THE IDEA OF THE PASSAGE OF THE ANDES.
1815--1816.
The plans of San Martin were not in accordance with the ideas which
prevailed in the military circles of the United Provinces. The many
disasters which had befallen Argentine armies in Upper Peru had failed
to show either the leaders of those armies or Government that the true
road to Lima did not lie through those mountain passes. He did not
obtrude his opinions upon any one, still his idea at times leaked out in
despatches, and after the fate of Alvear, met with a somewhat better
reception at headquarters. Carrera had made a proposal to Government for
a foolhardy attempt upon Coquimbo, which was rejected after a
consultation with San Martin, but his application for permission to
assume the offensive had also been refused. He then caused a report to
be circulated in Chile that he was about to march his army to the north,
to reinforce the routed forces of Rondeau, in the hope that Marcó might
be induced to cross the Andes and attack Mendoza, and by representing
this danger to Government, he succeeded in persuading them to send him
some light field guns and other war material, of which he was in need;
and also to grant him power to assume the offensive in spring. He also
prevailed upon them to unite the scattered squadrons of the mounted
grenadiers, and to place them under his orders, as the nucleus of a
cavalry brigade.
In March, 1816, a detachment of the grenadiers, under Aldao, made a
successful reconnaissance by the Uspallata Pass, of the Royalist
positions on the western slopes of the Andes, and brought back much
useful information; but true to his principle of concealing his plans,
San Martin reported to Government that the central passes were so well
defended that the only practical course was by those to the south of
Mendoza; and also that advanced field works were necessary about
Uspallata, in order to secure the Province of Cuyo as the base of
operations. This procured him a further much needed supply of guns.
In April General Balcarce, the hero of Suipacha, succeeded Alvarez as
Provisional Director, and San Martin was thenceforward much better
supported by the central power; military supplies were sent to him on a
much more liberal scale than under the previous administration.
The power of the Lautaro Lodge had fallen with Alvear, but the society
still existed, and San Martin now established a branch in Mendoza, in
which the principal leaders of the Chilian refugees, and many of the
foremost men of Cuyo, were affiliated.
At this time he received most efficient assistance from his friend Don
Tomas Guido, who had first met him in London, and who had afterwards in
Tucuman learned from him something of his ideas in regard to the conduct
of the war. Guido drew up a memorial and presented it to the Supreme
Director, in which he warmly supported the idea of attacking Peru by way
of Chile; and his aid became still more efficacious when the meeting of
the Congress of Tucuman, a few weeks later on, placed the administration
of affairs in new hands.