José de San Martín

Born in Yapeyú in 1778, José de San Martín left the Río de la Plata at seven for military schooling in Spain. He fought for Spain in the Peninsular War until 1808, when he contacted independence supporters in London and changed sides. By 1812 he'd sailed to Buenos Aires and taken command. After the Battle of San Lorenzo and a stint leading the Army of the North in 1814, he built a new force - the Army of the Andes - in Cuyo Province and executed a plan to strike Peru from an unexpected direction. He crossed the Andes into Chile, won at Chacabuco and Maipú in 1818, then sailed north to Lima. On 28 July 1821, Peru declared independence with San Martín as Protector. A year later he met Simón Bolívar behind closed doors in Guayaquil, handed over the liberation of Peru, and resigned. He left South America in 1824 for France, where he died in 1850.