Army of the Andes have it being as high as 6000 men. The army consisted of Argentines and Chileans, and included some 1200 auxiliaries to help in provisioning and supply, as well as a complement of artillery. The Congress of Tucumán endorsed San Martín's proposal to form an army to fight the royalists in Chile, and between August 1814 and February 1817, San Martín trained his troops to prepare them for their ordeal. While the army was made up of a less than experienced military force, San Martín intended to lead, with regular discipline and equipment, a proper army and not a "motley crew"
Bernardo de Brito Bernardo de Brito Friar Bernardo de Brito (20 August 1569 – 27 February 1617) was a Portuguese monk and historian. He is perhaps best known for having authored the first two volumes of "Monarchia Lusytana", his "magnum opus". Friar Bernardo de Brito was born Baltasar de Brito e Andrade, in the fortified village of Almeida in 1569. His father, Pedro Cardoso de Andrade, was a distinguished army captain who fought in Italy and Flanders who was killed in action during the Siege of Antwerp; his mother was Maria de Brito e Andrade, the sister of Rui de Andrade Freire, "alcaide"