[2][3][4][5][6][7] The crossing of the Andes was a key part of the strategy devised by General José de San Martín to defeat the royalist forces at their stronghold in Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru, and to secure the Spanish American independence movements.

The Captaincy General of Chile had removed its governor in 1810 and replaced him with the First Government Junta, marking the beginning of a period in Chilean history known as Patria Vieja.

[citation needed] The main food supply for the army was a regional dish called valdiviano, prepared with dried meat or charqui, sliced raw onion, potatoes, and boiling water.

These soldiers carried forty tons of charqui, maize cakes, meat, brandy to combat the nighttime cold, garlic and onion to stimulate appetite, over 4,000 cattle for the remainder of the campaign, as well as cheese and rum.

[8] On the morning of January 19, 1817, San Martín and his army set out from their base camp, El Plumerillo, and began their journey across the Andes mountain range.