Arequito Revolt
Encyclopedia
The Arequito Revolt (Arequito
, Santa Fe Province
, Argentina
, January 8, 1820), was a military revolt by officers of the Army of the North
, through which they recused themselves from the fight in the civil war
against the federals
. Their intention was to return to the front of the war against the royalists
in Upper Peru
, an objective they could not ultimately meet. It signified the beginning of the disintegration of the Supreme Directorship
and was one of the main causes of the centralist defeat at the Battle of Cepeda
.
tried to govern all the provinces that comprised the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
citing the argument that when the king's governance ceased, its rights reverted to the people. Starting with the dissolution of the Junta Grande
, it was clear that the desire of the city of Buenos Aires
was to dominate the country, with as little input from the other cities as possible.
The cities from the interior of the country, in the name of their respective territories, insistently requested to have equal participation in the national government and to elect their own local governments. For years, the different governments from Buenos Aires made an effort in the opposite direction: all the governors were appointed directly by the central government, and the city of Buenos Aires' representation was always greater than the rest in the assemblies that followed. On the other hand, several of the central governments fell by Coup d'état
's organized in Buenos Aires exclusively, and the national government that followed each, was invariably named by the porteño
cabildo
.
The reaction of the interior provinces was surprisingly slow but inevitable. The first effective response to the porteño control came from the Banda Oriental
(present-day Uruguay
), where the caudillo
José Artigas denied the capital the right to govern his province. In 1815, after more than a year of civil war, he gaine complete control of the Provincia Oriental.
His example was followed by the bordering provinces, starting with Entre Ríos
, where several caudillos deposed the governors placed by the Directory
; with Francisco Ramírez as the leader in the province. A little later Corrientes Province
followed and separated from obedience to the central government.
The dissent followed to Santa Fe Province
, which revolted against porteño dominance in 1815 and again in 1816 under the command of Mariano Vera
, later succeeded by Estanislao López
. The central government vehemently denied them the right of separation, as its territory was the obligatory route of communication with the interior of the country. No less than five military expeditions were launched from Buenos Aires to crush Santa Fe's resistance, but none succeeded.
The Northern provinces followed suit, Salta
established an autonomous government under general Güemes
, the Province of Cuyo
refused the replacement of their governor José de San Martín
, and Córdoba
elected their own governor José Javier Díaz, a follower of Artigas.
in Upper Peru
; but after the third defeat at the Sipe Sipe
, was left weakened and with a single base at Tucumán. In theory, its mission was to wait until the conditions permitted to restart the reconquest of the provinces in Upper Peru.
The Directorio
decided to use the army to suppress internal rebellions in 1816, a fraction of the army was used to reinstate the governor of La Rioja Province
, and at the beginning of the following year, the governor of Santiago del Estero Province
. A little later, another part of the army helped deposed the governor of Córdoba Province
and support his successor.
In 1818, director Pueyrredón
decided to suppress Santa Fe Province
with a double attack: while an army attacked from the south, a division of the Army of the North advanced from the west. The initiative failed before the quick defense of Estanislao López, who capture the commander of the west column from Córdoba, Juan Bautista Bustos and then succeeded in repelling the attack from the south. Another similar attempt was thwarted in 1819.
The bulk of the Army of the North was establish in Córdoba, tio the annoyance of many of their members, as it was far from the royalist enemies. In April, a peace treaty signed between the governments of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe gave hopes of a solution to the internal quarrels, and the offices believed they would go back to the north front.
The treaty pacified its signatories, but nor Artigas (who considered himself López's superior) nor the Directorio were pleased. Artigas wanted the national government to unite against the Portuguese
, who had invaded his province, from Brazil
. The new Supreme Director, José Rondeau
, wanted to defeat Santa Fe with help from the Portuguese. He called in the Army of the Andes
, but its commander, San Martín refused to obey. He also ordered the commander of the Army of the North
, Manuel Belgrano
, who initiated a march towards the south.
By order of Artigas, Ramírez crossed the Paraná River
and invaded the north of Buenos Aires Province, later retreating. Rondeau organized his army in the capital and marched to meet the threat. The Army of the North entered Santa Fe Province.
, directed the military rebellion. The arrested colones Cornelio Zelaya and Manuel Guillermo Pinto
in the middle of the night and traveled to a short distance from Fernández de la Cruz encampment and decided to have discussions with him. They told him they refused to continue with the civil war and to go back to the north front against the royalists instead. They explicitly declared themselves neutral in the conflict between the federalists and the Directory, to avoid being accused of having supported the enemy. Bustos had at this time about 1,600 men, and Fernández de la Cruz, a little less than 1,400.
