José Santiago Albarracín 1 (23 July 1800 - 20 April 1869 ) was an Argentine soldier who fought on the Unitarian side in many engagements in the

Argentine Civil Wars The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place through the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Initiation concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1820), the conflict pr ...

, especially in the struggles against Chacho Peñaloza.

Early years

Santiago Albarracín was born in

San Juan, Argentina San Juan () is the capital and largest city of the Argentine province of San Juan in the Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River, at above mean sea level, with a population of around 112,000 as per the (over ...

on 23 July 1800. He was the son of Lucas Anselmo Albarracín Irrazábal and Aniceta Castro Marquezano. At a very young age he joined the Army of the Andes, along with his older brother, Lieutenant Pedro Pascacio Albarracín, but he was not involved in the campaign in Chile. He had his baptism of fire in the war against José Miguel Carrera in 1821. Albarracín joined the division of José María Pérez de Urdininea, with which he went to

Salta Province Salta () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy. To the north it borders Boliv ...

and then to Upper Peru (Bolivia) in 1825. For a time he served in a Bolivian regiment, returning later that year to Salta. Under the command of José María Paz he participated in the campaign against Brazil and fought in the Battle of Ituzaingó, in which he came close to dying in the destruction of the larger part of Paz's regiment. He returned to Buenos Aires in 1828, and fought against the Indians in the Laguna de los Huesos.

Civil wars

Albarracín was ordered by Paz to Córdoba Province, where he fought on the Unitarian side in the battles of San Roque, La Tablada and

Oncativo Oncativo is a city in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. It has 13,180 inhabitants as per the . It is located near the center of the province, 76 km south-southeast from the provincial capital Córdoba City and 64 north-northwest from Vill ...

. In this last battle he was a Colonel and commanded a regiment of Cuirassiers that Paz had formed. Albarracín invaded San Juan Province and deposed the Governor Juan Aguilar. He went on to Mendoza Province, where he defeated the

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forces that remained after Governor

Juan Rege Corvalán Juan Rege Corvalán (1787–1830) was an Argentine politician and military man. He was governor of the province of Mendoza and leader of the Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative politic ...

fled, fighting two small engagements in La Estacada and beside the

Río Tunuyán Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for " river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, ...

. After

Facundo Quiroga Juan Facundo Quiroga (November 27, 1788 – February 16, 1835) was an Argentine caudillo (military strongman) who supported federalism at the time when the country was still in formation. Early years Quiroga was born in San Antonio, La Ri ...

invaded Cuyo, he came under the orders of General

Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid Comandante General Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid (or "de La Madrid"; 28 November 1795 in San Miguel de Tucumán – 5 January 1857 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentine military officer and briefly, governor of several provinces like Córdoba, ...

in Tucumán Province, and participated in the

Battle of La Ciudadela The Battle of La Ciudadela (Battle of the Citadel) was a fight during the Argentine Civil Wars between Federales (Argentina), Federalist troops commanded by Facundo Quiroga and Unitarian Party, Unitarian troops of Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid on th ...

, where the Unitarian League of the Interion was finally defeated. He emigrated to Bolivia, and then to Peru. He returned to San Juan in 1825 and accompanied the governor Martin Yanzón in his absurd invasion of La Rioja Province, where they were defeated. He fled to Chile when La Rioja counterattacked, and remained there for many years. On 27 November 1835 Albarracín married doña Flora Rojo, vice president of the Charitable Society of San Juan, daughter of José Rudecindo Rojo and Jacinta Angulo. They had two children, Jacinta in 1840, and Ignacio Lucas in 1850. In 1845 he traveled to

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, from where he moved to Corrientes Province to join the army of General Paz. He participated in Paz's abortive revolution against Governor

Joaquín Madariaga Joaquín Madariaga (1799 in Corrientes – 1848) was a soldier and Argentine politician. Madariaga was Governor of the Corrientes Province and leader of the provinces resistance against the national government of Juan Manuel de Rosas. The Revolut ...

and went into exile in Paraguay and Brazil with General Paz. He traveled through Chile, California, Mexico and the United States.

Return to San Juan

Albarracín returned to Buenos Aires in 1852, shortly after the Battle of Caseros, and went to San Juan, where he organized a revolt against the '' caudillo''

Nazario Benavídez José Nazario Benavídez (27 July 1802 – 23 October 1858) was an Argentine soldier who rose to the rank of Brigadier General and played a leading role in the Argentine Civil Wars. He was Governor of San Juan Province, Argentina, for almost twe ...

in that year. He managed to control the city a while, but then was beaten and arrested. He spent a long time in exile in Chile and Buenos Aires, returning to his province after Benavídez was removed from power. Albarracín supported the revolution against

José Antonio Virasoro José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

, and Governor Antonino Aberastain appointed him commander of the provincial army. He was defeated in the Battle of Rinconada del Pocito, where his command was handicapped by the authority of Aberastain. He was arrested by the victor, Juan Saá, and remained imprisoned for several months. Albarracín was released and given command of the provincial army in January 1862 when the province was invaded by troops from Buenos Aires, led by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (his second cousin), who was elected governor. Under Sarmiento's orders, Albarracín fought in a clash with Ángel Vicente Peñaloza, and with the "lagunero" chief Santos Guayama. In 1865 Albarracín offered his services for the war in Paraguay, but was rejected because of his age. He died in Córdoba on 20 April 1869.

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * Cutolo, Vicente, ''Nuevo diccionario biográfico argentino'', 7 volúmenes, Ed. Elche, Bs. As., 1968-1985. * * Paz, José María, ''Memorias póstumas''. Ed. Hyspamérica, Bs. As., 1988. * * Ruiz Moreno, Isidoro J., ''Campañas militares argentinas'', Tomo III, Ed. Emecé, Bs. As., 2008. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Albarracin, Santiago 1800 births 1869 deaths People from San Juan, Argentina Unitarianists (Argentina) Argentine colonels