Key Takeaways
Big ideas in simple words
This article tells the story of one Latin American general, Jose de San Martin, and one Spanish king, Ferdinand VII. It explains how news moved very slowly between their worlds in the nineteenth century and how that slow news shaped war and power. It also connects that past to how people in the Netherlands vote today, in a modern democracy with fast information and no compulsory voting.
Story & Details
A river bend full of warships
In November 1845, a battle called the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado took place on the Paraná River in what is now Argentina. The word “bend” here means a natural curve in the river, a place where the water turns. At that bend the river becomes narrower, which made it easier to block ships.
Local forces of the Argentine Confederation, loyal to the strongman Juan Manuel de Rosas, tried to stop a powerful Anglo-French fleet from sailing inland without permission. General Lucio Mansilla commanded the defense on the spot. Heavy iron chains were stretched across the water from boat to boat. Cannons waited on the high riverbank.
The foreign ships had better guns, some steam power, and more armor. The local side lost men, guns and boats that day. The fleet broke the chains and forced a way through. Yet the battle became a symbol of something larger: the right of a country to control its own rivers and to refuse foreign powers that act as if local laws do not count. Later treaties with Britain and France accepted that the Paraná was an internal river under Argentine rules, so a military defeat turned into a diplomatic gain. [1][4]
A hill above a small southern town
In March 1827, another important fight, the Battle of Carmen de Patagones, took place around a small southern town on the Atlantic coast. Local militias and townspeople from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata defended the town and its little port against a landing force from the Brazilian Empire during the Cisplatine War.
The defenders used the strong ground near a hill known as Cerro de la Caballada, the “hill of the cavalry.” They moved quickly, used the wind and the rocks, and attacked the Brazilian landing party from above. The fight on land and the actions at the river mouth ended with a clear result: the Brazilian force was beaten, one of its main ships was sunk, three ships and 28 cannons were captured, and 579 prisoners were taken. The captured ships even joined the local squadron with new names. [2][17]
Key local commanders included Martin Lacarra, Santiago Jorge Bynnon and Sebastian Olivera. On the Brazilian side the expedition was led by James Shepherd; after his death in the action, William Eyre took command. [2] The victory protected the southern river port, strengthened morale, and showed that even a remote town at the end of the world could play a part in big wars.
A quiet planner who crossed mountains
Behind these scenes stands one central figure: Jose de San Martin. He was born on 25 February 1778 in a small settlement in what is now Argentina. As a child he moved with his family to Spain and grew up there as an officer in the Spanish army. He fought in European campaigns before turning toward the idea of freedom in the land of his birth. [3]
In 1812 he arrived by ship in the port city of Buenos Aires. There he helped build a new elite cavalry unit and won his first local victory in a short, hard clash by the Paraná River. Later he became governor of the western region of Cuyo, centered on the city of Mendoza. He used that post less for show and more for preparation. He trained men, gathered food and animals, collected weapons and uniforms, and studied the mountain passes.
In early 1817 he led the Army of the Andes across the mountains into Chile. The crossing was long, cold and dangerous. Some soldiers and many animals died from cold, hunger or falls, but the main force reached the other side ready to fight. Victories in two key battles gave the independence side control over Chile’s main cities and ports. In 1821 San Martin entered Lima, the capital of Peru, and helped declare its independence from Spanish rule. He was named Protector of Peru and tried to build a stable government in a very divided society. [1][3]
San Martin was not only a planner behind a desk. As a younger officer in Europe he had fought with sword and horse in close combat and received wounds. In South America he still rode with his troops when it mattered. His special strength was the way he saw the war as a whole: which routes to take, how to supply an army, how to train officers, and when it was wiser to avoid a battle instead of wasting lives.
A meeting and a decision to step back
By 1822 his position in Peru had grown weak. Support and money from Buenos Aires were fading. Local elites were split. In the north, another great independence leader, Simon Bolivar, led strong armies and had wide prestige. In July 1822 the two men met in the port city of Guayaquil. There is no full written record of every word they spoke, but later letters and reports give a broad picture.
Both wanted to end Spanish rule. They did not fully agree on who should command, how power should be shared, or whether the new states should be monarchies or republics. Bolivar had more soldiers and more political backing at that moment. San Martin understood that staying in the field as a rival could create confusion and perhaps civil war among the independence forces themselves.
