In 1870 generals Bartolomé Mitre, Enrique Martínez and Manuel José Guerrico appointed a commission with the task of making a monument for Manuel Belgrano. This was requested to the French sculptor Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse, who would make the statue of Belgrano, and Manuel de Santa Coloma, who designed the horse. It was finished in 1872 and moved to Buenos Aires, where it was dedicated on September 24, 1873, at an anniversary of the Battle of Tucumán. More than 20,000 people were present at the ceremony, and the Argentine National Anthem was played at Teatro Colón that night.