War of the Confederation
War of the Confederation | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Topographical plan of the Battle of Yungay, 1839 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Belligerents | ||||||||||
United Restoration: Chile
Argentine Confederation | Peru–Bolivian Confederation |
Orbegoso government (1838) | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | ||||||||||
Joaquín Prieto Manuel Bulnes Manuel Blanco Encalada Carlos García del Postigo Agustín Gamarra Antonio Gutiérrez de la Fuente Juan Manuel de Rosas Alejandro Heredia |
Andrés de Santa Cruz Otto Philipp Braun José Trinidad Morán Jean Blanchet † |
Luis José de Orbegoso Domingo Nieto | ||||||||
Strength | ||||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||
Casualties and losses | ||||||||||
Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
The War of the Confederation (
Chile since 1836 carried out the war with Peruvian dissidents who were enemies of Santa Cruz. During the war, one of Santa Cruz's subordinates, General
Historians have proposed different long-lasting effects of the war including the consolidation of the ideas of Peruvian and Chilean nationality.[20]
Background
The creation in 1836 of the
But that was just one of the reasons behind the war. On a deeper level, both countries were in a heated competition for the control of the commercial routes on the Pacific; and for the Chileans especially, whose relations with independent Peru had already been strained by economic problems centering on the rivalry between their ports of Callao and Valparaíso. For the North-Peruvian landowners also, the Confederacy was viewed as a most serious threat to their economic interests. [citation needed]
Tariff war
The direct conflict between the two countries started with a simple tariff disagreement. In January 1835, Gen.
Freire Expedition
After the victory of the conservative party in the
Escalation
Raid on Callao
The Freire Expedition had a secondary result. Portales decided to take the offensive and staged a surprise raid to prevent further interference by the Confederate government in Chilean internal affairs. He gave command of the small Chilean fleet to the Spanish sailor
Chilean declaration of war
Instead of immediately going to war, Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz tried to negotiate with Chile. The Chilean Congress sent Mariano Egaña as plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty based on several points: the payments of the outstanding international debts owed by Peru to Chile, the limitation of the outstanding armies, commercial agreements, compensation to Chile for the Freire Expedition, and the dissolution of the Confederation. Santa Cruz agreed to everything but the dissolution. Chile responded by declaring war on December 28, 1836. The international situation was not favorable to the Chilean interests. Marshal Santa Cruz and the Confederation had been diplomatically recognized by the principal world powers with interests in the region (Great Britain, France and the United States), while the possible Chilean allies (Argentina and Ecuador) had decided to remain neutral in the conflict.
Argentine declaration of war
Nonetheless, the involvement of Marshal Santa Cruz in Argentina's internal affairs by his continued support to the opponents of
In a letter that he sent to Governor Heredia on January 10, 1837, Rosas acknowledged that he was not in a position to confront General Santa Cruz:
On how to make effective the remedy of force in circumstances such as these, in which the Republic does not have, nor can it suddenly organize, a line army capable of imposing fear and respect on President Santa Cruz, HE Sr. Governor of the province of Tucumán as protector of those of Salta, Jujuy and Catamarca, is the one who must take the direction, agreeing with the respective Governors of the said Provinces, since the undersigned placed at an immense distance from them, without practical knowledge of the territory in which it must operate, nor the elements of action it can count on to make President Santa Cruz enter into his duty, is not in a position to present an operations plan, without exposing himself to making major mistakes.[17]
Even though Chile and Argentina were acting against the same perceived threat, both countries went to war independently, due to the intense dislike between Portales and Rosas, and both countries continued to act separately throughout the whole course of the conflict. In 1837 Santa Cruz's forces defeated an Argentine army sent to topple him. If, as Rosas himself claimed, the forces of the Argentine Confederation were not in a position to sustain operations in the North against the Bolivian armies, why was Rosas determined to war against the government of Santa Cruz? The obvious answer is that the Governor of Buenos Aires calculated that the Chilean forces were far superior to those of Santa Cruz, and that the alliance with the Chilean government would destroy the nest of anti-riot conspirators that Bolivia had become. For Chile, the war against the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation was decisive: commercial supremacy and the balance of power in the Pacific were discussed. For the Argentine Confederation, on the other hand, this war was more important for internal politics than economic and strategic. The economic damages suffered by the Rosas government because of Santa Cruz were relatively limited, the main one being the 40% tax on overseas merchandise brought into Bolivia from the Argentine provinces. These economic damages did not in themselves justify a war and in principle could be resolved peacefully. If Rosas finally decided in favor of the war, it was because of his implications against his internal enemies, and also because the eventual defeat of Santa Cruz would perhaps allow him to demand the restitution of the province of Tarija. But the latter concerned more the Northern provinces than Rosas himself and the Litoral provinces. Finally, and as a consequence of these considerations, Rosas resolved that it would be the northern provinces that, in defense of their immediate interests, would bear the brunt of the warlike actions.[17]
Assassination of Portales
The Chilean government, in order to bolster its sagging standing with public opinion (which was opposed to a war they did not understand), imposed martial law and asked for (and obtained) extraordinary legislative powers from Congress. Early in 1837 a Court Martial Law was approved and given jurisdiction over all citizens for the duration of the war. The opposition to the
-
Chilean Rear Admiral Manuel Blanco Encalada
-
Argentine General Juan Manuel de Rosas
-
Peruvian General Agustin Gamarra
Political and public opposition to war immediately affected the army, fresh still from the purges of the
This murder, which was perceived as having been orchestrated by Marshal Santa Cruz, turned the tide of Chilean public opinion against the Confederation. The government later had martial law revoked nationwide and the country rallied behind the government. The war became a holy cause, and Portales its martyr.
