José Ignacio Warnes y García de Zúñiga (Buenos Aires, 1772 – El Parí, 1816) was an Argentine soldier who fought in the Argentine War of Independence. Son of the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of the city of

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 ...

Manuel Antonio Warnes y Durango and Ana Jacoba García de Zúñiga y Lizola. His sister Manuela married

José Joaquín Prieto José is a predominantly Spanish and 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 , is an old vernacu ...

, president of

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 ...

Career

He enlisted in the Blandengues army regiment when very young. Between 1806 and 1807 he fought against the British invasions. In 1810 he supported the

May Revolution The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...

, joining the revolutionary army with the rank of lieutenant. He was part of

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...

's expedition, which fought the royalist army in

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. He was taken prisoner during the Paraguay campaign at Tacuarí, and was later released rejoining the forces that later would fight in the

Army of the North The Army of the North ( es, link=no, Ejército del Norte), contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was fre ...

campaigns under general Belgrano. Warnes distinguished himself at the battles of Tucumán and

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...

, when the army attempted the liberation of

Upper Peru Upper Peru (; ) is a name for the land that was governed by the Real Audiencia of Charcas. The name originated in Buenos Aires towards the end of the 18th century after the Audiencia of Charcas was transferred from the Viceroyalty of Peru to t ...

(present-day Bolivia). He also fought with distinction in the defeats of Vilcapugio and Ayohuma.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

After these battles, Belgrano ordered him to command (1813) a troop to advance through the

Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or Dry Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato ...

to liberate

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River in the eastern Tropical Lowlands of Bolivia ...

. Warnes was successful and assumed the government of the city. Theoretically he was bound to the authority of the province of

Cochabamba Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa; qu, Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 630 ...

, part of the

United Provinces of the Río de la Plata The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata ( es, link=no, Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata), earlier known as the United Provinces of South America ( es, link=no, Provincias Unidas de Sudamérica), was a name adopted in 1816 by the Co ...

, but in practice he worked with absolute independence. He organized a local army, personally training the men and organizing local arms manufacture. While the rest of the army was retreating to

, Warnes maintained control of his province as military governor. He proved to be a brilliant military organizer. He created battalions of ''Pardos y Morenos'' (mulattoes), ''Coraceros'' (heavy infantry) and ''Cazadores'' (''Hunters'' - light infantry). A little by his convictions and in order to recruit and fill the first of these battalions, he decreed the immediate release of slaves in the province. He did not send help (nor asked) disregarding the insistent pleas from governor Arenales. Even though they disagreed, Arenales proved generous and marched his troops to help when Warnes was defeated by the royalist colonel Blanco at Angostura. Together they defeated the royalists at the battle of La Florida on 25 May 1814. During that battle, Arenales was seriously wounded when attacked by a small enemy party and left for dead, but he survived. Following that skirmish, when the battle was almost over, Warnes fought a

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

duel and killed the commander, colonel Blanco. Reintegrated to the Army of the North, he contacted general Rondeau, offering him horses and cavalry troops, plus services of coordination and messengers. Rondeau, declined the offer and instead sent ex-governor of Córdoba Santiago Carrera to replace Warnes in the government of Santa Cruz. When Carrera arrived, Warnes' supporters revolted and killed Carrera and several of his party.

Defeat and death

A few days later, when Rondeau was defeated at the Battle of Sipe Sipe, Warnes was again in charge of Santa Cruz "until when this army would return replenished...", as Rondeau told him. But the Army of the North never returned and Warnes was pressured by the royalist army ever more. In September 1816, colonel Francisco Javier Aguilera, a Santa Cruz native defeated the rebel army at Santa Cruz. Warnes went to help with his 1,000 men and fought Aguilera at El Parí. The royalist cavalry was defeated and Aguilera lost half his men but Warnes was hit by a bullet and killed. Seeing their leader killed, led to a patriot defeat. The few survivors were taken prisoner and executed. Aguilera entered the city with Warnes' head on a pike. Ignacio Warnes became a hero of Santa Cruz and today there is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in Bolivia that carry his name.

Bibliography

* Bidondo, Emilio, ''La guerra de la independencia en el Alto Perú'', Ed. Círculo Militar, Bs. As., 1979 * Mitre, Bartolomé, ''Historia de Belgrano y de la independencia argentina''. Ed. Estrada, Bs. As., 1947 * O’Donell, Pacho, ''El grito sagrado'', Ed. Sudamericana, Bs. As., 1997 * Pezuela, Joaquín, ''Memoria de gobierno'', Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos, Sevilla, 1947 {{DEFAULTSORT:Warnes, Jose Ignacio 1772 births 1816 deaths Argentine people of Basque descent Argentine military personnel Argentine prisoners of war Argentine military personnel killed in the Argentine War of Independence Deaths by firearm in Bolivia People from Buenos Aires People of the Argentine War of Independence