José Francisco Vergara Echevers was a Chilean politician, war hero, cavalry commander, presidential candidate, engineer and journalist who was notable for founding Viña del Mar as well as his several military campaigns of the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...

Family

Echevers was the son of José María Vergara Albano, who was an assistant of

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Alth ...

, reaching the rank of sergeant major in 1818 and later appointed mayor of Colchagua by Manuel Bulnes and Carmen Echevers y Cuevas. He was also the grandson of José Francisco Martínez de Vergara y Rojas-Puebla, nephew of Pedro Nolasco Vergara Albano, cousin of Diego Vergara Correa, José Bonifacio Vergara Correa and uncle of the senators and deputies Ismael Valdés Vergara, Francisco Valdés Vergara and the literary critic and undersecretary of war and navy Pedro Nolasco Cruz Vergara. He married on August 8, 1859, with Mercedes Alvares Prieto, granddaughter of Francisco Alvares and Dolores Pérez Flores. They had two children, Salvador married to Blanca Vicuña Subercaseaux; and Blanca married to Guillermo Errázuriz Urmeneta.

Studies

He completed his primary studies in private and secondary schools at the National Institute. From December, 1852 to April, 1853 he was appointed Inspector of Internal of the institute. Later he entered the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, obtaining the title of surveyor engineer in 1859 at the age of 26.

Foundation of Viña del Mar

In 1853, at the age of 20, he began to work on the train line that would link the city of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

and

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

. During this work he met Mercedes Álvares Pérez, daughter of the owner of the Viña del Mar farm, whom he married on August 8, 1859. On December 24, 1874, presented to the mayor of Valparaiso on the train project of the population of Viña del Mar and on 29 February 1875, the project was approved and the respective founding decree was issued. On 1875, Vergara donated the land for the construction of two schools, a chapel, a slaughterhouse and a hospital. The foundation of the city of Viña del Mar was in the lower part of the estate of the area, in which Vergara administered since the death of his in-laws in 1873. On May 31, 1881, the decree gave rise to the Municipality of Viña del Mar, this decree was signed by President

Aníbal Pinto Garmendia Aníbal is the Spanish name, Spanish and Portuguese name, Portuguese masculine name, masculine given name equivalent of Hannibal (given name), Hannibal (q.v.), itself a latinization of the Greek name Hanníbas (Ἀννίβας), derived from “ḥn ...

as he became a part of the council that elected Jose Francisco Vergara.

Political career

Deputy and Senator

In his youth, Vergara joined the

Radical Party of Chile The Radical Party (Spanish: ''Partido Radical'') was a Chilean political party. It was formed in 1863 in Copiapó by a split in the Liberal Party. Not coincidentally, it was formed shortly after the organization of the Grand Lodge of Chile, and ...

, being elected deputy on May 30, 1879. He was a member of the Club de la Reforma and elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Chile in 1881 .In 1882 to 1886 he served as senator for the province of Coquimbo representing the Radical party. In the Senate, he accused the government of

Domingo Santa María Domingo Santa María González (; August 4, 1825 – July 18, 1889) was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile between 1881 and 1886. Early life He was born in Santiago de Chile, the son of Luis José Santa María G ...

of committing corruption and abuse.

Minister of State

He was Minister of War and Navy of

and Minister of the Interior of Domingo Santa María González of whom he succeed, but the president changed his opinion due to Vergara's opinions on electoral freedom and his helped nominate future president

José Manuel Balmaceda José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández (; July 19, 1840 – September 19, 1891) served as the 10th President of Chile from September 18, 1886, to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile. While he was ...

. ''Severo Perpenna'' was the name used by Vergara for Santa Maria as he reproached his authoritarianism and political derailments, with this pseudonym, Vergara published multiple articles in the newspaper ''La Libertad Electoral'' in 1886.

War of the Pacific

Vergara was appointed by the President of Chile, Aníbal Pinto, to be secretary of the commander-in-chief of the Army,

Justo Arteaga Justo () is a Spanish surname and male given name meaning ''just'', i.e. ''fair''. Given name Notable people with this given name include: * José Justo Corro (1794-1864), Mexican president * José Justo Milla (1794–1838), Honduran military lead ...

. There were two positions that were represented, one by the Government of Pinto, at that time Minister Belisario Prats, and another by the Armed Forces, Navy and Army, represented by Admiral

Juan Williams Rebolledo Juan Williams Rebolledo (1825 in Curacaví, Melipilla Province – 24 June 1910 in Santiago), was a Chilean rear admiral who was the organizer and commander-in-chief of the Chilean navy in 1879 at the beginning of the War of the Pacific. ...

. The former thought that war had to be declared and on the same day, bomb the Peruvian fleet that was known to be undergoing repairs in Callao, thus leaving the road open to

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

. On second thought however, it was determined that

Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191, ...

was necessary to slow down by a blockade and then harass the people of Tarapaca, so that they could advance step by step to reach Lima in June. Due to the head of the northern army, Justo Arteaga not accepting advice from anyone except his sons, Vergara spent his time studying the area and deducing a plan of operations. His plan was recognized by Domingo Santa María as the only reliable one. Icarito Guerra del Pacífico
/ref> 357 He also warned Vergara to the government of lack of planning and decision making in the military command, i.e. Arteaga, what motivated the government to send Domingo Santa Maria north to analyze the situation and ensure the prompt mobilization of the

Chilean Army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and ...

