It appears that Don Jose Miguel Carrera when at Rio Janeiro had obtained a copy of the negociation which had been carried on in France by Don Antonio Alvares Jonte, the agent of the supreme director of Buenos Ayres, Pueyrredon, for the purpose of establishing a monarchy in this place, and of giving the throne to Charles Louis Prince of Lucca, the son of Don Louis of Bourbon, heir apparent to the Dukedom of Parma, and Dona Maria Louisa of Bourbon, daughter to Charles IV. of Spain, afterwards called the king and queen of Etruria. The possession of these documents, and a knowledge of all that had transpired, rendered Carrera an unwelcome visitor at Buenos Ayres, and a suspicious character to Pueyrredon, who, to provide for his own safety, determined on the destruction of this individual, but he escaped from the brig and fled to Monte Video.
Don Jose Miguel and Don Luis were equally dangerous opponents to the vices of San Martin, who on hearing of their being arrested sent over his arch-secretary Don Bernardo Monteagudo to bring them to their trial; and as it was necessary to forge some ostensible motive for their execution, as that of having disobeyed the orders of a government to which they had never promised fealty could not be accounted sufficient, Don Juan Jose was accused of having murdered the son of the postmaster of San Jose in the year 1814, of which act, however, Monteagudo himself says, in his Extracto de la Causa seguida contra los Carreras, p. 7, "although from the nature of the circumstances the murder could not be proved by evidence, yet the whole of the procured evidence was such, that the probability of the aggression was in the last degree approaching to a certainty." As this accusation did not include Don Luis another plan was laid that should inculpate the two brothers. Some of the soldiers then on duty at Mendosa were directed to propose to the prisoners the means of escaping, to which they acceded, and on the 25th of February, 1818, Pedro Antonio Olmos informed the governor of Mendosa that Don Juan Jose and Don Luis Carrera had formed a plan to escape from prison on the following night, and brought in Manuel Solis to support the information. This put the machine in motion, and five other soldiers were adduced as evidence against the unfortunate brothers. On the 10th of March the examinations closed, on the 11th they were requested to appoint their counsel, and on the 4th of April the Fiscal solicited the sentence of death; on the 8th the solicitation was approved of, as being according to law, by Miguel Jose Galigniana and Bernardo Monteagudo, to which was subjoined the following order: "let the sentence be executed—Don Juan Jose and Don Luis Carrera are to be shot this afternoon at five o'clock." (Signed) Toribio de Lusuriaga. The two unhappy brothers heard their sentence at three o'clock in the afternoon, and they were slaughtered at six. They left the dungeon arm in arm, walked to the place of execution, and having embraced each other, sat themselves down on a bench, and ordering the soldiers to fire, they again embraced each other in death. The conduct of General San Martin in this affair may perhaps be defended by his friends and partisans; but the prevalent belief is, that on finding a considerable party in Chile in favour of the Carreras, he was determined on their destruction, and that the order for the execution of Don Juan Jose and Don Luis was sent by him to Lusuriaga the governor. Nothing however can be conceived more brutal than what occurred at Santiago after the execution of the two brothers. San Martin sent to their unhappy father an account of the expenses incurred on their trial and execution, with an order for immediate payment, or that the father should be committed to prison. The venerable old man defrayed the bloody charge, and two days afterwards he expired, the victim of malice and of persecution. I was at Santiago at the period, and followed the corpse to the grave.
At the same time that this tragedy was performed on the eastern side of the Cordillera, another, which for its midnight atrocity exceeds even the fabulous legends of cold-blooded cruelty, was performed by the same manager on the western side: an act that would curdle the milk of sympathy into a clotted mass of hatred. Don Manuel Rodrigues obtained the rank of colonel in the service of his country; he crossed the Cordillera after the defeat of the patriots at Rancagua, remained with O'Higgins, and assisted to discipline the army commanded by San Martin; the battle of Chacabuco added honour and glory to his name, and the field of Maypu crowned him with laurels. His conduct as a soldier and his manners as a gentleman had endeared him to all who knew him; but the record of his virtues was the instrument of his destruction; the jealousy of San Martin could not brook a rival in those glories which he considered exclusively his own, and that the popularity of Rodrigues might withdraw for one moment the attention of a single individual from contemplating the greatness of the hero of Maypu. Rodrigues was apprehended, and sent to Quillota, where after he had remained a few days, San Martin sent a corporal and two soldiers, with an order for Rodrigues to be delivered up to them; he was conducted along the road leading to the capital, and not permitted to stop at night at a house which they passed, and where he requested they would allow him to rest. The morning dawned on the everlasting resting place of this gallant Chilean—he was murdered at midnight by his ruffian guard, and buried at a short distance from the high road. Inquiries were afterwards made by the relatives of Rodrigues, but no satisfactory accounts could be obtained at head-quarters; the soldiers who were the only persons capable of giving information were not to be found; this was easily accounted for; General San Martin had sent them to the Punta de San Luis, to be taken care of by his confidant Dupuy, who was at this time under training for another scene of bloodshed, more horrible, if possible, than the past.
