José Manuel Pinto Arias
José Manuel Pinto Arias (April 1818 – 12 November 1874) was a Chilean military officer and politician.
A general of division in the Chilean Army, he served as Minister of War and Navy under President José Joaquín Pérez, as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile and as a substitute member of the Senate of Chile. He also held several senior military and provincial administrative posts.
Education
Pinto was born in Santiago in April 1818, the son of Francisco Pinto and Nieves Arias. He married Flora Agüero Asenjo, with whom he had ten children.
He entered the Military Academy as a cadet in 1832 and joined the Chilean Army as a second lieutenant of infantry in 1836. He later transferred to the Mounted Grenadiers Regiment and was promoted to captain in 1843. From 1846 he served in the Chacabuco Regiment, becoming its second-in-command in 1849.
Political career
During the revolution of 1851, Pinto rejected approaches made to him by the revolutionaries, while also declining to denounce them to the authorities. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1852.
By the outbreak of the 1859 Chilean Civil War, Pinto was serving as intendant of Ñuble Province and was appointed commander-in-chief of a government division. On 12 April 1859, he defeated revolutionary forces led by Nicolás Tirapegui at Maipón. He was subsequently promoted to colonel and presented with a sword of honor.
In 1864, Pinto was appointed intendant and commander general of arms of Arauco Province. That same year, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of Chile for Valdivia and Osorno for the 1864–1867 legislative term, serving on the Permanent Commission on War and Navy.
President José Joaquín Pérez appointed Pinto Minister of War and Navy on 30 March 1865. He remained in office until 18 September 1866. In 1866, he was promoted to brigadier general and placed in command of the Army of the South, with responsibility for military operations on the Araucanía frontier.
Pinto was elected deputy for San Carlos for the 1867–1870 term and continued to serve on the Permanent Commission on War and Navy. On 4 November 1867, his substitute, Francisco Javier Reyes Cotapos, took his seat in the Chamber.
As commander of the Army of the South, Pinto participated in the 1869 campaign in the Araucanía, during which government forces advanced to the line of the Cautín River. In 1871, he was promoted to general of division.
That year, President Federico Errázuriz Zañartu appointed him to the Council of State. In 1873, Pinto was elected fourth substitute senator for the 1873–1882 senatorial term.
Pinto also pursued painting in his leisure time and left several works at his death. He died in Santiago on 12 November 1874 while serving as a substitute senator.