Alonso García de Ramón (c. 1552 – August 5, 1610) was a Spanish soldier and twice Royal Governor of Chile: first temporarily from July 1600 to February 1601, and then from March 1605 to August 1610. He was born in Cuenca, Spain in 1552.

Early life

He served from the age of 16 in the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

first against the Morisco revolt in

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

. Then he was in Italy and Sicily, where he was cabo de escuadra, in the squadron of Juan of Austria in the 1572

battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied fo ...

following the battle of Lepanto. Then in 1574, he was in the garrison of

Goleta Goleta or La Goleta may refer to: * ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus * Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County * La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), i ...

during the campaign of Juan of Austria in Tunis. In 1576 he survived under Alvaro de Bazan, Marquess of Santa Cruz in the Battle of Querquenes at the Kerkennah Islands. He next went to Flanders as a sergeant under

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma Alexander Farnese ( it, Alessandro Farnese, es, Alejandro Farnesio; 27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592) was an Italian noble and condottiero and later a general of the Spanish army, who was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1586 to 1592 ...

. He was in the assault of the city of Zichem, the attack of Borgerhout and the siege and assault of Maestricht where he was one of the first that mounted the walls; twice wounded taking two flags, for which he was awarded twelve ducados by the Duke.

Military service in Chile and Peru

He returned to Spain and then went to Chile, fighting with skill and bravery for Governor Alonso de Sotomayor against the Mapuche. His most famous action was at the siege of

Purén Purén is a city (2002 pop. 12,868) and commune in Malleco Province of La Araucanía Region, Chile. It is located in the west base of the Nahuelbuta mountain range (650 km. south of Santiago). The economical activity of Purén is based in fo ...

where he killed the Toqui Cadeguala in mounted single combat. Soon after Martín García Óñez de Loyola replaced Sotomayor, García de Ramón moved to Peru, and earned the confidence of the Viceroy of Peru, García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete who entrusted him with many positions, that he carried out with brilliance including those of

corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...

of Arica and

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal . For centuries, it was the location o ...

. From 1599, when

Francisco de Quiñónez Francisco de Quiñónez (? - ? Leon †); Spanish soldier who was appointed as governor of Chile for thirteen months, between May 1599 and June 1600. When he became governor of Chile, Quiñónez was a veteran soldier. He had served, in 1559, in t ...

was sent to Chile, he was

Maestro de Campo Maestro de Campo, also called Sibale and Concepcion is an island in the province of Romblon, Philippines. Concepcion, a Philippine sixth class municipality is located on Maestro de Campo. In 1919, most of Maestro de Campo's residents were located ...

of all Peru and was one of the most trusted military advisors of Viceroy, Luis de Velasco.

First Governorship of Chile

García de Ramón was sent to relieve Francisco de Quiñónez as interim governor arriving in Chile on July 29, 1600. He arrived in Santiago the next day and was installed as governor. He soon discovered things were worse in southern Chile than he had known in Peru, La Imperial had been lost in April. Without reinforcements from Peru he was forced to extract men, arms and supplies from the cities of Chile by means of imposing extraordinary contributions, special taxes, and confiscating cattle, horses, saddles and arms that allowed him quickly form a well equipped army of 400 men by December 1600. By early January, his army had marched to

Chillán Chillán () is the capital city of the Ñuble Region in the Diguillín Province of Chile located about south of the country's capital, Santiago, near the geographical center of the country. It is the capital of the new Ñuble Region since 6 Sept ...

where he was forced to leave a detachment to prevent Mapuche incursions above the Itata River. He moved on to Concepcion where he planned to relieve the remaining besieged fort Valdivia and cities of Villarica, and Osorno. His attempt to send aid by ship to Valdivia and Chiloé failed when the ship was stolen by deserters from the army fleeing Chile for Peru. Unwilling to give up he planned to advance south via the central valley, to Angol,

and Lumaco, to aid Villarrica, and on to Osorno in the south linking up with Francisco del Campo advancing from fort Valdivia. However, he and 310 men had not advanced further than Quillacoya when he had word that Arauco was now under siege and required relief. He had turned back to go to its aid when he was informed that Alonso de Ribera had arrived to assume the governorship in February 1601.

Second Governorship of Chile

Appointed in 1605 to replace Alonso de Ribera as Governor of Chile, he used the base of

forts A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

established by his predecessor as bases for his campaigns against the Mapuche. In 1606, the Spanish forces of Garcia Ramon fought the Mapuche army under the caciques Ainavilu, Anganamen, Pelantaru and Longoñongo in the

Battle of Boroa A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. Approximately 500 Spaniards, defeated 6,000 Mapuches. García de Ramón then built Fort

San Ignacio de la Redención San Ignacio de la Redención was a fort established in 1606 by Alonso García de Ramón, Royal Governor of Chile, in a plain, located in the region of Boroa on the north bank of the Cautín River. In forty days he constructed a large fort, surrounde ...

near Boroa but it was soon abandoned after the ambush of most of its garrison. In 1607, García de Ramón rebuilt Fort Purén and

San Jerónimo de Millapoa San Jerónimo de Millapoa was a fort founded by Alonso de Sotomayor in 1585. It dominated the small valleys of the eastern slopes of the Nahuelbuta Range of Catirai, in the upper part of the Culenco River, in the mountainous area 25 kilometers sou ...

Catirai Catirai or Catiray is the region of the Moluche Aillarehue of Catiray in old Araucanía. It is now the Santa Juana commune of the Concepción Province and the Nacimiento commune of the Bío Bío Province of the Bío Bío Region, of Chile. It ...

but as a result of the

Parliament of Catirai In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

he soon dismantled the later.

References

Sources

* José Toribio Medina
Diccionario biográfico colonial de Chile, Impr. Elziviriana, Santiago, 1906, Pg. 338 - 341 Alonso García de Ramón
*

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 ...

Historia general de Chile. Tomo tercero
*

*

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia de Ramon, Alonso 1550s births 1610 deaths People from Cuenca, Spain Royal Governors of Chile Captaincy General of Chile Spanish soldiers