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Guillermo Miller

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William Miller
English generalMiller, in the uniform of the general of the army of Peru, during the Ayacucho campaign
Native nameWilliam Miller
Born2 December 1795
Wingham, England
Died31 October 1861
Lima, Peru
Allegiance United Kingdom
 Chile
 Peru
RankGrand Marshal of Peru
Battles / wars

William Miller (2 December 1795 – 31 October 1861), better known as Guillermo Miller, was an English-born army officer and diplomat who served in the Peninsular War and the Spanish American wars of independence.

Biography

Born December 2, 1795 in Wingham, Kent, Miller was fluent in several languages by the age of seventeen, when he enrolled in the British army to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, taking part in the Siege of Badajoz and Battle of Vittoria under the Duke of Wellington. In September 1817, hearing of the wars in Latin America, he set sail for Buenos Aires to join San Martín's Army of the Andes. He took part in San Martín's liberation of Chile, participating in the decisive battle of Maipú, and then joined Lord Cochrane as the commander of marines in the Chilean Navy. He participated in the Cochrane's Capture of Valdivia leading a force 60 soldiers. After this he participated in the failed expedition to Chiloé and lost the little but significant Battle of Agüi.

Peru

After the liberation of Lima, Peru he was appointed commander of the Peruvian Legion. General Miller – while suffering from malaria – played a big part in the Battle of Torata: storming the hills and taking them when everything seemed to be lost. Peru President José de la Riva Agüero promoted Miller to General of Brigade and, when Simón Bolívar arrived, he was promoted to Chief of a cavalry unit that included Argentines and Chileans who had arrived with San Martín, in addition to many Peruvians and Colombians.

At the Battle of Junín his cavalry was largely responsible for the defeat of the Spanish and at the Battle of Ayacucho his initiative in launching an attack at a critical moment, without waiting for Sucre's orders, was decisive in securing victory. During these wars Miller was wounded twenty two times, and after his death the autopsy revealed he had carried two bullets in his liver for 40 years.

He created the Hussars of the Peruvian Legion who, after turning the course of the Battle of Junín in favour of the revolutionaries, were renamed the "Hussars of Junín". These same Hussars remain in charge of the guard at the Peruvian Palace of Government in Lima.

After the war was over, Miller settled in Lima. On June 11, 1834, in appreciation for services rendered to the existing government, General Miller received promotion to the rank of Grand Marshal, the highest military grade in Peru. He held various public offices, but argued with the governments after 1836, mainly about their treatment of the Indians. As a result, on March 25, 1839, he was stripped of his rank as Grand Marshal of Peru. While he was later reinstated in all his ranks and privileges, Miller never again held active political or military command in Peru. His brother John wrote a two-volume biography in 1828.

Hawaii

Residence of the British Consul in Honolulu, 1853

Miller became British diplomatic Consul to Pacific islands such as the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1843 after Richard Charlton. He arrived in Honolulu in January 1844 with his Scottish friend Robert Crichton Wyllie. Wyllie acted as assistant in Hawaii while Miller traveled to the rest of the Pacific islands from July 1844 to March 15, 1845. Wyllie would then become Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of Hawaii.

In 1859 Busvargus Toup Nicolas (1819–1859), son of Admiral John Toup Nicolas (1788–1851), temporarily replaced Miller as consul.

Return to Peru

On Nicolas' return because of ill health, English merchant William Lowthian Green acted as consul until William W. F. Synge (1826–1891), could finally be sent as a permanent official replacement. Miller died in Callao October 31, 1861, aged 65, and was initially buried in the Old British Cemetery, Bellavista. In the 1920s, his body was transferred to the Panteon de los Proceres, the final resting place for the heroes of the War of Independence.

There is a house in Markham College named after him.

There is a street in Wingham, England named after him. A plaque, presented by the Peruvian government in 2006, is inside St. Mary's Church.

References

  1. Frederic Boase (1897). Modern English biography: containing many thousand concise memoirs of persons who have died since the year 1850, with an index of the most interesting matter. Vol. 2. Netherton and Worth. p. 1906.
  2. Anthony McFarlane (2013). War and Independence in Spanish America. Vol. 1. New York: Routledge. p. 362. ISBN 9781136757723.
  3. Guarda Geywitz, Fernando (1953). Historia de Valdivia (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Cultura. p. 245.
  4. Delaney, Robert W. (1962). "General Miller and the Confederación Perú-Boliviana". The Americas. 18 (3): 221. doi:10.2307/979153. ISSN 0003-1615. JSTOR 979153. On June 11, 1834, in appreciation for services rendered to the existing regime, General Miller received promotion to the rank of Grand Marshal, the highest military grade which the government had to offer.
  5. Delaney, Robert W. (1962). "General Miller and the Confederación Perú-Boliviana". The Americas. 18 (3): 241–242. doi:10.2307/979153. ISSN 0003-1615. JSTOR 979153. On March 25, Gamarra decreed that Miller and others were no longer grand marshals of Peru and that their names were to be removed from the military list. This decree was later revoked, but Miller never again held active political or military command in Peru. He was, however, to return to Peru many years later, and after some difficulty, he was reinstated in all his ranks and privileges.
  6. John Miller (1828). Memoirs of General Miller: in the service of the republic of Peru. Vol. 1. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green.
  7. John Miller (1829). Memoirs of General Miller: in the service of the republic of Peru. Vol. 2. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green.
  8. Ralph Simpson Kuykendall (1965) . Hawaiian Kingdom 1778–1854, foundation and transformation. Vol. 1. University of Hawaii Press. p. 234. ISBN 0-87022-431-X.
  9. Boase, George Clement; Courtney, William Prideaux (1874). Bibliotheca cornubiensis: A catalogue of the writings, both manuscript and printed, of Cornishmen, and of works relating to the county of Cornwall, with biographical memoranda and copious literary references. Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer. p. 390.
  10. "Markham College – House system". Markham College. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  11. "La resurrección de un héroe". BBC News. 14 February 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  12. "Plaque unveiled to Peruvian hero". BBC News. 9 February 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  13. "Visit From the Embassy of Peru – Wingham Parish Council". Retrieved 9 May 2023.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded byRichard Charlton U.K. Consul to Kingdom of Hawaii
1844–1859 		Succeeded byWilliam W. F. Synge
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