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Bernardo O'Higgins

1776–1842

 

The apostle of Latin American independence was the natural son of Irish-born Ambrose O'Higgins, who was governor of Chile and viceroy of Peru.  Ambrose had been born near Dangan Castle, in County Meath, in 1720.  He was sent to Spain to be educated by a Jesuit uncle in Cadiz.  However, he found he had no vocation for the church, and went to South America.  Landing in Buenos Aires, he later went on to Lima, Peru.  He first worked as a pedlar, then as a road contractor.  He eventually joined the army and rose to the rank of brigadier general.  In 1786 he was made intendant of Conception, and was ennobled.  He was governor general of Chile and later was made viceroy of Peru, a country he defended during the war of 1797.  He died suddenly in Lima on 18th March 1801.

      Bernardo's mother was Chilean, and he was born at Chillán, on 20th August 1776.  When he was fifteen he was sent to Europe to complete his education.  For three years he lived in Richmond, outside London, attending a Catholic school.  There he met Francisco de Miranda and other Latin revolutionaries.  He joined a Masonic secret society dedicated to undermining the rule of Spain and the Catholic Church in Latin America.  In 1802, on inheriting his father's estate, he returned to Chile, becoming mayor of Chillán.  He also remained deeply involved in the plots against Spain.  An opportunity came in 1808, when Napoleon invaded Spain and overthrew the royal house.  In September 1810 the revolution began, and the National Congress of Chile was called in April 1811.

      O'Higgins and his reformist ideas stood out, while the Chilean patriots ineffectually argued among themselves.  In September 1812, José Miguel Carera declared himself dictator.  O'Higgins became a member of the junta, but resigned to care for his farms.  Though the revolutionaries had been inspired by the American example, their revolution was taking a different course.  At this time O'Higgins was ill, and was planning to leave Chile when the Spanish imperial forces arrived in 1813.  Faced with this new danger, he returned to public life.

      He was given the rank of colonel and fought at San Carlos, Chillán, and El Roble.  His battlecry, which urged on his troops, was 'Let us live in honour or die in glory'.  He was promoted to army commander, but had to come to terms with the Spaniards in May 1814.  However, the agreement was accepted by the viceroy in Peru, and the government that made it was overthrown by Carera.  The war went on, and O'Higgins, though he disapproved of the coup, joined Carera.  The Chilean Army was defeated at Rancagua in September 1814.  In the first days of October, O'Higgin's escape from the town square, by opening a path through the barricades with the help of some soldiers, was a moment of epic heroism in his life.

      O'Higgins fled to Argentina, where the government gave him a command in an army which San Martin was organizing to cross the Andes, invade Chile, and defeat the Spanish.  The campaign went ahead and the Andes were traversed.  On 12th February 1817, the Spanish were defeated at the battle of Chacabuco.  Soon afterwards the capital was seized and O'Higgins was proclaimed dictator of Chile.

      A further victory by the patriots at Maipo, in April 1818, secured Chilean freedom.  In 1820 O'Higgins began to organize a naval expedition to attack Peru, but the campaign did not go well.  He promulgated two political constitutions, intended to reinforce his position.  O'Higgins lost ground, largely because he had lost the support of the conservative elements in Chilean society, though he gave ample evidence of his abilities as an administrator.  He attempted to inaugurate land reforms, educational advances, and restrictions on gambling and bullfighting.  These seemed to threaten the landed class and the macho style of Latin American life.  Distrust of his liberal policy led to revolution in Chile in 1822.  Early in 1823 O'Higgins was forced into exile in Peru, where he lived until his death in Lima on 24th October 1842.  His ashes were brought back by the Chilean government and interred with state ceremonies in 1869, and in 1872 an equestrian statue of O'Higgins was dedicated in Santiago.  (Bernardo's son, Demetrio O'Higgins, a rich estate owner, died in 1869.)

      O'Higgins is representative of the many Irish people who lived and worked in Latin America, some in the days of the Spanish Empire, others in more recent centuries.  Like O'Higgins, these people brought to their new countries a love of freedom, courage, and a conviction that was often at odds with the typical Latino temperament.  Having often left Ireland and great hardship, they sought to build a new life in a new continent.  Yet their experiences were not as happy as in the United States or Australia, and Irishmen were always to be found among the small vanguard that kept liberal ideas of freedom alive in the republics of the south.  Their pervasive influence was, and is, of great importance.