Ambrosio Peñailillo
Personal details
Born
Ambrosio Alfonso Peñailillo Heredia

(1810-01-11)January 11, 1810
La Paz, Bolivia
Died(1883-05-25)May 25, 1883
La Paz, Bolivia
SpouseSuzana Bellot Esquivel
Children5
Parent(s)Francisco Bernardo Peñailillo Arista
Martina Helena Heredia Albano
Military service
AllegianceBolivia
Branch/serviceBolivian Army
Years of service1830-1857
RankBrigadier general

Brigadier General Ambrosio Peñailillo (11 January 1810 – 25 May 1883) was a Bolivian military officer who fought in the War of the Confederation and the Peruvian–Bolivian War of 1841–42. He was present at the Battle of Yungay and the Battle of Ingavi.

Early life and military career

Born in the city of La Paz, Peñailillo was the son of Francisco Bernardo Peñailillo Arista and Martina Helena Heredia Albano. He spent his youth in his family's hacienda in Viacha.[1]

He joined the army in 1828, attaining the rank of second lieutenant in 1830. When General Andrés de Santa Cruz organized his army to consolidate his proposed Peru-Bolivian Confederation, after intervening in Peruvian politics at the request of that republic, Peñailillo was already a second lieutenant and marched as part of the famous fourth battalion, Santa Cruz's favorite unit. In this unit, he built his career as a subordinate, earning laurels that honored his battalion's standard and also experiencing defeat on the fields of Yungay. As captain of one of the companies, a rank obtained shortly before Yungay, he is said to have heroically fought for the cause of the Confederation.[2][3]

Return to Bolivia and Peruvian invasion

Upon returning to the country, Peñailillo was promoted to sergeant major on January 16, 1840, and assigned as the third in command of the 12th battalion, with which he fought at the Battle of Ingavi on November 18 of the same year. His heroism was rewarded by José Ballivián with an effective promotion to commander. Peñailillo participated in the five-month campaign in Peru, at the end of which he was promoted to graduated lieutenant colonel and assigned as the second in command of the 8th battalion, distinguishing himself for his rectitude and military severity.[4]

Bolivian politics

Effective lieutenant colonel in September 1843 and graduated colonel in 1846, he was another military figure who participated in the political storms that began to intrigue and unsettle the country, undermining the stability of the government and the army from 1843 onwards. Surrounded and solicited by politicians, suffocated by the intrigue-filled atmosphere in which he lived, and influenced by those in power, Peñailillo succumbed to the suggestions of demagogues and supporters of General José Miguel de Velasco, the most popular leader of those years.[5]

As a result, he joined the revolutionaries and became one of the leaders who, along with Manuel Isidoro Belzu, supported the uprising in La Paz, organizing an army of two thousand men which Belzu placed under Velasco's command. Once in the presidency, Velasco awarded him the rank of colonel in February 1848, entrusting him with the command of one of the army corps. Peñailillo, defended Velasco against Belzu, who had risen in arms driven by his ambition for power. He fought valiantly at the Battle of Yamparáez in December 1848, but the revolutionary forces triumphed.[6]

Final intrigues and retirement

Later summoned to the army by President Belzu, Peñailillo was elevated to the rank of brigadier general. It appears that he continued to serve during the time of Jorge Córdova. When Córdova fell in 1857, he withdrew from the ranks of the army and, consequently, from political intrigue.[7][8]

Death and legacy

Peñailillo died in La Paz on May 25, 1883. He had spent the rest of his life quietly, although highly critical of Hilarión Daza for his failed presidency. He is known to have married Suzana Bellot Esquivel. They had the following children: Ambrosio, Fernando, Juana, Clotilde, and Marcelo. Praised by his colleagues Peñailillo was described thus: "The old and meritorious General Ambrosio Peñailillo belongs to that phalanx of heroic military figures who sacrificed themselves to leave us examples of selflessness and patriotism, fighting to preserve Bolivia's independence".[9]

References

  1. ↑ A. (Col.), Julio Díaz (1943). Fastos militares de Bolivia ... (in Spanish). Escuela tipográfica salesiana.
  2. ↑ Díaz, Julio (1929). Los generales de Bolivia, 1825-1925 (in Spanish). Intendencia general de guerra.
  3. ↑ Arguedas, Julio Díaz (1945). El gran mariscal de Montenegro: (Otto Felipe Braun, ilustre extranjero al servicio de Bolivia) 1798-1869 (in Spanish). Imprenta Intendencia Central del Ejto.
  4. ↑ Barra, Felipe de la (1966). La historia militar peruana (in Spanish). Biblioteca del Centro de Estudios Histórico-Militares del Peru.
  5. ↑ Díaz, Julio (1929). Los generales de Bolivia, 1825-1925 (in Spanish). Intendencia general de guerra.
  6. ↑ R, Alberto Crespo (2010). Fragmentos de la patria: doce estudios sobre la historia de Bolivia (in Spanish). Plural editores. ISBN 978-99954-1-331-6.
  7. ↑ Caivano, Tomas (1882). Historia de la guerra de América entre Chile, Perú y Bolivia (in Spanish). Tip. dell' arte della stampa.
  8. ↑ Díaz, Julio (1929). Los generales de Bolivia, 1825-1925 (in Spanish). Intendencia general de guerra.
  9. ↑ Díaz, Julio (1929). Los generales de Bolivia, 1825-1925 (in Spanish). Intendencia general de guerra.
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