Juan José Carrera

Juan José Carrera

Juan José Carrera Verdugo (born June 26, 1782 in Santiago de Chile , Captain General Chile , † April 8, 1818 ( executed ) in Mendoza , Argentina ) was a Chilean military who took an active part in the Chilean War of Independence .

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Juan José Carrera was the son of Ignacio de la Carrera and Paula Verdugo y Valdivieso. Like his brothers, he undertook his first studies at the renowned Convictorio Carolino of Santiago de Chile, after which he embarked on a military career.

In September 1812 he entered, in complete opposition to his brother José Miguel , in the Spanish Grenadier Regiment of Chile, which was also an open insubordination towards the government junta. After a few tense weeks the tensions between the brothers eased and a reconciliation ensued. But the distance persisted for several years.

In March 1813, while José Miguel was absent, he became a voting member of the government junta.

In 1813 he took part in the rank of brigadier in the first military actions of the Chilean War of Independence, such as the siege of Chillán and the battle of San Carlos.

In the autumn of 1814 he was exiled to Mendoza by order of the Director Supremo , Francisco de la Lastra . During this exile he developed a growing dislike for the local governor, José de San Martín . On his return to Chile, he took part in the coup on July 23, in which De la Lastra was ousted and a junta under José Miguel briefly took power in the country.

At the end of September 1814, Juan José Carrera took command of the Second Division of the Independence Army, which went to the Río Cachapoal on the trail of the troops loyal to the king under Mariano Osorio , who in turn wanted to take the capital. In this desperate situation entrusted with a questionable mission, he married Ana María Cotapos.

After the first skirmishes with the troops of Osorio, he marched with his division to Rancagua , where he was followed by the First Division under Bernardo O'Higgins . Both units were surrounded by outnumbered opponents in the city, which resulted in the defeat of the Chileans in the subsequent Battle of Rancagua . During this action, Juan José Carrera gave command of the troops to the lower-ranking O'Higgins. When the defeat was obvious, both ended in a retreat with a dispersed cavalry unit.

After this devastating defeat, he joined the procession of numerous independence fighters across the Andes range, which went to Mendoza. Here he was arrested in the course of José Miguel's power struggle together with his brothers on the orders of José de San Martín and then taken to the remote settlement of San Luis . When they regained freedom, the brothers settled in Buenos Aires .

death

Later, Juan José and his brother Luis , according to the historian Benjamin Vicuña MacKenna , at the instigation of his sister Javiera , took part in the "conspiracy of 1817". The plan was to go to Chile to arrest O'Higgins and San Martín, to force them to abdicate and to seize power themselves. For this they counted on the support of partisans in Chile.

These plans had progressed in June 1817, the future government posts had already been assigned: Manuel Rodríguez was to become "political dictator". General Brayer (who had come to Mendoza with José Miguel and was serving in the Andean army at the time ) was to take over the command of the army. José Miguel was in the United States to set up a new fleet. Luis Carrera was to arrest O'Higgins at the head of a force of armed supporters who were gathering in Santiago, while Juan José, at the head of another unit, was to arrest San Martín in Mendoza and bring it to the military court.

The plan quickly failed. Luis Carrera was arrested in Mendoza with incriminating material. His traveling companion immediately confessed, which led to the arrest of Juan José in Barranquita, Cuyo , on August 20, 1817. Both brothers were transferred to Mendoza prison.

The rest of the conspirators were caught in Chile in early February 1818. Numerous other Carrera supporters (including Manuel Rodríguez) were jailed with them.

The incriminating material for the trial was brought to Santiago so that O'Higgins and San Martín could get an idea. In practice, the process was dragged on indefinitely because the two generals were busy with other, more pressing matters. The allegations were not difficult for most of the defendants and they were soon released. Under these circumstances, the brothers could also hope for a comparatively mild judgment.

To their mischief, however, they were also accused in Mendoza of wanting to overthrow the provincial government with the help of royalist prisoners and only then want to march into Chile (allegations that Luis Carrera implicitly admitted). The discovery coincided with the news of the defeat of the independence fighters in the Battle of Cancha Rayada . A Spanish invasion was to be feared, either in Chile or in southern Argentina. As a consequence, the two of them were given a brief and superficial trial, which resulted in their death sentence .

In Montevideo , José Miguel received news of the execution of his brothers on April 8, 1818 , three days after the Battle of Maipu , in which the united Chileans and Argentines had crushed the Spaniards.

Image in tradition and folklore

Historians agree that Juan José was the stormiest and most fickle of the Carrera brothers. He is also ascribed an enormous physical strength, so according to oral tradition he was able to bring a moving carriage to a standstill by stopping the wheels or to pull a horse out of a well by the ears.

The historian Diego Barros Arana describes Juan José Carrera as follows: "In character he was a resistance and rebel against all oppression. Harsh in nature, endowed with Herculean powers, but of little courage in danger, his constant absence in the fight was to be recorded. .. "

But the image of Juan José Carrera as a man in love, soulful and suffering has also persisted. In the letters to his wife Ana María Cotapos, which have survived from his prison days, there is an expression of a wide range of emotions, ranging from pathos to tender and deep feelings.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ El ostracismo de los Carrera , p. 130.
2. ↑ Diego Barros Arana : Historia General de Chile , tomo 11, cap IX, pp. 500-504.