Quentín di Battista

This article is about the historical person called Quentín di Battista. For the town of the same name, see Quentín di Battista, DC.

Gral di Battista posing for portrait shortly after the important military victory at Torre de Ladrillo in 1815.

Quentín di Battista (born 1779, Faro, DS; died 1827, St. Richards, Pretany) was a military leader and important figure in the Ardisphere's war for independence in the 1810's.

Biography

Early Life

Born to a wealthy merchant family in the colonial capital of Faro, di Battista joined the Nuevo Castellán military when he was 17, in 1798. He rose in the ranks quickly, but his family's involvement in pro-independence politics hampered his career.

War for Independence

Di Battista resigned his commission in 1811 and joined several other dissaffected military officers to form the germ of the Ejército Ardesférico Libertador (Ardispherian Liberation Army). Two other founding officers were arrested, but di Battista escaped and established a training base in the badlands west of Santa Fé (modern Cerro y Casa, DO), where he quickly assembled a substantial division of soldiers interested in the cause of independence.

When independence was formally declared, di Battista's army was ready. From the start, he made clear his army was under the civilian control of the leader of the Congreso Libertador, José Errázuriz (who later became president).

Role in Federation Government

After the treaty was signed, di Battista joined Errázurriz's government as Ministro de Guerra (minister of war).

Ambassadorship and Early Death

In 1818, he turned over his role as Ministro de Guerra to Edgardo Kim Colón, because of the dearth of qualified diplomats to represent the young nation internationally. Errázurriz appointed him Ambassador-at-Large. He travelled to Bengonia, Darcodia where he was for several years, and then to St. Richards, Pretany, where he served as the Ardisphere's ambassador to the large Ulethan nation until his death in 1827, probably from influenza. His body was returned to the Ardisphere and he was provided with a state funeral. He was buried at the Cemeterio Nacional and is considered a hero of the nation.

Cultural Representations

The town of San Quentín on the eastern border formally changed its name to Quentín di Battista, DC, two years after his death, in 1829. As a result, his name and the town's identity have been intertwined ever since, although his linkage to the town is tenuous, since it was the site of a minor treaty signed with AR031 in 1816, which he officiated. There is a substantial museum dedicated to him and to revolutionary history in that town, but the old di Battista home in Faro is the official museum dedicated to his legacy.

See Also

José Errázurriz