Soon after the meeting, San Martin resigned his authority in Peru. He travelled quietly to the south and then, in 1824, crossed the Atlantic to Europe with his young daughter, Mercedes Tomasa. She was often called simply Mercedes. They lived in Brussels and Paris and finally in the coastal town of Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. San Martin died there on 17 August 1850. He was 72 years old. In his last years he suffered from serious health problems and almost complete loss of sight. [3]
He was not a rich retired hero. Part of his income came from his late wife’s family, part from delayed military pensions from the new states he had helped free, and part from the help of friends and his son-in-law, the Argentine diplomat Mariano Balcarce. Even in exile he wrote letters and short notes for Mercedes and for younger political friends, repeating a few simple ideas: tell the truth, help those in need, avoid useless luxury, and love the freedom of your country.
A king who ate well while an empire fell apart
Across the Atlantic, a very different life unfolded in Spain. King Ferdinand VII was born on 14 October 1784. He became king in a time of deep crisis. The Napoleonic Wars had shaken Europe. French troops had occupied parts of Spain. In both Spain and its American territories, elites and common people were asking who should rule and on what basis. [4]
Under Ferdinand VII, Spain lost almost all its continental American lands. One colony after another moved from royal control to independence. By the time he died on 29 September 1833, only a few Caribbean islands remained under the Spanish flag in the Americas. Many historians describe him as stubborn and short-sighted, a ruler who did not understand the political and social changes of his age. [4][5]
Daily life for the king was far from the cold mountain passes or dusty camps of the independence wars. He did not wake up in a tent before dawn with marching orders to give. He slept in comfort, woke late in fine rooms, and followed a set routine of morning prayer, reports read by ministers, small councils, and long formal meals. He liked rich food and a slow indoor life. Over time he suffered from health problems linked to this way of living.
While officers and soldiers in America rode long distances and risked death in battles like Vuelta de Obligado or Carmen de Patagones, the king watched the empire shrink from a distance, through letters and reports. He signed decrees and made choices that often served mainly his personal power. When reformers in Spain tried to limit royal power with a liberal constitution, he rejected it and restored strict absolute rule. That choice deepened conflict at home, divided society, and weakened the state at the very moment it needed unity and flexibility to face revolts overseas. [5]
News that moved at the speed of wind and muscle
In the time of San Martin and Ferdinand VII there were no telephones. The electric telegraph was only in its early steps and did not yet link continents. The patent for the telephone came later, on 7 March 1876, when Alexander Graham Bell registered his device for carrying the human voice over wires. That was more than 50 years after the main independence campaigns in South America. [5][6][10]
News about war had to move by paper, hoof and sail. After a battle in Chile or Peru, officers wrote official reports by hand. Messengers on horseback carried these to the nearest port. There they waited, sometimes for weeks, for a ship sailing to Europe. The trip across the Atlantic by sailing ship often took six to eight weeks. Bad weather, stops in other ports, or damage to the ship could make it even longer.
When ships at last reached Spain, letters went from the port to government offices and then to the royal palace. Officials read and discussed them and then told the king. Only after this process did news filter into printed newspapers, church sermons, and talk in taverns and town squares. Many people could not read, so they heard stories through others. Rumours and old reports mixed together. For people in the Americas, war felt close and urgent. For many people in Spain, it felt far away and slow, almost like a distant storm that might or might not reach home.
Why people choose to fight
Wars are not made only by famous names. They are fought by thousands of ordinary people. In the early nineteenth century, many soldiers joined because they were poor and had few choices. Some were forced or pushed into service. Others joined for pay, a uniform and regular food. A smaller number were moved mainly by belief in independence or by loyalty to a king.
Training was basic and often harsh. Officers in some countries studied in special schools that taught maths, fortifications and tactics. Most common soldiers learned simple drills: how to load and fire a gun, how to march in line, how to fix a bayonet, how to follow commands. Punishments for disobedience could be severe, including flogging or long terms in prison.
Many soldiers then, and professional soldiers today, live with the hard knowledge that they may have to kill or be killed. In many modern countries, enlisted soldiers earn pay that is close to or a little below the national average wage, while higher-ranking officers may earn more. They receive training, steady work and some social status, but they also accept physical and mental risks that most civilians never face.
A short Dutch lesson about voting
The long story of kings and generals has a soft echo in a simple modern question: is voting required in the Netherlands? The answer is no. Voting in Dutch national elections used to be compulsory, but this rule was abolished in 1970. Voting today is a right, not a duty with a legal penalty. Turnout is still quite high compared with many other countries, but people are free to stay at home if they wish. [3][7][22]
In Dutch, the word for “to vote” is “stemmen” and the word for “election” is “verkiezing.” These words appear often in Dutch news, because politics there is active and includes many parties in parliament.