First campaign
The first stage of the war was fought at sea. Both sides tried to take control of it from the very beginning. The Confederate fleet was composed of the Socabaya, Confederación and Congreso and it put out to sea in November 1837. They first attacked the
Chilean expedition
In the meantime, the Chilean government was preparing an expedition to put a quick end to the conflict. In September 1837 it sent a fleet carrying a Chilean expeditionary force of approximately 2,800 troops under the command of Admiral Manuel Blanco Encalada. The Chilean army landed at Islay in southern Peru in October, 1837, occupying the city of Arequipa after a long and arduous march, during which the Chileans were decimated by disease. But the invading army failed to find the local support that they had been led to believe they would encounter against the Confederate government. While Admiral Blanco Encalada was immersed in never-ending negotiations with the local leaders, Marshal Santa Cruz quietly surrounded the city with his army and effectively blockaded the invading army inside.
Treaty of Paucarpata
Type | Peace treaty |
---|---|
Signed | 18 November 1837 |
Location | Arequipa |
Signatories | |
Languages | Spanish |
Surrounded and out-manoeuvered, and following an encounter at Paucarpata with an army under the command of Santa Cruz, Admiral Blanco Encalada was forced to sign a peace treaty. The
When Admiral Blanco Encalada returned rather ignominiously to Valparaíso with the fleet and the army in December, 1837, the scandal was gigantic. The Chilean government and the Chilean public opinion repudiated the treaty in indignation. Admiral Blanco Encalada as was thrown into jail and tried for high treason, together with his advisor Antonio José de Irisarri, who had refused to even return to Chile. Both were eventually acquitted, though Irisarri never returned.
After the treaty of Paucarpata had been repudiated, the Chilean government again dispatched its fleet, composed of 5 ships (
Second campaign – Chilean army
By mid-1838 Chile had obtained naval superiority and dispatched General
Battle of Portada de Guías
Although their advance was delayed by harassment from small groups of Confederate forces, the Chileans were finally able to lay siege to Lima. The first encounter between the two armies was the
On January 12, 1839, both fleets met in a naval battle at Casma, where the French corsairs fighting on the Confederate side were defeated by Admiral Simpson's Chilean fleet. On that day the Chilean fleet, which was protecting the transports used to mobilize the invading Chilean army, were attacked in the port of Casma by the Confederate fleet, composed of the Esmond, Mexicana, Arequipeño and Peru, under the command of French sailor Jean Blanchet. The battle lasted for several hours until the final repulse of the Confederate fleet. During the battle Blanchet was killed and the Confederate ship Arequipeño was sunk, but not before the Chilean fleet had been badly battered. Nonetheless, the resounding defeat of the Confederate fleet at Casma by the smaller Chilean squadron left Chile in absolute control of the southeastern Pacific.
Battle of Buin
Meanwhile, Santa Cruz failed to exploit the Chilean retreat fully, despite successes in several small skirmishes culminating in the first direct encounter between the bulk of both armies around the bridge of Buin on January 6, 1839. Santa Cruz' vanguard engaged Bulnes' rearguard at the margins of the Santa River, under a heavy storm. The battle ended in a draw, as Bulnes resumed their march north, and Santa Cruz continued to pursue them.
Battle of Yungay
Marshal Santa Cruz occupied the town of Yungay with the intention to cut the provisions and to strangle the Chilean Expedition. After Buin, Santa Cruz was trying to finish off the Chilean Expedition in order to stabilize the internal situation in the country and to avoid any more uprisings against him. Here is where the boldness of General Bulnes could be observed, when instead of retiring and looking for a more suitable position, turned around against Santa Cruz ready to attack.
The
After the battle, General Manuel Bulnes was proclaimed as Grand Marshal of Ancash by General Gamarra.
Aftermath
General Bulnes again assumed the initiative. After the defeat of the Confederate army at Yungay on January 20, the Chileans commenced a second push southward, occupying Lima for the second time in April. Santa Cruz had already fled to Ecuador, and both the war and the short-lived Peru-Bolivian Confederation now came to an end.
On August 25, 1839, General Agustín Gamarra after assuming as president of Peru, officially declared the dissolution of the Confederation and of the North and South-Peruvian Republics, and the merging of these states back into one to be called again Peru.
