Spanish American wars of independence important change in strategy after three United Provinces campaigns had been defeated in Upper Peru. San Martín's army became the nucleus of the Army of the Andes, which received crucial political and material support in 1816 when Juan Martín de Pueyrredón became Supreme Director of the United Provinces. In January 1817, San Martín was finally ready to advance against the royalists in Chile. Ignoring an injunction from the congress of the Río de la Plata not to move against Chile, San Martín together with General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, later Supreme Director of Chile, led the Army over the Andes in
Battle of Paraguarí Battle of Paraguarí The battle of Paraguarí took place on January 19, 1811, in Paraguarí (Paraguay), between the patriot army led by Manuel Belgrano and the Royalist army located in Paraguay led by Bernardo de Velasco. The battle would end with a Paraguayan victory; but it boosted confidence in the local population to declare themselves independent from both Buenos Aires patriots and royalists months later. At the outbreak of the May Revolution in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the government emerged from it, called (in Spanish) "Junta Provisional Gubernativa de las Provincias del