The Battle of Famaillá (
Famaillá
Famaillá is a city in the province of Tucumán, Argentina, located 30 km south from the provincial capital San Miguel de Tucumán. It has 22,924 inhabitants as per the , and is the head town of the Famaillá Department.
The city is called ...
,
Tucumán Province
Tucumán () is the most densely populated, and the second-smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina.
Located in the northwest of the country, the province has the capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neigh ...
,
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 ...
, September 19, 1841), was a
Federal Party victory, under the command of former
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
an president
Manuel Oribe
Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana (August 26, 1792 – November 12, 1857) was the 2nd Constitutional president of Uruguay and founder of Uruguay's National Party, the oldest Uruguayan political party and considered one of the two Uruguayan "tr ...
, over the army of the
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians (in Spanish, ''Unitarios'') were the proponents of the concept of a unitary state (centralized government) in Buenos Aires during the civil wars that shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1 ...
under general
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo Lavalle (17 October 1797 – 9 October 1841) was an Argentine military and political figure.
Biography
Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José Lavalle, general accountant of rents and t ...
, during the
Argentine Civil War
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place through the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Initiation concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1820), the conflict p ...
.
Prelude to the battle
After the failure of Lavalle's army to occupy
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 ...
and its defeat at the
Battle of Quebracho Herrado
The Battle of Quebracho Herrado, fought on 28 November 1840 in the east of Córdoba Province, Argentina, was a victory for the Argentine federal army, led by former Uruguayan president, Brigadier Manuel Oribe over the Unitarian army led by Briga ...
, his army and the one under the command of
Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid
Comandante General Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid (or "de La Madrid"; 28 November 1795 in San Miguel de Tucumán – 5 January 1857 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentine military officer and briefly, governor of several provinces like Córdoba, ...
had to abandon
Córdoba Province, marching to the northern Argentine provinces. There they formed an alliance known as
Coalition of the North, of Unitarian inspiration, which assembled powerful forces in the fight against
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Althoug ...
and his allies.
While Lamadrid formed a new army in Tucumán Province, Lavalle spent several months in a campaign in
La Rioja Province, to delay Oribe and to give his ally time to prepare. In order to open new fronts, he sent two divisions, one to
Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...
, which failed without a fight, and another to
Cuyo, which was destroyed at the
Battle of San Cala
The Battle of San Cala (or of Sancala or San Calá), fought in the present-day Minas Department, Córdoba, Argentina, on January 9, 1842, between Unitarian forces and Federalists, who under the command of General Ángel Pacheco, prevented the ...
.
Lavalle was finally forced to retreat towards
Catamarca Province
Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km2. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, fr ...
, where he and Lamadrid divided the provinces again: the latter would go to Cuyo to try to raise an
insurrection
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
against Rosas, while Lavalle would await a confrontation with Oribe in Tucumán, joining his forces with that province's governor,
Marco Avellaneda
Marco Manuel Avellaneda (18 June 1813 – 3 October 1841) was the governor of Tucumán Province in Argentina, and father of the Argentine President Nicolás Avellaneda.
He was executed after an unsuccessful revolt against the Federal government, ...
. Oribe also marched towards Tucumán, wishing to finally resolve the war, while sending general
Ángel Pacheco after Lamadrid.
The battle
After trying to avoid the enemy main force in order to buy time to reinforce his army, Lavalle waited for the Federals on the north bank of the Famaillá river, about south of the provincial capital. Lavalle's forces comprised about 2,000 men, and the federal army about 2,200, after general
Eugenio Garzón's, moved out to occupy the city of
Tucumán.
The battle started at mid-morning. The Unitarian army included
Marco Avellaneda
Marco Manuel Avellaneda (18 June 1813 – 3 October 1841) was the governor of Tucumán Province in Argentina, and father of the Argentine President Nicolás Avellaneda.
He was executed after an unsuccessful revolt against the Federal government, ...
,
Juan Esteban Pedernera
Juan Esteban Pedernera (December 25, 1796 – February 1, 1886) was interim President of Argentina during a brief period in 1861.
Born in 1796 in San Luis Province, he studied in a Franciscan monastery when young, and left his studies to jo ...
,
Manuel Hornos
Manuel Hornos was an Argentine general who participated throughout the Argentine Civil Wars and the Paraguayan War. He was known for his service at the Battle of Tuyutí where he was a major contributor to the Argentine victory at the battle.
Mi ...
and other notables. Among the Federals there were
Juan Felipe Ibarra,
Celedonio Gutiérrez,
Hilario Lagos Hilario or Hilário can be both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
*Hilario (1905–1989), Spanish footballer and manager
* Hilário (born 1939), Portuguese footballer and manager
* Hilário (born 1975), Port ...
and
Mariano Maza. At first it seemed it would last without definition for a long time, but early on it was clear that the veterans of the Federal army easily outclassed Lavalle's soldiers. The victory was in the hands of Oribe, and Lavalle and his men were forced to run away.
Consequences
Avellaneda escaped to the north, but betrayed by his security chief, he would be executed at
Metán by orders of Oribe and Maza. Lavalle escaped to
San Salvador de Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...
, where he was killed on a chance encounter with a Federal party. His remains were carried to
Potosí
Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal . For centuries, it was the location o ...
,
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, by Pedernera. The latter would have more luck, as he eventually reached the post of vicepresident of the nation, although he was forced to preside on the dissolution of his own government in 1861.
On the Federal side, Gutiérrez would become governor of Tucumán for 10 years; Lagos would become the chief of the Federal party of Buenos Aires after the fall of Rosas, and Oribe would return to his country, Uruguay, to govern for another nine years.
The Battle of Famaillá signaled the end of the Coalition of the North. It was also Lavalle's last battle, and the next to last in the civil war. Only ten days later, Lamadrid was defeated at the
Battle of Rodeo del Medio
The Battle of Rodeo del Medio, fought in Mendoza Province, Argentina on 24 September 1841, was a battle between the Federalist army of Ángel Pacheco and the Unitarian army of Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid during the Argentine Civil Wars. The conseq ...
, and the country would be controlled by the Federalist Party, almost without opposition for another ten years.
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Famailla, Battle Of
Battles of the Argentine Civil War
Conflicts in 1841
September 1841 events
History of Tucumán Province