Colombian Civil War (1860–1862)
Colombian Civil War (1860–1862) | |||||||||
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Part of the Colombian Civil Wars | |||||||||
Church of San Agustín after the capture of Bogotá by General Mosquera | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Granadine Confederation
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Federal states:
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Mariano Ospina Rodríguez Bartolomé Calvo Joaquín París Pedro Alcántara Herrán Julio Arboleda† Braulio Henao Duque Leonardo Canal Pedro Gutiérrez Lee† Rafael María Giraldo Zuluaga† |
Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera José María Obando† José Hilario López Juan José Nieto Gil Santos Gutiérrez Eustorgio Salgar Santos Acosta Pascual Bravo† | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
40,000 | 10,000 | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
15,000 | 4,000 |
The Colombian Civil War began on 8 May 1860 and lasted until November 1862. It was an internal conflict between the newly formed conservative Granadine Confederation and a more liberal rebel force from the newly seceded region of Cauca, composed of dissatisfied politicians commanded by General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, its former president. The Granadine Confederation, created a few years earlier in 1858 by Mariano Ospina Rodríguez, was defeated in the capital Bogotá, with Mosquera deposing the newly elected president Bartolomé Calvo on July 18, 1861. Forming a provisional government, with himself as president, Mosquera continued to pursue the conservative forces until their final defeat in 1862. The resulting formation of the new United States of Colombia would have significant cultural and economic consequences for Colombia.[1]
Background
The Granadine Confederation was formed in 1858 out of the
- Antioquía :The Province of Antioquía became the Sovereign State of Antioquía,[2]
- Bolívar :The Sovereign State of Bolívar, which included the Province of Cartagena,
- cantons of Chiquinquirá and Vélez.
- Pasto and Popayánand the region of Caquetá.
- Neiva,[3]
- .
- Veraguas.
- Pamplona, was created May 13, 1857.[4]
- Tolima :The Sovereign State of Tolima, which included the provinces of Neiva and Mariquita.
Thus, by the time of the formation of the Granadine Confederation, Colombia consisted of a number of sovereign states, governed by the
On April 8, 1859, the congress of the Granadine Confederation awarded to the president the power to remove the governors of the member states, and on May 10, 1859, it created a second law that allowed the president direct control of the resources and governments of the member states through the creation of a number of administrative departments.
Among many angered by these laws was respected and popular politician, leader of the Granada Liberal Party, Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, who denounced the laws as unconstitutional and rallied Liberal support. On May 8, 1860, the newly appointed Supreme Director of War Mosquera declared the Sovereign State of Cauca a separate nation from the Granadine Confederation and civil war broke out.
Response of the Granadine Confederation
In the years prior to the outbreak of civil war, the central government under Mariano Ospina Rodríguez had attempted to thwart growing Liberal movements by supporting counter-insurrections in the member states. Most notable of these was
Salgar, who would later go on to become president of Colombia, was released in 1861.Progress of the war
On August 28, 1860, the rebel army marched on Manizales and united with various leaders from the other sovereign states that supported Mosquera. On August 29, an agreement was formed that would result in Mosquera and his forces retiring to Cauca and disbanding, with Mosquera being granted the position of President of the Granadine Confederacy in return. Ospina, however, declined to ratify the proposed agreement and the liberal forces resumed the war. Following a successful invasion of the region of Antioquia by the rebel army, the capital Bogotá fell to them on July 18, 1861. Mariano Ospina Rodriguez, his brother Pastor, Bartolomé Calvo and his cabinet were taken prisoner.
The following day, Mosquera ordered the execution of a number of politicians and officials from the Confederacy, including Plácido Morales, Andrés Aguilar and Ambrosio Hernández. Following the collapse of the Confederacy government and the assumption of power by Mosquera, a number of renegade generals in command of the remaining Confederate forces continued to resist, including Julio Arboleda in the Cauca, General Braulio Henao in Antioquia and General Leonardo Canal in Santander, however with the assassination of the first on November 12, 1862, the defeat of Henao at the battle of Santa Barbara, and the capitulation of Canal in
Consequences of the war
Aside from the fall of the
The new government also clashed with the positions of the church when, to help rejuvenate an economy ravaged by civil war, was put under secular control with its lands being sold to industrialists and developers. The government confiscated the property of religious communities and organizations such as schools, hospitals, monasteries, churches, land, houses and other properties that could be sold.[1]
References
- ^ a b The Federalists Country Studies article retrieved on April 29 2007
- ^ Law of the Creation of the State of Antioquía retrieved on April 13, 2007
- ^ Provinces of The Sovereign State of Cundinamarca Archived December 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine retrieved on April 13, 2007
- ^ Law of the Creation of the State of Santander Archived 2012-06-29 at archive.today retrieved on April 13, 2007
- ^ Four Isolated Regions Archived 2008-12-10 at the Wayback Machine retrieved on April 13, 2007
- ^ MOSQUERA, Tomás Cipriano de, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2006
- ^ Political Constitution for the United States of Colombia retrieved on April 13, 2007