Juan José Viamonte González (February 9, 1774 – March 31, 1843) was an Argentine general in the early 19th century.

Life and Politics

Viamonte was born in

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 ...

and entered the army in his youth following in his father's footsteps. He fought in the First British Invasion with the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

, and after his participation in the Second Invasion, having distinguished himself in the defense of the Colegio de San Carlos, was promoted to captain. He took part on the

Buenos Aires Cabildo The Cabildo of Buenos Aires ( es, Cabildo de Buenos Aires) is the public building in Buenos Aires that was used as seat of the town council during the colonial era and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Today the bu ...

of May 22, 1810 and after the

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

he fought at the battles of Suipacha and Huaqui. After this latter battle he was accused of not joining with the 1,500 men under his command, while he was doing military exercises nearby. This accusation led to a long court-martial which finally acquitted him and he remained in the army. In November 1814, when the civil war between

Federales ''Federales'' (singular ''Federale'' or, rarely but aligning with Spanish, ''Federal'') is a Spanglish word used in an informal context to denote security forces operating under a federal political system. The term gained widespread usage by E ...

and Unitarians had started, he was named governor of

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east. Its capital is Paraná ...

. The following year he took part in the revolution against Supreme Director

Carlos María de Alvear Carlos María de Alvear (October 25, 1789 in Santo Ángel, Rio Grande do Sul – November 3, 1852 in New York), was an Argentine soldier and statesman, Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1815. Early life H ...

, and later he was sent to

Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Entre R� ...

to control the advance of the federalists. The day after his arrival governor Francisco Candioti died, which gave Viamonte the opportunity to make the province depend again on Buenos Aires. The following year he was expelled in a rising organized by local

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...

s Mariano Vera and

Estanislao López Estanislao López (26 November 1786 – 15 June 1838) was a ''caudillo'' and governor of the , between 1818 and 1838, one of the foremost proponents of provincial federalism, and an associate of Juan Manuel de Rosas during the Argentine Civ ...

, and he was sent to be imprisoned at Artigas encampment. In May 1818 he was a deputy to the

Congress of Tucumán The Congress of Tucumán was the representative assembly, initially meeting in San Miguel de Tucumán, that declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America (modern-day Argentina, Uruguay, part of Bolivia) on July 9, 1816, fro ...

, and the following year he was named chief of the expeditionary army of Santa Fe, replacing

Juan Ramón Balcarce Juan Ramón González de Balcarce (16 March 1773 – 12 November 1836) was an Argentine military leader and politician. Biography Juan was the older brother of Antonio González de Balcarce and of Marcos González de Balcarce. He fought agai ...

. Estanislao López immobilized the army directed from Córdoba by

Juan Bautista Bustos Juan Bautista Bustos (August 29, 1779 - September 18, 1830) was an Argentine politician and military leader who participated in the British invasions of the River Plate and the Argentine Civil Wars. In 1820, he became the first constitutional Gov ...

and captured Viamonte at Rosario, forcing him to sign the armistice of Santo Tomé. He was exiled to Montevideo after the Battle of Cepeda (1820), but he returned a year later in 1821 and was named governor of Buenos Aires Province due to the absence of Martín Rodríguez. He was a deputy to the General Congress of 1824 and he supported the unitarian constitution of 1826, but later on he changed sides and joined Dorrego's Federal Party. After the failed unitarian experiment of

Juan Lavalle Juan Galo Lavalle (17 October 1797 – 9 October 1841) was an Argentine military and political figure. Biography Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José Lavalle, general accountant of rents and t ...

, he was interim governor in 1829, a post in which he did practically nothing but ensure the ascent to power of Juan Manuel de Rosas. In 1833, when governor Balcarce was deposed in the

Revolution of the Restorers The Revolution of the Restorers ( es, Revolución de los Restauradores) was a rebellion that took place in Buenos Aires in 1833. The governor Juan Ramón Balcarce was ousted from office and replaced by Juan José Viamonte. The rebellion was motiv ...

, he returned to the governorship but Rosas forced him to resign in June 1834, a resignation that was not readily accepted as nobody wanted to take the post. Finally in October the legislature reached a compromise and its president

Manuel Vicente Maza Manuel Vicente Maza (1779 – June 27, 1839) was an Argentine lawyer and federal politician. He was governor of Buenos Aires, and was killed after the discovery of a failed plot to kill Juan Manuel de Rosas. Biography Even though Maza was bo ...

, was forced to take the governorship. Viamonte was exiled in Montevideo in 1839 for the last time where he died in 1843. His remains were transported back to Buenos Aires, and were interred in the

La Recoleta Cemetery La Recoleta Cemetery ( es, Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, ...

External links

Biography and history of General Juan José Viamonte

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viamonte, Juan Jose 1774 births 1843 deaths People from Buenos Aires Argentine generals People of the Argentine War of Independence Governors of Buenos Aires Province Supreme Directors of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Federales (Argentina)

Life and Politics

See also

External links