| Uruguayan War | |||||||
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Clockwise from top left: Colonel Leandro Gómez (far left) and his soldiers; Uruguayan defenders of Paysandú; Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, in 1865; Brazilian frigate Amazonas. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Empire of Brazil Colorados |
Uruguay | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Pedro II Marquis of Tamandaré Baron of São Gabriel Marquis of Erval Venancio Flores |
Atanasio Aguirre Leandro Gómez Servando Gómez Timoteo Aparicio |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 6,000 Brazilian military[1][2] 1,500 Colorados[3] |
+8,774 Uruguayans | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The Uruguayan War (Portuguese: Guerra do Uruguai),[4][5] also known as the War against Aguirre, (August 10, 1864 – February 20, 1865) was fought between Uruguay and an alliance between the Empire of Brazil and Uruguayan Colorados.
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For centuries the region that is nowadays Uruguay was disputed between Portugal and Spain, the two foremost colonial powers in South America. The first Portuguese settlement, was Colónia do Sacramento, founded in 1680[6][7] in violation of the Treaty of Tordesillas. Since the beginning, the survival of the most distant colony of the southern Brazil border, was at stake. The Spaniards from Buenos Aires attacked it countless times, and managed to conquer it in 1704.[8] The Treaty of Utrecht, signed in 1715, that ended the War of the Spanish Succession, returned Colónia do Sacramento to Portugal.[9]
To stop further Portuguese advances, Spain founded Montevideo in 1726, 160 km (99 mi) east of Sacramento.[10] The Portuguese colony was attacked again in 1735 and 1737.[11] In accordance with the Treaty of Madrid, from 1750, Portugal was supposed to exchange it to Spain for what is today the western part of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. But the Portuguese refused to accomplish the agreement.[12] A major Spanish invasion took Sacramento, and other Portuguese villages and forts, in 1762, but they were soon retaken.[13] Finally, the Treaty of Saint Ildefonso from 1777 definitively delivered the Portuguese colony to Spain.[14]
The Portuguese however returned to retake its former colony in 1811, without success.[15] A new invasion in 1816 conquered all the region known as Banda Oriental, and renamed it Cisplatina.[16] When Brazil became independent from Portugal, in 1822, Cisplatina was incorporated into the Brazilian Empire.[17] In 1825, a small group of orientals rebelled against Brazil with the support of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata (now Argentina). After a war that lasted three years, by the 1828 Treaty of Montevideo, Emperor Pedro I recognized the independence of Cisplatina, that became Uruguay.[18]
As the other Latin American republics, Uruguay since its independence was plagued with rebellions and coups d’état. Around 1830 the two political parties that would dominate the political affairs of the country for much of its history emerged: the Colorados and the Blancos.[19] A long civil war between the two factions attracted the attention of its two closest neighbors. Argentina under the dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas supported the Blancos, with intention of annexing Uruguay. Brazil tried to stop the republican separatism in its southern regions, supporting the Colorados and dragging the country to the war.[20] After twenty years of intermittent conflict in Uruguay, the Brazilian Empire (with the decisive contribution of Argentine rebels) defeated the Argentine Confederation in the Platine War of 1852.[21]
The Brazilian government nominated a member of the ruling Liberal party, councilor José Antônio Saraiva, as plenipotentiary to Uruguay. Saraiva’s main objective was to end the crisis between both countries by peaceful means.[22] In 12 May 1864 he presented his credentials to the Uruguayan government[23] and four days later formally delivered the Brazilian demands.[24] The demands were implicitly an ultimatum[25], and were rejected by Aguirre in 24 May 1864.[26]
Both the Blanco and Brazilian governments were intransigent.[27] The Uruguayans erroneously believed that their alliance with Paraguay would protect them from a Brazilian attack[28] and that, in the event of war, slave rebellions would occur in Brazil, preventing effective mobilization.[29] In turn, the Brazilian government had no genuine desire for dialogue.[30]
In addition, Saraiva's arrogant and authoritarian attitude, caused irritation among the members of the Blanco government, and hindered the search for a peaceful solution.[31] The Brazilian Conservatives cautioned the liberal cabinet, arguing that the war could spread onto Brazilian soil.[32] This warning later proved prophetic, when Paraguayan troops invaded the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso in December.[33]