. Both the Minister of War, Rafael Sotomayor and his replacement, José Francisco Vergara, had to direct the course of operations considering the position of the uniformed men.

Disembarkation and capture of Pisagua

J.F. Vergara was secretary to Minister Rafael Sotomayor and after the landing he offered to lead a force of explorers that had to reconnoitre the surroundings of the only railway line that ran from Pisagua to Agua Santa. The reconnaissance found food stores, fodder, wells and water pumps and locomotives in operation that allowed the disembarked army to survive the time necessary to establish the supply by its own means. During the exploration, his detachment defeated an allied cavalry column in the

Battle of Pampa Germania The Battle of Pampa Germania was a cavalry battle of the Tarapacá campaign of the War of the Pacific that took place on November 6, 1879. In this battle, the Chilean cavalry led by Lieutenant Colonel José Francisco Vergara and Sofanor Parra am ...

. For his achievements, Vergara was appointed chief of the general staff of the force of 6,000 men stationed in Dolores. On November 19, 1879, the

Battle of San Francisco The Battle of San Francisco, also known as the Battle of Dolores (not to be confused with the Battle of Dolores River (1904) during the Philippine–American War), was a major battle in the Tarapacá Campaign of the War of the Pacific, fought o ...

took place, in which Vergara imposed his strategic criteria on that of Colonel Emilio Sotomayor Baeza, brother of the Minister. This fact prevented a catastrophe for the Chilean forces, but produced a definitive rupture, which was about to be solved with the sword, between Vergara and Sotomayor. On November 27, 1879, the

Battle of Tarapacá The Battle of Tarapacá occurred on November 27, 1879, during the Tarapacá Campaign of the War of the Pacific. Three Chilean columns of almost 3,900 soldiers attacked a numerically inferior Peruvian contingent of 3,046 troops at Tarapacá - 500 ...

occurred which was a disaster for the Chilean army and the subsequent request of Minister Sotomayor to Vergara to embark on Chile for the responsibility, which according to the army and public opinion, concerned him. For that matter, Gonzalo Bulnes quote from a personal page Vergara: 8 Vergara Echevers left immediately but stayed for a short time in Viña del Mar however, since according to what he tells his son Salvador, who was in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, on January 26, 1880, that he is returning to the frontlines. His view on how to conduct the war was pessimistic:

Minister of War and Navy

After the sudden death of Rafael Sotomayor Baeza during the

Tacna and Arica campaign The Tacna and Arica campaign is known as the stage of the War of the Pacific after the Chilean conquest of the Peruvian department of Tarapacá, ending with Chilean domination of the Moquegua department in southern Peru. During this campaign Bo ...

, José Francisco Vergara assumed the position of Minister of War and Navy on July 15, 1880, unleashing a wave of indignation in the Army.

Manuel Baquedano Manuel Jesús Baquedano González (; January 1, 1823 – September 30, 1897) was a Chilean soldier and politician, who served as Commander-in-chief of the Army during the War of the Pacific, and briefly as President of Chile during the civil war ...

wrote to President Pinto: He participated as representative of Chile in the failed Arica Conference in October 1880, which was to end the war. Vergara organized the expedition to Lima from Arica. He installed a dock and on the day of departure he watched each and every movement. His gaze, a mixture of pride and satisfaction, saw the launch of the boats with the food, luggage, ammunition, fodder, etc., of the 8,800 men who would define the war. Hardly any other man could have carried out the occupation of Lima without having the multifaceted personality of Vergara. In 1881 he participated in the

Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos The Battle of San Juan, also known as the Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos, was the first of two battles in the Lima Campaign during the War of the Pacific, and was fought on 13 January 1881. This battle is really a group of smaller, yet fierce ...

on January 13, the

Battle of Miraflores The Battle of Miraflores occurred on January 15, 1881 in the Miraflores District of Lima, Peru. It was an important battle during the War of the Pacific that was fought between Chile and the forces of Peru. The Chilean army led by Gen. Manuel ...

on January 15 and finally in the

Occupation of Lima , common_languages = Spanish , religion = , stat_year1 = , stat_area1 = , stat_pop1 = , title_leader = President , leader1 = Aníbal Pinto , year_leader1 ...

on January 17.

Death and legacy

Vergara returned to Viña del Mar having a hectic public life and also immersing himself in the personal care of its gardens. He died on the 15th of February, 1889 while trimming some laurels while being remembered as symbol of a glorious historical figure. He was buried in

, in the mausoleum of his wife's family in the cemetery number 1 of Cerro Panteón.

Diego Barros Arana Diego Jacinto Agustín Barros Arana (; August 16, 1830 – November 4, 1907) was a Chilean professor, legislator, minister and diplomat. He is considered the most important Chilean historian of the 19th century. His main work ''General History of ...

describes him as: Francisco Antonio Encina describes him as:

References

Bibliography

* * *
El coronel de Guardias Nacionales José Francisco Vergara
por Enrique Blanche Northcote, Memorial del Ejército de Chile, mayo-junio 1959

José Francisco Vergara, análisis de sus cartas privadas y políticas

''José Francisco Vergara: Guerra del Pacífico y Liberalismo'', Ana Henríquez Orrego, published at Valparaíso 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vergara, José Francisco 1833 births 1889 deaths Members of the Senate of Chile Chilean military personnel of the War of the Pacific Candidates for President of Chile Chilean Freemasons Vergara family Chilean engineers Radical Party of Chile politicians Chilean Ministers of the Interior 19th-century Chilean politicians