Battle of Caaguazú
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Caaguazú took place in Mercedes Department
, in Corrientes Province
, Argentina
on 28 November 1841, during the Argentine Civil War
, between the forces of Entre Ríos Province
, commanded by brigadier
Pascual Echagüe
and Corrientes Province, under brigadier José María Paz
, with a sound defeat of the Federal Party
forces of Entre Ríos.
. The conflicts between Corrientes and Buenos Aires were overshadowed by the terms requested by the contenders. Corrientes demanded the sanctioning of a new constitution, while Rosas accused the Corrientes government of being run by the Unitarian Party
. The governor of Corrientes was a federal like Rosas, but the province was allied with the Unitarian generals Juan Lavalle
and José María Paz.
The real discussion was about the Customs House of the port of the city of Buenos Aires. They took the income from Customs duties and benefited from it, without giving due share to the other provinces, and having an open business policy that was ruining the local industries in the provinces. The provinces most affected by this policy were the ones with ports on the Paraná River
, but Santa Fe
and Entre Ríos were firmly allied with Buenos Aires; which made Corrientes fight alone on the defense of the "riverine federalism".
In 1839, then-governor Genaro Berón de Astrada had rebelled against the city of Buenos Aires, but a quick attack from the forces of Entre Rios governor Echagüe, had defeated him at the battle of Pago Largo, having Berón de Astrada paid with his life for the rebellion.
After a short-lived federal party government, brigadier Pedro Ferré was elected to succeed them. Ferré was a political enemy of Rosas since 1832, when Rosas had caused the failure of his opportunity to defeat the Unitarians trying to organize the constitution of the nation.
Ferré had put his provincial army under the command of general Lavalle, but the latter had invaded Entre Ríos and had taken the army to invade Buenos Aires, leaving the province defenseless. To make matters worse, he had been defeated and had to retreat to the northwest.
Ferré put all the remaining resources of the province under General José María Paz, who had a long Unitarian history. Paz worked on organizing and training the new army, to put it in combat conditions. He was lucky that Echagüe did not attack until the year 1840, because Lavalle had taken Santa Fe for a few weeks.
, Echagüe marched to the north. Paz had increased the size of his army with fleeing soldiers from Lavalle's, and Ferré had signed an alliance with Santa Fe's governor, brigadier Juan Pablo López
.
Echagüe stayed in the south of the province for several weeks, reaching the Corriente River
and waiting for the opportunity to attack with an advantage. Paz did not give him that chance, and crossed the river at the Caaguazú pass.
At the start of the battle, Echagüe had more than 5,000 men (1,000 of them infantry) and 12 artillery pieces, under the command of Colonel Servando Gómez and other experienced officers, but he did not have the best of his generals, brigadier Justo José de Urquiza
. Paz's forces, of about 3,000 men were commanded by less-capable officers, with the only experienced officer, who had fought in the War of Independence, Colonel Indalecio Chenaut. Among the Corrientes army's officers they would distinguish themselves the future governors, lieutenant colonels Joaquín Madariaga
and Benjamín Virasoro.
Paz awaited the attack in a seemingly weak position: his cavalry on the left flank retreated at the first attack by the forces commanded by Gómez, and were chased for a few kilometers. But as they were advancing, they were surrounding themselves by the Corriente River and a swamp, and being shot at from the riverside by the Corrientes' infantry. Upon reaching the end, they were met by the infantry and artillery concentrated together and was defeated. They had to retreat and along the way they were shot at again effectively by the enemy's infantry in both flanks.
The Corrientes cavalry attacked on the right flank, under General Manuel Ramírez, and defeated the demoralized and weakened forces he confronted. The chase of the Federal cavalry pushed Echagüe, who was close to being shot to death. His infantry, lacking cavalry's protection, had to retreat; but several leagues
distant, tired and thirsty, they surrendered. The artillery under Colonel Juan Bautista Thorne was the only force that acquitted themselves on the Federal side, but they had to finally surrender as the infantry had.
The Corrientes army had 53 dead, while the Entre Rios army lost 1,350 dead and 800 prisoners, plus all their artillery, supplies and infantry weapons.
Paz quickly advanced towards Entre Ríos and took the city of Paraná
. Upon reaching Paraná, the differences between Paz and Ferré became serious and Paz was left by himself, with control only of the prisoners of Caaguazú. A little while later, Juan Pablo López was defeated in Santa Fe, and was replaced by Echagüe. Paz attempted to retreat to the east, and join with his ally brigadier general Fructuoso Rivera
; but the ex-prisoners he had as soldiers deserted and joined the forces of Urquiza coming from Buenos Aires. Paz arrived alone to Concepción del Uruguay
, where he refused to be out under the orders of Rivera.
