The Battle of Laguna Limpia, was part of the

Argentine Civil Wars 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 pr ...

. It happened in the southwest of the

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; gn, Taragui), officially the Province of Corrientes ( es, Provincia de Corrientes; gn, Taragüí Tetãmini) is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (fr ...

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 ...

on 4 February 1846, when the army under

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east. Its capital is Paraná ( ...

governor

Justo José de Urquiza Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860. Life Justo José de Urquiza y García was b ...

, defeated and captured the commander of the vadvanced columns of Corrientes' army, Juan Madariaga.

Antecedents

Since 1839 Corrientes province had rebelled against the authority of the central government in Buenos Aires,

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 ...

. Governor Joaquín Madariaga gave command of his provincial army to general

José María Paz Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo (September 9, 1791 – October 22, 1854) was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil Wars. Childhood Born in Córdoba, Argentina, the so ...

, who in 1841 had obtained an impressive victory at the

Battle of Caaguazú The Battle of Caaguazú took place in Mercedes Department, in Corrientes Province, Argentina on 28 November 1841, during the Argentine Civil War, between the forces of Entre Ríos Province, commanded by brigadier Pascual Echagüe and Corrientes ...

in Corrientes. Paz organized his forces and when the governor of Entre Rios invaded, he set a trap in the extreme north of the

Iberá Wetlands The Iberá Wetlands ( es, Esteros del Iberá, from Guaraní ''ý berá'': "bright water") are a mix of swamps, bogs, stagnant lakes, lagoons, natural slough, and courses of water in the center and center-north of the . Iberá is one of the mos ...

. Madariaga realized that to get the enemy to the trap, he had to get Urquiza to the other side of the province, leaving all of Corrientes in the enemy's hands, with thesubsequent suffering of the local population, so he decided to fight a

guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...

instead.

The battle

Urquiza moved swiftly through the territory and reached him at the swamp on 4 February forcing the battle. The terrain was favorable to Madariaga's forces but he did not take enough advantage of his tactical situation, and the funnel created to single out the enemy became a narrow passage for his own forces in retreat at his loss. Corrientes had more than 160 dead, and many prisoners, including Madariaga, whose horse stumbled on a fallen tree trunk. Along with the general the enemy captured his mail, which enabled Urquiza to learn that general Paz was planning to march to the North.

Consequences

Urquiza marched North, looting the ranches along the way, and before confronting Paz, he wandered around the province looting a good portion of it. Paz's image and prestige was seriously damaged upon the effects of the lost campaign. Urquiza took advantage to propose an accord using Madariaga as a conduit, when he set him free. After the signature of the Treaty of Alcaraz and its rejection by Rosasthe situation would be resolved the following year at the Battle of Vences, which would signal the end of Corrientes Province's rebellion.

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laguna Limpia, Battle of Conflicts in 1846 Battles of the Argentine Civil War February 1846 events 1846 in Argentina History of Corrientes Province