In March 1813, during José Miguel's absence, he was appointed member of the Board of Governors. In 1813, with the rank of brigadier, he participated in some of the first
military actions of the Independence; such as the
Siege of Chillán and the
Battle of San Carlos. In the fall of 1814 he remained exiled in Mendoza, by order of the
Supreme Director Francisco de la Lastra. During said exile he earned the dislike of the local governor,
José de San Martín. Back in Chile, he participated in a new coup, on 23 July, which overthrew De la Lastra and briefly reinstated José Miguel in supreme command. At the end of September of the same year, 1814, he assumed command of the Second Division of the patriot army, which was ready to block the passage over the
Cachapoal River to the forces of the royalist
Mariano Osorio, which was heading to take the capital. Faced with this desperate situation, and on the eve of assuming such an uncertain commission, he married Ana María Cotapos. A few days later, the Patriots were decively defeated in the
Battle of Rancagua (2 October 1814). After the battle, the Spanish captured Santiago within a few days, which marked the beginning of the
Reconquista of Chile. Like many Patriots, the Carrera brothers fled to Argentina to escape the violence the Spanish had unleashed upon the rebels. They lived in exile in
Mendoza, Argentina, and there, he and his brother Luis participated in the so-called "conspiracy of 1817" against O'Higgins, directed by his sister
Javiera Carrera. The conspiracy was discovered in August 1817, and the brothers were imprisoned. Ultimately, they were both executed on 8 April 1818. == References ==