Why did Bernardo O’Higgins and other Chilean patriot leaders go to Argentina?

Following the decisive defeat of Chilean patriot forces by Spanish royalists at the Battle of Rancagua in October 1814, the royalists reestablished military control over Chile, ending the period known as la patria vieja (the old fatherland).12

In flight from the royalist occupation, several thousand Chilean patriots, including Bernardo O’Higgins and the Carrera brothers, crossed the Andes Mountains to seek refuge in Argentina.12

Once in Argentina, O’Higgins joined forces with the Argentine general José de San Martín. San Martín had been organizing an army in Mendoza with the support of the revolutionary government in Buenos Aires to liberate the southern portion of the continent. O’Higgins spent the next three years in exile preparing for the reconquest of Chile, which was ultimately achieved through the Army of the Andes and the victory at the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817.3142