Granaderos a Caballo

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Granaderos a Caballo

The Granaderos a Caballo was an Argentine elite regiment created by José de San Martín. On his return to Argentina from Spain in 1812, San Martín obtained from the revolutionary government authorization to raise and command a regiment of mounted grenadiers (granaderos a caballo) who would be both carefully selected and rigorously trained. Moreover, San Martín hoped that this elite group would serve as a model of professionalism for the rest of the military. The unit first saw service under San Martín in early 1813 at the battle of San Lorenzo. It later fought in Chile and Peru (serving with the forces of Bolívar after San Martín's departure) and produced numerous officers who went on to command other units. It was dissolved in 1826 but restored in 1903 as a permanent unit whose duties include that of serving as ceremonial escort to the president of Argentina.

See alsoArgentina: The Colonial Period; San Martín, José Francisco de.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ricardo Rojas, San Martín; Knight of the Andes, translated by Herschel Brickel (1967), pp. 28-33.

Luis Alberto Leoni, Regimiento Granaderos a Caballo de los Andes: Historia de una epopeya (1968).

Additional Bibliography

Mendizábal, Francisco Javier de. Guerra de la América del Sur, 1809–1824. Buenos Aires: Academia Nacional de la Historia, 1997.

                                           David Bushnell