| Pincheira brothers | |
|---|---|
 The Pincheira brothers. | |
| Active | 1813–1832 |
| Allegiance |  Royalists |
| Type | Army |
| Engagements | Spanish American wars of independence |
| Commanders | |
| Supreme commander | Juan Antonio Pincheira (f. 1823) |
| General commander | Santos Pincheira (f. 1823); |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol | |
The Pincheira brothers (Spanish: Hermanos Pincheira) was an infamous royalist outlaw group in Chile and Argentina active from 1818 to 1832. The gang fought initially in the Chilean War of Independence as royalist guerrillas during the Guerra a muerte phase. After Vicente Benavides was executed and the royalist resistance collapsed, they became armed bandits who sought to live outside the new states of Chile and Argentina. Later they specialized in cattle raiding and robbery. The Pincheira brothers formed an alliance with the Boroanos tribe that had settled in Salinas Grandes and Sierra de la Ventana and attacked with them Carmen de Patagones and Fortaleza Protectora Argentina (today's Bahia Blanca). As such they were a multiethnic group.
February 10, 1827: Señor Coronel Buchefe. De lo que prebiene del indulto no podemos porque no somos solos que peliamos pues ustedes saben que el portugues aliado se halla peliando en Buenos ayres i si ustedes gustan invernar invernen que no les hace ningun perjuicio. Bien bedo yo del que no tengo fuerzas para contra Restar con ustedes i aci si V. Me busca si me esta a cuenta atacare i de no me andare por los campos. José Antonio Pincheira.
— José Antonio Pincheira response to the terms of surrender sent by colonel Beauchef; The last royalist of America.
In 1827 the colonel Jorge Beauchef, under the orders of Chilean general Manuel Bulnes, crossed the Andes and defeated the Pincheira brothers in the battle of Epulafquén, but the outlaws slipped away. The gang was at large until 1832 when José Antonio Pincheira, who was in exile in Mendoza, negotiated a capitulation to the government of Chile.
A significant folklore has grown around the Cueva de los Pincheira, a hideout of the gang.
References
- ^ Manara, Carla G. (2010). "Movilización en las fronteras. Los Pincheira y el última intento de reconquista hispana en el sur Americano (1818-1832)" (PDF). Revista Sociedad de Paisajes Áridos y Semiáridos (in Spanish). II (II). Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto: 39–60.
- Neuquén , The last royalist of America
- Montecino Aguirre, Sonia (2015). Mitos de Chile: Enciclopedia de seres, apariciones y encantos (in Spanish). Catalonia. p. 197. ISBN 978-956-324-375-8.
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