Juan Gregorio de Las Heras
Juan Gualberto Gregorio de Las Heras (born July 11, 1780 in Buenos Aires , Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata ; † February 1866 in Santiago , Chile ) was an Argentine military man and fought on the side of the South Americans in the war of independence of the Spanish colonies of Chile and Argentina. In addition, de Las Heras held the post of governor of Buenos Aires from 1824 to 1826 , making him de facto head of state of Argentina. He later led troops against Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas .
biography
De Las Heras was born into a middle-class family in Buenos Aires. Up to the age of 26, de Las Heras earned his living doing business, after which he enrolled as a recruit in the army and fought against the English during the British invasions on the Río de la Plata between 1806 and 1807. A year later he was Sergeant of the Hussars in the service of the Spanish Crown. But two years later, in 1810, when Argentina's independence was declared, he sided with the rebels who wanted to secure the separation of the colony from Spain. De Las Heras was appointed commander in chief of the militia in Cordoba , and in 1812 de Las Heras was promoted to commander of the garrison of the same city. The following year he offered to accompany the Argentine auxiliaries to Chile, where he became second officer. De Las Heras' troops, which were gathered in a newly created unit, passed their baptism of fire at the Battle of Cucha-Cucha on February 23, 1814 and were able to build on this success in the Battle of Membrillar on May 20 of the same year. After losing to the troops loyal to the Crown in Rancagua, they were entrusted with the task of covering up their Chilean comrades. Before de Las Heras took up this task, he withdrew to the city of Mendoza , where he dealt with the organization and structuring of the Andean army .
When the army under de Las Heras crossed the Andes in 1817, they used the pass near the town of Uspallata , whereupon they contributed to the victory in the Battle of Chacabuco . On April 5, 1818, thanks to the action of de Las Heras' army in the battle of Maipu, Chilean independence was sealed. In 1910, in honor of the military leader, the raised army was renamed General Las Heras by the Argentine head of state, José Figueroa Alcorta .
Juan Gregorio de Las Heras also took part in the expedition aimed at the liberation of Peru . In September 1820 he and his army reached the country by ship. The army fought in the battle of Nazca, Acarí, Jauja and took part in the siege of Lima . The city fell into the hands of the besiegers on July 9, 1821. De Las Heras had already been appointed Chief of Staff of the Liberation Army for Peru last year and in the same year he was appointed Brigade Governor in Argentina. He was also given military posts in Chile, where he was appointed head of the divisions. After he had secured the storming of the Callao fortress through his command , he was appointed Grand Marshal in gratitude.
After his army was disbanded in 1824, he returned to Argentina. There he became governor of Buenos Aires in May as successor to Martín Rodríguez . When he had to give up the office of governor in February 1826 because Bernardino Rivadavia became the first president of Argentina, he returned to Chile and participated in the civil war of 1829. From 1862 until his death, de Las Heras was inspector general of the Chilean army . Argentine scientists named the Las Heras Glacier and the Las Heras Peninsula in Antarctica after him.
swell
- Camogli, Pablo, Batallas por la libertad , Ed. Aguilar, Bs. As., 2005. ISBN 987-04-0105-8
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Las Heras, Juan Gregorio de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Las Heras, Juan Gualberto Gregorio de (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Argentine military man, warrior of independence |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 11, 1780 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Buenos Aires |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 1866 |
| Place of death | Santiago , Chile |