Bernardo the bold led Chile to independence

I WAS a seaman from the 1930s to ’60s and travelled the world.

I remember coming across a statue of a man called Higgins in either Chile or Peru.

Can you tell me about him and was he was Scottish or Irish? – J.

Bernardo O’Higgins was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence.

O’Higgins was born in the Chilean city of Chillán in 1778, illegitimate son of Ambrosio O’Higgins, 1st Marquis of Osorno, a Spanish officer born in County Sligo, Ireland, who became governor of Chile and later viceroy of Peru.

His mother was Isabel Riquelme, the daughter of Don Simón Riquelme y Goycolea, a member of the Chillán Cabildo, or council.

In 1810, O’Higgins joined the rebels who wanted Independence from Spain.

In 1814, his rebels were defeated by the Spanish and were forced to retreat into the Andes.

Three years later, O’Higgins went back on the offensive and, on February 12, 1817, led a cavalry charge that won the Battle of Chacabuco.

He was the first leader of independent Chile in 1817 and became Supreme Director.

After being deposed by a coup in 1823, O’Higgins spent the rest of his life in exile, and died in Peru in 1842.

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