Everything about The Battle Of Caseros totally explained
The
Battle of Caseros was fought in Caseros, more precisely between the actual train stations of Caseros and Palomar (The actual battlefield is nowadays occupied by the
Colegio Militar de la Nación, a military academy) in the, on
3 February 1852, between the Army of Buenos Aires commanded by
Juan Manuel de Rosas and the Grand Army (
Ejército Grande) led by
Justo José de Urquiza. The forces of Urquiza,
caudillo and governor of
Entre Ríos, defeated Rosas, who fled to the
United Kingdom. This defeat marked a sharp division in the
history of Argentina. As provisional Director of the
Argentine Confederation, Urquiza sponsored the creation of the
Constitution in
1853, and became the first constitutional
President of Argentina in
1854.
Rosas had declared war on
Brazil in
1851, which led to the signing of a treaty, on
21 November 1851, among the governments of Entre Ríos,
Corrientes,
Uruguay and the Brazilian Empire. In compliance with the treaty, Urquiza led a joint army and crossed the Morón Stream, positioning his forces in Monte Caseros. The Brazilian Empire contributed with 3,500 troops with the bulk of Brazilian Army remaining outside Argentina.
The battle
Rosas' forces comprised 10,000 infantry troops, 12,000 cavalrymen and 60 guns. Among his captains were Jerónimo Costa, who defended
Isla Martín García from the French in 1838;
Martiniano Chilavert, a former opposer to Rosas who defected when his fellows allied themselves with foreigners;
Hilario Lagos, veteran from the campaign against the Indians of 1833. Due to desertion, especially that of General
Ángel Pacheco and poor morale, several historians and military analists reckon that for Rosas the battle was lost even before it started. However, his opponent also suffered from desertions like that of the
Regimiento Aquino, a regiment composed by soldiers loyal to Rosas, who murdered their captain Pedro León Aquino and joined the Rosist army.
Urquiza's army was 24,000-men strong, among them 3,500 Brazilians and 1,500 Uruguayans, and 50 guns. However, the bulk of his forces were composed by
gauchos devoid of discipline. Only the Brazilians were professional soldiers. Urquiza didn't conduct the battle: each chief was free to fight as they saw fit. Urquiza himself, in a deed improper of a commander in chief, led a charge against the enemy left in front of their cavalrymen from
Entre Ríos. Meanwhile the Brazilian infantry, supported by a Uruguayan brigade and an Argentine cavalry squadron seized the
Palomar, a curious circular building near the right of the Rosist line and used for pigeon breeding, extant to this day. After both flanks collapsed only the center under Chilavert's command continued the fighting, reduced to an artillery duel that lasted until he ran out of ammunition. The whole battle lasted about three hours, after which Rosas was wounded in a hand and fled; he wrote a resignation, and a few hours later he boarded the British frigate
Centaur towards exile in
Southampton.
Aftermath
Urquiza's triumph terminated at long last the 20-years term of Rosas as Governor of Buenos Aires and
de facto Argentina's ruler.
Within a few days, Urquiza's troops entered the city of Buenos Aires without problems. However, he revealed himself as a ruthless conqueror: all surviving soldiers from
Regimiento Aquino and Chilavert himself were executed without a trial. The President of the Superior Tribunal,
Vicente López y Planes, was appointed
interim governor.
Sources
Further Information
Get more info on 'Battle Of Caseros'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://battle_of_caseros.totallyexplained.com">Battle of Caseros Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
