Ramón de la Cavareda
Ramón de la Cavareda Trucíos (14 January 1793 – ?) was a Chilean Army officer and politician who participated in the Chilean War of Independence and the Chilean military expedition to Peru.
He served as Minister of War and Navy under President José Joaquín Prieto, as Governor of Valparaíso, and as Commander General of the Chilean Navy from 1834 to 1837. He also served as a substitute member of the Senate of Chile.
Biography
De la Cavareda was born in Santiago on 14 January 1793, the son of Miguel de la Cavareda y de la Llantada and Tadea de Trucíos y Salas. In 1811, he entered the newly established Dragoon Corps of Chile with the rank of ensign. He later transferred to the Assembly Corps and was serving in that unit when Spanish forces under Antonio Pareja began their campaign in Chile in 1813.
During the Patria Nueva, De la Cavareda served as an aide at the Santiago garrison and was promoted to captain. He was promoted to brevet major in 1821 and to major the following year. In 1823, he participated in the campaign in Peru as a cavalry aide on the army general staff. He later attained the rank of colonel.
De la Cavareda also participated in the country's early constitutional process. As a civilian, he signed the Provisional Constitutional Regulation of 1812. In 1833, while serving as Minister of War and Navy, he signed the Constitution of 1833 together with President José Joaquín Prieto and the other ministers of state.
On 4 December 1832, De la Cavareda was appointed Minister of War and Navy. In November 1833, he left the active administration of the ministry after being appointed Governor of Valparaíso.
De la Cavareda served as Commander General of the Navy from 1834 to 1837. Official correspondence from August 1836 records him exercising the naval command at Valparaíso and reporting to the government on the movements of Chilean warships.
Following the assassination of Diego Portales in June 1837, De la Cavareda returned to the Ministry of War and Navy. He held the ministry during the War of the Confederation, in which Chile fought against the Peru–Bolivian Confederation.
De la Cavareda was subsequently elected as a substitute senator. He served successive periods in the Senate and was a member of its Permanent Commission of War and Navy.