After the expulsion of the Spaniards, the supreme director, O'Higgins, knowing the importance of a naval force, which might protect the shores of Chile and its commercial interests against the Spanish vessels of war, applied himself seriously to the acquisition not only of vessels but of officers and crews. The two East-indiamen, the Cumberland and the Windham, afterwards the San Martin and the Lautero, were purchased; the Chacabuco and the Pueyerredon were equipped; the Galvarino was purchased, and the Maria Isabel was taken. But after all this the possession of vessels would have been attended only with expense, had not the good fortune of South America been supported by the devoted services of Lord Cochrane, to whom the western shores of the new world owe their emancipation, and England the commerce of this quarter of the globe.
O'Higgins being desirous of lightening the burden of the administration which had been confided to him, nominated five individuals as consulting senators; but he unwarily granted to them such powers as made them independent of his own authority, and consequently rendered himself subservient to their determinations. This caused innumerable delays in the despatch of business, and prevented that secresy which is often indispensably necessary in the affairs of state; indeed these two defects of tardiness and publicity were often visible in Chile, for by such delays the enemy was informed of the designs of the government, and prepared to thwart their execution.
After the squadron had sailed from Valparaiso on the fifteenth of January, 1819, under the command of Lord Cochrane, the whole attention of the Chileans was engrossed with the expectation of decisive victories which were to be obtained over the Spaniards in Peru; they felt themselves secure under the protection of the fleet, and congratulated each other on having now transferred the theatre of war from their own country to that of their enemy; but a new scene of horror presented itself, sufficient not only to astonish the inhabitants of this part of the new world, but to call down on the head of its author universal execration. The following extract is from the ministerial gazette of Santiago of the fifth of March, 1819:—
"On the eighth of February last, between eight and nine o'clock in the morning, my orderly informed me that some of the Spanish officers confined here wished to see me. I ordered him to allow them to enter; I was at this time conversing with the surgeon Don Jose Maria Gomes and my secretary Don Jose Manuel Riveros. Colonel Morgado, Lieutenant-Colonel Morla, and Captain Carretero entered; Carretero sat himself down on my left hand, and after a few compliments, he drew from his breast a poignard, and struck at me with it, but I fortunately parried the blow. Carretero exclaimed at the same time, "these are your last moments, you villain, America is lost, but you shall not escape!" I drew back to defend myself against Colonel Morgado, who attempted a second blow, at which time General Ordoñes, Colonel Primo, and Lieutenant Burguillo entered; Gomes, the surgeon, immediately left the room, calling for assistance, and my secretary Riveros endeavoured to do the same, but was prevented by Burguillo. For a considerable time I had to defend myself against the six assassins, who began to desist on hearing the shouts of the people that surrounded the house, and were using every effort to enter it; I requested they would allow me to go out and quiet the populace, to which they consented; but the moment I opened the door leading from the patio to the plasa, the people rushed in, and put the whole of them to death, except Colonel Morgado, whom I killed, and thus the attack on my person was revenged.
"I immediately discovered that a plot had been formed by the whole of the officers confined here, to liberate themselves, and to pass over to the Guerilla parties under the command of Carrera and Alvear; however, the populace and the soldiery took the alarm, and several of the prisoners have paid with their lives the temerity of the plan they had laid. I immediately ordered Don Bernardo Monteagudo to form a summary process, which on the fourth day after receiving the order he informed me was finished, and I agreeing with his opinion, ordered the following individuals to be shot: captains Gonsales, Sierra and Arriola; ensigns Riesco, Vidaurazaga and Caballo; privates, Moya and Peres. The number of enemies who have ceased to exist is, one general, three colonels, two lieutenant-colonels, nine captains, five lieutenants, seven ensigns, one intendent of the army, one commissary, one sergeant and two privates." This was signed by Vicente Dupuy, lieutenant-governor of San Luis.
Many other statements of the transaction were circulated by the friends of each party. I received the following from a person entirely independent of both, and who had no motive for furnishing me with an exaggerated account:
"On the night of the seventh of February, 1818, when the Spanish field officers confined at San Luis were playing at cards with Don Vicente Dupuy, this lieutenant-governor happened to lose some money, and immediately seized what was lying before Colonel Ribero; Ribero expostulated, and notwithstanding the entreaties of his friends, at length struck Dupuy on the face, whose friends immediately seized some arms, which had been placed in the room, and the Spaniards also availed themselves of part of them. The uproar that was formed alarmed the guard, and the Spanish prisoners, fearful of the result, laid down their arms and begged Dupuy's pardon; it was granted, and he pledged his word and honour, that if they would allow him to go out, he would pacify the tumult made by the guard and populace; the Spaniards believed him; he went out; but instead of quieting the disturbance he spread the alarm, and called upon the people to revenge the insults he had received from the Godos (Goths, the name by which the Spaniards were known); Dupuy re-entered the house with some soldiers and other armed individuals, and General Ordoñes, Colonel Morgado, with six other officers were immediately butchered by them; Colonel Primo seeing that he could not escape, took up a pistol and shot himself; every Spaniard found in the streets was also massacred at the same time, and many were murdered in their houses; in all fifty Spanish officers were massacred, and only two escaped of the whole number, which at that time were at San Luis. For this memorable action Dupuy was created a colonel-major, and a member of the Legion of Merit of Chile.