Meanwhile, Saraiva had made a secret alliance with the Argentine government.[34] Immediately afterwards, he began conversations with the rebel leader Flores, who had accepted the Brazilian demands.[35] Aguirre signed a decree in 10 June inviting Solano López to serve as an arbitrator in the crisis between Uruguay and Brazil.[36] The Paraguayan government accepted the invitation in 17 June 1864.[37] The Brazilian government simply ignored the proposal, as it knew of the secret alliance between Uruguay and Paraguay, and of the inevitable support that López would grant to the Uruguayan cause.[38]
British ambassador Edward Thornton, together with Saraiva and the Argentine Rufino de Elizalde, made a peace offer on 17 June, which Flores accepted.[39] The peace accord implicitly allowed Flores to nominate a new cabinet that would accept the Brazilian demands.[40] With the exception of this clause, the Uruguayan government accepted the proposal on 23 June.[41] Flores, however put aside the accord on 2 July[42], and resumed military operations four days later.[43] On 4 August, Saraiva presented an ultimatum to the Uruguayan government,[44] stating that there would be a formal declaration of war, if it did not accede.[45] The Uruguayan government refused to accept the ultimatum[46], and on the 10th August, Saraiva informed Aguirre that the Brazilian commanders would receive orders to begin retaliation.[47]
In 11 August 1864 Saraiva delivered to the Vice Admiral Joaquim Marques Lisboa (the Baron of Tamandaré and commander of the Brazilian naval forces in Uruguay) the orders to initiate the war operations.[48] Tamandaré had under his command twelve steamships: the frigate Amazonas; corvettes Niterói, Belmonte, Beberibe, Parnaíba, Jequitinhonha and Recife; and gunboats Mearim, Araguaia, Ivaí, Itajaí and Maracanã.[49] The Brazilian admiral created a naval division to patrol the Uruguay River under the command of Francisco Pereira Pinto (later Baron of Ivinhema) that consisted of the ships Jequitinhonha, Araguaia and Belmonte.[50]
In 25 August the officer Pereira Pinto sighted the Uruguayan steamship Vila del Salto and despite the warning shots to surrender, it managed to escape to Argentina after a desperate run away from the Brazilian warships.[51] The first battle of the war resulted in the end of the diplomatic relations by the Uruguayan government in 30 August.[52] In 7 September Pereira Pinto met once again with the Vila del Salto while sailing from Salto to Paysandú. The corvettes Belmonte and Jequitinhonha attacked it as it tried to escape next to Argentine shore. The combat only ended when the Uruguayan ship ran aground next to the city of Paysandú where its crew set it on fire to prevent it from falling into Brazilian hands.[53]
Tamandaré turned the alliance with Flores into a formality in 20 October in Santa Lucia, establishing the cooperation between the Brazilian forces and Uruguayan rebels.[54] The Brazilian ships made the blockade of the cities of Salto and Paysandú.[55] After four days of siege, Colonel José Palomeque, commander of the Uruguayan troops in Salto, surrendered in the afternoon of 28 November.[56][57] Admiral Tamandaré personally commanded the Brazilian naval forces in the blockade of Paisandú that began in 3 December 1864 with one corvette and four gunboats. The city was garrisoned by 1,274 men with 15 cannons under the command of Colonel Leandro Gómez.[58] Flores besieged it by land with 800 infantrymen and 7 cannons and received in 4 December the support of 560 Brazilians.[59]
Tamandaré sent a message to Gómez to surrender and avoid unnecessary bloodshed. The Brazilian envoy, however, was repelled by shots by order of Gómez.[60] Despite the several attacks, the Brazilian and Colorado forces were incapable of taking the city.[61] Tamandaré opted to wait[62] for the Brazilian army that had entered Uruguayan territory in 1 December.[63][64] Aguirre sent the Argentine general Juan Sáa with 2,000 men to help the besieged forces forcing the Brazilians to briefly lift the siege and depart to face the new threat.[65] Sáa gave up from his objective and ran away to the other side of the river Negro.[66]
The Brazilian army with 6,000 men[67][68] and 12 cannons[69] that invaded Uruguay was commanded by Field Marshal João Propício Mena Barreto, the Baron of São Gabriel.[70][71] It was followed by 1,200 militia cavalrymen at service of the tatter Antônio de Sousa Neto.[72] In 29 December the Baron of São Gabriel camped next to Paysandú with two infantry brigades and an artillery regiment[73] raising the Brazilian forces to 2,210 men.[74] The cavalry commanded by Brigadier General Manuel Luis Osório (later Marquis of Erval) remained some kilometers away to protect the besiegers from any unsuspected attack.[75] Gómez executed a young Brazilian sailor who had been taken prisoner and put his head in a pole infuriating the Brazilian troops.[76] In 31 December the Brazilians and Colorados recommenced the attack and conquered the city in 2 January 1865.[77] Gómez was captured with 700 of his own men and had his throat cut by colorados.[78]
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