Bustos demanded to receive half their armament, munitions and head of cattle, to what Cruz seemed to accept at the beginning. But at noon he started a march towards the south, without having delivered the promised goods.
Bustos ordered Heredia to pursue his former commander, and he reached him when he was already surrounded by López's federalist troops (they were already in Santa Fe Province, a federalist stronghold). Seeing he could not continue forward, Fernández de la Cruz decided to give his army to Bustos and returned to Buenos Aires almost alone, only followed by a few loyal officers, Lamadrid
among them.
The next day, Bustos started his return to Córdoba, and on January 12 he arrived on Esquina, on Córdoba's border. He wrote López and Rondeau from there, explaining what had occurred, and his plans to return to the fight in the north. In one of those letters he clarified:
, Bustos moved his army to Córdoba Province, where he was triumphantly received. Governor Manuel Antonio Castro had recently resigned and a new interim governor, José Javier Díaz, chief of the local federalists was elected. An assembly declared:
This means, the same sentiments that Bustos and the other participants of the Arequito rebellion had.
Rondeau comfronted Ramírez and López with its own forces at the Battle of Cepeda
and was thoroughly defeated. Only a week later, he resigned and dissolved the Congress of Tucumán
. There was not to be a new Supreme Director
, due to pressure from López and Ramírez, Buenos Aires designated a provincial governor who signed the Treaty of Pilar
with the federalists.
While in Córdoba, Bustos learned of the end of the Directorship, and he started a campaign to reorganize the country, delaying the return of the Northern Army to the northern border. At the same time, interim governor Díaz announced he was thinking of an association with the Littoral Caudillos (Santa Fé, Entre Ríos and Corrientes Provinces) in their fight against Buenos Aires; that is, to sign some alliance pact with José Gervasio Artigas
, Ramírez or López.
That was not Bustos' objective, so he actively opposed Díaz' policies. Looking for allies, he reached the federalists of Juan Pablo Bulnes, who were distanced from Díaz's group, and various local politicians and influential local businessmen. With their support he was elected governor on March 19.
Bustos then dedicated himself to govern and organize the Province, and he mediated between López and the Buenos Aires Province government, who were still confronting each other. He sent colonel Heredia with a portion of the army to the provinces of the north, as an advance party of the promised march to resume war with the royalists. Unfortunately, Heredia did not get to fight the Spaniards, as his force was used by Martín Miguel de Güemes
in the rebellion against the governor of Tucumán.
The remaining forces were used for the defense of the Province against the Pampas and Chaco
native tribes and, the following year, to repel the combined attack of Francisco Ramírez and José Miguel Carrera
.
and Vicente Fidel López
accused him of both. Nobody dared to defend Bustos and his followers, and as the defeat of the federalist party in the civil wars carried forward their enemies, this point of view was the one which survived.
Many years later, the school of Argentina historical revisionism started to see the Arequito Revolt with different eyes. Also, Córdoba historians valued their first autonomous governors, who had supported or participated in the events. At mid-20th century, with the historical revisionism firmly established, and with the apogee of the historical overvaluation of San Martín (who also had refused to participate in the civil war), the Arequito Revolt was seen as an important step in the formation of modern Argentina.
In effect, the rebellion of the Army of the North permitted the provinces to impose their will for the first time over the central government in Buenos Aires, made the strange and almost monarchist unitarian party constitution of 1819 disappear, permitted the birth of the autonomous government in Buenos Aires Province, equalized the rights of the people, and opened the way for an equal treatment and relations between the provinces (path that will prove to be difficult, as it would still need 50 more years of civil wars in Argentina).
Possibly, if the Army of the North would have followed its path to the north, the war between Buenos Aires and the federalists from the Litoral provinces would have lasted much longer, and the inevitable formation of a modern federalist Argentine nation would have been more difficult.
It is without doubt that the rebellion was an act of military disobedience, which, seen from a military point of view is totally inadmissible, but considering its political causes and results, it was a positive step towards a democracy with equal right for all.
Arequito, Santa Fe
Arequito is a town in the south of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, southwest from the provincial capital and west of Rosario. It has a population of about 7,000 inhabitants as per the ....
, Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, January 8, 1820), was a military revolt by officers of the Army of the North
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 and the Upper Peru from the royalist troops of the Spanish...
