Mar, José de la (1778–1830)

José de la Mar (b. 1778; d. 1830), one of the first military presidents of Peru (1827–1829). Born in Cuenca, Ecuador, he was trained as a royalist officer in Spain. He was appointed governor of the Callao fortress in 1816. After initially fighting against the naval attacks led by Lord Thomas Cochrane, La Mar capitulated to General José de San Martín's independence forces in 1821. In 1822, La Mar received the title of grand marshal and, when San Martín left Peru, he was put in charge of the government until his dismissal because of his lack of success against the loyalist resistance. However, Simón Bolívar later recruited La Mar to fight in the definitive battles of Junín and Ayacucho against the remaining Spanish forces. In 1827, La Mar was elected president but, while in a campaign against Colombian forces, a coup in 1829 forced him out of office and into exile. He died in San José, Costa Rica.

See alsoBattle of Ayachucho; Battle of Junín.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jorge Basadre, Historia de la República del Perú, vol. 1 (1963).

Celia Wu, Generals and Diplomats: Great Britain and Peru 1820–40 (1992).

Additional Bibliography

Montoya Rivas, Gustavo. La independencia del Perú y el fantasma de la revolución. Lima, Peru: Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos: Instituto de Estudios Peruano, 2002.

Morote, Herbert. El militarismo en el Perú: Un mal comienzo, 1821–1827. Lima, Peru: Jaime Campodónico Editor, 2003.

Walker, Charles. Smoldering Ashes: Cuzco and the Creation of Republican Peru, 1780–1840. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999.

                                      Alfonso W. Quiroz