Final Efforts at Restoration in Latin America

As discussed previously on several occasions, the American Civil War represented the last realistic chance to date of ending the monopoly on power of the republican form of government in the Americas. The United States has long before issued the Monroe Doctrine which declared the Americas “off limits” to any European power attempting to reestablish their former New World empires. This was backed up by the British and the Royal Navy made what would otherwise been nothing but bluster something that could be enforced. However, with the outbreak of war between the United States and Confederate States of America in 1861 two very important things changed. First, the U.S.A. was no longer in a position to actually do anything to stop a European monarchy from trying to restore their fallen away territories in the Americas and second, the British and the United States were no longer on very friendly terms. Many in Britain, particularly among the aristocracy, favored the Confederacy. So, from 1861 to 1865 the monarchies of the Old World had a chance to do as they pleased without having to worry about the politicians in Washington DC. Had the Confederacy succeeded in maintaining its independence, this bank holiday might have turned into a new era for monarchy in the Americas.

Queen Isabella II of Spain

The largest, and most discussed, effort along these lines was the restoration of monarchy in Mexico. The British, French and Spanish all landed troops on the Mexican coast in December of 1861, the French stayed, pushed inland and captured Mexico City. The Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian was imported in 1864 to begin his reign as Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. The French Emperor Napoleon III was also looking to build a canal across Central America and the eventual expansion of the Mexican Empire into that region sometime in the future seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Louis Napoleon also corresponded with President Gabriel Garcia Moreno on the idea of creating a French-backed “Kingdom of the Andes” centered around Ecuador under a suitable Spanish prince. This was not altogether new as the first President of Ecuador had conspired with Queen Marie Christina of the Two-Sicilies (former regent of Spain) to put her son on the throne of a Latin American monarchy that would encompass Ecuador and several surrounding countries. The Empire of Brazil was, at the time, also a major power and Emperor Maximilian of Mexico expected it to become the dominant power in South America had his own regime survived and the years of the American Civil War also saw the Dominican Republic return to the arms of Spain when they recognized Queen Isabella II as their sovereign. When the United States defeated the Confederacy in 1865, the Spanish gave up their half of Hispaniola, knowing they could never hold it in defiance of a hostile United States just across the water.

Another effort by the Old World to regain influence in the New during this period, not yet discussed on these pages, was the Chincha Islands War fought by the Kingdom of Spain under Queen Isabella II against the South American republics of Peru and Chile from 1864 to 1866. It was not a major event and is generally overlooked in the catalogue of historic events of the Americas and, for once, I will concede that this is not unjustified. The war was not a massive conflict, consisting of a few rather minor naval skirmishes, and while it could have been extremely significant, it was not because of two reasons. It ultimately amounted to nothing because the South American republics showed that while they may have a hard time getting along with each other, they would unite to prevent the reestablishment of Spanish rule or even Spanish influence in their continent and because the defeat of the Confederacy the year after the war started meant that even if the Spanish had been successful, the United States would likely have ultimately forced them out anyway. Finally, it is also true that the Chincha Islands War was from start to finish, at the very most, simply a quite modest first step in the direction of rebuilding the Spanish empire at some distant, unforeseen date.

Spanish forces on the Chichan Islands, 1864

The primary antagonists were Spain and Peru and it is worth remembering a few things about both countries. The Kingdom of Spain was a power to take seriously in 1864. The military had been greatly enlarged, mostly due to the ongoing civil wars at home, Spain had the fourth largest navy in the world and Queen Isabella II was anxious to reassert Spain as one of the major European powers. Had not Spanish strength been squandered by the fratricidal Carlist Wars, one can imagine Spain succeeding far beyond the establishment of a foothold in North Africa. Peru, on the other hand, was still a new country, having effectively achieved independence only 43 years earlier. It had been the Spanish royalist stronghold of South America during the Latin American revolutions and was only torn from Spain when revolutionary armies from neighboring countries invaded and forced the Spanish out. One of the things that made Peru and other South American republics somewhat nervous about the Chincha Islands War was that, by 1864, Spain had still not recognized the independence of Peru. The facts on the ground were the facts on the ground but those who thought Spain had more in mind than the ostensible reasons for the conflict could point to the fact that, technically, Queen Isabella II still regarded Peru as a Spanish possession in rebellion rather than a legitimate country.

Conflict erupted following a mob attack on a couple of Spanish subjects in Peru, followed by Peru refusing the Spanish demand for an apology and reparations. Spain was also insisting that Peru pay debts from the colonial period and for Spanish property seized during the war for independence. Peru refused and on April 14, 1864 a Spanish naval flotilla seized the not very well defended Chincha Islands. This was somewhat important as these islands were a primary source of guano for Peru. If the idea of a war over bird feces sounds ridiculous, keep in mind that this bird crap produced more than half of the Peruvian government’s annual income and then you might also want to go and refresh your memory on what oil actually is. Spanish marines occupied the islands, raised the flag and shouted vivas to Queen Isabella II but holding the islands was simply a means to force Peru to the negotiating table. Spanish ships also began blockading the major Peruvian ports but Spain never had sufficient forces anywhere near Peru for a major operation such as an invasion of the mainland to reestablish Spanish authority by force.

Vice Admiral Pareja

This opening move was taken by the local Spanish commander, Admiral Luis Hernandez Pinzon, on his own authority and, at first, the Spanish government tried to undo the action and replaced the admiral with another, Peruvian born, officer but in the face of continued Peruvian defiance decided to carry on for the sake of Spanish honor. Nonetheless, the new man on the ground (or ‘on the water’ as it were), Admiral Juan Manuel Pareja, began negotiations with the Peruvian government and the two sides agreed to a treaty that would end the conflict. However, the Peruvian public considered the agreement an outrage and the Peruvian Congress refused to ratify it and as this was followed by an anti-Spanish rebellion against the sitting government, all doubt vanished that the conflict would go on. A wave of anti-Spanish hysteria swept the region and when Chile closed its ports to the Spanish sanctions were placed on them and ships were dispatched to show the flag in Chilean waters. The Chilean government shortly thereafter joined the conflict, declaring war on Spain.

Ecuador and Bolivia later joined in declaring war on Spain as well. They would take no active part in the conflict but this meant that all ports on the Pacific would be closed to Spanish ships, making it extremely difficult to maintain operations against Peru and Chile. Argentina and the Empire of Brazil were invited to add their names to the list of allies at war with Spain but they were both occupied with a war against Paraguay and decided against it. The Spanish wanted to engage the Peruvian and Chilean navies in a decisive action at sea that would wipe them out and give Spain uncontested naval control of the Pacific coast, however the Battle of Abtao, fought on February 7, 1866 between two Spanish ships and four allied ships (3 Peruvian & 1 Chilean) was tactically indecisive but a strategic failure as the allied fleet survived. On March 31, 1866 the Spanish fleet bombarded the port of Valparaiso, Chile and destroyed 33 Chilean merchant ships, effectively wiping out the merchant marine of Chile. This was followed up by the Battle of Callao on May 2, 1866 in which the Spanish attacked a heavily defended port. They did some damage, inflicted far heavier losses on the Peruvians than they suffered but did no major, lasting damage to the port and ultimately withdrew. Peru, therefore, claimed to have successfully repelled the Spanish while the Spanish also declared victory, saying that their goal had simply been to punish the Peruvians and that goal had been accomplished.

The Battle of Callao

In truth, Spain had basically won the battle. They had destroyed the shore defenses and then sailed away because, effectively, there was nothing more they could do. They had no invasion force to land and so, left when the battle was over. The Peruvians had survived rather than triumphed, there had been considerable loss of life and their claims of driving the Spanish away were rather erroneous. The Spanish had never intended to invade and seize the port, they had no army to do it with and so had left after destroying what shore batteries there were to destroy. Still, the Spanish fleet had sailed away and so it was easy for the Peruvian media to portray the battle as a victory over their former masters. With no base of support and no friendly ports in the region, this engagement effectively ended the war as the Spanish fleet was forced by dwindling supplies to return to Spain via The Philippines. In the aftermath, Peru was so buoyed by their “victory” that they considered revamping their navy and conquering The Philippines which, considering the local opposition to Spanish rule, is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Nonetheless, domestic difficulties quickly nixed the idea.

By 1866, of course, the American Civil War had ended and the United States was once again free to assert itself south of the Rio Grande and all European involvement in the Americas began to draw to a close. In the years that followed the war was officially concluded though it would take well into the next decade before the Kingdom of Spain officially recognized Peruvian independence. This has, needless to say, helped fuel speculation and controversy as to how far Spain intended to go with the conflict. Personally, I doubt there is any precise answer. The Chichan Islands War had not been premeditated, so to speak, but I think it safe to assume that Spain would have logically pushed any advantage as far as it could go. They may have meant simply greater Spanish influence in the region or, had things gone considerably differently, I doubt they would have objected to a reestablishment of the Spanish empire in South America.

Ever since the breakup of the Spanish empire on the American mainland, the Spanish had always believed that they had considerable popular support that was being suppressed and if only they could land in some force, win a respectable victory and appear strong then the great mass of the locals would rush to the Spanish colors and welcome them back as liberators from the succession of military dictators who held power in virtually every Latin American country. Looking back, events would seem to indicate that this was largely wishful thinking. It was certainly the motivation behind the 1829 invasion of Mexico at the port of Tampico by General Isidro Barradas which ended in disaster. Yet, given that Peru had been the center of the most royalist sentiment in Spanish America during the colonial period, this may well have been something the Spanish were counting on to regain their former empire, or at least much of it, ‘on the cheap’ by use of predominately local volunteers. Given the public response in Peru during the Chichan Islands War, if there was any sizeable loyalist element it remained well hidden. Yet, that is not to say it should be dismissed. It may well have been that a significant Spanish victory on the mainland would have convinced the locals that they were the winning side and that always helps to win people over.

As it was, as stated at the outset, the Chichan Islands War was a minor affair. Spain did not back up its forces for a major campaign and, as the American Civil War had ended in 1865, the United States would not have allowed such a thing if it had. As with the Mexican adventure by Napoleon, his dreams of a Kingdom of the Andes, the readmission of the Dominican Republic to the Kingdom of Spain and any thoughts of expansion into South America, all was doomed by the Confederate defeat and the victory of the Union forces in America who stated at the start of European involvement in Mexico that it would never recognize or accept the establishment or reestablishment of any monarchy in the Americas. The only way any of this could have happened would have been if the Confederate States of America had succeeded in securing their independence and thus provided a buffer state between the remaining United States and Latin America. When General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in southern Virginia, the impact was felt far away from simply the American southern states.

Contrasting Brazil

The BBC recently ran a story on the sorry economic state of Brazil. The country has been in recession for two years, calling it, “the deepest economic decline since records began”, which is quite an indictment. This comes not so long after all the economic “experts” were touting Brazil as one of the up-and-coming economic superpowers that would soon surpass the likes of North America, Western Europe and Japan. The article does mention that the Brazilian economy was recently labeled one of the “fastest-growing” in the world. One just might be inclined to think that these economic experts with their predictions are not to be believed when a country can go so quickly from racing toward the dizzying heights of prosperity to having the worst economic decline on record. It may just be that they do not actually know what they are talking about (shocking I know). Had they listened to the heir to the Brazilian imperial throne, they might have known better as he is a man who seems to have a very firm grasp on economics and the importance of private property in creating the conditions for countries to thrive.

In all likelihood though, the last thing the current Brazilian political class would want to do is remind anyone of their original independent form of government as the contrast between the Empire of Brazil and modern leftist-republican Brazil could not be more striking. The records show that under the stability that the monarchy provided, the Empire of Brazil was everything that modern economics claim republican Brazil was all set to be before it suddenly, and to them likely inexplicably, fell to ruin. The Empire of Brazil was an economic powerhouse, generating more wealth from selling goods to the rest of the world than all other Latin American countries by 1850. The Brazilian economy grew at an almost 4% rate from 1839 until the time the monarchy was abolished. From 1850 until the end of the monarchy, the same period in which the United States first surpassed Great Britain as the world’s largest economy, the Empire of Brazil had economic growth on roughly the same level as the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany. The Empire of Brazil was in the top ten of having the most productive populations in the world by 1858.

Due to the fact that Brazil had lagged behind in industrialization, originally it depended a great deal on imported manufactured goods. However, after independence, the Empire of Brazil modernized rapidly and within a very few years had raised its technological level to the point that exports increased to roughly the same level as imports. Agricultural goods were the traditional exports and would generally remain at the top though eventually rubber became a major export and business only improved with the expansion of railroads and steamships for river transport. Brazil industrialized at a dramatic speed, probably unknown anywhere other than, perhaps, Japan after the Meiji Restoration. By the time the Empire of Brazil came to an end it had the largest railroad network in all of Latin America and a rapidly growing number of factories. It was one of the first countries to have telephone service, was second only to America in establishing transatlantic telegraphic communication and was the first South American country to have public electric lighting.

The immense success of the Empire of Brazil can also be seen in the growth of its population. Many tend to think only of the United States as the “land of opportunity” where all immigrants flocked, however for a great many people it was Imperial Brazil that seemed to offer the best prospects. From 1872 to 1890 the White population in Brazil rose from 38.1% to 44% of the population. Originally, the White population of Brazil had been entirely Portuguese but the success and the promise recognized in the Empire of Brazil meant that soon there were large numbers of Germans, Spanish, Italians as well as others living in the country. The 1870’s saw a huge surge in immigration to Brazil, including many Eastern Europeans, all because so many so such great possibilities for success in Brazil. Much like the United States at the time, Brazil was a growing country where business was booming and new advancements were being made all the time, Brazil just did it as a Catholic empire rather than a secular republic. In fact, after the horrific civil war in the United States, many southern Americans moved to Brazil, transplanting a little bit of Dixie south of the equator.

It certainly would not do for the political class if the people of Brazil today fully understood the depth of the economic crisis they are in now, compared to the wealth and prosperity that prevailed in the days when Brazil had an emperor. Then again, perhaps something else is at work. Certainly, speaking for myself, it is hard for me to believe that anyone could be satisfied with the current state of most countries in the world if the people truly understood just how great they used to be, usually at a point in the past where traditional authority was firmly in place. I cannot help but think that the public must simply be ignorant of their own history, for if Brazilians today knew how magnificent the Empire of Brazil was, they would want nothing more than to return to that immediately and be done with the current ruling elite, a political class that is obviously hopelessly corrupt and which has stayed in power by manipulation, buying votes and selling people a totally illusory vision of pretended economic progress all the while they were emptying the state coffers and filling their own pockets.

Brazil desperately needs new leadership, a new direction and a new way of thinking about politics and economics. There are few royal pretenders in the world better fitted to saving their countries than HIH Prince Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza. He has exactly the faith, the values and the grasp political and economic knowledge that Brazil is most in need of. He is exactly what the doctor ordered, so to speak, if only the people would turn to him for leadership. Were that to happen, I have no doubt that a revived Empire of Brazil would soon be rising to rival the record of the original.

