Bernardo Ohiggins

Feliz 18 para todos mis hermanos chilenos, que pasen unas lindas fiestas patrias con su chicha y su empanada en mano ojala que no les corten el volantin XD

esta es una vieja imagen que hice para Heroes: La gloria tiene su precio, en un set de Mitos y leyendas sobre nuestra historia que estaba enlazada a la serie que transmitio canal 13 hace un par de años atras por motivos del bicentenario

Grapphire2/PSCS/5hours

Hi there guys! today September 18 is our independence day here in Chile This image was done a years ago for a game, hope you like it. Want to know the story of this guy and who he is?

Let´s Wikiattack!
The most important “Gael-Sileánach” (Irish-Chileno in Irish Gaelic) is called the “Father of Chile” – his name adorns not only one of the main streets in Santiago and countless parks (including one National Park) across the country, but Region VI is also named for him; his name is Bernardo O’Higgins. Bernardo was, as they say, a child of love, the illegitimate son of 56-year-old Colonel Ambrosio O’Higgins and 16-year-old María Isabel Riquelme de la Barrera y Meza of Chillan.

Then in 1813, the Spanish attempted to reconquer Chile, and Carrera as Commander in Chief gave his future rival his own command. O’Higgins crushed the Spanish at Linares, earning the rank of Colonel, then failed to raise the siege of Chillan, but later restored his reputation at El Roble with an almost reckless disregard for his own safety, telling his men before battle, “Muchachos! Live with honor or die with glory! He who is brave, follow me!”

After El Roble, O’Higgins was promoted over Carrera to command the army when his predecessor was captured by the Spanish Army. Once released by terms of the Treaty of Lircay in May 1814, Carrera became so enraged at the arrangement that secured his release that he raised an army to sieze the government. O’Higgins marched against Carrera, and the two met in battle against each other near San Bernardo in the Battle of Las Tres Acequias. The resulting losses to both sides weakened the available forces to defend Santiago. Royalist General Mariano Osorio took his cue from the battle to march against the rebel-held city the next day, and the Spaniards easily crushed the two rivals, who belatedly joined forces against the Spanish at Rancagua. Both ended up fleeing for their lives over the mountains to Mendoza.

Three years later in 1817, the Paso de Los Libertadores took on its present name when General Captain Jose de San Martin led the pro-Independence Army of the Andes across the mountains to defeat the Spanish at Chacabuco and drive the Spaniards from Santiago; both rivals took part in the invasion. When San Martin turned down the Supreme Directorship in a newly-independent Chile in order to continue the fight against the Spanish further north, the role was offered instead to O’Higgins, who was only too happy to accept. The war in Chile continued until the Spanish Army was finally destroyed at the Battle of Maipu on April 5, 1818.

Over the next two years, O’Higgins’ feud with Carrera continued. Carrera was imprisoned, but then escaped to fight first in Argentina, then, after defeating the San Martin forces there, in Chile. After Carrera was captured yet again, O’Higgins’ men summarily executed him, ending the feud in 1821. The Supreme Director would rule another two years before former ally Ramon Freire deposed him in January 1823. As soldiers brought him before the new junta, O’Higgins made a dramatic show of baring his chest and offering his life should the country demand it. Impressed, the junta declared it had nothing against the Irishman, and saluted him as they dismissed him from power.

By July, O’Higgins departed from Valparaiso on board the British corvette “Fly”, which took him to exile in Peru. He would never see Chile again. Even though the government had rehabilitated him and voted to allow his return home, O’Higgins suffered from a series of heart attacks, and on Oct. 24, 1842, he died in Lima.

On occasion, O’Higgins is described as a not-so-impressive military general who relied more on luck than skill, and sometimes he is even described as a petty tyrant (a reputation perhaps amplified when General Augusto Pinochet moved his remains from the Cementario General in Santiago to a new “Altar de la Patria” in front of the La Moneda Palace – in 2006, he was finally placed in a subterranean crypt below the old altar). But no amount of criticism can take this away; Libertador Bernardo is indeed Ireland’s greatest contributions to the creation of modern Chile.

So a toast to the red-headed Irish boy that carried with him the ancestry of Irish kings, the support of a distant but famous father, and the love of a young Basque mother, and combined it all to build that country we all know and love today, Chile.