Martín Rodríguez (4 July 1771 – 5 March 1845) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

politician and soldier.

Biography

Born 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 ...

to Rufina and Fermín Rodríguez, he inherited a ranch and managed the estate until 1806. He then took part in the resistance to the

British invasions of the Río de la Plata The British invasions of the River Plate were two unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colony of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, located around the Río de la Plata in South America – in present-day Argenti ...

, during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

and later played an important role in the events of the

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

of 1810. Upon the establishment of the First Junta which resulted, he was sent to the province of Entre Ríos to support the activities of

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

in the

Paraguay campaign The Paraguay campaign (1810–11) of the Argentine War of Independence was the attempt by a Buenos Aires-sponsored militia, commanded by Manuel Belgrano, to win the royalist Intendency of Paraguay for the cause of May Revolution. In Paraguay ...

. He married Manuela Carrasco in 1810, and they had 14 children. Later, as colonel of a unit of

Hussars A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

, Rodríguez organized the militias that menaced a political meeting in April 1811, in an attempt to support

Cornelio Saavedra Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez (September 15, 1759 – March 29, 1829) was an Argentine military officer and statesman. He was instrumental in the May Revolution, the first step of Argentina's independence from Spain, and became t ...

. As a result of this, Rodríguez was temporarily imprisoned in

San Juan, Argentina San Juan () is the capital and largest city of the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, province of San Juan Province (Argentina), San Juan in the Cuyo (Argentina), Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River (A ...

. The following year Rodríguez intervened in the

Battle of Salta The Battle of Salta took place on February 20, 1813, on the plains of Castañares, north of the present-day Argentine city of Salta, during the Argentine War of Independence. The Army of the North, under the command of general Manuel Belgrano, ...

. He was chief of the

general staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

of the

Army of the North The Army of the North (), 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 freeing the Argentine Northwest a ...

, and later acted as the president of Charcas. Rejoining the troops, he participated in the defeats of Venta and Media and in the

Battle of Sipe-Sipe The Battle of Viluma, also known as Battle of Sipe-Sipe, was a major battle in the South American wars of independence in which the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (formerly the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata) were decis ...

. Following months of political anarchy resulting from the collapse of the

Argentine Constitution of 1819 The Argentine Constitution of 1819 was a Constitution drafted by the Congress of Tucumán in 1819, shortly after the Argentine War of Independence. It was promoted by Buenos Aires but rejected by the other provinces and did not come into force. ...

, Rodríguez was named

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

in September 1820. He appointed

Bernardino Rivadavia Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827. He was educated at th ...

as Minister of State and undertook a series of reforms. He enacted

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

, promoting the use of fallow lands, limited the power of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

, the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

and of the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

, restored relations with Northeastern

Caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

Estanislao López, and founded the city of

Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823, and its name originates from the '' Piedra M ...

, the nation's first Natural Sciences Museum the

Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires The Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires (), better known as Banco Provincia, is a publicly owned bank in Argentina and the second-largest in the country by value of assets and deposits. History The progressive Governor of the Province of Bueno ...

and the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

, among other public institutions. This reforms faced a strong opposition from clerics, like Francisco de Paula Castañeda, or conservative politicians, like Gregorio García de Tagle. The latter led a short-lived mutiny against the government that cost him the exile. He was succeeded in his post in 1824 by Juan Gregorio de las Heras, and returned to military duty. Rodríguez took part in the suppression of indigenous raids, and headed the Observation Army during the

Cisplatine War The Cisplatine War was an armed conflict fought in the 1820s between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata over control of Brazil's Cisplatina province. It was fought in the aftermath of the United Provinces' an ...

, from 1825 to 1827. Rodríguez returned to Buenos Aires, and later became an opponent of Governor

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confedera ...

, joining

Unitarian League The Unitarian League () also referred to as the League of the Interior () was a league of provinces of Argentina led by José María Paz, established in 1830, aiming to unite the country under Unitarian Party, unitarian principles. It comprised ...

leader

José María Paz Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo (September 9, 1791 – October 22, 1854) was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil Wars. Childhood Born in Córdoba, Argentina, the son ...

in an 1841-42 rebellion against the

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

regime. The uprising failed, however, and Rodríguez was exiled to

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, where he died in 1845. He was interred in La Recoleta Cemetery. The city of General Rodríguez, west of Buenos Aires, was named in his honor upon its establishment in 1878.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Martin 1771 births 1845 deaths Politicians from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Spanish descent Governors of Buenos Aires Province Argentine generals Argentine independence activists Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery General Rodríguez Partido People from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata