Hussars of Death

The Hussars of Death (Spanish: Húsares de la Muerte) were a paramilitary group founded by Chilean guerrilla Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza after the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada, on March 23, 1818.

The Chilean people associated him with the government of the Delegate Board chaired by Luis de la Cruz, and in a few hours Rodríguez organised and armed a regiment that he called Hussars of Death, meaning that they preferred to die before giving victory to the enemy.

The rumour of O'Higgins' death in the Battle of Cancha Rayada ran everywhere, and the people saw as the only leader Manuel Rodríguez, the Warlord of the Reconquest, who now wore his elegant black Hussar uniform and was accompanied by many of his followers and friends.

In the Battle of Maipú, fought on 5 April 1818, José de San Martín inflicted a hard defeat on Osorio, who chose to return to Concepción; the royalists would no longer attempt another incursion into Santiago, thereby ensuring independence.

However, in the Chilean Army's records, and in works by historians such as Miguel D. Amunategui and Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, it is made clear that the Hussars of Death battalion was kept at the rearguard by Bernardo O'Higgins' decision, and it captured 700 royalists under the command of the patriot deserter Ángel Calvo, in a cavalry charge that ran over with these forces on the Niebla hill where they had taken refuge.