Liberador: General Jose de San Martin - Washington, D.C. - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

Equestrian statue of General Jose de San Martin. He is wearing his military uniform, his sword is in its scabbard on his left side. His right arm is raised as if he is pointing into the distance. His horse is reared up with both front hoofs off the ground.

The bronze statue stands on a concrete base with the following inscription:

LIBERTADOR
GENERAL JOSE de SAN MARTIN

Inscribed on the wall behind the statue:

JOSE de SAN MARTIN
FOUNDER OF THE ARGENTINE INDEPENDENCE
HE LED THE LIBERATING ARMY ACROSS THE ANDES
AND GAVE FREEDOM TO CHILE AND PERU
HIS NAME LIKE WASHINGTON'S REPRESENTS
THE AMERICAN IDEAL OF DEMOCRACY, JUSTICE AND LIBERTY

From the Smithsonian Art Inventory:

Jose de San Martin (1778-1850) was the son of an aristocratic Spanish official born in South America during Spanish domination. Although he studied in Spain and achieved military rank after taking part in the Spanish resistance against invading Napoleonic forces, he returned to Argentina in 1812 to help the revolutionary government during the movement for independence from Spain. He first liberated Chile and then moved across the Andes into Peru and took possession of Lima. Later, he returned to Buenos Aires and resigned his command before exiling himself to Europe.

This sculpture is a copy by an unknown artist of Augustin-Alexandre Dumont's 1862 equestrian portrait of General Jose de San Martin located at La Plaza del Marte in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This copy was authorized by Congress on June 7, 1924 and was presented to the United States by Argentina in 1924. It was originally installed in 1925 at Judiciary Square on a base made of polished granite from Argentina and placed on brick and sand from San Lorenzo. During construction of the subway Metro station at Judiciary Square, the sculpture was removed and was later relocated to a newly constructed site.

From Wikipedia:

José Francisco de San Martín (25 February 1778 – 17 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín, was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire. Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes, in modern Argentina, he left his mother country at the early age of seven to study in Málaga, Spain.

In 1808, after taking part in the Peninsular War against France, San Martín contacted South American supporters of independence from Spain. In 1812, he set sail for Buenos Aires and offered his services to the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, present-day Argentina. After the Battle of San Lorenzo and time commanding the Army of the North during 1814, he organized a plan to defeat the Spanish forces that menaced the United Provinces from the north, using an alternative path to the Viceroyalty of Peru. This objective first involved the establishment of a new army, the Army of the Andes, in Cuyo Province, Argentina. From there, he led the Crossing of the Andes to Chile, and triumphed at the Battle of Chacabuco and the Battle of Maipú (1818), thus liberating Chile from royalist rule. Then he sailed to attack the Spanish stronghold of Lima, Peru.

On 12 July 1821, after seizing partial control of Lima, San Martín was appointed Protector of Peru, and Peruvian independence was officially declared on 28 July. On 22 July 1822, after a closed-door meeting with fellow libertador Simón Bolívar at Guayaquil, Ecuador, Bolívar took over the task of fully liberating Peru. San Martín unexpectedly left the country and resigned the command of his army, excluding himself from politics and the military, and moved to France in 1824. The details of the 22 July meeting would be a subject of debate by later historians.

San Martín is regarded as a national hero of Argentina and Peru, and, together with Bolívar, one of the liberators of Spanish South America. The Order of the Liberator General San Martín (Orden del Libertador General San Martín), created in his honor, is the highest decoration conferred by the Argentine government.

TITLE: Liberador: General Jose de San Martin ARTIST(S): Augustin-Alexandre Dumont1801-1884, sculptor. (copy after) DATE: Original 1862. Dedicated October 28, 1925. Rededicated October 6, 1976. MEDIUM: Sculpture: bronze; Base: concrete. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS DC000145 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Virginia Avenue between 20th & 21st Street, N.W. Washington, District of Columbia DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: None noted.

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