- Casimiro Marcó del Pont
Infobox Governor General
honorific-prefix= Don
name=Casimiro Marcó del Pont
honorific-suffix=Caballero de Santiago
order=Royal Governor of Chile
term_start=December 26 ,1815
term_end=February 12 ,1818
monarch=Ferdinand VII
primeminister=
predecessor=Mariano Osorio
successor=Title extinguished on Independence ofChile
birth_date=birth date|1777|6|25|df=y
birth_place=Vigo ,Spain
death_date=death date and age|1819|5|19|1777|6|25|df=y
death_place=Luján ,Argentina
spouse=
children=
profession=Field Marshal
religion=Catholic |Francisco Casimiro Marcó del Pont Ángel Díaz y Méndez (
Vigo ,Spain ; 1777 -Luján ,Argentina ;May 19 ,1819 ) was a Spanish soldier and Governor of Chile. He was one of the main figures of the Chilean independence process, being the final Spaniard to ruleChile as a colonial territory, holding the titleRoyal Governor of Chile from 1815 to 1818, when he was deposed by the patriot forces as they entered Santiago after theBattle of Chacabuco .Early career
Marco del Pont began a brilliant military career in the Infantry Regiment of
Zaragoza . He was quite young, being under 45 years old, when he achieved the rank of Field Marshal. He served with distinction during thePeninsular War againstNapoleon .Chile
In 1815 Marco del Pont was named Governor of the then-Spanish colony of Chile, arriving at
Valparaíso at the end of the year. Once he assumed the head of the Reconquista government he sent spies toCuyo in order to obtain information about theArmy of the Andes being amassed by exiled pro-independence leaders such as Bernardo O'Higgins in the Argentine province of Mendoza. This army, underJosé de San Martín , would later cross theAndes to liberate Chile. Internally, he sought to solidify Spanish control through the brutal repression of all those associated with the independence movement who had remained in Chile. A number of notables were deported to the barrenJuan Fernández Islands , and others suffered the depridations of group of soldiers lead by the infamous captainVicente San Bruno .Marco del Pont's rule ended on
February 12 ,1818 , when the defeat of the Royalist forces under the command ofRafael Maroto in theBattle of Chacabuco allowed the patriot forces to enter the capital. The governor Marco del Pont tried to escape to Valparaíso to catch a transport leaving for theViceroy of Peru , but he was intercepted by an advance column of the patriot army at an "hacienda " called "Las Tablas". After his capture, he was interviewed by San Martín, who sent him to Mendoza and later San Luis. His days ended after a final move to Luján a city close toBuenos Aires , when he died in prison.
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