, through which they recused themselves from the fight in the civil war
Argentine Civil War
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of internecine wars that took place in Argentina from 1814 to 1876. These conflicts were separate from the Argentine War of Independence , though they first arose during this period....
against the federals
Federales (Argentina)
Federales was the name under which the supporters of federalism in Argentina were known, opposing the Unitarios that claimed a centralised government of Buenos Aires Province, with no participation of the other provinces of the custom taxes benefits of the Buenos Aires port...
. Their intention was to return to the front of the war against the royalists
Royalist (Spanish American Revolutions)
The royalists were the American and European supporters of the various governing bodies of the Spanish Monarchy, during the Spanish American wars of independence, which lasted from 1808 until the king's death in 1833...
in Upper Peru
Upper Peru
Upper Peru was the region in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and after 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, comprising the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Los Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas...
, an objective they could not ultimately meet. It signified the beginning of the disintegration of the Supreme Directorship
Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
The Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata , was a title given to the executive officers of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, according to the form of government established in 1814 by the Asamblea del Año XIII...
and was one of the main causes of the centralist defeat at the Battle of Cepeda
Battle of Cepeda (1820)
The Battle of Cepeda of 1820 took place on February 1 in Cañada de Cepeda, Santa Fe, Argentina.It was the first major battle that saw Unitarians and Federals as two constituted sides. Federal League Provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Ríos joined forces to topple the 1819 centralist Constitution, and...
.
Federalism in the Río de la Plata
The successive Argentine governments since the May RevolutionMay Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...
tried to govern all the provinces that comprised the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, , was the last and most short-lived Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in America.The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 out of several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata basin, roughly the present day...
citing the argument that when the king's governance ceased, its rights reverted to the people. Starting with the dissolution of the Junta Grande
Junta Grande
Junta Grande is the most common name for the executive government of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata , that followed the incorporation of provincial representatives into the Primera Junta .- Origin :...
, it was clear that the desire of the city of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
was to dominate the country, with as little input from the other cities as possible.
The cities from the interior of the country, in the name of their respective territories, insistently requested to have equal participation in the national government and to elect their own local governments. For years, the different governments from Buenos Aires made an effort in the opposite direction: all the governors were appointed directly by the central government, and the city of Buenos Aires' representation was always greater than the rest in the assemblies that followed. On the other hand, several of the central governments fell by Coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
's organized in Buenos Aires exclusively, and the national government that followed each, was invariably named by the porteño
Porteño
Porteño in Spanish is used to refer to a person who is from or lives in a port city, but it can also be used as an adjective for anything related to those port cities....
cabildo
Cabildo (council)
For a discussion of the contemporary Spanish and Latin American cabildo, see Ayuntamiento.A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a former Spanish, colonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of...
.
The reaction of the interior provinces was surprisingly slow but inevitable. The first effective response to the porteño control came from the Banda Oriental
Banda Oriental
The Banda Oriental del Uruguay was the South American territory east of the Uruguay River and north of the Río de la Plata, coinciding approximately with the modern nation of Uruguay, the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul and some parts of Santa Catarina...
(present-day Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
), where the caudillo
Caudillo
Caudillo is a Spanish word for "leader" and usually describes a political-military leader at the head of an authoritarian power. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator or strongman. Caudillo was the term used to refer to the charismatic...
José Artigas denied the capital the right to govern his province. In 1815, after more than a year of civil war, he gaine complete control of the Provincia Oriental.
His example was followed by the bordering provinces, starting with Entre Ríos
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
, where several caudillos deposed the governors placed by the Directory
Directory (political)
A Directorial Republic is a country ruled by a College of several people which jointly exercise the powers of Head of State. This system of government is in contrast both with presidential republics and parliamentary republics. In political history, the term Directory, in French Directoire, applies...
; with Francisco Ramírez as the leader in the province. A little later Corrientes Province
Corrientes Province
Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by : Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, Uruguay, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.-History:...
followed and separated from obedience to the central government.
The dissent followed to Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
, which revolted against porteño dominance in 1815 and again in 1816 under the command of Mariano Vera
Mariano Vera
Mariano Vera was a caudillo and governor of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, between 12 April 1816 and 23 July 1818.Vera was a supporter of federalism, against the idea of a centralized government...
, later succeeded by Estanislao López
Estanislao López
Estanislao López was a governor and caudillo of the , between 1818 and 1838, a hero of provincial federalism and an ally of Juan Manuel de Rosas during the Argentine Civil War.-Biography:...
. The central government vehemently denied them the right of separation, as its territory was the obligatory route of communication with the interior of the country. No less than five military expeditions were launched from Buenos Aires to crush Santa Fe's resistance, but none succeeded.