Monarchist Profile: General Jose de la Serna e Hinajosa

Don Jose de la Serna e Hinajosa, first Count of los Andes, was effectively, if not officially, the last Spanish viceroy of Peru but more significantly was in command of the last period of struggle between the forces of the Spanish Crown and republicanism in South America. Born in 1770, like many young Spanish noblemen, he became an officer in the army early in life and had a career typical of the difficult position Spain was faced with in that time and place. At the start of the French Revolutionary Wars, he fought the French. Then, when Spain was forced into an alliance with France, he fought the British. When that alliance ended, he fought the French again, was taken prisoner but escaped and then traveled a bit before making his way back to Spain where he fought the French again in the Peninsular War alongside the British who were then allied to Spain. He saw that campaign through to the end when the French were finally driven from the Iberian peninsula in 1813. Once that war was over and King Fernando VII was safely restored to his throne, attention turned toward the vast Spanish empire in America.

During the wars with France, the Spanish colonies had been isolated and independence movements, some more revolutionary and republican than others, began to break out. The other monarchies of Europe were mostly concerned with events in their own continent and cared little about what happened in other parts of the world where they had no significant interests. On the other hand, the United States was quick to grant recognition and at least moral support to any colony that broke away from Europe and the British Empire did the same while also giving both official and unofficial support to such independence movements as a way of eliminating Spain as a colonial rival and breaking the Spanish monopoly on trade with Latin America. Obviously, for the Spanish empire, this was the moment of the greatest crisis and more revolutionary movements broke out and gained ground under such dynamic leaders as Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin and others. Don Jose de la Serna, by then a major general, was dispatched to the Viceroyalty of Peru to take command of Spanish royalist forces there and put down all rebellions against the Crown.

Peru was the strongest bastion of royalist sentiment in South America and the hope was that it could be secured as used as a base from which republican rebels could be suppressed one by one in neighboring regions such as Colombia and Argentina. But, the Spanish faced internal as well as external difficulties. Commanders often wavered according to their politics and discord between officials and generals were far from uncommon. The case of General De la Serna illustrates this. Arriving in 1816, he was first posted to Alto Peru, in what is now Bolivia, and ordered to march against the rebels in northern Argentina by the Viceroy of Peru, Don Joaquin de la Pezuela. However, De la Serna opposed this plan as being too ambitious and was often at odds with the Viceroy who was an old-fashioned royal absolutist while De la Serna was a more liberal moderate, leaning in the direction of a constitutional monarchy. This was hardly uncommon, nor was it unique to Spain. During the American War for Independence most of the British commanders sent to suppress the rebel colonists were Whigs who sympathized with their complaints against the London government. Nonetheless, De la Serna began to move but made it only as far south as Salta in the Lerma Valley of northern Argentina in early 1817 when he was surprised by the appearance of a rebel army under Jose de San Martin who had crossed the mountains from Argentina, conquered Chile and was moving north.

This forced De la Serna to halt his advance and fall back to a defensive position in Bolivia. He soon had his hands full dealing with insurgents in the area which began to rise up with the appearance of San Martin and his Army of the Andes. Frustrated by the situation and his only worsening relationship with the Viceroy, De la Serna finally requested permission to resign and go home to Spain, a request which was ultimately granted in May of 1819. By September, all was in order and he handed his command over to General Jose de Canterac and prepared to return home. However, he did not do so and, in light of subsequent events, one can only wonder if, perhaps, he never intended to retire at all but that this was a charade on his part. As was not uncommon in the Spanish colonies, De la Serna had his own following of loyal supporters who were convinced that he was the only one who could save them from the threat of an invasion by the rebel forces under San Martin in Chile. They applied a great deal of pressure on the Viceroy to have De la Serna appointed to some position of great importance.

Hoping to placate them, De la Pezuela had De la Serna promoted to lieutenant general and made president of the war council in Lima. But his supporters were not placated. In September of 1820 Jose de San Martin landed in the coastal city of Pisco, Peru and prepared to march on Lima. The De la Serna faction then made their real bid for power, pressuring De la Pezuela to resign and make De la Serna Viceroy of Peru. De la Pezuela, however, refused to be pressured and, in what he likely regarded as a test of loyalty, ordered De la Serna himself to put down the uprising that favored him. If it was a test, De la Serna failed, saying that he did not have sufficient forces to suppress them. De la Pezuela had been the victim of a very well managed coup. He was beaten and knew it and so on the evening of January 29, 1821 he resigned and handed power over to Don Jose de la Serna, making him Viceroy of Peru. Sadly, this too was not unusual and, also as usual, the Spanish government simply went along with what had already happened ‘on the ground’ and validated the decision.

Meeting of San Martin and la Serna

By that time, Jose de San Martin was almost upon Lima and the new Viceroy sent a Spanish envoy, who had just arrived with instructions to find a peaceful solution to the crisis, to begin negotiations with the rebels. The talks were long and arduous but ultimately hopeless. The King of Spain was willing to concede practically everything; local self-rule, a new government, complete autonomy, but he would not concede his sovereignty and the rebels demanded nothing less than complete independence. Starting on May 3, the talks continued until June 25 when both sized recognized that no agreement was possible and force of arms would have to decide the issue. Unfortunately for the royalists, their military situation had not improved in the meantime and the following month Lima was evacuated and Jose de San Martin marched in to occupy the city and, on July 15, 1821, issue the Peruvian declaration of independence. Viceroy De la Serna retreated to Cuzco but the forces of the Crown were rapidly falling apart. When the rebels besieged Callao, De la Serna sent General Jose de Canterac to lift the siege with 4,000 men. Unfortunately, he did not succeed and the starving garrison surrendered in September. Royalist forces remaining in Bolivia broke off on their own, refusing to follow orders from De la Serna and internecine dispute among the royalists became more problematic.

In August of 1824 Canterac was defeated at the Battle of Junin by Simon Bolivar as rebel forces from around South America converged on the royalist armies, giving them their first victory in Peru itself. Viceroy La Serna decided to ‘go for broke’ and fight one decisive battle that would settle everything. The result was the Battle of Ayacucho against the rebel army of Antonio Jose de Sucre. The Spanish royalists consisted of only 500 Spanish soldiers, the remainder being local loyalists and native militiamen while the rebel army, not very different in size, included men from all over Spanish America; Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Chile and others as well as the British Legions of volunteers which included men from across the British Isles and Germany who were supporting the cause of Latin American independence. The Spanish forces were also weakened by having troops dispatched to fight other royalists as the conflict between constitutional and absolute monarchists had carried over to America. The result was not difficult to foresee. De la Serna was defeated at the Battle of Ayacucho, forced to surrender and with that defeat, Peruvian independence was secured and the power of the Spanish Crown was removed from South America from that time forward. The rebel victory was so complete and far-reaching that some Spanish historians have speculated that it was all a show rather than a real contest, that the liberal-minded Spanish officers had already agreed in advance to surrender to the rebels. This, of course, is a very serious accusation and one that would be difficult to either prove or refute, however, given the pattern of behavior some royalist officers exhibited, such as La Serna himself, it is understandable that some would suspect a conspiracy.

