Felipe Santiago Salaverry
Felipe Santiago Salaverry made himself head of Peru at twenty-eight and was shot in a public square at twenty-nine. He ran away from school in Lima at fifteen to join the patriot army, fought through the wars of independence, and was a full colonel before he was twenty-five. He was brave, vain, ferociously energetic and completely without patience, and the generation above him had all the commands. In February 1835, with President Orbegoso in the south dealing with another revolt, Salaverry took the fortress of Callao and proclaimed himself Supreme Chief of the Republic. He was the youngest man ever to hold power in Peru. His government lasted eleven months and was remembered for its severity: he decreed the death penalty for theft and for desertion, and had sentences carried out within hours of conviction. Orbegoso answered by signing a treaty with Andres de Santa Cruz, the president of Bolivia, and a Bolivian army crossed into Peru. Salaverry then did the thing his enemies never forgave: he offered the south of the country to Chile in exchange for help, and declared a war to the death in which no prisoners would be taken by either side. He was beaten at Socabaya in February 1836. Santa Cruz took him prisoner, tried him by a military commission, and had him shot in the main square of Arequipa with eight of his officers, in front of a crowd. He had married a few months earlier. His widow spent years recovering the body and the Peruvian congress voted him honours long after, which is the usual shape of these things: the republic that executed him needed him back as a patriot. He is the reason the War of the Confederation happened, and he did not live to see it.
- Lived: 1806 CE – 1836 CE
- Nationality: Peruvian
- Roles: head_of_state, military
