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
The Argentine War of Independence () was a secessionist civil war (until 1816) fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, Martín Miguel de Güemes, Martin Miguel de Guemes and José de ...
and the
Argentine Civil Wars
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place in the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Beginning concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1818), the conflict prevente ...
.
Childhood
Born in
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province an ...
, the son of ''
criollos'' José Paz and María Tiburcia Haedo, Paz y Haedo studied philosophy and theology at the ''Seminario de Loreto'' intern school, then at the
Universidad de Córdoba, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree with orientation in mathematics,
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and law.
After the
May Revolution he joined the army that would fight the
Royalists forces and allow the independence of Argentina. His brother, Julián Paz Haedo, born in 1793, was also an officer in the revolutionary army.
Battles for the War of Independence
José Paz was sent to
Upper Peru in 1811, and participated in the 1812 victories of the
Army of the North
The Army of the North (), contemporaneously called Army of Peru (), was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest a ...
, under General
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentina, Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He to ...
. As assistant to
Baron von Holmberg (Belgrano's secretary), he was awarded with the "Defenders of the Nation" insignia, and promoted to Captain.
Paz then participated, along with his brother, in the battles of
Vilcapugio,
Ayohuma,
Puesto del Marquéz and in
Venta y Media in which his arm was wounded and crippled; hence he became known as the "One-arm Paz" (''El Manco Paz''). In 1814, Supreme Director
Juan Martín de Pueyrredón put him in front of the "Dragoons of the Nation" (''Dragones de la Nación'') battalions, and named him
Coronel.
Civil wars
In 1817, Belgrano was sent to fight the civil war that opposed
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
centralism. Paz was sent to fight
Estanislao López, chief of the
Federal forces, and beat him at La Herradura,
Córdoba.
Arequito revolt
On January 8, 1820, General
Juan Bautista Bustos, followed by
Alejandro Heredia and Paz himself, with the hope of staying away of the internal conflicts, organised a revolt within the forces that were near
Arequito, returning to Buenos Aires in order to fight the Spanish forces once again.
They returned to Córdoba Province where Bustos attempted to take control of the province, against the will of Paz and others who intended to reach the northern border that was threatened by the Spanish and other Royalists. Paz, already a General, was separated from the army and sent 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 sur ...
, where he spent two years away from politics. In 1823, he went to
Catamarca Province to give instruction to some 200 soldiers, whom he had already led in battle in
Salta Province
Salta () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa Province, Formosa, Chaco Province, Chaco, Santiago del Estero Province, Santiago del Es ...
, calling them the "Hunter Battalion" (''Batallón de Cazadores''), and he would again command during the
war against Brazil.
War against Brazil
The
Cisplatine War
The Cisplatine War was an armed conflict fought in the 1820s between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata over control of Brazil's Cisplatina province. It was fought in the aftermath of the United Provinces' an ...
(known in Brazil as the ''Guerra da Cisplatina'') pitted the two countries against each other for the territories at that time called ''Provincia Oriental'' (nowadays
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
) and the
Misiones Orientales, occupied by the Brazilians since their victory of the
Battle of Tacuarembó over
José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (; June 19, 1764 – September 23, 1850) was a soldier and statesman who is regarded as a national hero in Uruguay and the father of Uruguayan nationhood.
Born in Montevideo, Artigas enlisted in the Spanish ...
in 1820. The war between Argentina and Brazil started in 1825 and it was concluded on August 27, 1828, with the Treaty of Montevideo by which Brazil and Argentina recognized Uruguay's Independence.
In the
Battle of Ituzaingó
The Battle of Ituzaingó, also known as the Battle of Passo do Rosário, was a pitched battle fought in the vicinity of the Santa Maria River, in a valley of small hills where a stream divided the valley into two.
After a two-year series of cont ...
, and in numerical inferiority, Paz gained terrain over the Brazilian forces, and later obtained their surrender. By order of
president Bernardino Rivadavia he was named Commander General, the first one from military school in Argentina.
After the end of the war with Brazil, Paz returned to Buenos Aires, where General
Juan Lavalle headed the
Decembrist revolution and ordered him to prepare the army to combat the many ''
caudillo
A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...
s'' that were emerging in the provinces. Thus, Paz supported the
Unitarians, fighting the
Federals in the
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
Caudillos
In his writings, especially in ''Memorias'', Paz tells about his astonishment to see farm owners fighting and declaring war against the central government, and the population supporting them.
