HERRERA, Nicolas, Uruguayan statesman, b. in Montevideo in 1780; d. there, 4 March, 1832. He studied law, and at the age of twenty-six was sent to Madrid by the municipality of Montevideo as their attorney-general at the court. He was present at the abdication of Charles IV. in Aran- juez, 1808, and, after the imprisonment of the Spanish kings by Napoleon-, he went, as a member of the Spanish junta, to Bayonne: but, seeing the uselessness of opposition, he returned to the river Plate, and took an enthusiastic part in the move- ment for independence in May, 1810. With Ber- nardino Rivadavia, he was appointed one of the secretaries of state, and in 1813 was sent on a mis- sion to the director of the Paraguayan government junta. Dr. Prancia, which he accomplished satis- factorily. In, 1814 he followed Gen. Carlos Maria Alvear in his campaign for the final overthrow of the Spanish dominion in Uruguay, happily finished in the capitulation of Montevideo, 20 June, and afterward sustained the policy of that general against Artigas ; but, when the power of the di- rector Alvear was overthrown by a revolution in April, 1815, Herrera fled to Brazil, where he was received with marked distinction at court. In the endeavor to liberate his country from the oppres- sion of the dictator Artigas, and at the same time provide against a threatened re-conquest of Uru- guay by Spain, Herrera favored the occupation of the province by the Portuguese forces, on condi- tion of preserving the autonomy, in the mistaken hope that it would be easy, after finishing with Artigas and the danger of a Spanish invasion, to liberate the Banda Oriental again. With this hope he accompanied the invading army in 1816 as political secretary of the general-in-chief, Baron de Laguna. After the occupation of Montevideo, 20 Jan., 1817, he was appointed chief judge, and exercised great political influence ; but after the final overthrow of Artigas at Tacuarembo, 22 Jan., 1820, his hope of independence was defeated by the forced vote of annexation to Brazil, July, 1821, and he employed his official position, as far as possible, to the benefit of his oppressed country- men. The independence of Brazil in 1822 did not change the situation, and insurrectionary move- ments were continued, until on 19 April, 1825, Col. Lavalleja, with thirty-two Uruguayan refu- gees, landed near Soriano, and soon the whole prov- ince was in arms. On 25 Aug., independence from Brazil was declared, and the revolution continued, secretly assisted by the Argentine Republic. In consequence, Brazil declared war against the Ar- gentine, 4 Nov., 1825, and Herrera sympathized with the movement for independence, especially after his former chief, Alvear, had been appointed feneral commander of the liberating army. On 20 'eb., 1827, the Brazilian army was defeated at Ituzaingo, and the independence of Uruguay was recognized by the treaty of Rio de Janeiro, 28 Aug.. 1828. Herrera was confirmed in his judicial functions, and afterward appointed diplomatical agent at the court of Brazil, where he obtained the recognition of the constitution of Uruguay. On his return he was elected to the senate, which office he held until his death.
HERRERA Y CABRERA, Desiderio (er-ray'-rah), Cuban educator, b. in Havana, Cuba, in 1792 ; d. there in 1856. He studied in his native city, and afterward devoted himself to teaching and journalism. He published " Agrimensura Cubana," a work that was much praised in Spain
(1834) ; " Observaciones cientificas " (Havana, 1843),
which Arago deemed worthy to be translated and
published (Paris, 1843) ; " Huracanes de la isla
de Cuba " (1847, English and French translations) ;
" Topografia medica de Cuba," " Lecciones de Agri-
mensura," " Vindicacion del sabio espafiol Don
Jorge Juan," a treatise on " Meteorology," and
memoirs and pamphlets, chiefly scientific.
HERRERA Y OLALLA, Alonso de, Spanish
soldier, b. in Agudo, Spain, about 1500 ; d. in New
Granada about 1580. In 1534 he resolved to go
to Venezuela with Jorge de Spire, leaving his
wife and children in Spain. He met Federmann
(q. v.) in Coro, and went with him to New Granada,
where he remained. He was not long in Santa Fe
before the Indians of Simijaca revolted, and he was
commissioned with Cespedes to reduce them to
subjection. The Indians held a strong position on
a rock, and defended themselves vigorously. De-
termined to dislodge them, Herrera climbed the
steep amid a shower of stones. He had already
reached the middle of it when he was struck by a
stone and hurled down a distance of more than
three hundred feet. His fall was broken by the
branches of some trees, but he was injured, and he
did not recover for two years. The spot still bears
his name, and is called " Olalla's Leap." After his
recovery, he headed an expedition against the na-
tives of Tocaima, Pamplona, and Mariquilo, whom
he conquered. He also reduced the natives of
Bituima to subjection at his own expense and
without bloodshed. He next subdued the inhabi-
tants of the present department of La Palma, and,
having pacified the entire country between Honda
and Bogota, he made also, at his own expense,
a road between these two points thirty leagues in
length. After building a village on this highway
he undertook the conquest of the Valle de la Plata
and Moquinque with 150 men. The enterprise
was successful, but he died on the return march.
HERRERA Y TORDESILLAS, Antonio de, Spanish historian, b. in Cuellar, Spain, in 1559 ; d. in Madrid, 29 March, 1625. The name of his father was Tordesillas, but he adopted that of his mother on reaching manhood. In 1579 he became private secretary to Vespasiano de Gonzaga, viceroy of Naples, which place he occupied till the death of the
latter in 1591. Philip II. appointed him in 1592 historiographer of the Indies and Castille, and granted him a considerable pension. A short time before his death he was raised to the post of secretary of state. His most important work is " Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas y tierra firma del mar oceano" (4 vols., Madrid, 1601-'15 ; new ed., revised by Gonzalez
Barcia, 5 vols., with engravings, 1729-30). There is also an Antwerp edition (4 vols., 1728), but it is very imperfect. Herrera's work covers a period of over sixty years. Although he never left Europe, the excellent material which he had at his disposal enabled him to write with exactness the history of the discovery of America, and of all that followed that event. " Of all the Spanish writers," says Robertson, in his " History of South America," " Herrera furnishes the fullest and most accurate
information concerning the conquest of Mexico, as well as every other transaction of America. If, by attempting to relate the various occurrences in the New World in a strictly chronological order, the arrangement of events in his work had not been rendered so perplexed, disconnected, and obscure, that it is an unpleasant task to collect from different parts of his book and piece together the detached shreds of a story, he might justly have been ranked among the most eminent historians of his country." Herrera has been accused of using a bombastic style, of concealing some odious actions of his countrymen, and of a love for the mar-
