Rodríguez Erdoiza, Manuel (1785–1818)
Rodríguez Erdoiza, Manuel (1785–1818)
Manuel Rodríguez Erdoiza (b. 25 February 1785; d. 26 May 1818), legendary Chilean guerrilla chief. A lawyer by training and a fervent partisan of José Miguel Carrera during the Chilean Patria Vieja (the period, 1810–1814, before the Spanish reconquest), Rodríguez fled to Argentina after the collapse of Chilean independence in October 1814. He soon recrossed the mountains at the head of a guerrilla band. His audacious comings and goings were an irritant to the Spanish forces and won Rodríguez a place in Chilean folk memory that he has never lost. For Chileans he is the guerrilla. Unfortunately, the Bernardo O'Higgins—José Miguel Carrera feud meant that Chile, ruled after 1817 by Bernardo O'Higgins, was a less than safe place for the guerrilla hero. Though he rallied the panic-stricken citizenry of Santiago magnificently after the royalist victory at the second battle of Cancha Rayada (19 March 1818) and fought at the battle of Maipú (5 April 1818), he could not escape imprisonment. While on his way to Valparaíso, ostensibly to be sent into exile, he was treacherously murdered at Tiltil, whether on O'Higgins's direct orders or not was later debated.
See alsoCarrera, José Miguel; Chile: Foundations Through Independence.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Additional Bibliography
Reyno Gutiérrez, Manuel. José Miguel Carrera. Santiago de Chile: Edit. Andujar, 2003.
Simon Collier