Cochrane - South America's Real Liberator

Note: All work on this site is designed to expand "organically". In others work I'll get things done, I hope, just as soon as I have a moment and can get round to it.  

In the mythology, indeed, the history, of South America the great liberators are Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin. But there were others - Hidalgo in Mexico, de Miranda in today's Venezuela and two Chileans, Jose Miguel Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins. Hidalgo was what we we call today a Mexican, de Miranda a Venezuelan and Carrera and O'Higgins Chileans and all confined their activities to their own countries. However, Bolivar, whilst he was also a Venezuelan, became involved in territory from his homeland to Peru and San Martin, although Argentine also played his part in Chile once more and that is also where our story will begin but not quite yet. It is because there is one South American country outwith the Guyanas that never seems to be mentioned in the same breath. It is all the stranger since it is now the largest land-mass on the continent but then Spanish is not its national language. It is, of course, Brazil, with Portuguese as its tongue and matters took a different course. As the Spanish Empire in South America disintegrated as a direct result of and soon after the Napoleonic Wars into several republics, Brazil, although it broke from Portugal at much the same time, continued as a kingdom, although it called itself "Empire". In fact the last  Emperor of Brazil died in 1891, having been obliged to step down two years earlier as finally the country followed its Hispanic neighbours and republican Brazil came into being. 

But back to Chile. Napoleon invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 180. Initially French and Spanish forces combined to take Portugal. By June 1808 Napoleon's brother, Joseph, had been installed as King of Spain, by which time the Governor of Chile had died and not been replaced by the deposed Spanish king. It meant the local military commander, who was "peninsular" i.e. Spanish-born, should assume the position, which he did. However, he was not not liked but the locally-born "criollos", moreover, found to be corrupt and in July 1810 forced to resign to be de facto replaced by Mateo de Toro Zambrano, an aged aristocrat -born but Chilean-born.

There then followed a period of struggle between Royalists, Moderates and Extremists, i.e. nationalists, which ended when after two coups a criollo, who has in the meantime returned from Spain took power. He was Carrera, who formed a government with two his brothers with Bernardo O'Higgins as a junior partner. O'Higgins was the illegitimate son of a displaced, Irishman, Ambrose Bernard O'Higgins, born in Sligo. The family had been well-to-do but forced off their lands by the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland and, as Catholics, found their way first to Spain and then to South America, where he joined the Spanish Imperial Service and was sent to Chile. There he joined the military and prospered to the extent that In 1788 he was created Baron Balinar, Gaelic not Spanish, soon after himself became Governor of Chile and eventually Viceroy of Peru.