Manuel Bulnes Pinto (July 10, 1842 – April 18, 1899) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an military and political figure. Bulnes was born in

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, whose ...

, the son of President

Manuel Bulnes Prieto Manuel Bulnes Prieto (; December 25, 1799 – October 18, 1866) was a Chilean military and political figure. He was twice President of Chile, from 1841 to 1846 and from 1846 to 1851. Born in Concepción, he served as the president of Chile bet ...

and of

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Enriqueta Pinto Garmendia, who in turn was the daughter of President

Francisco Antonio Pinto Francisco Antonio Pinto y Díaz de la Puente (; July 23, 1785 – July 18, 1858) was a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile between 1827 and 1829. Early life He was born in Santiago, the son of Joaquín Pinto and Mercedes D ...

and sister of future President

Aníbal Pinto Aníbal Pinto Garmendia (; March 15, 1825June 9, 1884) was a Chilean political figure. He served as the president of Chile between 1876 and 1881. Early life He was born in Santiago de Chile, the son of former Chilean president General Francisco ...

. He studied at the ''Colegio de los Padres Franceses'' and later moved to Paris, where he completed three years of law before returning to Chile. In 1867, Bulnes joined the Chilean Army as commander of a civic regiment organized and financed by himself. At the head of his regiment, he waged a continuous warfare against the Araucanian Indians in southern Chile, and in 1874 he joined the regular army ranks as a Sergeant major. He married Elena Calvo Cruchaga in 1877. Manuel Bulnes was elected a deputy for Mulchén in 1879. At the beginning of the War of the Pacific, he organized a cavalry squadron that they named ''Escuadrón de Carabineros de Yungay'', but the transport '' Rimac'' where they were traveling to the theater of operations was captured en route by the Peruvian Navy and they were interned as prisoners of war in the city of Tarma. Himself and his squadron were later freed via prisoner exchange, and they fought at the battles of

Tacna Tacna was known for its mining industry; it had significant deposits of sodium nitrate and other resources. Its economic prosperity attracted a wave of immigrants from Italy. Today, their Italian Peruvian descendants live in the city and many of t ...

, Chorrillos and Miraflores. After the war, he went in a government commission to Europe, where he was during the

1891 Chilean Civil War The Chilean Civil War of 1891 (also known as Revolution of 1891) was a civil war in Chile fought between forces supporting Congress and forces supporting the President, José Manuel Balmaceda from 16 January 1891 to 18 September 1891. The war ...

. He supported the congressional side and was rewarded with the promotion to Brigade General. He returned to Chile in 1894, where he became Secretary and later Chief of the Army General Staff. In 1896 he was named Minister of War and Navy by President

Federico Errázuriz Echaurren Federico Errázuriz Echaurren (Santiago, November 16, 1850 – Valparaíso, July 12, 1901) was a Chilean politician who served as the 12th President of Chile. Early life He was son of the president Federico Errázuriz Zañartu and of Eulogia ...

. In the short lapse while he held the post (from September 18 to November 26), he managed to regularized the army lists, giving legal equality to all who had ever served under the colors. He died in Santiago on 1899.

External links and sources

Official biography
1842 births 1899 deaths Politicians from Santiago Chilean people of Asturian descent Chilean people of Portuguese descent Conservative Party (Chile) politicians Chilean Ministers of Defense Deputies of the XIX Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Chilean Army generals Chilean military personnel of the War of the Pacific People of the Chilean Civil War of 1891 {{Chile-politician-stub