Ignacio Warnes

José Ignacio Warnes y García de Zúñiga (Buenos Aires, 1772 – El Parí, 1816) was an Argentine soldier who fought in the Argentine War of Independence. Son of the mayor of the city of Buenos Aires Manuel Antonio Warnes y Durango and Ana Jacoba García de Zúñiga y Lizola. His sister Manuela married José Joaquín Prieto, president of Chile.

He enlisted in the Blandengues army regiment when very young. Between 1806 and 1807 he fought against the British invasions. In 1810 he supported the May Revolution, joining the revolutionary army with the rank of lieutenant. He was part of Manuel Belgrano's expedition, which fought the royalist army in Paraguay.

He was taken prisoner during the Paraguay campaign at Tacuarí, and was later released rejoining the forces that later would fight in the Army of the North campaigns under general Belgrano. Warnes distinguished himself at the battles of Tucumán and Salta, when the army attempted the liberation of Upper Peru (present-day Bolivia). He also fought with distinction in the defeats of Vilcapugio and Ayohuma.

After these battles, Belgrano ordered him to command (1813) a troop to advance through the Gran Chaco to liberate Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Warnes was successful and assumed the government of the city. Theoretically he was bound to the authority of the province of Cochabamba, part of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, but in practice he worked with absolute independence.

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