lack of appetite; more than 4,000 cattle for the rest of the campaign; plus cheese and rum. Crossing On the morning of January 19, 1817, San Martin and his army set out from their base camp El Plumerillo and began their journey across the Andes Mountain range. San Martin crossed with 4,000 men, only to end up losing 1/3 of them. The number of auxiliaries reached 1,200. For the crossing, San Martin split his army into two divisions: The main division, which traveled through the pass of Los Patos, was led by San Martin, Miguel Estanislao Soler and Bernardo O'Higgins. The secondary troop, which traveled through the more southern Uspallata, was led by Juan Gregorio de Las Heras. Coming to an end On February 13, 1817, San Martín, O’Higgins, and their army successfully entered Santiago, Chile, after crossing 500 kilometers of mountain range, and the journey came to an end. The royalist forces, by this time, had advanced north to avoid San Martín's army, but a royalist leader had stayed behind with 1,500 men to advance at a valley called Chacabuco, which was located near Santiago. Thus, the Battle of Chacabuco began. Legacy In 2010 the Argentine and Chilean armies recreated the crossing during the commemorations of the 200 years of Revolution. See also Chilean Independence Argentina–Chile relations Revolución: El cruce de los Andes Notes Further reading Harvey, Robert. "Liberators: Latin America`s Struggle For Independence, 1810–1830". John Murray, London (2000). Campaigns of the Argentine War of Independence Chilean War of Independence José de San Martín Conflicts in 1817 1817 in the Captaincy General of Chile 1817 in Argentina Invasions by Argentina January 1817 events February 1817 events Principal Cordillera Mountain warfare