The Peruvian Republic was a state that seceded from the

Peru–Bolivian Confederation The Peru–Bolivian Confederation was a short-lived state that existed in South America between 1836 and 1839. The country was a loose confederation between the states of Peru, divided into the Republic of North Peru and the Republic of South ...

in 1838 under the leadership of General

Luis Orbegoso Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

. Its territory comprised the totality of North Peru, which by a majority of votes proclaimed itself independent of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation. This was not accepted by the Confederation, however, and both countries went to war during the

War of the Confederation The War of the Confederation ( es, Guerra de la Confederación) was a military confrontation waged by Chile, along with Peruvian dissidents, and the Argentine Confederation against the Peru–Bolivian Confederation between 1836 and 1839. As ...

. After Orbegoso and Santa Cruz reached an agreement, the country ceased to exist as a

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...

on October 20, 1838 and instead became an

autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or Federated state, state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located wi ...

within Peru–Bolivia until the confederation's defeat by

Agustín Gamarra Agustín Gamarra Messia (August 27, 1785 – November 18, 1841) was a Peruvian soldier and politician, who served as the 4th and 7th President of Peru. Gamarra was a Mestizo, being of mixed Spanish and Quechua descent.Larned, Smith, Seymour, S ...

and his United Restoration Army in 1839.

History

Declaration of independence

The territory that conformed the Confederate subdivision of North Peru was proclaimed independent of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation by

Luis José de Orbegoso Luis José de Orbegoso y Moncada-Galindo, de Burutarán y Morales (August 25, 1795 – February 5, 1847), an aristocratic Peruvian soldier and politician, served as the 5th President of Peru as well as the first President of North Peru. Th ...

on July 30, 1838, until the territory was conquered by the United Restoration Army on August 21, 1838. Orbegoso led a military campaign against

Andrés de Santa Cruz Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana (; 30 November 1792 – 25 September 1865) was a Bolivian general and politician who served as interim president of Peru in 1827, the interim president of Peru from 1836 to 1838 and the sixth president of B ...

together with the opponents of the confederation and were first allied with the Peruvian-Chilean alliance of the United Restoration Army. Before the acts of vandalism committed by the Chileans on north-Peruvian soil, however, and the little interest apparently shown by the Chilean generals, the Northern Peruvian Republic was led to declare war on both the confederation and the Peruvian-Chilean alliance.

Battle of Portada de Guías

The restorative forces continued their advance towards Lima and encountered the Peruvian forces commanded by Orbegoso, Nieto and Vidal on the outskirts of Lima. The numerical difference was overwhelming: some 4,800 ''restaurateurs compared to about 1,300 Peruvian ''orbegosistas''. Despite this, a battle took place nevertheless, today known as the Battle of Portada de Guías, in which the restaurateurs won on August 21, 1838 and occupied

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

until the Confederates occupied it again. Gamarra, who had a more pro-Chilean stance, became president by way of

open cabildo The open cabildo (Spanish: ''cabildo abierto'') is a traditional Hispanic American political action for convening citizens to make important decisions. It is comparable to the North American town hall meeting. History Colonial period The open ...

on August 25. Orbegoso remained hidden in Lima for a few days, until he fled to

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists of the whole Call ...

in unsuccessful disguise, being recognized. After being shot, he hid on the seashore remaining barely alive until the next day, where drenched and cold, he found refuge in the port within the

Real Felipe Fortress The Real Felipe Fortress was built to defend the main Peruvian port and the city of Lima from pirates and corsairs during colonial times. The fortress was pivotal in the 1866 naval battle between a Spanish fleet sent to South America to "reclaim" ...

. The port would see itself at the center of an ensuing

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterize ...

between the restorationists and the confederates.

Reunification with the Confederation

Orbegoso took refuge in the Real Felipe fortress. From there he denounced the

Chilean army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and a ...

as invaders and declared that he intended to wage war on it with the same determination as against the army of Santa Cruz; and that he only wished to favor the meeting of a congress that would freely decide the fate of the country. However, he refused to deal with Gamarra, when he offered to formalize a commitment to beat Santa Cruz together with the

restorationists Restorationism (or Restitutionism or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer a ...

. In the end, Santa Cruz convinced Orbegoso to support him, promising that he would convene a Congress after expelling the invaders. Orbegoso believed him and announced on October 20, 1838 his new alliance with Santa Cruz.Modesto Basadre, "Diez años de historia política del Perú, 1834-1844", p. 68 Thus, Santa Cruz managed to maintain the rebel state on his side as an

by turning it against the restorer allies, causing the imminent invasion of the Confederate north and putting in its place the provisional Peruvian government of Agustín Gamarra, ignoring the regime of Orbegoso. A year later, the Confederates launched a reconquest campaign in the north, causing the restorers to flee and re-annexing the northern Peruvian territory. In the meantime, Gamarra and the

would be the ones to defeat the Confederation in the Battle of Yungay of 1839.

References

Notes