On 22 November 2023, Dutch voters chose a new national parliament. In that election a far-right party called the Party for Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, won the largest number of seats, with just under a quarter of the vote. Coalition talks after the vote were long and difficult, because other parties were divided over whether and how to work with that party. [4][9][11]
In October 2025, Dutch voters went back to the polls again for another general election. By the end of that month, news reports and official counts showed that a centrist, strongly pro-European party, Democrats 66 (D66), had become the largest party in the new parliament. Its young leader, Rob Jetten, was widely reported as the likely next prime minister, although coalition talks were still needed to form a majority government. [11][16]
These elections in a small but important European country show a political world very different from the time of San Martin and Ferdinand VII. Leaders now face voters every few years. Their power rests, at least in part, on the trust of citizens, not only on birth or on control of armies. News of results appears on phone screens within minutes. Votes are counted by the evening and shared across the world almost at once.
Conclusions
What changes and what stays the same
The stories of a river bend full of chains, a hill above a southern town, a quiet planner in exile, a heavy king in his palace, and present-day voters in the Netherlands share a common thread. They show how power and information move together.
In the age of San Martin and Ferdinand VII, a small number of people made decisions for millions, and news of those decisions moved slowly, across mountains and seas, written in ink on paper. The delay was not just annoying; it had real costs: badly informed choices, missed chances and long wars.
Today, politics in democratic countries moves faster and feels louder. Many voices speak at the same time. Citizens can watch documentaries about long-dead generals, read about past kings, search for the dates of old battles, and then vote for or against modern parties with a simple mark on a ballot. Technology has changed, but the main questions remain. Who leads, who follows, and how quickly do people learn the truth about what is being done in their name?
Selected References
[1] “Battle of Vuelta de Obligado,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vuelta_de_Obligado
[2] “Battle of Carmen de Patagones,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carmen_de_Patagones
[3] “Jose de San Martin | Biography & Facts,” Encyclopaedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-de-San-Martin
[4] “Ferdinand VII | King of Spain,” Encyclopaedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-VII
[5] “Reign of Ferdinand VII of Spain,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Ferdinand_VII_of_Spain
[6] “Why is there no longer compulsory voting in the Netherlands?” Leiden University.
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/in-the-media/2023/11/why-is-there-no-longer-compulsory-voting-in-the-netherlands
[7] “Compulsory Voting,” International IDEA Voter Turnout Database.
https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/voter-turnout-database/compulsory-voting
[8] “Compulsory voting,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_voting
[9] “2023 Dutch general election,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Dutch_general_election
[10] “Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone,” History.com.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-7/alexander-graham-bell-patents-the-telephone
[11] “Your primer on the Dutch general elections,” Atlantic Council.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/content-series/eye-on-europes-elections/your-primer-on-the-dutch-general-elections/
[12] “Voting,” House of Representatives of the Netherlands.
https://www.houseofrepresentatives.nl/how-parliament-works/elections/voting
[13] “Dutch centrist D66 party confirmed as election winner, ANP says,” Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/world/dutch-centrist-d66-party-confirmed-election-winner-anp-says-2025-10-31/
[14] “Biography: Don Jose de San Martin (1778–1850),” Canal Encuentro (YouTube).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7QOU8Tq06w
Appendix
Battle of Carmen de Patagones
A naval and land battle on 7 March 1827 during the Cisplatine War, in which local forces from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata defended the southern town of Carmen de Patagones against a Brazilian imperial expedition, captured several ships and guns, and took hundreds of prisoners.
Battle of Vuelta de Obligado
A river battle on 20 November 1845 on a bend of the Paraná River in Argentina, where forces of the Argentine Confederation tried to block an Anglo-French fleet with chains and riverbank batteries; the fleet broke through, but the high cost later helped Argentina win diplomatic recognition of its control over inland river navigation.
Dutch general election
A national vote in the Netherlands to choose all members of the lower house of parliament. It is usually held every four years or sooner if a government falls. Because no single party normally wins a majority, parties must form coalitions to govern.
Ferdinand VII
King of Spain born on 14 October 1784, whose reign saw the loss of most of Spain’s territories in the Americas and deep conflict at home. He restored absolute royal power after brief liberal experiments and died in Madrid on 29 September 1833.
Jose de San Martin
An army officer born on 25 February 1778 in the Americas who spent his youth as a Spanish officer in Europe and later led key independence campaigns in what are now Argentina, Chile and Peru. He left public life, moved to Europe in 1824, and died in France on 17 August 1850.
Telephone
A device that carries the human voice over distance using electrical signals. The first practical telephone patent was granted to Alexander Graham Bell on 7 March 1876, long after the independence wars described in this article, and it greatly changed how fast people could share news.
My Diary - Leonardo Cardillo 