Las Heras, Juan Gregorio de (1780–1866)

Juan Gregorio de Las Heras (b. 11 June 1780; d. 6 February 1866), Argentine general and hero of the wars of independence. Born in Buenos Aires and seemingly destined for a commerical career, he enrolled in the militia and fought against the British during the "English invasions" of 1806–1807. In 1813 he went to Chile with a force of Argentine auxiliaries and distinguished himself in the early campaigns of Chile's wars of independence. Following the collapse of patriot Chile (October 1814), he joined José de San Martín's Army of the Andes, in which he commanded a division. He fought in many other actions, including the battles of Chacabuco (12 February 1817) and Maipú (5 April 1818), and later served as San Martín's chief of staff on the expedition to liberate Peru (1820–1821).

When San Martín withdrew from Peru, Las Heras returned to his native land. He became governor of Buenos Aires Province in 1824 and chief executive of Argentina in 1825. During his brief period in office, war was declared on Brazil. With Bernardino Rivadavia's assumption of the Argentine presidency (1826), Las Heras returned to Chile and resumed his military career. He was cashiered in 1830 for refusing to recognize the new Chilean Conservative regime. He was reinstated in 1842, after which he immediately retired. He spent the rest of his life in Chile. His remains were repatriated to Buenos Aires in 1906.

See alsoWars of Independence, South America .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Additional Bibliography

Halperin Donghi, Tulio. Revolución y guerra: Formación de una elite dirigente en la Argentina criolla. Buenos Aires: Siglo XXI Editores Argentina, 2002.

Herrero, Fabián, and Klaus Gallo. Revolución, política e ideas en el Río de la Plata durante la década de 1810. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Cooperativas, 2004.

Szuchman, Mark D., and Jonathan C. Brown., eds. Revolution and Restoration: The Rearrangement of Power in Argentina, 1776–1860. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.

                                           Simon Collier