Crossing of the Andes

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Crossing of the Andes
Part of the Spanish American wars of independence
Battle of Chacabuco, fought after the Crossing of the Andes
Date January 19 to February 13, 1817 Location From Argentina to Chile Result Patriot forces successfully enter Chile
Belligerents
Army of the Andes	Spanish Royalists
Commanders and leaders
José de San Martín Miguel Estanislao Soler Bernardo O'Higgins	Francisco Marcó del Pont Mariano Osorio

The Crossing of the Andes (Spanish: Cruce de los Andes) was one of the most important feats in the Argentine and Chilean wars of independence, in which a combined army of Argentine soldiers and Chilean exiles invaded Chile crossing the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, leading to Chile's liberation from Spanish rule.

Led by General José de San Martín, and setting out from Mendoza – then part of the Province of Cuyo, Argentina – in January 1817, the successful crossing of the army took 21 days. Having to manage heights averaging 3,000 mts,^[1][2] the feat has been compared to Hannibal's or Napoleon's crossing of the Alps, and is regarded among the greatest of its kind in universal military history.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}