My Early Military Career

At the age of nineteen, I served with the Spanish navy, fighting the British on several occasions. At one point, my ship was captured, but I returned to Spain in a prisoner exchange. I fought in Portugal and at the blockade of Gibraltar, and rose swiftly in rank as I proved to be a skilled, loyal soldier. When France invaded Spain in 1806 I fought against them on several occasions, eventually rising to the rank of Adjutant-General. I commanded a regiment of dragoons, very skilled light cavalry. My accomplishments as a career soldier and war hero seemed the most unlikely of candidates to defect and join the insurgents in South America, but that's exactly what I did. In September of 1811, I boarded a British ship in Cadiz with the intention of returning to Argentina - where I had not been since the age of seven – and I joined the Independence movement there. My motives seemed unclear to many, a little part of it had to do with my ties to the Masons, many of whom were pro-Independence. I was the highest ranking Spanish officer to defect to the patriot side in all of Latin America. I arrived in Argentina in March of 1812 and at first I was greeted with suspicion by Argentine leaders because of my Spanish military career, but I soon proved my loyalty and ability. In January of 1813, I defeated a small Spanish force that had been harassing settlements on the Parana River. This victory - one of the first for me against the Spanish - captured the imagination of the patriots, and before long I was head of all of the armed forces in Buenos Aires.