Argentine War of Independence Chile, allied with the Mapuches. On April 4, Argentine Colonel Juan Gregorio de Las Heras had occupied Concepción, but the Royalists retreated to Talcahuano. In early 1818, Royalist reinforcements from the Viceroyalty of Peru arrived, commanded by general Mariano Osorio, and advanced towards the capital. San Martín then turned to scorched earth tactics and ordered the evacuation of Concepción, which he thought was impossible to defend. On 18 February 1818, the first anniversary of the battle of Chacabuco, Chile declared its independence from the Spanish Crown. On March 18, 1818, Osorio led a surprise attack on the joint Argentine-Chilean army,
Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara Bernardo (José Bernardo Maximiliano Gutiérrez de Lara) (August 20, 1774 – May 13, 1841) was an advocate and organizer of Mexican independence and the first constitutional governor of the state of Tamaulipas, and a native of Revilla, today Ciudad Guerrero, Mexico. Gutiérrez de Lara was obsessed with the idea of freeing Mexico from Spain, and he began by recruiting and arming twenty-one men in Texas. Then together with José Menchaca, he spoke with the Indians and convinced them to fight with him against the Spanish. After the suppression of an 1811 insurrection in Nuevo Santander, Gutiérrez