Manuel Bulnes

Manuel Bulnes Prieto (1799 to 1866) was a Chilean general and statesman who served as President of Chile from 1841 to 1851. Born in Concepción, he was imprisoned as a young revolutionary by the Spanish authorities, joined the army of San Martín in 1818 and served as a colonel through the Chilean War of Independence. He was appointed brigadier general in 1831 and in 1832 defeated the Pincheira brothers at Epulafquén. In 1838 he commanded the Chilean army sent to Peru against Marshal Santa Cruz in the War of the Confederation, took Lima, and with the Peruvian forces of Gamarra defeated Santa Cruz at the battle of Yungay in January 1839, which ended the union of Peru and Bolivia. His later presidency was marked by educational expansion, the founding of the University of Chile in 1842 and the settlement of the Strait of Magellan at Fuerte Bulnes.