José María San Martín

Colonel José María San Martín (29 March 1811 – 12 August 1857) was born in Nacaome, Honduras to Colonel Joaquín de San Martín and Joaquina Fugón.

Although born in Honduras, his family moved to Chalatenango, El Salvador when he was a child. He studied philosophy at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala but did not graduate. Instead he returned to El Salvador in 1829 where he later married Isabel García de Machón.

In 1832 he became a deputy in the parliament of the Province of El Salvador.

In 1834 he joined the army. Later that year his father Joaquín de San Martín y Ulloa, declared the separation of the province of El Salvador in the Central American Confederation invading José Francisco Morazán Quezada of El Salvador and the troops sent by Joaquín de San Martín y Ulloa, at the Jiboa River, June 1834.

The family of San Martín y Ulloa went into exile in Mexico. After the Central American Confederation in 1840 returned to El Salvador. José María San Martín returned as a lieutenant colonel.

In 1842 he attempted a coup against Francisco Malespín, which failed and José María San Martín was exiled to Honduras.

He returned to El Salvador in 1845. On 16 May 1846, Eugenio Aguilar appointed him Minister of Finance and War. These offices were held by San Martín until September 19, 1847. In 1850 he was elected to Parliament from 1851 to 1853. From 30 January to 1 February 1852 he was President of El Salvador.

At the end of 1853, he was elected president for an additional two years.

On April 16, 1854, an earthquake completely destroyed the city of San Salvador. A commission had been made by the government on April 27, 1854, to locate a relocation site for the city. On May 8, 1854 president San Martín traveled out of Cojutepeque in order to inspect the recommended site but it failed to meet his standards for the city. As a result, he created a new commission made up of several engineers and on June 4 they chose Santa Tecla.

On 14 February 1855, he decreed the creation of the department of Chalatenango. Isidro Menéndez instructed applicable laws of El Salvador to begin. Compared with the conservative government of José Rafael Carrera Turcios in Guatemala, behaved peacefully. In the cabinet of his successor in office of President, Rafael Campo, José María San Martín in 1856 was minister of war.

On August 12, 1857, San Martin died from cholera morbus in his ranch, San Cristóbal. The epidemic had been spread by soldiers returning from Nicaragua with Gerardo Barrios, who had disobeyed orders from president Campo to stay in Nicaragua.