Luis Carrera | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | b. 1791 |
| Died | April 8, 1818 Mendoza, Argentina |
| Military service | |
| Battles/wars | |
ColonelLuis Florentino Juan Manuel Silvestre de los Dolores de la Carrera y Verdugo (1791 – April 8, 1818) was aChilean military officer who fought in theChilean War of Independence. Together with his brothersJosé Miguel andJuan José, they were some of most important leaders of Chilean struggle for independence during the period of thePatria Vieja ("Old Republic"). TheCarrera family is ofBasque origin.[1]
Luis Carrera was born inSantiago, the youngest son ofIgnacio de la Carrera y Cuevas and of Francisca de Paula Verdugo Fernández de Valdivieso y Herrera. Carrera completed his first studies at theConvictorio Carolino, the best school in the country at the time. In 1813 – at the beginning of theChilean War of Independence – he participated in the first encounter between the Patriot and Royalist troops at theBattle of Yerbas Buenas, as a commander of an artillery platoon. That same year he also participated in the disastrousSiege of Chillán, one of the most negative early experiences for the nascentChilean Army, where after a long siege of the Spanish troops that were barricaded inside the city, the army had to withdraw in the midst of winter that same year. He also fought in the defense of Talca.
After the Spanishreconquista, the Carrera brothers were exiled to Argentina but continued campaigning from exile. On November 21, 1814 he killed BrigadierJuan Mackenna, one of the strongest supporters of GeneralBernardo O'Higgins, in a duel in the city ofBuenos Aires. He was arrested and tried but later freed. Eventually, Luis was taken prisoner and executed in the city ofMendoza together with his brotherJuan José by the military of theUnited Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1818. the Carreras opted for a project to integrate Chile as part of a "Southern Federation," a project possibly influenced by the Carreras' relationship with U.S. federalism. His and his brother supporters were known under the name of "Carreristas".