His Catholic Majesty King Fernando VII, however, seemed to have no doubts about the loyalty of La Serna, granting him the title of Count of the Andes after he returned to Spain. He was given a lofty command appropriate for his rank, Captain-General of Granada, where he finished out his military career. He died in Cadiz in 1832. His life and military career were illustrative of the problems that beset the Spanish empire in the early 19th Century as well as the internal divisions, both in Spain and in America, that precipitated its ultimate demise.

Consort Profile: Queen Carlota Joaquina of Spain

Although a queen consort of Portugal, Carlota Joaquina of Spain is just as, if not more, well known in Latin America than in Portugal. That, interestingly enough, is not due so much to what she did but what she might have done. She was born Carlota Joaquina Teresa Caetana on April 25, 1775 in Aranjuez to the future King Carlos IV (younger brother of King Carlos III) and Maria Luisa of Parma (a granddaughter of King Louis XV of France). Raised in the typical fashion for her time and place, though no one ever thought much of her appearance, it was decided very early on that she would be married to the future King John VI of Portugal as part of an all-out marriage campaign to strengthen Hispano-Portuguese ties. How early an age was it? Well, she was born in 1775 and married in 1785 (May 8, so just after her tenth birthday). Lest anyone jump to horrid conclusions, rest assured the marriage was not consummated until January 9, 1790. Still, the little girl faced considerable opposition in Portugal where many feared that, by the marriage, Spain was setting up to dominate the country again and force them into a political union. Portuguese officials spent four days subjecting the ten-year-old girl to a battery of tests but she was very bright as well as energetic and passed them all.

Eventually the couple would have nine children but, at the time, it was not expected that John would ever succeed to the throne as he was the second son of Queen Maria I of Portugal and her husband (by then deceased) King Pedro III. However, when Prince Joseph, his older brother, died in 1788, John moved up in the ranks and was given the titles of Duke of Braganza and Prince of Brazil. Still, there were problems. The future King and Queen still did not attract a great deal of “celebrity” fanfare. Despite their many children, neither was extremely fond of the other. Few regarded John or Carlota as attractive people as each found the other deficient in about every way. John considered his wife to be lacking in intelligence and decorum and Carlota viewed her husband as boring, pious and overall dull. She was outspoken from the very beginning and not the sort to sit quietly in the background. At times, Queen Maria herself had to intervene to try to bring her exuberant daughter-in-law into line. John himself also faced considerable opposition at court from the “Enlightened” faction who had put their hopes in his elder brother but finally had to contend with John who was more traditional; more religious and committed to absolute monarchy as it was established.

The difficulties between John and Carlota were so widely whispered about, and their physical appearance held up to such ridicule, that when some of their last children were born people judged them too beautiful to have been fathered by John and assumed Carlota had found someone else for the job. It was nonsense of course though their marital relations were pretty much a matter of simple duty and after the birth of their ninth child they decided they had done enough to secure the succession for Portugal and lived apart thereafter. Ugly rumors were spread about her shockingly immoral behavior, which are not worth recounting, that she was plotting to take over the government, that she was an insatiable nymphomaniac and so on. Certainly she was no saint but the worst of such stories have not a shred of evidence to support them and were almost totally due to the fact that she was unpopular for simply being Spanish in most cases. There was no end to the rumors that Carlota was always scheming to do something terrible to the Portuguese Royal Family to enable Spain to take over the country. She certainly spoke up for the interests of Spain, which is hardly shocking, but most of the rumors were simply that and nothing more. In the end, of course, it was not Spain that proved to be the real threat but France. Under the dynamic leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, French troops conquered Spain and soon Portugal as well, forcing the Royal Family to relocate to Brazil in 1807.

The change in location did nothing to change the ambition of Princess Carlota, who became Queen of Portugal in 1816. With Spain under French control, the vast Spanish empire in the Americas was left in an uncertain position, most still holding to their allegiance to the King Fernando VII rather than Jose Bonaparte but the King was rather missing in action most of the time. Some, of course, also sought to take advantage of the chaos in Spain to promote their own ideas for independence. Carlota thought she could play a part in this and so “Carlotism” became a new part of the political lexicon. Since the King was basically under house arrest in France, Carlota decided that she was the natural representative of “Free Spain” as we might say and tried to gain control of the Spanish colonies in America. Ultimately, this turned into an effort to make Carlota Queen of the Rio de la Plata (the viceroyalty which included what is now Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina).

Portuguese-Brazilian forces did annex some territory in this region and Carlota had the support of some prominent local leaders such as the Argentine national hero General Manuel Belgrano, however, the powerful viceroys opposed such a change and the British were against the idea as well. It is understandable but also inviting to imagine what might have happened if so large an area of South America had become an independent monarchy still tied by blood to the Spanish Royal Family. There were plans, or at least rumors of plans, for Carlota to assemble an army and march on Buenos Aires and declare herself “Queen of La Plata” but, as we know, nothing finally came of the grand scheme due to a lack of support from the local elites and the opposition of foreign powers. As the Napoleonic Wars ended Carlota would have to content herself with being Queen consort of Portugal. When she returned with the King and the rest of the family in 1821 things in Portugal had changed dramatically and not for the better. Revolutionary ideas had taken root and were spreading unrest throughout the country. A liberal uprising resulted in the proclamation of the first Portuguese constitution which King John VI promised to support.

Queen Carlota was outraged by this and wanted a return to the traditional absolute monarchy. The King was not too fond of the changes himself but felt honor-bound to go through with it. All of the rumors about plots by the Queen to take power were finally realized when she joined with her son, Prince Miguel who was commander of the Portuguese army, to put her husband under house arrest. They hoped he would abdicate in favor of Miguel who would then return Portugal to the traditional sort of government. However, it was not to be as King John VI was aided by the British in regaining power and forcing his wife and son into exile, though the Queen was soon back. The two lived apart and more family divisions were to follow as their son Dom Pedro, who had remained in South America, was proclaimed Emperor of Brazil the next year in 1822.

The King was not pleased though the British finally persuaded him to accept the independence of Brazil in 1825. He died the following year, unattended by his wife as Queen Carlota was becoming increasingly paranoid and was convinced that the Freemasons had poisoned the King as part of the effort by the liberal revolutionaries to take power. When the King died Dom Pedro became King of Portugal but abdicated in favor of his daughter so as to remain in Brazil as Emperor. Queen Carlota might have been expected to act as regent for Queen Maria but was not, probably for fear that she would work to displace her. If that was the thinking, it did no good for her uncle and intended husband, Prince Miguel, was declared King of Portugal by the conservative faction before she arrived back in Europe, setting the stage for a civil war. But there would be no more political intrigues for Queen Carlota who died at Queluz Palace on January 7, 1830 at the age of 54 after a very controversial and colorful life.

Monarchist Profile: General Isidro Barradas

Few people probably remember General Isidro Barradas but it was he who led the last, at least somewhat serious, effort to reclaim the independent Mexico and restore the country to the Spanish Crown. He was born on October 6, 1782 in Puerto de la Cruz on the Canary Islands. The modest family later moved to Venezuela where they had some family. Barradas was related to Francisco de Miranda who would go on to be the second President of the “States of Venezuela” from 1811 to 1812. When he was twenty Isidro Barradas joined the local militia and distinguished himself in repelling a landing from the British warship “Victory” in 1803. When the independence movement broke out in Venezuela, Barradas joined the royalist militia in 1812, aided in the capture of the rebel ship “Rosebud” and defended Carupano from a rebel attack the following year. His royalist sympathies were confirmed when republican troops executed his father in a wave of reprisals and his brother was killed in the course of the back-and-forth fighting between royalists and rebels as well. Because of his proven ability, Barradas was promoted to lieutenant in 1814 and he saw action in many subsequent battles. In 1816 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel for his heroic defense of the Plaza de San Fernando de Apure with only a few hundred men against a rebel force of nearly 4,000.

