Baltazar García Ros (Valtierra, Spain, ca. 1670 - Buenos Aires, Río de la Plata, September 18, 1740) was a Navarrese-Spanish soldier and administrator. He was

maestre de campo ''Maestre de campo'' was a rank created in 1534 by the Emperor Carlos V, inferior in rank only to the ''capitán general'' and acted as a chief of staff. He was chosen by the monarch in the Council of State, and commanded a '' tercio''. Their po ...

and interim governor of the

Governorate of Paraguay The Governorate of Paraguay ( es, Gobernación del Paraguay), originally called the Governorate of Guayrá, was a governorate of the Spanish Empire and part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Its seat was the city of Asunción; its territory roughly e ...

from 1706 to 1707 and governor of the

Governorate of the Río de la Plata The Governorate of the Río de la Plata (1549−1776) ( es, Gobernación del Río de la Plata, links=no, ) was one of the governorates of the Spanish Empire. It was created in 1549 by Spain in the area around the Río de la Plata. It was at fir ...

from 1715 to 1717. During his career, he campaigned against the indigenous Charrua,

Yaro Yaro is a town in the Bagassi Department of Balé Province in southern Burkina Faso, in west Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, B ...

, and Bohán people; the Portuguese; and the comunero rebels of Paraguay.

Biography

Baltazar García Ros was born around 1670 in

Valtierra Valtierra is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. (Bazterra in euskera) In 918, Ordoño II of Asturias and Sancho I of Pamplona Sancho Garcés I ( Basque: ''Antso Ia. Gartzez''; ...

in Navarre.Mally, Pedro. p. 54 He enlisted in the army and participated in the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...

.Alemparte 1966. He later left for the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed from ...

in the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

and arrived in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in 1701, where he was conferred the position of ''sargento mayor''. García Ros was a brave soldier who fought successful campaigns against the Aboriginal Charrua, Yaro, and Bohanes during this time. In 1705, with Juan de Lacoizqueta, García Ros participated in the

Siege of Colonia del Sacramento The siege of Colonia del Sacramento was a successful siege in 1704 by Spanish forces of the Portuguese colonial town of Colonia del Sacramento, opposite Buenos Aires and now in the nation of Uruguay. Four thousand natives and 650 Spaniards, led by ...

to take the town from the Portuguese, as part of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

. The Portuguese eventually abandoned Colonia, giving victory to the Spanish. The victory was short-lived; the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...

specified Colonia was to be handed back to the Portuguese, which happened in 1715. Still, the success earned Ros the title of maestre de campo. He was additionally granted interim governorship of Paraguay until a long-term replacement could arrive from Europe. After Manuel de Robles Lorenzana arrived to lead Paraguay, he returned to Buenos Aires where he served in the government there. García Ros served as governor of the Río de la Plata from 1715 to 1717. He continued on as Lieutenant Governor when

Bruno Mauricio de Zabala Bruno Mauricio de Zabala y Gortázar (1682–1736) was a Spanish soldier and colonial administrator who served as governor of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata from 1717 to 1734 and founded the city of Montevideo, capital of present-day Uru ...

arrived to take up the position. In 1724, he was sent to end the governorship of

José de Antequera y Castro José de Antequera y Castro (Panama, 1689—Peru, July 5, 1731) was a Panamanian lawyer and judge in the Viceroyalty of Peru (then including Panama, Bolivia and Paraguay), and the leader of an insurrection in Paraguay against the viceroy and th ...

of Paraguay with military force; Antequera was an official of the

Real Audiencia of Charcas The Real Audiencia of Charcas ( es, Audiencia y Cancillería Real de La Plata de los Charcas) was a Spanish '' audiencia'' with its seat in what is today Bolivia. It was established in 1559 in Ciudad de la Plata de Nuevo Toledo (later Charcas, to ...

who had deposed the former governor and replaced him, an act which the Viceroy considered illegal. Ros's force, composed largely of mission Indians, was soundly defeated by a surprise attack from Antequera's Paraguayan militia. García Ros was forced back in defeat. Antequera's victory was short-lived, though; Governor Zabala personally organized a larger force the next year, and Antequera fled Zabala's oncoming troops in 1725, ending the first phrase of what would later be known as the Revolt of the Comuneros of Paraguay.Lopez, p. 97-100 García Ros died in Buenos Aires on September 18, 1740.

References

* Alemparte, Julio; ''"El Cabildo en Chile Colonial"'' (1966). * Levillier, Roberto; ''"Historia de los Pueblos de América. Historia Argentina"'' (Vol. 2, Ed. Plaza & Janés, 1968). * * Mally, Pedro; in ''"Apuntes históricos sobre el Estado Oriental del Uruguay"'' (Ed. Imprenta Industrial, 1899). * Navarro Viola, Miguel, and Vicente Gaspar Quesada; ''"La Revista de Buenos Aires. Historia americana, literatura y derecho"'' (Vol. 2, Buenos Aires, República Argentina, 1863). * Rela, Walter; ''"Colonia de Sacramento 1678–1778"'' (Ed. Intendencia Municipal de Colonia, 2003). * Rodríguez Baixeras, Antonio; ''"Tierra de oro. La América española en la edad moderna"'' (Madrid, Spain, 1989). {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Ros, Baltazar Governors of Paraguay Spanish military personnel Governors of the Río de la Plata 1670 births 1740 deaths Spanish colonial governors and administrators