"Soldiers, swear to sustain it."
"We swear," answered the army, as one man.
Salvos of musketry and artillery followed. Mitre, in his "Life of
San Martin," as presented to us in the condensed translation of
Pilling, eloquently says that this flag rose "for the redemption of
one-half of South America, passed the Cordilleras, waved in triumph
along the Pacific coast, floated over the foundations of two new
republics, aided in the liberation of another, and after sixty-four
years served as a funeral pall to the body of the hero, who thus
delivered it to the care of the immortal Army of the Andes."
The mountains rose above the departing army, piercing the sky in the
fading day. Up they climbed, putting to flight the condors. The men
suffered greatly from the rarefaction of the air. Even many of the
animals of the expedition perished. Out of 9,261 mules, only 4,300
ever reached Chile.
"What spoils my sleep," said San Martin, on surveying the Andes at
the outset of the expedition, "is not the strength of the enemy, but
how to pass those immense mountains." He might well say that, for
before him gleamed peaks 21,000 feet high.
The army, with all its sufferings, triumphantly crossed the lower
passes of the Cordilleras, and entered Chile. This march decided the
fate of South America.
The army encamped upon the Sierra of Chacubuco, from the summit of
which the whole of the magnificent country could be seen. Here rose
the flag of liberation. The flower of the Spanish army, inferior in
numbers, was near. On February 12th a battle was fought, and the
royalists were defeated with a loss of 500 men killed, 600 taken
prisoners, and all of their artillery.
The way was now open to Santiago, the capital. The army entered the
city amid the acclamations of the people. The Chilian assembly met
and offered San Martin the office of governor, with dictatorial
power. But San Martin was not fighting for power, or honor, but for
the liberties of his countrymen, and he nobly declined the office.
The guns of Buenos Ayres roared, and the city was turned into a
festival when the news of the triumph of the army of the Andes
reached the coast. The Argentine Government offered to bestow on San
Martin its highest honors, but the latter declined them, lest his
work should be retarded and his motives of life should be
misconstrued. It awarded to his daughter a life pension, which he
devoted to her education.
Santiago offered to him 10,000 ounces of gold. He refused the
splendid purse which he had so well won, but recommended that the
money be used for the cause of popular education in the form of a
public library.
Chile and Argentina now formed an alliance in defence of their
liberties.
But the royal army was gathering force and unity. On March 31st, it
numbered 5,500 men, and was prepared to make a final stand against
the army of liberation.
There is a river in Chile which divides the country, named the
Maipó, or Maipú. On its banks the royal army encamped on the first
days of April, 1818. The patriot army was close at hand, and each
army felt that the battle to follow would decide the fate of the
movement for the independence of the South American empire.
It is April 5, 1818. The royal army is ready for action, and the
patriots occupy the heights of Loma Blanca, overlooking the plains
of the Maipú.
"Do not await a charge to-day," ordered San Martin; "_but charge_
always within fifty paces!"
At the beginning of the action he said,
"I take the sun to witness that the day is ours."
Just then the sun, which had been clouded, shone from the heavens.
The royal army was defeated. That night of May 5th covered their
flight, and the War of Independence was won.
San Martin began now to plan the liberation of Peru, and to create a
navy for the purpose of commanding the ports of the golden mountains
and rich plateaus of the incarial realms.
In August, 1820, he had gathered a patriot force of 4,500 men at
Valparaiso, and was ready to embark for the conquest by sea. The
army was composed of Argentines and Chilians. A former expedition
had made the way of victory clear to the patriots. The fleet left
Valparaiso August 21, 1820. The army landed in Peru and began
operations near Lima.
San Martin began his Chilian campaign by the liberation of the
slaves, whom he afterward found trusty soldiers. He began the
Peruvian war by issuing a most noble manifesto to his countrymen, in
which he said: "Ever since I came back to my native land, the
independence of Peru has been present in my mind."
And again he grandly announced his future policy in nearly these
words: "From the time that a government is established by the people
of Peru, the army of the Andes will obey its orders."
The army of liberation was as successful in Peru as in Chile. The
empire of the viceroys crumbled and fell. Amid the roar of cannon,
the shouts of the people, and strewing of flowers, the independence
of Peru was proclaimed on July 20, 1821, in the great square of
Lima. San Martin, as in Chile, was offered the supreme authority
under the title of the Protector of Peru. He made use of the office
merely for the pacification of the country. He convened the first
Congress in Peru, and to the new government he addressed the words,
or words like those, that we have quoted at the beginning of this
article. He saw that Bolivar was the man to complete the liberation
and bring about the unity of South America. The cause was all to
him: he was nothing.
To Bolivar he wrote: "My decision is irrevocable. I have convened
the first Congress of Peru. The day of its installation I shall
leave for Chile, convinced that my presence is the only obstacle
that prevents you from coming to Peru."
He sent to Bolivar a parting gift, saying, "Receive this memento
from the first of your admirers, and with my desire that you have
the glory of finishing the war for the independence of South
America."
The history of chivalry has no match for the character of San
Martin. Bolivar united patriotism and vanity; San Martin's glory was
self-abnegation. At a banquet where the two were present, Bolivar
once offered the following toast: "To the two greatest men in South
America--San Martin and _myself_."
San Martin followed with his toast. "To the speedy end of the war;
to the establishment of the republics, and to the health of the
Liberator of Colombia!"
The two toasts were photographs. Time is lifting the character of
San Martin into its true place among glorious men. He was a man who
fought for peace. His life fulfilled his own motto: "Thou shalt be
what thou oughtest to be, or else thou shalt be nothing."
On critical occasions, his magnanimous soul rose to the sublimity of
this motto, and to the end of his life of glory and poverty he was
always able to say, "I have been what I ought!"
[Signature: Hezekiah Butterworth.]