The Northern provinces followed suit, Salta
Salta Province
Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy...
established an autonomous government under general Güemes
Martín Miguel de Güemes
Martín Miguel de Güemes was a military leader and popular caudillo who defended northwestern Argentina from the Spanish during the Argentine War of Independence.-Biography:...
, the Province of Cuyo
Province of Cuyo
The Province of Cuyo was a historical Province of Argentina. Created on 14 November 1813 by a decree issued by the Second Triumvirate, it had its capital on Mendoza, and was composed by the territories of the present Argentine Provinces of Mendoza, San Juan and San Luis.The region was part of Chile...
refused the replacement of their governor José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
, and Córdoba
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
elected their own governor José Javier Díaz, a follower of Artigas.
Army of the North and civil war
The Army of the North was formed to fight the War of Independence against the Spanish EmpireSpanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
in Upper Peru
Upper Peru
Upper Peru was the region in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and after 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, comprising the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Los Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas...
; but after the third defeat at the Sipe Sipe
Battle of Sipe-Sipe
The Battle of Sipe-Sipe was a major battle in the South American wars of independence in which the United Provinces of Río de la Plata were decisively defeated by Spanish royalist forces in Upper Peru...
, was left weakened and with a single base at Tucumán. In theory, its mission was to wait until the conditions permitted to restart the reconquest of the provinces in Upper Peru.
The Directorio
Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
The Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata , was a title given to the executive officers of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, according to the form of government established in 1814 by the Asamblea del Año XIII...
decided to use the army to suppress internal rebellions in 1816, a fraction of the army was used to reinstate the governor of La Rioja Province
La Rioja Province (Argentina)
La Rioja is a one of the provinces of Argentina and is located in the west of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Catamarca, Córdoba, San Luis and San Juan.-History:...
, and at the beginning of the following year, the governor of Santiago del Estero Province
Santiago del Estero Province
Santiago del Estero is a province of Argentina, located in the north of the country. Neighbouring provinces are from the north clockwise Salta, Chaco, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán.-History:...
. A little later, another part of the army helped deposed the governor of Córdoba Province
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
and support his successor.
In 1818, director Pueyrredón
Juan Martín de Pueyrredón
Juan Martín de Pueyrredón y O'Dogan was an Argentine general and politician of the early 19th century. He was appointed Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata after the Argentine Declaration of Independence.-Early life:Pueyrredón was born in Buenos Aires, the fifth of...
decided to suppress Santa Fe Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
with a double attack: while an army attacked from the south, a division of the Army of the North advanced from the west. The initiative failed before the quick defense of Estanislao López, who capture the commander of the west column from Córdoba, Juan Bautista Bustos and then succeeded in repelling the attack from the south. Another similar attempt was thwarted in 1819.
The bulk of the Army of the North was establish in Córdoba, tio the annoyance of many of their members, as it was far from the royalist enemies. In April, a peace treaty signed between the governments of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe gave hopes of a solution to the internal quarrels, and the offices believed they would go back to the north front.
The treaty pacified its signatories, but nor Artigas (who considered himself López's superior) nor the Directorio were pleased. Artigas wanted the national government to unite against the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, who had invaded his province, from Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. The new Supreme Director, José Rondeau
José Rondeau
José Casimiro Rondeau Pereyra was a general and politician in Argentina and Uruguay in the early 19th century.-Biography:...
, wanted to defeat Santa Fe with help from the Portuguese. He called in the Army of the Andes
Army of the Andes
The Army of the Andes was a military force created by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and mustered by general José de San Martín in his campaign to free Chile from the Spanish Empire...
, but its commander, San Martín refused to obey. He also ordered the commander of the Army of the North
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 and the Upper Peru from the royalist troops of the Spanish...
, Manuel Belgrano
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...
, who initiated a march towards the south.
By order of Artigas, Ramírez crossed the Paraná River
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...
and invaded the north of Buenos Aires Province, later retreating. Rondeau organized his army in the capital and marched to meet the threat. The Army of the North entered Santa Fe Province.
Revolt
Arriving at Arequito, on January 8, 1820, general Bustos, supported by colonels Alejandro Heredia and José María PazJosé María Paz
Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil War.-Childhood:...
, directed the military rebellion. The arrested colones Cornelio Zelaya and Manuel Guillermo Pinto
Manuel Guillermo Pinto
Manuel Guillermo Pinto was an Argentine general and lawmaker.Pinto was born in Buenos Aires, and studied at the Royal College of San Carlos. He completed further studies in Spain, but returned to fight during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata, in 1807...
in the middle of the night and traveled to a short distance from Fernández de la Cruz encampment and decided to have discussions with him. They told him they refused to continue with the civil war and to go back to the north front against the royalists instead. They explicitly declared themselves neutral in the conflict between the federalists and the Directory, to avoid being accused of having supported the enemy. Bustos had at this time about 1,600 men, and Fernández de la Cruz, a little less than 1,400.
