Baltazar García Ros (Valtierra, Spain, ca. 1670 - Buenos Aires, Río de la Plata, September 18, 1740) was a Navarrese-Spanish soldier and administrator. He was

maestre de campo ''Maestre de campo'' was a rank created in 1534 by the Emperor Charles I of Spain, inferior in rank only to the '' capitán general'' and acted as a chief of staff. He was chosen by the monarch in the Council of State, and commanded a ''tercio'' ...

and interim governor of the

Governorate of Paraguay The Governorate of Paraguay (), originally called the Governorate of Guayrá, was a governorate of the Spanish Empire and part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Its seat was the city of Asunción; its territory roughly encompassed the modern day cou ...

from 1706 to 1707 and governor of the

Governorate of the Río de la Plata The Governorate of the Río de la Plata (1549−1776) (, ) was one of the governorates of the Spanish Empire. It was created in 1549 by Spain in the area around the Río de la Plata. It was at first simply a renaming of the New Andalusia Gove ...

from 1715 to 1717. During his career, he campaigned against the indigenous Charrua, Yaro, and

Bohán The Bohán were one of the native nations of Uruguay. A minor tribe, they were related to and eventually subsumed by the Charrúa people. They were also related to the Yaro people. The Bohanes lived on the banks of the Uruguay river from the ...

people; the Portuguese; and the comunero rebels of Paraguay.

Biography

Baltazar García Ros was born around 1670 in

Valtierra Valtierra is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Afric ...

in Navarre.Mally, Pedro. p. 54 He enlisted in the army and participated in the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...

.Alemparte 1966. He later left for the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

in the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

and arrived in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

in 1701, where he was conferred the position of ''sargento mayor''. García Ros was a brave soldier who fought successful campaigns against the Aboriginal Charrua, Yaro, and Bohanes during this time. In 1705, with

Juan de Lacoizqueta ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

, García Ros participated in the Siege of Colonia del Sacramento to take the town from the Portuguese, as part of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

. The Portuguese eventually abandoned Colonia, giving victory to the Spanish. The victory was short-lived; the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

specified Colonia was to be handed back to the Portuguese, which happened in 1715. Still, the success earned Ros the title of maestre de campo. He was additionally granted interim governorship of Paraguay until a long-term replacement could arrive from Europe. After Manuel de Robles Lorenzana arrived to lead Paraguay, he returned to Buenos Aires where he served in the government there. García Ros served as governor of the Río de la Plata from 1715 to 1717. He continued on as Lieutenant Governor when

Bruno Mauricio de Zabala Bruno Mauricio de Zabala y Gortázar (6 October, 1682 – 31 January, 1736) was a Spanish soldier and colonial administrator who served as governor of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata from 1717 to 1734 and founded the city of Montevideo, ...

arrived to take up the position. In 1724, he was sent to end the governorship of

José de Antequera y Castro José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

of Paraguay with military force; Antequera was an official of the

Real Audiencia of Charcas The Real Audiencia of Charcas () was a Spanish '' audiencia'' with its seat in what is today Bolivia. It was established in 1559 in Ciudad de la Plata de Nuevo Toledo (later Charcas, modern-day Sucre) and had jurisdiction over the Governorate o ...

who had deposed the former governor and replaced him, an act which the Viceroy considered illegal. Ros's force, composed largely of mission Indians, was soundly defeated by a surprise attack from Antequera's Paraguayan militia. García Ros was forced back in defeat. Antequera's victory was short-lived, though; Governor Zabala personally organized a larger force the next year, and Antequera fled Zabala's oncoming troops in 1725, ending the first phrase of what would later be known as the Revolt of the Comuneros of Paraguay.Lopez, p. 97-100 García Ros died in Buenos Aires on September 18, 1740.

References

* Alemparte, Julio; ''"El Cabildo en Chile Colonial"'' (1966). * Levillier, Roberto; ''"Historia de los Pueblos de América. Historia Argentina"'' (Vol. 2, Ed. Plaza & Janés, 1968). * * Mally, Pedro; in ''"Apuntes históricos sobre el Estado Oriental del Uruguay"'' (Ed. Imprenta Industrial, 1899). * Navarro Viola, Miguel, and Vicente Gaspar Quesada; ''"La Revista de Buenos Aires. Historia americana, literatura y derecho"'' (Vol. 2, Buenos Aires, República Argentina, 1863). * Rela, Walter; ''"Colonia de Sacramento 1678–1778"'' (Ed. Intendencia Municipal de Colonia, 2003). * Rodríguez Baixeras, Antonio; ''"Tierra de oro. La América española en la edad moderna"'' (Madrid, Spain, 1989). {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Ros, Baltazar Governors of Paraguay Spanish military personnel Governors of the Río de la Plata 1670s births 1740 deaths