San Martín’s Chilean-Argentine force departed Valparaíso by sea, beginning the direct campaign to open a new front against Spanish power in Peru after the liberation of Chile.
The expedition reached the Peruvian coast at Paracas, establishing a base of operations near Pisco and initiating a strategy combining limited military pressure with political outreach.
Negotiations between San Martín and Viceroy Joaquín de la Pezuela at Miraflores (near Lima) did not produce an agreement, underscoring the limits of an early diplomatic settlement.
San Martín met with Viceroy José de la Serna at the hacienda of Punchauca to seek recognition of Peruvian independence; talks continued afterward via delegates but ultimately failed.
After the breakdown of negotiations and growing pressure, Viceroy La Serna abandoned Lima for the interior, clearing the way for independence leaders to control the capital.
San Martín convened an open town council (cabildo abierto) in Lima, a key political step consolidating patriotic authority in the capital immediately before the formal declaration.
In Lima, San Martín publicly proclaimed Peruvian independence (commemorated as Peru’s Independence Day), marking a decisive political break even as royalist forces remained strong in the interior.
By decree, San Martín centralized civil and military authority under the title “Protector of Peru,” creating the provisional regime commonly known as the Protectorate of San Martín.
San Martín instituted the Order of the Sun (later the Order of the Sun of Peru) to recognize civil and military merit tied to the independence struggle and the new state’s legitimacy.
San Martín issued a decree calling elections for a Constituent Congress to establish Peru’s future constitutional order, anticipating a transition from wartime leadership to representative governance.
Royalist forces under José de Canterac defeated a patriot army near Ica (Macacona), illustrating the fragility of the patriot position outside Lima and complicating San Martín’s campaign.
San Martín and Simón Bolívar met privately in Guayaquil to discuss the stalled liberation of Peru and the region’s political future; the meeting became a turning point as San Martín soon withdrew from leadership.
Peru’s first Constituent Congress assembled in Lima, asserting national sovereignty through representative institutions and providing the immediate setting for San Martín to relinquish authority.
On the day the Constituent Congress was installed, San Martín resigned his protectorate, ending the Protectorate regime and leaving the continuation of the war to other leaders and institutions.
San Martín's expedition and the Liberation of Peru (1819–1822)