In the meantime, el brigadier general Manuel Oribe
a rival of Rivera, crossed the Paraná River and advanced along Urquiza to the east, where he would defeat Rivera at the Battle of Arroyo Grande
. That Federal victory signified the fall of all the opposition to Rosas in the whole country, including Corrientes.
Two years later, the Madariaga brothers would revolt against Rosas again in Corrientes province, and would again put their army in general Paz's hands, but their final defeat in 1847 gave absolute control of the country to Buenos Aires governor, Rosas.
Mercedes Department
Mercedes Department is a department of Corrientes Province in Argentina.The provincial subdivision has a population of about 39,206 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Mercedes, which is located around from Buenos Aires....
, in Corrientes Province
Corrientes Province
Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by : Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, Uruguay, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.-History:...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
on 28 November 1841, during the Argentine Civil War
Argentine Civil War
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of internecine wars that took place in Argentina from 1814 to 1876. These conflicts were separate from the Argentine War of Independence , though they first arose during this period....
, between the forces of Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
, commanded by brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Pascual Echagüe
Pascual Echagüe
Pascual Echagüe, was an Argentine soldier and politician. He served as Governor of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe provinces and Minister of War and Navy during the governments of Urquiza and Derqui...
and Corrientes Province, under brigadier José María Paz
José María Paz
Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil War.-Childhood:...
, with a sound defeat of the Federal Party
Federales (Argentina)
Federales was the name under which the supporters of federalism in Argentina were known, opposing the Unitarios that claimed a centralised government of Buenos Aires Province, with no participation of the other provinces of the custom taxes benefits of the Buenos Aires port...
forces of Entre Ríos.
Precedents
Since 1839 Corrientes Province had rebelled against the Buenos Aires Province dictator Juan Manuel de RosasJuan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...
. The conflicts between Corrientes and Buenos Aires were overshadowed by the terms requested by the contenders. Corrientes demanded the sanctioning of a new constitution, while Rosas accused the Corrientes government of being run by the Unitarian Party
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians were the proponents of the concept of a Unitary state in Buenos Aires during the civil wars which shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1816. They were opposed to the Argentine Federalists, who wanted a federation of independent provinces...
. The governor of Corrientes was a federal like Rosas, but the province was allied with the Unitarian generals Juan Lavalle
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo de Lavalle was an Argentine military and political figure.-Biography:Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José de La Vallée y Cortés, general accountant of rents and tobacco for the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.In 1799, the family moved to...
and José María Paz.
The real discussion was about the Customs House of the port of the city of Buenos Aires. They took the income from Customs duties and benefited from it, without giving due share to the other provinces, and having an open business policy that was ruining the local industries in the provinces. The provinces most affected by this policy were the ones with ports on the Paraná River
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...
, but Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
and Entre Ríos were firmly allied with Buenos Aires; which made Corrientes fight alone on the defense of the "riverine federalism".
In 1839, then-governor Genaro Berón de Astrada had rebelled against the city of Buenos Aires, but a quick attack from the forces of Entre Rios governor Echagüe, had defeated him at the battle of Pago Largo, having Berón de Astrada paid with his life for the rebellion.
After a short-lived federal party government, brigadier Pedro Ferré was elected to succeed them. Ferré was a political enemy of Rosas since 1832, when Rosas had caused the failure of his opportunity to defeat the Unitarians trying to organize the constitution of the nation.
Ferré had put his provincial army under the command of general Lavalle, but the latter had invaded Entre Ríos and had taken the army to invade Buenos Aires, leaving the province defenseless. To make matters worse, he had been defeated and had to retreat to the northwest.
Ferré put all the remaining resources of the province under General José María Paz, who had a long Unitarian history. Paz worked on organizing and training the new army, to put it in combat conditions. He was lucky that Echagüe did not attack until the year 1840, because Lavalle had taken Santa Fe for a few weeks.
The battle
After learning of the defeat of Lavalle at the Battle of FamailláBattle of Famaillá
The Battle of Famaillá , was a Federal Party victory, under the command of former Uruguayan president Manuel Oribe, over the army of the Unitarian Party under general Juan Lavalle, during the Argentine Civil War.-Prelude to the battle:After the failure of Lavalle's army to occupy Buenos Aires and...
, Echagüe marched to the north. Paz had increased the size of his army with fleeing soldiers from Lavalle's, and Ferré had signed an alliance with Santa Fe's governor, brigadier Juan Pablo López
Juan Pablo Lopez
Juan Pablo López is an undefeated Mexican professional boxer in the Light Welterweight division.-Professional career:On April 10, 2010, Lopez beat Daniel Eduardo Yocupicio by 2nd round K.O...
.
