The Battle of Cepeda of 1859 took place on October 23 at

Cañada de Cepeda ''Cañada'' (, Spanish for droveway, drovers' road) may refer to: Places Argentina *Cañada de Gómez, a city in the province of Santa Fe * Cañada Rosquín, a small town (comuna) in the province of Santa Fe * La Cañada, a town in Santiago ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The

Argentine Confederation The Argentine Confederation (Spanish: ''Confederación Argentina'') was the last predecessor state of modern Argentina; its name is still one of the official names of the country according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35. It was the name ...

army, led by

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

Justo José de Urquiza defeated the State of Buenos Aires forces, led by unitarian

Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile ...

Context

On the aftermath of the

Battle of Caseros The Battle of Caseros ( es, Batalla de Caseros) was fought near the town of El Palomar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on 3 February 1852, between the Army of Buenos Aires commanded by Juan Manuel de Rosas and the Grand Army (''Ejército ...

, following the

San Nicolás Agreement The San Nicolás Agreement () was a pact signed on May 31, 1852 and subscribed by all but one of the 14 provinces of Argentina, provinces of the United Provinces of the River Plate (the exception was Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires). The treat ...

that convened the Constitutional Congress of 1853, the

Province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

seceded from the

and established an independent State, the State of Buenos Aires. However, the Confederation still depended on the port of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

for its foreign trade. Moreover, Urquiza's policy of seduction towards the rebel Province had failed, and the secessionist state elected as its governor the radical autonomist and Unitarian Valentín Alsina in

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Janua ...

. On April 1,

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final u ...

, following the assassination of former San Juan Province Governor Nazareno Benavídez by a presumed Buenos Aires agent, the

Confederation Congress The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Marc ...

passed a law by which the President Justo José de Urquiza was obliged to "peacefully reincorporate the ''dissident province'' of Buenos Aires", but if that was not possible, he was allowed to use the national army to accomplish that purpose. The government of Buenos Aires interpreted that law as a formal declaration of war. In May, the state legislature allowed the governor to repel any military aggression with the province's militia. Colonel

, in charge of Buenos Aires troops, was ordered to attack Santa Fe Province, and the navy was sent to blockade Paraná, the capital of the Confederation. With the imminence of conflict,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

tried to prevent it by diplomatic means. The neighboring country of Paraguay sent a young Francisco Solano López as a plenipotentiary minister to intercede in the emergency. However, every attempt at a peaceful resolution of the conflict failed since Buenos Aires demanded Urquiza's resignation as president, which the Confederation refused.

Battle

The army of the Confederation met Buenos Aires forces at

, north of Pergamino. After some tactical movements, both forces clashed on the afternoon of October 23. By dusk, Mitre knew that his forces were defeated and so the ''

bonaerense Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

'' army retired towards San Nicolás de los Arroyos from where they embarked back to Buenos Aires.

Aftermath

Urquiza did not enter Buenos Aires City but camped at the neighboring town of San José de Flores to carry on with the negotiations. Governor Valentín Alsina was forced by his own allies to left office because of his intransigent position to the reintegration of Buenos Aires to the Confederation. On November 11, on the mediation of Francisco Solano López of

, Buenos Aires and the

signed the San José de Flores Pact by which

was ''de jure'' reincorporated into

but the province was allowed certain privileges. That would eventually led to the Battle of Pavón and the growing predominance of Buenos Aires Province.

References

Citations

Bibliography