Throughout 1818 and 1819 Barradas fought with the Third Division of Brigadier Jose Marie Barreiro and he won further fame for his stirring speech and heroic charge at the battle of Pantano de Vargas on July 25, 1819 against Simon Bolivar. In that incident he dislodged some 500 rebel troops with only 80 grenadiers. He was commended by his general for this but not long after the royal army was all but wiped out in the disastrous August 7 battle of Boyaca, which Barradas only narrowly survived. Afterwards, Barradas moved to Cartagena de Indias, joining the garrison there and was given command of a grenadier company from Leon. In the ensuing battle of September 1, 1820 he was badly wounded but again cited for great heroism in the face of a numerically superior foe, earning the Cross of San Fernando for his bravery. Subsequently transferred to Cuba he was given command of a line battalion of infantry when King Fernando VII, after moving to Seville, received Barradas after being restored by the campaign of the “Sons of St Louis”. It was Barradas who was entrusted with the royal decree proclaiming the restoration of the absolute monarchy to be sent to the commanders in Cuba.

It was hoped that with the King firmly in control again that the royalists of Latin America could be prompted to rise up and overthrow the pro-independence governments that had taken hold and restore the Spanish empire. Barradas carried his messages, the local commanders came on side and Fernando VII was so grateful that he decorated Barradas, promoted him to colonel and granted him the honor to place on his family arms the motto “Faithful to the King”. Later, in 1824, Isidro Barradas was sent back to Cuba with reinforcements from his native Canary Islands. However, recruiting proved difficult as many people were themselves refugees from the wars in America and had little desire to return. However, he did his best but was frustrated when, upon arriving in Cuba, his unit was disbanded and the men parceled out to other battalions. Nonetheless, his value was still recognized as Barradas was appointed Governor of Santiago de Cuba with the command of a battalion in Havana. He served for a time as Military and Political Governor of Cuba and in 1828 was promoted to brigadier general.

Only the year before, the Mexican government has passed the “Law of Expulsion” which ordered the deportation of all foreigners in Mexico and the Spanish were particularly singled out. This greatly offended Spain and finally there was some international sympathy for taking action, particularly when the British Duke of Wellington said his country would not object to Spain attempting to regain Mexico. In the summer of 1829 Brigadier Isidro Barradas arrived in Havana and began gathering an expeditionary force of between three and four thousand men which he embarked for Mexico on July 5 in a fleet of one ship of the line, two frigates, two gunboats and fifteen transports. Many of the men assembled were Spaniards who had been expelled from Mexico and they had convinced Barradas that with just a little show of force the Mexican public would rise up to restore the authority of the King of Spain.

Unfortunately, things seemed to go badly from the start. A heavy storm in the Bay of Campeche dispersed the Spanish fleet and it took weeks for the ships to reassemble off Veracruz and one transport with 400 troops had to divert to New Orleans for repairs. When they finally moved off Cabo Rojo near Tampico the heavy seas made it almost impossible to land the troops. After scouting the area the Spanish finally put ashore and had a minor clash with a Mexican patrol on July 31 near Pueblo Viejo. Meanwhile, at Tampico, a Mexican army was assembling under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Although he lacked the numbers to launch an immediate assault, Santa Anna besieged the Spanish army at Pueblo Viejo. Despite what Barradas had been told the Mexicans did not rise up in support of Spain and the army of Santa Anna only grew stronger while the Spanish forces were weakened by fever, endemic in the coastal lowlands and exacerbated by the dwindling supply of food and clean water. Barradas held on, hoping for rescue or some political shift in Mexico but it was to no avail. Finally, on September 11, 1829 General Isidro Barradas had no choice but to surrender to the combined forces of General Santa Anna and General Manuel Mier y Teran.

Santa Anna was hailed as the savior of Mexican independence and he would later cash in on this victory to advance himself in politics. In reality, however, he had contributed very little to the victory. The Spanish army had not been defeated by the Mexicans but by disease and privation. General Barradas was released to New Orleans and from there traveled to New York and then across the ocean to France on his way back to Spain. However, his rivals preceded him there and spread the story that he had betrayed the King and surrendered his army without a fight in return for his own safe release. A warrant was issued for his arrest along with instructions that he should be sent back to Cuba for trial where, at the hands of his enemies, he would surely be executed. When Barradas learned of this, naturally, he refused to continue on to Spain and stayed in Paris. Aside from his own enemies, who were jealous of his record, the military high command also wished to blame him for the failure of the expedition rather than accept their own responsibility for what had been a botched operation from the start and almost certainly doomed to failure.

General Barradas remained in France for the rest of his life, having a son there and living in quite poor conditions. Yet, as King Fernando VII was on his deathbed, Barradas wrote him a last letter, asserting his innocence of the charges against him and pledging his loyalty to the King and his daughter Princess Isabella. After the King died the Carlist faction tried to enlist the support of General Barradas but, though he was somewhat sympathetic, refused to break his oath of loyalty to the new Queen Isabella II. He died in Marseille on August 14, 1835 after a lifetime of service to his King and country only to end it the victim of lies and injustice.

Monarchist Profile: Juan Domingo de Monteverde

Juan Domingo de Monteverde y Rivas was one of the Spanish royalist leaders in the South American Revolutionary Wars and one of the later Captain-Generals of Venezuela. He was instrumental in bringing to ruin the first Venezuelan fall into republicanism. Juan Domingo de Monteverde was born in San Cristobal de la Laguna on the Canary Islands on April 2, 1773 to Stanislaus Monteverde and Francisca Rivas Lugo into a respected land-owning family. A bright youth, in 1785 he entered the La Villa Provincial Militia Regiment as a cadet but, like many of his background, he looked to the sea for his future and as a young man joined the proud ranks of the Royal Spanish Navy in 1789 as a midshipman in the department of Cadiz. He earned steady promotion and, as a young officer, served under Juan de Langara who, in alliance with the British Royal Navy under Admiral Samuel Hood, defended Toulon against the French revolutionaries.

He saw extensive service in the French revolutionary wars, fighting in the Battle of Cape St Vincent, at Gibraltar and participated in the epic battle of Trafalgar where he was wounded and taken prisoner. He was exchanged, returned to Cadiz and later fought the French during the Napoleonic invasion of Spain. He earned further promotion and decoration during the war. He was serving as a Frigate Captain when trouble began to boil over in the Spanish Empire in the Americas. In Caracas local republican revolutionaries declared independence from Spain and on July 5, 1811 proclaimed the First Republic of Venezuela with Francisco de Miranda as their commander. Captain Monteverde was dispatched to Cuba and Puerto Rico but was quickly transferred to Venezuela when the situation there got out of hand. His mission was to defeat the rebels and restore the authority of the Spanish Crown across the region. He arrived at Coro in March of 1812 with only a little over 200 marines, a priest, a surgeon and a little food.

Ever since the naval defeat at Trafalgar, Spain had been cut off from her colonies to a large extent and republican revolutionaries were quick to seize the opportunity. Spain had been devastated by the Peninsular campaign against the French and had little to send to the Americas, very few ships to send it and at a time when many American colonies had been incited against Spain, the Spanish themselves were most in need of resources from America. It was not an enviable position that Monteverde found himself in when he arrived. His only hope was to try to exploit the discontent the local people were beginning to feel due to the republicans promising much and delivering little. He had to encourage was divisions he could among the revolutionaries while concentrating all available royalist forces. He marched to Siquisique where he was reinforced by about 200 riflemen and 100 indigenous archers under “the Indian” Juan de los Reyes Vargas. With just over 1,500 men Monteverde decided to throw caution to the wind and advance deep into republican territory.

