Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Nieto, Vicente

NIETO, Vicente, Spanish soldier, b. in Aranjuez in 1753; d. in Potosi, Bolivia, 15 Dec., 1810. He entered the army as a lieutenant and served in New Spain, becoming in 1795 brevet brigadier-general and honorary colonel of the Pueblo regiment. He returned to Spain in 1806, was in several encounters with the French, commanded a division at the battle of Rio Seco in 1808, and, being promoted major-general at the end of the same year, was sent to serve in Buenos Ayres. In August, 1809, he was appointed by the viceroy, Hidalgo de Cisneros, commander of a division to operate against Chuquisaca, and in November following, by the junta central, president of the audiencia de Charcas. When, in May, 1810, the independence of Buenos Ayres was declared and a patriot army marched against upper Peru, Nieto joined Gen. Jose de Cordova and Francisco de Paula Sanz, intendant of Potosi. The campaign was short, but decisive. The independents were at first defeated at Cotagaita on 27 Oct. and at Tupiza on 29 Oct., but collected their forces, and at Suipacha on 7 Nov. they gained a complete victory, the three royalist generals being made prisoners. Soon all the provinces of upper Peru pronounced for independence, and in the next month, by order of Juan Jose Castelli, member of the junta gubernativa, the Spanish chiefs were shot in Potosi.