Army of the Andes Plates in early XIX Century style

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The Army of the Andes, if not the best, is one of the most disciplined and well-organized army which ever fought in America able to cross one of the highest mountains of the world in just twenty one days, present battle and defeat the enemy.

There are marvelous paintings by José Gil de Castro of the officers of such glorious army, portraits of San Martín, O’Higgins, Colonel Pedro Conde, Sergeant Major Medina, Colonel José María Aguirre, Colonel José Melián and James Paroissien among others provides us detailed information of their uniforms, but one thing that I have been ever  missing  is that  there are no drawings depicting the uniforms of the men of the different battalions and regiments which formed the army. None the less, Gil de Castro joined the Army of the Andes in 1816 as Lieutenant of Engineers, there are no drawings of the common soldiers or at least they did not survive until our days.

The troops which commanded by Santiago de Liniers defeated the British at Buenos Aires in 1806 and 1807 were depicted in splendid drawings which were kept in the Doldán and Carril collections. Then, why wouldn’t be drawings of the men who liberated Chile from the Crown of Spain?

 When Sergeant Major Alvarez Condarco stayed in London in 1819, he commissioned a local artist to do an engraving of the Battle of Maypo. Taking this event into account I imagined that some other officer commissioned another artist, in my imagination was the French artist Aaron Martinet, to produce a set of plates depicting the uniforms of the different units of the Army of the Andes. Then my imagination turn into color and the final result are these set of plates in early nineteen century style which I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

[regimientosdeamerica]

Short video on the uniforms of the line infantry

 https://youtu.be/Cxe13Sz6d2Y