This was an unauthorized campaign and he was warned that going so far into enemy country, cutting himself off from his base at Coro would be extremely dangerous. Nonetheless, Monteverde’s bold gamble paid off and his troops captured Valencia, Barinas, Tocuyo and San Carlos. Since he had too few troops to leave behind garrisons in these cities, the republicans were able to re-occupy Valencia but Monteverde returned again and soundly defeated them, earning great acclaim across the Spanish Empire and a promotion to the post of Captain-General of Venezuela. As his army seemed to be the winning side, more people found the courage to volunteer for service and Monteverde gained enough confidence that he decided to seize the initiative and march on Caracas in what was hoped to be a successful sweep of all revolutionary forces in the country. General Francisco de Miranda commanded the rebel forces opposing Monteverde but he was forced to retreat again and again in the face of the patchwork royalist army.

Monteverde was assisted in his campaign by the divisive tactics and social arrogance of the republican elite which drove many middle and lower class locals into the ranks of the royalist army. His army entered Barquisimeto on April 2, 1812 after the population switched sides as a whole, rejecting republicanism and cheering the Crown of Spain. On May 3 his forces defeated a republican army in front of Valencia and then occupied the city. Miranda retreated again in the face of the royalist advance but finally was forced to give battle to try to stop Monteverde from seizing Caracas. The result was the Battle of San Mateo (aka La Victoria) on June 29, 1812. Prior Spanish attacks on the city had failed but many of the local populace had had enough and republican morale was broken when Spanish prisoners escaped and seized control of their prison along with a slave rebellion in Caracas. A cease-fire was negotiated and the first Venezuelan republic collapsed. Miranda was arrested and sent to Puerto Rico and later Spain with most of the republican elites fleeing the country rather than face justice for their treason. Monteverde was awarded the Cross of Carlos III for his victory in bringing down the republic and restoring the country to the Crown of Spain.

The republicans would, however, be back to bedevil the royalist cause and in the future would be under the more dangerous and capable leadership of Simon Bolivar. Spanish royalists also planned an offensive against the Republic of New Granada which had recently been proclaimed but events closer to home quickly overtook them. The following year, in 1813, Monteverde had to respond to another rebel invasion, which he did not managed to reverse but at least contained. However, it was at that critical junction that Simon Bolivar began his so-called “Admirable Campaign”. Monteverde had to redeploy his forces to Valencia to guard against those rebels already present as well as the threat of Bolivar coming down from the mountains. In many ways, he found himself in the same position Miranda had been in the year before. Public support for the Crown had also been diminished when their unrealistic expectations were not immediately fulfilled.

Having set out with only 300 men (his force growing to only 500 on the way to La Guaira) Monteverde’s royalists were outmanned and outgunned at every engagement with expected results. The odds were long against him but the outside threat was not his only concern. Defeatism was spreading in his own ranks as many officers began to ponder joining the revolutionary cause to further their own interests and be on the winning side. Yet, he continued on, aided by the Granada Regiment from Spain which he took from Puerto Cabello for an offensive against Valencia, in the center of his defensive line, which had fallen back into republican hands. With about a thousand men, Monteverde showed his usual zeal in combating the revolutionaries, being wounded in the battle known as Las Trincheras (the battle of the trenches) on October 3, 1813. However, he was outmatched and his army almost totally destroyed. His jaw had been almost totally shot away and he was no longer fit for front-line service. His officers finally persuaded him to hand over command and retire to Puerto Rico. In 1816 he returned home to Spain and finally died on September 19, 1832 in Cadiz with the rank of brigadier-general.

Monteverde’s career had ended on a sad note with two defeats and a terrible wound. However, he was a committed and capable servant of the King of Spain. His skill and daring succeeded in restoring royal authority and bringing down the first effort at republicanism in Venezuela. Had his successors met with similar success in the years after him, the history of the country, and much of South America as a whole, might have been considerably different.

MM Video: Royalists of Latin America

Monarchism in Ecuador

Gabriel Garcia Moreno

Based on my mail, some seem obsessed with having me say something nice, something positive, about republican leaders. I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t think I’ve been very ambiguous about the fact that I am a monarchist who thinks revolutionaries should be drug out into the street and shot, yet, tell some people you are a monarchist and they suddenly become determined to get you to say something nice about a president. Well, obviously, just because I don’t like politicians it does not mean I consider them all equally bad. For example, I believe we are all sinners but that doesn’t mean we are all mass murderers. I have also stated here before some republican leaders that I prefer over others. In my own country I think I have said that I prefer President Lamar to President Houston. I have also stated my respect for President Gabriel Garcia Moreno of Ecuador. Of course, Garcia Moreno was a monarchist and, believe it or not, he was not the first monarchist leader that the Republic of Ecuador ever had and, given that, I think the issue is one worth looking into.

Juan Jose Flores

I had been vaguely familiar with the monarchist history of Ecuador but was recently put on to some more information on the subject by one of my friends in low places. There were actually efforts early on to create a “Kingdom of Quito” which would be independent but in union with the Crown of Spain. Later, after independence, the idea rose again under the leadership of General Juan Jose Flores. This man, known in Ecuador as the “Father of the Republic” was actually a monarchist who came to the conclusion that Ecuador simply could not be governed as a republic and that a monarchy was the only form of government suited to them. Toward that end he actually began a correspondence with Queen Maria Cristina, regent of Spain for her daughter Queen Isabella II, discussing the restoration of the monarchy in Ecuador. Wanting to maintain the shared traditions of the Spanish monarchy without going so far as to return to rule from Spain, General Flores suggested that Don Agustin Muñoz y de Borbon, Duke of Tarancon, come to Quito to rule the Kingdom of Ecuador. The Duke was the son of Queen Maria Cristina and the Duke of Riansares whom she had married secretly after the death of King Ferdinand VII.

Arms used by Ecuadorian monarchists

However, if this was not ambitious enough, the General envisioned the Duke becoming, not King of Ecuador alone, but King of the “United Kingdom of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia” reigning from Quito. Ideas for a union of South American countries such as this was certainly not new (we all remember Gran Colombia) and such ideas would linger for a while. However, General Flores was also inspired by the monarchies which had made such multi-national unions successful, citing the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Dual Empire of Austria-Hungary. This proposed United Kingdom of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia was also to include the territory lost by Bolivia to Chile in the Pacific War. However, again, nothing came of this plan as both Spain and Ecuador were beset by a number of disasters. Leftist revolutionaries were a constant plague to Ecuador, as in most other Latin American countries, and the real influence of the Freemasons in this crisis cannot be ignored. It may be fashionable to shrug off the Mason element as a “conspiracy theory” but it was a real and immediate threat.

