The Peruvian Guard Legion () is a traditional military unit of

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It has participated in several conflicts since the country's independence and the unit's formation by

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (; 25 February 177817 August 1850), nicknamed "the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru", was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and central parts of South America's succe ...

in 1821. Its headquarters are located in the

Real Felipe Fortress The Real Felipe Fortress is a fortress located within the Monumental Zone of Callao, Peru. It was built to defend the main port of the country, as well as the city of Lima from pirates and corsairs during colonial times. The fortress was subject ...

located in

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...

History

The unit was established by

with a decree published on August 18, 1821. It was the first military unit of the new self-proclaimed

Peruvian state {{unreferenced, date=January 2014 The Peruvian State, which is conceptually the Peruvian nation legally organized, is the entity that holds the government in the Republic of Peru. The state's structure is defined in the Constitution of Peru approve ...

, and thus, the origin of the

Peruvian Army The Peruvian Army (, abbreviated EP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missions include assistance in s ...

. Its purpose was to uphold the independence proclaimed against the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

, with its first commander being

José Bernardo de Tagle José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

. Englishman

Guillermo Miller 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, 179 ...

was responsible for organizing the unit and also served as a commander. The unit participated in the

Peruvian War of Independence The Peruvian War of Independence () was a series of military conflicts in Peru from 1809 to 1826 that resulted in the country's independence from the Spanish Empire. Part of the broader Spanish American wars of independence, it led to the dis ...

, including the decisive battles of Junín and

Ayacucho Ayacucho (, , derived from the words ''aya'' ("death" or "soul") and ''k'uchu'' ("corner") in honour of the battle of Ayacucho), founded in 1540 as San Juan de la Frontera de Huamanga and known simply as Huamanga (Quechua: Wamanga) until 1825, i ...

, where it fought under the United Liberating Army of Peru. Later on it would see action in the

War of the Confederation The War of the Confederation () was a military confrontation waged by the United Restoration Army, the alliance of the land and naval forces of Chile and the Restoration Army of Peru, formed in 1836 by Peruvian soldiers opposed to the conf ...

, the

Chincha Islands War The Chincha Islands War, also known as Spanish–South American War (), was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. The conflict began with Spain's seiz ...

and the

Ecuadorian–Peruvian War The Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, known locally as the War of '41 (), was a South American border war fought between 5–31 July 1941. It was the first of three military conflicts between Ecuador and Peru during the 20th century. During the war, ...

. The unit is currently part of the 2nd Army Division of the

Notes

References

{{reflist Military units and formations of Peru Military history of Peru Guards of honour

History

See also

Notes

References