Paz decided to start his campaign against the caudillos in
Córdoba Province with a small force (about 1,000 men strong), many of them veterans who served under him in the
Cisplatine War
The Cisplatine War was an armed conflict fought in the 1820s between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata over control of Brazil's Cisplatina province. It was fought in the aftermath of the United Provinces' an ...
. He defeated Bustos in the
Battle of San Roque on April 22, 1829, and took the seat of provincial governor. Bustos fled west to
La Rioja
La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...
, ruled by his friend and ally
Facundo Quiroga and asked for help, but Quiroga was also defeated at the
Battle of La Tablada on June 23; the superior military skills of Paz neutralised the caudillo's irregular and improvised methods of warfare.
Quiroga returned a year later, leading a larger, more powerful and disciplined army, only to face defeat a second time at the
Battle of Oncativo (called by the Federals the Battle of ''Laguna Larga''). By August 1830, nine of the fourteen Argentine provinces were united into the
Unitarian League led by Paz. Ironically, it declared the Province of Buenos Aires, now under the
federalist
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of deep ...
government of
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (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 Confedera ...
, its main enemy.
Prisoner of López

The
Federal Pact was signed in 1831 between the Provinces of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Entre Ríos and
Santa Fe, which joined to defeat the
Unitarian League. As the federalist forces invaded
Córdoba Province, Paz prepared to engage Estanislao López. He thus went on a reconnaissance mission to assess a good place to fight the ''caudillo'', but the woods he was inspecting were not under the control of his forces but instead a small federal party of soldiers was patrolling it. He was captured and his army disbanded due to the absence of their able commander. The Unitarian League was now doomed.
General Paz was delivered to López in the city of
Santa Fe, where he spent four years in prison, before being handed over to
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (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 Confedera ...
to spend yet another three years prisoner in
Luján. Rosas had previously asked for Paz's head, but López refused to kill him. Yet upon the assassination of
Facundo Quiroga in Córdoba, Paz was handed to Rosas, perhaps due to López' poor health condition.
Life in prison
During his time as a prisoner in Santa Fe, Paz started writing ''Memories'' ("Memoirs"). He also married on March 21, 1835, his niece
Margarita Weild, who served him while in prison and became pregnant. He was then moved to Luján, to receive ''privilege freedom'' in April 1839, under oath of keeping away from Rosas' opponents. Fearing for the life of his wife and children, he escaped to
Montevideo
Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
on April 3, 1840. In order to keep Paz from restarting his military activities, Rosas offered him a diplomatic mission in exile. Paz declined the offer and went to Corrientes to join the Unitarian army that was under the command of
Juan Lavalle.
Paz in Corrientes
By the time Paz arrived, Lavalle had been already defeated by the Federal caudillo
Pascual Echagüe
Pascual Echagüe, (16 May 1797 – 2 June 1867) was an Argentine soldier and politician. He served as Governor of Entre Ríos Province, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe provinces and Minister of War and Navy during the government ...
in the Battle of Sauce Grande (July 16, 1840). He decided to cross the
Paraná River
The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...
with the remnant of his forces to invade Buenos Aires and asked Paz to join him. Realizing that such a move would leave Corrientes undefended, Paz refused and decided to stay to help Governor
Pedro Ferré organize the resistance to Echagüe. The two Unitarian chiefs (who were also close friends) said farewell to each other, never to meet again.
Once in Corrientes Paz had to deal with a number of shortcomings. The province was impoverished by years of civil struggle and so he had to build an army called ''Ejército de Reserva'' (Reserve Army) mostly with youngsters and teenagers, two hundred flintlock muskets, some gunpowder, and only a few of his old ''Hunters'' veterans of the war against Brazil. For this reason his green recruits were nicknamed by his enemies ''Escueleros de Paz'' ("Paz schoolboys"). However, he was greatly favored by Echagüe's timidity and indecisiveness, who gave him much needed time to organize his forces.
