Ordóñez, José (?–1819)

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Ordóñez, José (?–1819)

José Ordóñez (d. 8 February 1819), Spanish army officer. Ordóñez fought in the Peninsular War and was briefly a prisoner of war in France. During the Spanish reconquest of Chile, he served as intendant of Concepción, arriving there in August 1815. When Chile was liberated, he successfully defended Talcahuano against stubborn assaults from the patriots. In 1818, with the arrival of General Mariano Osorio's expedition from Peru, Ordóñez took part in the final Spanish offensive in the Chilean Central Valley. He masterminded the surprise attack at Cancha Rayada (19 March 1818) that nearly destroyed the patriot army, and fought tenaciously at the battle of Maipú (5 April 1818). He was the last senior Spanish officer to surrender. With other royalist prisoners Ordóñez was sent across the Andes to San Luis in Argentina. He and a number of accomplices were executed after a daring but frustrated attempt to assassinate the provincial governor, Vicente Dupuy.

See alsoCancha Rayada, Battle of .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arroyo Alvarado, Guillermo. Historia de Chile: Campana de 1817–1818: Gavilan, Talcahuano, Cancha Rayada, Maipo (contribución a la historia militar de Chile). Santiago-Valparaiso: Sociedad imprenta-litografia "Barcelona," 1918.

                                        Simon Collier