Antonio González Balcarce

Antonio González Balcarce

Antonio González Balcarce (* 1774 in Buenos Aires ; † 1819 or 1820 there ) was an Argentine officer and politician. From April to July 1916 he was Director Supremo Head of State of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata .

Life

Antonio González Balcarce was born in Buenos Aires to a Spanish officer. As a cadet , he entered his father's regiment and achieved the rank of captain.

When the British took Montevideo under John Whitelocke in 1807 , he was captured by the British and brought to Europe. In 1808 Spain switched sides, and González Balcarce fought with the British in the War of Independence against Napoleon . He rose to lieutenant colonel of the cavalry .

In 1809 he returned to Buenos Aires and the following year he joined the independence movement, which advocated an independent Argentina. After the fall of the Spanish viceroy , the government junta appointed him general in the expedition army, which was sent to the highlands of Peru under the command of Francisco Ortiz de Ocampo .

In August 1810 troops under the command of Antonio González Balcarce seized the former viceroy Santiago de Liniers , who commanded the royalist forces. Liniers was shot dead on August 26th . The revolutionaries were successful at Cotagaita and Suipacha ; González Balcarce was promoted to brigadier general and commander in chief.

In June 1811, the independence movement under González Balcarce and Juan José Castelli suffered a decisive defeat against the royalists at the Battle of Huaqui . On his return to Buenos Aires, a council of war relieved him of his command.

On April 20, 1815, José Rondeau was elected Director Supremo of the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata ; since he was on a campaign in the highlands of Peru, Ignacio Álvarez Thomas initially took over government responsibility, while González Balcarce was appointed mayor of Buenos Aires.

On April 17, 1816, González Balcarce was elected to succeed Álvarez Thomas as Director Supremo and thus head of state. He led the negotiations with José Gervasio Artigas , who represented the province of Santa Fé (today's Uruguay ), which was striving for independence . On July 9th, the Congress of Tucumán elected Juan Martín de Pueyrredón as the new Director Supremo on the day of the declaration of independence .

In 1817 Antonio González Balcarce moved with the expedition army under José de San Martín over the Andes main ridge to Chile ; in the battle of Maipu in April 1818 he commanded the infantry .

After that he turned south to fight the Spanish royalists there. He had to give up the siege of Valdivia because his health was already badly affected. He traveled back to Buenos Aires, where he died soon after.

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• Short biography (Spanish)
• Biography (spanish)