Both armies camped on opposite banks of Corrientes River, which roughly divides the province in half. After several months of inconclusive skirmishing and guerrilla warfare, by November 1841 Paz reckoned his ''Escueleros'' were battle-hardened enough to give his enemy a nasty surprise. Moreover, a small group of Lavalle's men who managed to escape the ultimate disaster of their leader returned to Corrientes and joined him. He crossed the river in full force by night on November 26, 1841, and engaged Echagüe the following two days, routing him completely in the
Battle of Caaguazú, so named in
Guaraní language
Guarani (Avañe'ẽ), also called Paraguayan Guarani, is a language of South America that belongs to the Tupi–Guarani branch of the Tupian language family. It is one of the two official languages of Paraguay (along with Spanish), where i ...
after the ford used to cross the river.
[''A Guide to Intra-state Wars: An Examination of Civil Wars 1816-2014'' p. 137]
In 1842 he invaded Entre Ríos, pursuing the battered remains of Echagüe's forces (who resigned his office as governor) and took La Bajada (present
Paraná city), seizing the government in the province. Unfortunately for him and the Unitarian cause, Ferré had grown increasingly suspicious of him and wasn't too happy with this turn of events. Instead of supporting Paz, helping him to recruit more men in Entre Ríos and take the war to Buenos Aires (thus posing a serious threat to the power of
Rosas), he ordered the withdrawal of the victorious army back to Corrientes, leaving Paz without support in Entre Ríos and forcing him to flee to Montevideo where he reunited with his family.
Exile
While in Montevideo, Paz was named commander chief of the reserve army that faced
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 ...
's siege on Montevideo, which was supported by Rosas. Paz coordinated that army until mid 1843, when he returned to Corrientes through Brazil, to become Director of War against Rosas by the new governor of Corrientes,
Joaquín Madariaga, and was given the command of the Fourth Army.
Corrientes again
Knowing that Rosas intended to annex
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
as a
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of the Confederation, Paraguayan president
Carlos Antonio López signed with Madariaga and Paz on November 11, 1845, a treaty (''Tratado de Alianza y Convicción Adicional'').
Together they planned to attack Entre Ríos, debilitated by
Justo José de Urquiza absence and, if possible, reach
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
.
Yet Madariaga and Paz did not trust each other. Madariaga took away Paz's command, but Paz already expecting such move, attacked and defeated Madariaga, taking him prisoner at
Laguna Limpia.
Paz moved to the
Ubajay swamps at Easter Entre Ríos, and Urquiza, fearing to face Paz, fell back to the west of the province.
Last years
Political instability forced him to leave Corrientes and start a journey to Paraguay that would extend to
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, Brazil. Submersed in poverty, he settled as a farmer. His wife died on June 5, 1848, while giving birth to their ninth child, leaving Paz the task of raising the children, of which six died at a young age. Paz continued during those years his memoirs that he had started while imprisoned.
When news of Urquiza's uprising against Rosas reached him, Paz travelled to Montevideo to await Urquiza's triumph. On September 11, 1853, already in Buenos Aires, Urquiza named him, yet unconvinced, General Brigadier, and governor Manuel Pinto asked him to talk the provinces into favoring Buenos Aires' position. Buenos Aires abstained from participating in the Constitution and prepared an attack. Paz was named General-in-Chief and moved to the border with
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe (, , lit. "Holy Faith") is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco Province, Chaco (divided by the 2 ...
.
Later
Hilario Lagos besieged Buenos Aires and Paz had to organise the resistance. General Pinto thus named him Minister of War and Navy of the
State of Buenos Aires. In spite of Paz's visible position against the Buenos Aires Constituent Congress, he was elected member of the convention, which he did not attend regularly due to health problems. On April 11, 1854, day of the approval of the constitution, he was present to express his disagreement with the document that declared Buenos Aires an independent state.
That was his last political act; he died a few months later, and was buried with highest honours for his patriotism. During
Domingo Sarmiento's
presidency
A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
, his body was taken to the Córdoba Cathedral, together with the recuperated remains of his wife.
The highway that separates the federal capital,
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, from
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...
was named
General Paz Avenue after the ''
cordobés'' who organised the defence of Buenos Aires.
Notes
External links
Biography(in
English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paz, Jose Maria
1791 births
1854 deaths
Argentine escapees
Argentine generals
Argentine people of Spanish descent
Argentine prisoners of war
People from Córdoba, Argentina
People of the Argentine War of Independence
People of the Cisplatine War
People from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata