Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, KOM, OM (July 25, 1753 – August 26, 1810) was a French officer in the Spanish military service, and a viceroy of the Spanish colonies of the Viceroyalty of the River Plate. Although born Jacques de Liniers in France, he is more widely known by the Spanish form of his name, Santiago de Liniers. He was popularly regarded as the hero of the reconquest of Buenos Aires after the first British invasion of the River Plate. As a result of his success, he was appointed as viceroy, replacing Rafael de Sobremonte. It was unprecedented for a viceroy to be replaced without the King's direct intervention. But he was confirmed in office by Charles IV of Spain. He defended the settlement against a second British invasion and a mutiny that sought to replace him. He was replaced in 1809 by Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, appointed as viceroy by the Junta of Seville, and retired from public activity. But when the May Revolution took place, Liniers decided to come out of his retirement and organized a monarchist uprising in Córdoba. Liniers was forced to flee, but was eventually captured and executed without trial. Early life Santiago de Liniers y Bremond, Chevalier of the Order of Saint John, Caballero of the Order of Montesa, and Captain in the Spanish Royal Navy was born in Niort, Poitou, France, as Jacques, 4th son of Jacques Joseph Louis, comte de Liniers (1723–1785) and Captain in the French Royal Navy, and Henriette Thérèse de Brémond d'Ars (1725–1770). The Liniers family had been part of the French nobility since the 11th century. One of their ancestors, Guillaume de Liniers, was killed at the Battle of Poitiers, during the Hundred Years' War. Eight other members were professed knights of the Order of Saint John. In 1765, when Jacques was 12 years old, he entered the military academy of the Order of St. John. (As a younger son who was unlikely to inherit the title or the estates, Liniers was sent to their school in order to train for a military career.) After three years, he graduated with the Cross of Chevalier (1768). He was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant of Cavalry in the in the French Royal Army. Serving the Spanish Crown In 1774 Liniers requested dismissal and re-enlisted as a volunteer in the campaigns against the Moors