53 Facts About Bernardo O'Higgins

Bernardo O'Higgins was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry.

Bernardo O'Higgins was Captain General of the Chilean Army, Brigadier of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, General Officer of Gran Colombia and Grand Marshal of Peru.

Bernardo O'Higgins, a member of the O'Higgins family, was born in the Chilean city of Chillan in 1778, the 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.

Bernardo O'Higgins's mother was Isabel Riquelme, a prominent local; the daughter of Don Simon Riquelme y Goycolea, a member of the Chillan Cabildo, or town council.

At age 15, Bernardo O'Higgins was sent to Lima by his father.

Bernardo O'Higgins had a distant relationship with Ambrosio, who supported him financially and was concerned with his education, but the two never met in person.

Bernardo O'Higgins used his mother's surname until the death of his father in 1801.

Bernardo's father continued his professional rise and became Viceroy of Peru; at seventeen Bernardo O'Higgins was sent to London to complete his studies.

Bernardo O'Higgins met Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan idealist and believer in independence, and joined a Masonic Lodge established by Miranda, dedicated to achieving the independence of Latin America.

In 1798 Bernardo O'Higgins went to Spain from Great Britain, his return to the Americas delayed by the French Revolutionary Wars.

Bernardo O'Higgins's father died in 1801, leaving O'Higgins a large piece of land, the Hacienda Las Canteras, near the Chilean city of Los Angeles.

Bernardo O'Higgins returned to Chile in 1802, adopted his biological father's surname, and began life as a gentleman farmer.

On 18 September 1810, Bernardo O'Higgins joined the revolt against the now French-dominated Spanish government.

Bernardo O'Higgins was a close friend of Juan Martinez de Rozas, an old friend of his father, and one of the more radical leaders.

Bernardo O'Higgins strongly recommended that a national congress be created, and was elected a deputy to the first National Congress of Chile in 1811 as a representative of the Laja district.

Tensions between the royalist and increasingly pro-independence factions, to which Bernardo O'Higgins remained attached as a junior member, continued to grow.

Jose Miguel Carrera, the most prominent member of the Carrera family, enjoyed a power base in Santiago; that of de Rozas, and later Bernardo O'Higgins, lay in Concepcion.

Bernardo O'Higgins was back on his estates in Laja, having retired from the Army the previous year due to poor health, when news came of the invasion.

Carrera sent Bernardo O'Higgins to cut the Spanish off at Linares; Bernardo O'Higgins' victory there resulted in his promotion to colonel.

The unsuccessful Siege of Chillan followed, where Bernardo O'Higgins produced a brave but unspectacular performance; however, as commander, Carrera took most of the blame for the defeat, weakening his prestige with the Junta back in Santiago.

Bernardo O'Higgins continued to campaign against the royalists, fighting with a reckless courage that would make him famous.

Carrera was captured and imprisoned by the royalist forces; in his absence, in May 1814 Bernardo O'Higgins supported the Treaty of Lircay, which promised a halt to the fighting.

Bernardo O'Higgins turned to focus on Carrera, and their forces met at the battle of Las Tres Acequias, where Carrera's brother Luis inflicted a modest defeat on Bernardo O'Higgins.

Carrera and Bernardo O'Higgins decided to reunite the army and face the common threat.

Carrera's plan was to draw the Spaniards to the Angostura del Paine, while Bernardo O'Higgins preferred the town of Rancagua.

At the last hour Bernardo O'Higgins instead garrisoned the nationalist forces at the main square of Rancagua.

Bernardo O'Higgins claimed that the Spanish stopped their retreat and started advancing towards his troops.

Bernardo O'Higgins said that, if he were to lead his men back up the narrow path and retreat, they would have been massacred one by one.

Bernardo O'Higgins charged the centre of the Spanish position, and Soler got into place behind the Spanish forces, effectively cutting off any chance of retreat.

Bernardo O'Higgins accepted the position instead and became the leader of an independent Chile.

Bernardo O'Higgins was granted dictatorial powers as Supreme Director on 16 February 1817.

For six years, Bernardo O'Higgins was a largely successful leader, and his government initially functioned well.

Bernardo O'Higgins founded the Chilean Military Academy in 1817, aiming to professionalise the officer corps.

Bernardo O'Higgins remained concerned about the threat of invasion, and had declared after the battle of Chacabuco that "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".

Bernardo O'Higgins continued in his desire to see independence across Latin America, utilising his new forces to support San Martin, sending the Liberating expedition to Peru.

Bernardo O'Higgins once planned to expand Chile by liberating the Philippines from Spain and incorporating the islands.

In time Bernardo O'Higgins began to alienate important political groupings within the still-fragile Chilean nation.

Bernardo O'Higgins' proposed radical and liberal reforms, such as the establishment of democracy and the abolition of titles of nobility, were resisted by the powerful large landowners.

In 1822, Bernardo O'Higgins established a new "controversial" constitution, which many regarded as a desperate attempt to hang on to power.

Bernardo O'Higgins was deposed by a conservative coup on 28 January 1823.

Bernardo O'Higgins's name became a rallying point for those discontented with O'Higgins, but the two of them never came to an armed conflict.

Bernardo O'Higgins' abdication was typically dramatic: baring his chest, he offered up his life should his accusers demand it of him.

In return, the junta declared they held nothing against Bernardo O'Higgins, and saluted him.

Bernardo O'Higgins was made governor of Concepcion, an appointment which did not last long: it was time for him to leave Chile.

Bernardo O'Higgins lived in exile for the rest of his life accompanied by his illegitimate son, Pedro Demetrio Bernardo O'Higgins, his mother, and his half-sister, Rosa Rodriguez Riquelme.

Bernardo O'Higgins returned to Bolivar for the victory celebrations but as a civilian.

Meanwhile, the Chilean government had begun to rehabilitate Bernardo O'Higgins, reappointing him to his old rank of captain-general in the Chilean Army.

From exile, Bernardo O'Higgins argued for the establishment of a Chilean settlement in the Strait of Magellan in his correspondence with the Minister of State.

Bernardo O'Higgins's doctor ordered him to return to Lima, where on 24 October 1842, aged 64, O'Higgins died.

Bernardo O'Higgins had wished to be buried in the city of Concepcion, but this was never to be.

Bernardo O'Higgins is widely commemorated today, both in Chile and beyond.

In 1949, American composer Henry Cowell composed an opera on the life of Bernardo O'Higgins titled Bernardo O'Higgins of Chile.

In 1955, the football team Bernardo O'Higgins FC was founded, named after him.