencia de Quito (now Ecuador) |
Died | 11 October 1830 San José, Costa Rica | (aged 54)
Profession | Soldier |
José Domingo de la Merced de La Mar y Cortázar (Cuenca (Ecuador),12 May 1776 – San José (Costa Rica), 11 October 1830) was a Peruvian military leader and politician who served as the third President of Peru.
Biography
Youth
La Mar was born on 12 May 1776, at Cuenca in what today is Ecuador.[1] As son of Marcos de La Mar y Migura (1736–1794) and his wife Josefa Paula Cortázar y Lavayen (1748–1815), he spent his early childhood in Spain.
Military career in Spain, France and Peru (1794–1820)
With the help of his influential uncle, La Mar entered the Spanish army as a second lieutenant of the
In 1812 he transferred to the front of Valencia, led by General Joaquín Blake, and sent a column of 4,000 veterans grenadiers (the "column La Mar"). Again he was wounded, and was taken to hospital in Tudela, where he was captured by the French. As soon as he was recovered, he was taken to France and confined in the castle of Semur-en-Auxois (Burgundy), where he studied the classics of French culture. After a time, he managed to escape, accompanied by Brigadier Juan María Muñoz y Manito, crossed into Switzerland and then Tyrol and reached the port of Trieste, on the Adriatic Sea, where he sailed back to Spain.
In 1815, Ferdinand VII promoted him to Brigadier, awarded him the Saint Hermenegildo's Cross and appointed him Sub-Inspector of the Viceroyalty of Peru, with the title of Governor of Callao. He arrived at the city in 1816. In 1819, he was promoted to Mariscal de campo.
The War of Independence (1821–1825)
- The Royalist Cause
During the early days of the Peruvian War of Independence, he remained loyal to the King, and defended the Real Felipe Fortress in Callao, the main port of the Viceroyalty, for the Royalists. He repelled an naval attack by the Patriots under command of Thomas Cochrane in March 1819 and again in September 1819 and October 1820.
In 1821, rebel troops advanced towards Lima and Viceroy
- The Rebel Cause
After the Baquijano Capitulation at Callao, La Mar joined forces with the rebel cause. José de San Martín awarded him with the title of "Division General", a title he accepted reluctantly. In March 1822, he was made a Grand Marshal of Peru
La Mar served as one of three men on the Supreme Governing Junta of the Republic of Peru from 22 September 1822 to 27 February 1823. He made strenuous efforts to obtain financing for an expedition to take the southern ports of Peru. Under the command of General
La Mar resumed his military functions with the arrival of Simón Bolívar in Peru, who commissioned him to form and train new troops in Trujillo (1824). Having completed the assignment successfully, Bolívar entrusted La Mar with command of the Peruvian Division of the Liberation Army.
Bolívar ordered the final attack on the Royalist troops and led the Patriot armies to the mountains of Peru. Both armies met on the pampas of Junín (6 August 1824), and La Mar had a decisive role in leading the attack that gave victory to the Patriot side in the Battle of Junín. He played the same role in the Battle of Ayacucho (9 December 1924), since it was his directives that inflicted the final defeat on the Spanish and the achievement of Peru's independence.[3]
Independent Peru
With the Royalist troops removed from the former Peruvian viceroyalty, Bolívar created the Government Junta (1825), which was to replace him in his functions for the leadership of the State, while he traveled to Colombia. José de La Mar was appointed, along with José Faustino Sánchez Carrión and Hipólito Unanue, as one of three men in charge of directing the government. La Mar was president of said board only between 5 January and 25 February 1826, since his serious health condition prevented him from continuing in the direction of Peruvian politics. With medical leave, La Mar immediately retired to Guayaquil in search of a calm and peaceful environment.[3]
La Mar returned as the Constitutional President of the Republic of Peru from 22 August 1827 to 7 June 1829. During the two years that his presidency lasted, La Mar had to face several uprisings, conspiracies and two armed conflicts: one with the new Republic of Bolivia and one with Gran Colombia.
He was removed from the Presidency of Peru after less than two years by a coup d'état led by General Agustín Gamarra and died in forced exile in Costa Rica, on 11 October 1830.[5]
References
- ^ Archivo Diplomático Peruano (in Spanish). Vol. VI. Lima: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores del Perú. 1957. pp. VII.
- ^ Vicente Villarán, Manuel & José Tordoya, Pedro. Narración biográfica del gran mariscal D. José de La-Mar. Lima: Eusebio Aranda, 1847, (p. 79).
- ^ a b c Real Academia de la Historia
- ^ "José Domingo de la Merced La Mar y Cortázar".
- ISBN 978-612-306-354-2.