The Confederate defeat led to the exile of Santa Cruz, first to Guayaquil, in Ecuador, then to Chile and finally to Europe, where he died.[citation needed] The Chilean troops left on October 19, 1839, after having achieved the goal of dissolving the Confederation and affirmed General Gamarra as President of Peru.[20]
Nonetheless, General Gamarra decided to pursue the war against Bolivia on his own. He was not against the idea of merging Peru and Bolivia into one political unity, but against the idea of this union being led by Bolivia. He invaded this country, but the Peruvian army was decisively defeated at the
See also
Notes
- ^ In July 1838, 5,400 soldiers of the Chilean Army commanded by General Bulnes sailed from Chile to Peru.[4] Later they were joined that year by an auxiliary reinforcement of 800 Chilean soldiers.[5] Then 2,000[6] recruits were organized in Chile, but they did not sail to Peru because the war was over. In the decisive battle of Yungay there were between 4,000[7]–4,467[8] Chileans.
- ^ After the liberation of Lima in August 1838, by anti-confederation rebels supported by the Chilean army commanded by General Bulnes, the government of General Gamarra was formed, which began the organization of the Peruvian army. At first, he only managed to gather 500 recruits,[10] but with the passage of the war he increased to 3,000 recruits.[11] In the decisive battle of Yungay, only 800[8] to 1,000[7] Peruvians would participated.
- ^ The army that Orbegoso managed to gather in Lima was about 3,400 soldiers.[15] It also had 500 soldiers who protected Callao.[16]
References
- ^ Musicó Aschiero 2013, pp. 5–6
- ^ La Guerra Contra la Confederación Peruano – Boliviana (1837-1839). Revista Defensa y Seguridad [1]
- ^ Estado Mayor General del Ejército 1984, p. 208
- ^ Estado Mayor General del Ejército 1984, pp. 217–218
- ^ Bulnes 1878, p. 108
- ^ Estado Mayor General del Ejército 1997, p. 35
- ^ a b Estado Mayor General del Ejército 1997, p. 40
- ^ a b Estado Mayor General del Ejército 1984, p. 225
- ^ Dellepiane 1977, p. 330
- ^ Estado Mayor General del Ejército 1997, p. 31
- ^ Estado Mayor General del Ejército 1997, p. 39
- ^ Musicó Aschiero 2013, pp. 3–4
- ^ Musicó Aschiero 2013, p. 3
- ^ Estado Mayor General del Ejército 1997, p. 15
- ^ Bulnes 1878, p. 46
- ^ Bulnes 1878, p. 207
- ^ a b c Rosas se encamina hacia la guerra. Historia general de las Relaciones Exteriores de la República Argentina [2]
- ^ La segunda campaña restauradora. De guia a Yungay. La iniciación de la república, Jorge Basadre [3]
- ^ UNA APROXIMACIÓN HISTORIOGRÁFICA AL “CAUDILLO” ANDRÉS DE SANTA CRUZ, Pol Colàs [4]
- ^ S2CID 238047546.
- ISBN 978-956-8797-10-2.
Bibliography
- Bulnes, Gonzalo (1878). Historia de la Campaña del Perú en 1838 (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Imprenta de Los Tiempos.
- ISBN 9972-46-196-3.
- Cisneros, Andrés y Escudé, Carlos (1999). Historia General de las Relaciones Exteriores de la Republica Argentina (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales. Archived from the original on 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Crespo, Alfonso (1979). Santa Cruz: El Cóndor indio (PDF) (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: UMSA, Librería y Editorial Juventud. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-25.
- Estado Mayor General del Ejército (1984). Historia del Ejército de Chile (in Spanish). Vol. III. Santiago, Chile: Publicaciones Militares y Biblioteca del Oficial.
- Dellepiane, Carlos (1977). Historia Militar del Perú (in Spanish). Vol. I (6 ed.). Lima, Perú: Ministerio de Guerra del Perú, Biblioteca Militar del Oficial.
- Pinochet Ugarte, Augusto; Villaroel Carmona, Rafael; Lepe Orellana, Jaime; Fuente-Alba Poblete, J. Miguel; Fuenzalida Helms, Eduardo (1997). Historia Militar de Chile (in Spanish). Vol. II (3 ed.). Santiago, Chile: Biblioteca Militar.
- Sotomayor Valdés, Ramón (1980). Historia de Chile bajo el gobierno del General don Joaquín Prieto (in Spanish). Vol. III (3 ed.). Santiago, Chile: Fondo Histórico Presidente Joaquín Prieto.
- Uribe Orrego, Luis (1891). Las operaciones navales durante la guerra entre Chile y la Confederación Perú-Boliviana 1836-37-38 (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Imprenta Nacional.
- Musicó Aschiero, Ana María (2013). "Guerra de la Confederación Argentina con la Confederación Perú - Boliviana 1835 -1839" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Revista Digital Universitaria del Colegio Militar de la Nación. Archived from the original on 2019-05-12. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - Aguirre Vidaurre-Leal, Carlos (1989). "En el año del sesquicentenario del combate naval de Casma" (PDF) (in Spanish). I. Viña del Mar, Chile: Revista de Marina. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - Aguirre Vidaurre-Leal, Carlos (1989). "En el año del sesquicentenario del combate naval de Casma" (PDF) (in Spanish). II. Viña del Mar, Chile: Revista de Marina. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help)