Which is the best way to summarize this passage? jose de san martin of argentina has become the forgotten man of south american independence. in recent years, his rival simon bolivar of venezuela has become much more prominent as the military leader who forced spain to leave the continent in the nineteenth century. san martin was the general who forced the spanish out of argentina and chile, as well as in peru where bolivar's eventual triumph would have been impossible if not for san martin's invasion. (2) born in argentina, the son of a spanish colonial official, he moved to spain as a child where he was educated and served in the army for 20 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of cavalry. he fought against napoleon's french troops for three years, but then in 1812 he sailed to buenos aires, argentina and began fighting the spanish colonial army. (3) he had a genius for organization and carrying out big plans. he quickly concluded that the key to securing argentina's independence from spain lay in the conquest of peru, which was the bastion of spanish power in south america. he gathered an army in western argentina, and in a feat of supreme generalship, he led his 5,000 troops over the high andean passes into chile. there in 1817, he attacked the spanish troops and defeated them at chacabuco, a city in northern chile near the border with peru. chacabuco was the site of a mine that produced a key ingredient of gunpowder. (4) in 1820, he put his troops on ships supplied by the british and sailed up the western coast of south america and landed in peru. peru was loyal to spain and had many spanish troops, more than san martin thought he could defeat. he decided to try convincing the peruvians to take up his cause against the oppressive spaniards, but the peruvians were not easily swayed. during these two years in peru, his army fell apart due to disease and inaction. (5) at a meeting in the peruvian city of guayaquil with bolivar in 1822, san martin requested troops from the venezuelan, who denied his request. saying "there is not enough room in peru for bolivar and me," san martin withdrew from fightthe spanish. he lived the rest of his life in voluntary exile in europe.