Antonio Valero de Bernabé
| Antonio Valero de Bernabé | |
|---|---|
Brigadier General Antonio Valero de Bernabé
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| Birth name | Antonio Valero de Bernabé Pacheco |
| Nickname(s) | The Liberator from Puerto Rico |
| Born | October 26, 1790 Fajardo, Puerto Rico |
| Died | June 7, 1863 Bogotá, Colombia |
| Allegiance | Spanish Army, Mexican Revolutionary Army, Venezuelan Army |
| Years of service | 1807-1863 |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Commands held | Military Chief of the Department of Panama, Governor of Puerto Cabello, Chief of Staff of Colombia, Minister of War and Maritime of Venezuela |
| Battles/wars |
Second Siege of Zaragoza, Mexican War of Independence, Spanish American wars of independence |
| Awards | The Bust of the Liberator of Venezuela, The Medal of the Liberators of Mexico, The Bust of the Liberator of Peru, Medal del Callao |
Antonio Valero de Bernabé Pacheco (October 26, 1790 – June 7, 1863), a.k.a. The Liberator from Puerto Rico, was a Puerto Rican military leader. Trained in Spain, he fought with the Spanish Army to expel the French leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, from Spain and was promoted to colonel during these years.
He returned to the New World and joined the Mexican movement for independence next, and was appointed as a Brigadier General. Later he joined Simón Bolívar to fight for the independence from Spain of nations in South America, fighting for Colombia, Peru, Panama. He also supported the independence of Puerto Rico and Cuba. Like Bolivar, he advocated forming a federation of Latin American nations.
Valero de Bernabé was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico; his father, Cayetano Valero de Bernabé, was an officer in the Spanish Army and his mother, Rosa Pacheco de Onormandía, came from a wealthy Puerto Rican family. When he was quite young, his father died. Bernabe was sent by his family to Spain to study military science; he graduated as a junior officer in 1807.
While in Spain, the young officer had married María Madrid. They had several children together. When he left Spain, he took his family with him to Mexico and later South America.
Valero de Bernabé had recently graduated from the military academy when Napoleon Bonaparte convinced King Charles IV of Spain to permit the French leader to pass through Spain with his army to attack Portugal. When Napoleon later refused to leave Spanish soil, the government declared war. Valero de Bernabé joined the Spanish Army and helped defeat Napoleon's army at the Siege of Saragossa (1808) in the Peninsular War, also known as the Spanish War of Independence. After this action, Valero de Bernabé was awarded many decorations and promoted to the rank of colonel.
When Ferdinand VII assumed the throne of Spain in 1813, Valero de Bernabé became critical of the new king's policies towards the Spanish colonies in Latin America. He developed a keen hatred of the monarchy, resigned his commission in the army, and in 1821 emigrated to Mexico with his family.
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Wikipedia