Napoleon III

That element would be the primary opponent of the aforementioned President Gabriel Garcia Moreno who made the last serious effort to discuss the establishment of a monarchy in Ecuador. In his time the idea revolved around making Ecuador a protectorate of the theretofore successful Emperor Napoleon III of the French. Garcia-Moreno wrote to the Emperor of the French proposing this idea and similar plans were entertained by Napoleon III, especially during the days of triumph at the height of the French intervention in Mexico. With the Mexican Empire created under the French-allied Emperor Maximilian, Napoleon III also envisioned an expansion southward. France already had interest in Central America and an idea for what became the Panama Canal and Napoleon III, encouraged by the sympathetic President Gabriel Garcia Moreno, sometimes envisioned moving into South America to create, based around Ecuador but expanding beyond, a “Kingdom of the Andes”. However, the French Senate opposed such an ambitious plan and in Ecuador support for the idea also dropped off after the inglorious French evacuation from Mexico and Napoleon III wavering in his support for Papal rule in Rome (the President of Ecuador being a staunch supporter of the temporal power of the Pope). So, the vision of Napoleon I of Ecuador and III of France, Emperor of the French and King of Ecuador faded away.

Unfortunately, with the ending of this plan and the eventual assassination of Gabriel Garcia Moreno the cause of monarchy in Ecuador as a serious political possibility effectively came to an end. The story is not widely known, certainly not in the English-speaking world and yet the monarchist efforts in Ecuador were far from unusual. During the era of independence, the idea of ‘liberal monarchy’ had quite a large following throughout the emerging nations of Latin America. Brazil had a monarchy transplanted from Portugal, Mexico had General Agustin de Iturbide as the first Emperor of Mexico, in Argentina the first president, Bernardino Rivadavia, supported Juan Bautista Alberdi in his argument that monarchy was the best government for South America, Jose de San Martin supported the idea of a monarchy for Argentina and Peru and there were those who wanted Simon Bolivar to become monarch over a vast Latin American empire. It was not unusual and yet you will find very little mention of any of this today. For instance (here you can put my words to the test) you can go to Wikipedia and look up some of these individuals mentioned here, Flores, Rivadavia, Garcia-Moreno or Alberdi and you will not find a single mention of their monarchist sympathies. However, if you switch over to the Spanish-language Wikipedia you can find it (at least in some cases). For the most part, however, this is an issue that all of the prevailing powers want to ignore and completely erase from history. That, my friends, we cannot allow!

Monarchist Profile: General Mariano Osorio

One of the leading royalists in South America, particularly Chile, was General Mariano Osorio. He was born in the city of Seville, Spain in 1777 and, like many of his generation, joined the army and saw his first combat in the Peninsular War against the forces of Napoleonic France in 1808. He made something of a name for himself on the field of battle against the French occupying forces. In 1810 he was appointed head of armaments production in Catalonia before being posted to the colonial army in Peru, Peru being something of a royalist stronghold in South America where revolution was stirring. A brilliant mind, he served as professor of mathematics at the local Spanish military academy when he was not on the battlefield as general of artillery.

After moving to Peru, General Osorio settled down and gained a major personal and social victory when he married the daughter of the Viceroy of Peru, Joaquin de la Pezuela, Joaquina de la Pezuela. Soon, he was thrust into battle against the revolutionary forces determined to dismantle the Spanish empire in America. When republican forces attempted to seize control of Chile, General Osorio was sent in and led the royalists to victory at the Battle of Rancagua (known as the ‘Disaster of Rancagua’ in revolutionary circles) on October 2, 1814 against the Chilean rebel army under Bernardo O’Higgins and Jose Miguel Carrera. It was a great victory for the Spanish royalist forces and O’Higgins himself only narrowly escaped with his life. General Osorio had triumphed, despite having a rather reckless second-in-command, and a few days later the Spanish army marched unopposed into Santiago.

Chile was again under Crown control and this period is known in local history as “the recon quest”. General Mariano de Osorio was appointed Governor and Captain-General of Chile and he methodically set about restoring law and order, suppressing rebellion and meting out harsh justice to those who had committed treason against His Catholic Majesty. Courts of vindication, as they were called, were established and rebels were either hanged or exiled to the outlying islands. Those whose property had been seized or destroyed by the revolutionaries were given compensation. In 1815 formal royal courts were reestablished and, during his brief tenure, General Osorio also closed the National Institute and Library (where revolutionary sentiment was rife) and restricted trade as this too was often an avenue of subversion. These stern measures did restore peace, law and order but had a detrimental effect on the economy which impacted republican and royalist forces alike. However, Osorio had done his duty well, he had defeated the revolutionary army, restored Chile to the King of Spain and suppressed insurgent activity.

However, Don Mariano was not a harsh or cruel man and tried to be fair to all. He recommended a number of exiles to the King for clemency and always had as his goal the reestablishment of humane and moderate government. After two years of this political service, Mariano de Osorio returned to Lima, Peru and turned the governorship of Chile over to Francisco Marco del Pont. However, things did not go well in his absence. On February 12, 1817 the revolutionary Army of the Andes under the famed Jose de San Martin soundly defeated a Spanish royalist army under Rafael Maroto near Santiago (it helped that the rebels had about a 3-to-1 superiority in numbers) at the battle of Chacabuco. Once again, General Mariano de Osorio was looked to for leadership and he gathered a royalist army and marched back to Chile to restore the authority of the Crown once again.

On March 16, 1818 Osorio and his smaller royalist army launched a surprise attack on the combined rebel forces of Jose de San Martin and Bernardo O’Higgins at the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada. The battle was a stunning royalist victory. Having every advantage, the last thing the rebel forces expected was for Osorio to attack them and they were caught completely unprepared. O’Higgins was badly wounded and the Army of the Andes soon disintegrated into a panic-stricken flight from the field, O’Higgins and San Martin barely staying ahead of the pursuing royalists themselves, indeed rumors spread that they had been killed. The revolution had been knocked back again and morale was extremely low amongst the republican leadership of Chile and Argentina.

However, things were not ideal in the royalist camp either. General Osorio had suffered around 200 losses but more had been captured and even more had simply deserted so that, despite gaining a decisive victory, his already outnumbered force had been reduced by nearly half. San Martin had escaped and still held Santiago and was quickly rebuilding his army. This was done with such effectiveness that despite being routed at his last engagement he was able to field an army fully equal to that of the royalists at their next encounter. That meeting came at the Battle of Maipu on April 5, 1818 near Santiago. San Martin opened the battle with an attack and made good use of his cavalry knowing that the royalists were lacking in cavalry from their previous engagement. Despite hard fighting, the royalist flank was turned and the rebel horsemen overran their position. The battle was a complete victory for the revolutionaries and General Osorio was forced to abandon the field. Chile was lost to the Spanish Crown for good and with the decimation of the royalist army the way for Jose de San Martin was open to Peru.

Royalist control in Chile was reduced to Chiloe island and the city of Valdivia. General Osorio returned to Lima to report on how such a disaster had come about. After settling matters there and disheartened over the break-up of Spain’s empire in the Americas, he decided to return home. However, while sailing through the Caribbean the general became very ill and put in at Cuba. He was found to have malaria and died there in 1819. General Don Mariano de Osorio had won some great victories for his King and country in his career and should be remembered for that. He had restored Chile to the Spanish Crown once but had not been able to do it twice.

Monarchist Profile: José Manuel de Goyeneche

During the Revolutionary Wars in Latin America, one of the leading Spanish royalists was the Grandee of Spain Jose Manuel de Goyeneche y Barreda, Conde de Guaqui. However, unlike most of the high-ranking royalists he was not native to the Peninsula but was born in Arequipa in what was then the Viceroyalty of Peru on June 12, 1776 into an esteemed military family (on the paternal and maternal sides) who traced his ancestry all the way back to the original Spanish conquistadors. He was sent to Spain for most of his education and entered the army as a cadet, quickly earning promotion; first as a lieutenant of cavalry and later a captain of grenadiers. He gained prestige for his participation in the two Spanish victories over the British at Cadiz before being sent to Peru during the French invasion of 1808 to ensure loyalty to the newly enthroned King Ferdinand VII.

