A researcher or gamer can expect to encounter a few unfamiliar terms while reviewing various types of source material. Some of those terms are listed here.

ARRIBENOS. Rural militia regiments in Argentina composed of Creoles

AUXILLARY ARMY. This term refers to a force raised to conduct a specific operation or expedition. The units comprising such a force varied in size and organization. A unit may be part of one operation but be detached to other duties for the next similar assignment.

BANDA ORIENTAL. Refers to the area between the east bank of the Platte River and the Atlantic Ocean. Composes modern Uruguay.

CABALLERO. A unit, often mounted, composed of rich gentry.

CAUDILLO. The local warlord who controls the political and military activity in a small area. The personage may range from a bandit chieftain, to a priest, to a regional governor, to an army colonel/general. His forces controlled communication roads through his territory and even collected protection taxes from the local populace.

CAZADORE. AKA Cacadore. The Spanish term for troops trained to fight in skirmish order and over broken terrain. If rifles were available, these would be the first units equipped with them. AKA Light/English units or Legere/French.

CREOLE. Full-bloodied Spanish people born in the Americas rather than in Europe. A general term used to identify anti-Royalist revolutionary forces in this article.

FEDERAL LEAGUE. A loose alliance of towns and Caudillo leaders in the interior of the old Rio de Plata vice royalty. They are anti-Royalist and also anti-Proteno. They frequently fought each other as well as traditional enemies.

GAUCHOS: Colonists used to the hard nomadic ‘cowboy’ life associated with living in the interior pampas region of Argentina. Known as excellent horsemen and very independent in nature.

HONDEROS. Native Indians armed with traditional weapons often only slings.

-ISTAS. A suffix attached to the name of a Creole or Caudillo leader to designate a group as supporters of that individual leader. (ex. – O'Higginistas or Morenoistas)

LLANEROS. Colonists used to the hard nomadic ‘cowboy’ life associated with living in the interior plateau region of Venezuela. Known as excellent horsemen and very independent in nature. A majority was Mestizos or Mulattos. Sometimes referred to as gauchos.

LOYALIST. These are Creoles, Mestizos, Native Indians and Negroes who supported the Spanish cause in South America. The ethnic composition of the Loyalist changed from region to region.

MESTIZO. A person descended from one Spanish and one Native American parent.

MONTONEROS. A term used for guerrillas.

MULATTO. A person descended from one Negro and one Spanish parent.

ORIENTAL. A person living in the Banda Oriental area (Uruguay)

PARDOS Used to designate a unit of Negro troops who were classified as Free Blacks.

PATRIA. Used to designate a unit of Negro troops who had been ex-slaves.

PATRICIOS. Urban militia regiments in Argentina composed of Creoles.

PORTENO. Soldiers who support the concept of a single unified country from the old Viceroy of Rio de Plata under the leadership of Buenos Aires (i.e. Argentina)

PROVINCIANO. Supporters of freedom for a specific local area. They may or may not support the Creole revolution. They may fight both Creole and Royalist forces.

REBUBLIQUETA. An area where resistance to the Royalist government could be found and local government was anti-Royalist. The controlling rebel force often varied in size and may owe loyalty to a local caudillo rather than a revolutionary group.

UPPER PERU. The area of the modern country of Bolivia.

AKA Alto Peru. ???. Basically both sides adopted a take no prisoners attitude. This seems to be a characteristic of Hispanic warfare in the 1800s. It can be seen during the Napoleonic Wars, the Latin American Wars of Independence and the later Carlist Wars in Spain. As a result, many units fought longer in desperate situations than would normally be expected. This caused the ratio level of casualties suffered by units to be much higher than those cited during the Napoleonic Wars or the American Civil War. In many cases even victorious units of a battle in Latin America would suffer a 40-50% casualty level.

ZAMBO. A person descended from one Negro and one Native Indian parent

Latin American Wars of Independence

Background Data
Key Terms and Definitions
Organization and Character of the Armies
Operations in Columbia, Ecuador, Venezuela
Operations in Upper Peru (Bolivia) and Argentina
Operations in Chile and Peru
Key Leaders
Bibliographic Appendix