San Martin Day – August 18, 2025

History of San Martin Day

San Martin Day celebrates one of the founding fathers of Latin America, José Francisco de San Martin y Matorras, who died on August 17, 1850. General San Martin was a statesman, a legislator, an Argentine soldier, and a national hero. He led the revolution against Spanish rule in the southern nations of South America and Liberated Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

In 1812, following his resignation from the Spanish army, General San Martin joined the patriot forces in Buenos Aires that led the revolution that granted Argentina temporary freedom from Spanish rule. General San Martin believed that Argentina’s complete freedom would only come from dislodging Spanish forces in Peru, Chile, and Bolivia.

In 1814, General Martin took up the governorship of the province of Cuyo. He wanted to advance his plans of liberation and established a new army unit called the “Army of the Andes” in Cuyo Province, Argentina. In 1816, he liberated Argentina from Spanish rule. His liberation conquest did not end there as he led the Crossing of the Andes to Chile, where he triumphed at the Battle of Chacabuco and the Battle of Maipú in 1818 and liberated Chile from royalist rule.

Following Chile’s liberation, General Martin set out to release Lima, Peru, from the clutches of the Spanish regime. By 1821, he gained partial control of Lima, and by July of the same year, Peru was declared an independent nation. To this day, he is recognized in Argentina as the “Padre de la Patria,” the Father of Argentina, and the Liberator of Chile and Peru.