Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, KOM, OM (July 25, 1753 – August 26, 1810) was a Spanish military officer and a viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Although born Jacques de Liniers in France, he is more widely known by the Spanish form of his name.
He was popularly regarded as the hero of the reconquest of Buenos Aires after the first British invasion of the River Plate. As a result of his success, he was appointed as viceroy, replacing Rafael de Sobremonte. It was unprecedented for a viceroy to be replaced without the King's direct intervention. But he was confirmed in office by Charles IV of Spain.
He defended the settlement against a second British invasion and a mutiny that sought to replace him. He was replaced in 1809 by Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, appointed as viceroy by the Junta of Seville, and retired from public activity. But when the May Revolution took place, Liniers decided to come out of his retirement and organized a monarchist uprising in Córdoba. Liniers was forced to flee, but was eventually captured and executed without trial.
Santiago de Liniers y Bremond, Chevalier of the Order of Saint John, Caballero of the Order of Montesa, and Captain in the Spanish Royal Navy was born in Niort, Poitou, France, as Jacques, 4th son of Jacques Joseph Louis, comte de Liniers (1723–1785) and Captain in the French Royal Navy, and Henriette Thérèse de Brémond d'Ars (1725–1770).
The Liniers family had been part of the French nobility since the 11th century. One of their ancestors, Guillaume de Liniers, was killed at the Battle of Poitiers, during the Hundred Years' War. Eight other members were professed knights of the Order of Saint John.
In 1765, when Jacques was 12 years old, he entered the military academy of the Order of St. John. (As a younger son who was unlikely to inherit the title or the estates, Liniers was sent to their school in order to train for a military career.) After three years, he graduated with the Cross of Chevalier (1768). He was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant of Cavalry in the Royal-Piémont Regiment in the French Royal Army.
In 1774 Liniers requested dismissal and re-enlisted as a volunteer in the campaigns against the Moors in Algiers. He benefited from the third Pacte de Famille (1761), which allowed Frenchmen to take part in Spanish military campaigns with equal rights and requirements as the Spaniards. At the campaign's conclusion, Liniers took an exam as a Midshipman in Cádiz, to serve as a volunteer for the Spanish Crown. In 1775 he earned the rank of Ensign in the Spanish Navy.
In 1776, under the orders of Pedro de Cevallos, Liniers sailed to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and took part on the occupation of Santa Catarina Island in Portuguese Brazil and the attack on Colonia del Sacramento (modern day Uruguay).
In 1779, Liniers was an officer on the San Vicente. Spain joined the Franco-American alliance in the American Revolutionary War as a renewal of the Bourbon Family Compact. The San Vicente was part of the Spanish-French naval squadron fighting against the Royal Navy in South America.
Liniers distinguished himself during the American Revolution. In 1780, with a few sloops, he captured a three-masted ship of 24 guns. In 1782, he distinguished himself particularly in the siege of Port Mahon: under fire, he moved to where two British ships had collided, which were laden with arms and ammunition. He captured the ships and conveyed them to the Spanish lines. He was promoted to Frigate Captain.
A few months later Liniers took part in a new expedition, this time against the city of Algiers, in North Africa, which was the main base of the Barbary corsairs, with the aim of forcing them to stop piracy and the Barbary slave trade. As the campaign did not go well for the Spanish navy, Madrid tried to negotiate instead. Liniers was entrusted with this mission. The king of Tripoli was delighted with Liniers, and agreed to free several European prisoners. The Barbary pirates associated with North Africa had long been attacking European shipping in the Mediterranean, and had taken numerous prisoners over the years.
The Spanish court rewarded Liniers for this diplomatic success, promoting him to the rank of captain and entrusting him with the command of the Río de la Plata in 1788 to organize a flotilla of gunships. Liniers took with him his son Luis and his first wife, Juana de Menviel, whom he had married in Málaga. She died two years later in 1790. Liniers married again, this time in Buenos Aires, to María Martina Sarratea, daughter of one of the richest merchants of Buenos Aires.
The Napoleonic Wars expanded to South America. Britain gained naval supremacy over France with its victory at the battle of Trafalgar. France attacked Britain economically by imposing the Continental System, locking the continent to British trade. Needing new markets, Britain invaded Buenos Aires and Montevideo, two Spanish colonies in South America (Spain was allied to France in the war). Home Riggs Popham attempted to invade Buenos Aires, without official orders.
June 23, 1806, a British expeditionary force of 1,700 men landed on the left bank of the Río de la Plata and invaded Buenos Aires, which had been abandoned by the Viceroy. Liniers remained in the city in disguise, staying in the Dominican convent. At the altar of the Virgin, he vowed to return with the colours (flags) of the British. He escaped to Montevideo and, with the help of its governor Pascual Ruiz Huidobro, galvanized the people, raising a force of 1,200 volunteers.
He embarked with this liberation army on a few schooners, which joined a French privateer corvette. Landing on August 4, Liniers and his men rushed across the marshes to Buenos Aires. The city was recovered after fierce street fighting that ended with the storming of the cathedral, which had been fortified by the British. British General William Carr Beresford capitulated and offered his sword; true to Liniers's vow, British colours (those of the Highlanders regiment and Green St. Helena) were transferred to the church of the convent of the Dominicans, where they are still held.
After the victory, the society stayed on military alert, suspecting that the British might counterattack. The Buenos Aires Cabildo called an open cabildo to discuss the next steps, including the actions to take regarding viceroy Sobremonte. They decided to prevent the viceroy from returning to the city, and appoint Liniers, who was regarded as a hero, as commander-in-chief. Sobremonte accepted, and moved to Montevideo. Liniers drafted all the male population capable of bearing arms, including African slaves, into the defense of the city. He arranged for each regiment to vote for its officers. All the lead in the city was confiscated (even pipes and cutlery) to be melted into ordnance. The Cabildo requested other cities to lend gunpowder, and the horses were trained to ignore the noise of cannon shots.
A new British task force, much larger than the first one, arrived the next year. It was led by Samuel Auchmuty, later replaced by John Whitelocke. This time they attacked Montevideo, which fell under their domination. The Real Audiencia of Buenos Aires decided to depose Sobremonte from his role as viceroy, confirmed Liniers as commander-in-chief, and appointed him as interim viceroy. It was an unprecedented action.
Once the Banda Oriental had been secured, the British prepared the attack on Buenos Aires. They were aware that the city was prepared for the invasion, but their forces were greater than in the first one, 23 ships and 11,000 soldiers. John Whitelocke, leader of the British forces, moved to Buenos Aires next to the river. Liniers left the city to battle him, being defeated, but managed to retreat and return to Buenos Aires. Álzaga, assuming that Liniers had died, put his defense plans in motion, and the morale of the troops rose when Liniers returned alive. The British forced an entry into the city and encountered strong resistance, with many British battalions eventually being overwhelmed, while others tried to resist at strategic points. Whitelocke suggested a truce, which was rejected by Liniers, who also attacked the British ships within cannon range. Whitelocke's defeat was complete, and Liniers demanded that all British forces be removed from the territories of Viceroyalty, including the Banda Oriental, in no more than 2 months, as well as an exchange of prisoners. Whitelocke accepted the conditions and surrendered.