Echagüe stayed in the south of the province for several weeks, reaching the Corriente River
Corriente River
The Corriente River is a river in the Argentine province of Corrientes, in the Mesopotamia. It flows from the Itatí Lagoon, in the center-north of the province, and drains the large basin of the Iberá Wetlands...
and waiting for the opportunity to attack with an advantage. Paz did not give him that chance, and crossed the river at the Caaguazú pass.
At the start of the battle, Echagüe had more than 5,000 men (1,000 of them infantry) and 12 artillery pieces, under the command of Colonel Servando Gómez and other experienced officers, but he did not have the best of his generals, brigadier Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza y García was an Argentine general and politician. He was president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.He was governor of Entre Ríos during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas, governor of Buenos Aires with powers delegated from the other provinces...
. Paz's forces, of about 3,000 men were commanded by less-capable officers, with the only experienced officer, who had fought in the War of Independence, Colonel Indalecio Chenaut. Among the Corrientes army's officers they would distinguish themselves the future governors, lieutenant colonels Joaquín Madariaga
Joaquín Madariaga
Joaquín Madariaga was a soldier and Argentine politician. Madariaga was Governor of the Corrientes Province and leader of the provinces resistance against the national government of Juan Manuel de Rosas.-The Revolution of Madariaga:...
and Benjamín Virasoro.
Paz awaited the attack in a seemingly weak position: his cavalry on the left flank retreated at the first attack by the forces commanded by Gómez, and were chased for a few kilometers. But as they were advancing, they were surrounding themselves by the Corriente River and a swamp, and being shot at from the riverside by the Corrientes' infantry. Upon reaching the end, they were met by the infantry and artillery concentrated together and was defeated. They had to retreat and along the way they were shot at again effectively by the enemy's infantry in both flanks.
The Corrientes cavalry attacked on the right flank, under General Manuel Ramírez, and defeated the demoralized and weakened forces he confronted. The chase of the Federal cavalry pushed Echagüe, who was close to being shot to death. His infantry, lacking cavalry's protection, had to retreat; but several leagues
League (unit)
A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...
distant, tired and thirsty, they surrendered. The artillery under Colonel Juan Bautista Thorne was the only force that acquitted themselves on the Federal side, but they had to finally surrender as the infantry had.
The Corrientes army had 53 dead, while the Entre Rios army lost 1,350 dead and 800 prisoners, plus all their artillery, supplies and infantry weapons.
Consequences
The battle of Caaguazú was the last and most brilliant victory of General Paz. Argentina's entire littoral was left open for the advance of Corrientes forces, which were now made stronger by the captured weaponry.Paz quickly advanced towards Entre Ríos and took the city of Paraná
Paraná, Entre Ríos
Paraná is the capital city of the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fe, capital of the neighbouring Santa Fe Province...
. Upon reaching Paraná, the differences between Paz and Ferré became serious and Paz was left by himself, with control only of the prisoners of Caaguazú. A little while later, Juan Pablo López was defeated in Santa Fe, and was replaced by Echagüe. Paz attempted to retreat to the east, and join with his ally brigadier general Fructuoso Rivera
Fructuoso Rivera
José Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana was an Uruguayan general and patriot who assisted in the efforts to force Brazilians out of the Banda Oriental.-Founder of Colorado Party and President of Uruguay:...
; but the ex-prisoners he had as soldiers deserted and joined the forces of Urquiza coming from Buenos Aires. Paz arrived alone to Concepción del Uruguay
Concepción del Uruguay
Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina.It is located in the Entre Ríos province, on the western shore of the Uruguay River, some 320 kilometers north from Buenos Aires. Its population is about 65,000 inhabitants .-History:...
, where he refused to be out under the orders of Rivera.
In the meantime, el brigadier general Manuel Oribe
Manuel Oribe
Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana was the fourth president of Uruguay.-Biography:Manuel Oribe was the son of Captain Francisco Oribe and María Francisca Viana, a descendant of the first governor of Montevideo, José Joaquín de Viana...
a rival of Rivera, crossed the Paraná River and advanced along Urquiza to the east, where he would defeat Rivera at the Battle of Arroyo Grande
Battle of Arroyo Grande
-Parties to the conflict:At Arroyo Grande, the federal forces, or blancos, of Manuel Oribe defeated the colorados of Fructuoso Rivera, having been in conflict since 1838/1839.-Subsequent siege of Montevideo:...
. That Federal victory signified the fall of all the opposition to Rosas in the whole country, including Corrientes.
Two years later, the Madariaga brothers would revolt against Rosas again in Corrientes province, and would again put their army in general Paz's hands, but their final defeat in 1847 gave absolute control of the country to Buenos Aires governor, Rosas.