Back in South America Goyeneche had broad powers to arrest or execute anyone engaged in rebellion against the King of Spain and to remove from office any official, no matter how powerful, who did not recognize his authority. Viceroy Abascal named him Captain-General of the royalist forces in Peru and in 1809 dispatched him to put down the revolutionary forces at La Paz, Bolivia. In this task he was completely successful, suppressing the rebels and having the 12 top leaders of the revolt executed. After returning to Cusco he learned of the outbreak of the May Revolution in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When Bolivia again fell to revolutionary forces he moved south and signed a meaningless peace with the rebel leader Juan Jose Castelli. Both armies used the interlude to prepare for the upcoming campaign.

Castelli moved to violate the truce first, attempting to surround Goyeneche and his royalists but Goyeneche predicted such an event and attacked first and the result was a solid victory for the royalists on June 20, 1811 at the battle of Huaqui. Thanks to Goyeneche and this stunning victory the advance of the revolutionary forces had been stopped cold and the leaders in Argentina pulled back in a panic, hurriedly making preparations to keep their movement alive. The royalists advanced in the following weeks, re-taking all of Bolivia (Upper Peru at the time) for the King of Spain. In recognition of his great victory Goyeneche was enobled as the first Conde de Guaqui. However, the advance of the royalists was slowed by heavy and tenacious fighting in the Salta Province of north Argentina.

The rebels fought mercilessly, even arming women and children to shoot down the royalist soldiers. Progress was slow but Goyeneche was thorough and moved inexorably forward, dealing with the rebels with a ruthlessness equal to their own. When another rebel army (under the famous General Belgrano) threatened his position Goyeneche sent General Pio de Tristan to drive him back. Unfortunately for the royalists the result was a victory for the revolutionaries. Belgrano followed this up with another victory at Salta, taking Tristan prisoner (who later joined the independence movement) and exposing the southern flank of Goyeneche and his royalist forces. With no other option the general retreated and turned in his resignation. His command was given to General Joaquin de la Pezuela and Goyeneche left his homeland and returned to Spain.

Once back in Spain a grateful monarch named Goyeneche Lieutenant General of the Royal Armies, set him to work with others to develop plans for the reconquest of Latin America and made him a knight of the Military Order of Santiago. He was also elected to the Cortes. He died in Madrid on October 10, 1846 an honored figure in Spanish government and society.

Monarchist Profile: Jose Fernando de Abascal y Sousa

Jose Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, first Marquis of La Concordia was the Spanish Viceroy of Peru during the Latin American Revolutions. He was born into a noble family on June 3, 1743 in Oviedo in the Asturias in Spain. When he was 19 he joined the Spanish army where he had a rather uneventful career. After 20 years service he was promoted to colonel and during the war with France was promoted to brigadier general. In 1796 he defended Havana, Cuba against the British and later was named military commander of Nueva Galicia in what is now western Mexico in 1800. In 1804 he was named Viceroy of Rio de la Plata but before taking up the most was instead named Viceroy of Peru.

While on his way from Spain he was taken prisoner by the British and so did not take up his vice-regal duties in Lima until 1806. Once there he showed himself to be an active administrator, reforming education, the army and suppressing the first early rebellions against the Spanish Crown. He also undertook the first massive vaccinations of the people of Lima against smallpox but his efforts were fairly well resisted. He founded a medical school in San Fernando and dealt with an earthquake, a massive fire in Guayaquil and a very destructive hurricane during his time in office.

In May of 1810 Spanish South America was thrown into turmoil by the outbreak of revolution in Buenos Aires. Abascal responded by trying to extend his reach as much as possible and keep the widest area in royalist hands. He sent troops into what is now Bolivia, taking the area into the Viceroyalty of Peru, defeated a rebel army at huaqui, Alto Peru and took in modern Chile and Ecuador into the Peruvian viceroyalty as well. Although he was a staunch supporter of the absolute monarchy in Spain his patriotism obliged him to support the more liberal Cadiz Cortes in opposition to the invading forces of Napoleonic France. Because of the turmoil in Spain and the great distance between Europe and America he was able to effectively rule as he saw fit.

Under the leadership of Abascal Peru became the royalist stronghold of South America when revolutionary movements seemed to be breaking out everywhere. When the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812 was put forward Abascal was having none of it in his viceroyalty and put down supporters of it with the same zeal that he had dealt with earlier republican rebellions. That same year he was given the title of first Marquis of La Concordia and with good reason as his forces launched a very successful campaign to restore royal rule throughout the region.

In 1814, in cooperation with a Spanish expeditionary force, Abascal dispatched 2,400 royalist troops under General Antonio Pareja to put down revolutionary uprisings in Chile. They rallied considerable support along the way from the southern part of the country where a greater number of people were loyal to the King. By the time he reached Chillan his force had swelled to 4,000 and the town surrendered without a fight and 2,000 more recruits joined the royalist army. All in all a resounding success but all his years of activity and dealing with disasters had taken their toll on Abascal and in 1816 he requested that he be relieved of duty and allowed to return home to Spain. This request was granted and Abascal died in Madrid in 1821 at the age of 79.

Monarchist Profile: Francisco Javier de Elio

Another of the noted Spanish royalists during the independence wars in Latin America was Francisco Javier de Elio, born in Pamplona in 1767. Like many of his class he joined the Spanish Royal Army as a young man and advanced to become governor of Montevideo from 1807 to 1809. However, he was setback somewhat after conspiring against his superior, Santiago de Liniers, Viceroy of the Rio de la Plata which failed because of the popular support Liniers had for his past victories over the British and the support of future revolutionary Cornelio Saavedra.

However, the following year the newly appointed Viceroy, Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, was deposed by the May Revolution. Elio stepped in to fill the breach, retaining control of Montevideo and what is now Uruguay while declaring himself Viceroy. A bit ambitious perhaps but in light of the situation the Junta of Cadiz confirmed his new post on January 19, 1811. The situation soon became worse as the peasants of Uruguay were incited to rise up in revolt under the leadership of Jose Gervasio Artigas. Elio dispatched naval Captain Jose Posadas with a force of royalists to put down the rebellion but his forces were defeated at the battle of Las Piedras.

In quick order the area under the effective control of Elio was Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento. The Spanish cause doomed, Elio saw no choice but to return to Spain on November 18, 1811. He officially resigned his nominal post of viceroy in January of the following year. However, there was still need for royalist commanders in Spain as the return of His Catholic Majesty King Fernando VII was met with division between the Cortes who wanted the King to restore the liberal constitution of 1812 and the more staunch royalists who supported a return to the absolute monarchy. King Fernando VII naturally favored the full restoration of his powers and avoided confronting the Cortes in Madrid by going to Valencia where General Elio pledged his support and his troops to the King in returning him to absolute power.

Part of this was the prospect of restoring his own reputation for General Elio as Fernando VII was also committed to the reconquest of the recently lost colonies in America. Calling on his fellow monarchs of the Holy Alliance for support, royalists in France responded with His Most Christian Majesty King Louis XVIII dispatching a French army to intervene on behalf of his Spanish cousin. The result was the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823 in which General Elio was zealously active on the absolutist side. The war ended in victory for the King of Spain, though the war itself meant that the Latin American colonies were effectively gone for good, but General Elio did not live to see it. Captured by the liberal forces he was executed in Valencia in 1822.