Bustos demanded to receive half their armament, munitions and head of cattle, to what Cruz seemed to accept at the beginning. But at noon he started a march towards the south, without having delivered the promised goods.
Bustos ordered Heredia to pursue his former commander, and he reached him when he was already surrounded by López's federalist troops (they were already in Santa Fe Province, a federalist stronghold). Seeing he could not continue forward, Fernández de la Cruz decided to give his army to Bustos and returned to Buenos Aires almost alone, only followed by a few loyal officers, Lamadrid
Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid
Comandante General Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid was an Argentine military leader and, briefly, governor of several provinces like Córdoba, Mendoza and his native province of Tucumán.Lamadrid fought beside General Belgrano and General San Martín during the Argentine War of Independence, as a prominent...
among them.
The next day, Bustos started his return to Córdoba, and on January 12 he arrived on Esquina, on Córdoba's border. He wrote López and Rondeau from there, explaining what had occurred, and his plans to return to the fight in the north. In one of those letters he clarified:
After Arequito
After meeting with López's envoys at La Herradura, by the Tercero RiverTercero River
The Tercero River , also known as Ctalamochita, is the river of the Córdoba Province with the most important water flow...
, Bustos moved his army to Córdoba Province, where he was triumphantly received. Governor Manuel Antonio Castro had recently resigned and a new interim governor, José Javier Díaz, chief of the local federalists was elected. An assembly declared:
This means, the same sentiments that Bustos and the other participants of the Arequito rebellion had.
Rondeau comfronted Ramírez and López with its own forces at the Battle of Cepeda
Battle of Cepeda (1820)
The Battle of Cepeda of 1820 took place on February 1 in Cañada de Cepeda, Santa Fe, Argentina.It was the first major battle that saw Unitarians and Federals as two constituted sides. Federal League Provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Ríos joined forces to topple the 1819 centralist Constitution, and...
and was thoroughly defeated. Only a week later, he resigned and dissolved the Congress of Tucumán
Congress of Tucumán
The Congress of Tucumán was the representative assembly, initially meeting in Tucumán, that declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America on July 9, 1816, from the Spanish Empire....
. There was not to be a new Supreme Director
Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
The Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata , was a title given to the executive officers of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, according to the form of government established in 1814 by the Asamblea del Año XIII...
, due to pressure from López and Ramírez, Buenos Aires designated a provincial governor who signed the Treaty of Pilar
Treaty of Pilar
The Treaty of Pilar was a pact signed among the rulers of the Argentine provinces of Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Buenos Aires, which is recognized as the foundation of the federal organization of the country...
with the federalists.
While in Córdoba, Bustos learned of the end of the Directorship, and he started a campaign to reorganize the country, delaying the return of the Northern Army to the northern border. At the same time, interim governor Díaz announced he was thinking of an association with the Littoral Caudillos (Santa Fé, Entre Ríos and Corrientes Provinces) in their fight against Buenos Aires; that is, to sign some alliance pact with José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas
José Gervasio Artigas is a national hero of Uruguay, sometimes called "the father of Uruguayan nationhood".-Early life:Artigas was born in Montevideo on June 19, 1764...
, Ramírez or López.
That was not Bustos' objective, so he actively opposed Díaz' policies. Looking for allies, he reached the federalists of Juan Pablo Bulnes, who were distanced from Díaz's group, and various local politicians and influential local businessmen. With their support he was elected governor on March 19.
Bustos then dedicated himself to govern and organize the Province, and he mediated between López and the Buenos Aires Province government, who were still confronting each other. He sent colonel Heredia with a portion of the army to the provinces of the north, as an advance party of the promised march to resume war with the royalists. Unfortunately, Heredia did not get to fight the Spaniards, as his force was used by Martín Miguel de Güemes
Martín Miguel de Güemes
Martín Miguel de Güemes was a military leader and popular caudillo who defended northwestern Argentina from the Spanish during the Argentine War of Independence.-Biography:...
in the rebellion against the governor of Tucumán.
The remaining forces were used for the defense of the Province against the Pampas and Chaco
Gran Chaco
The Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it is connected with the Pantanal region...
native tribes and, the following year, to repel the combined attack of Francisco Ramírez and José Miguel Carrera
José Miguel Carrera
José Miguel Carrera Verdugo was a Chilean general, member of the prominent Carrera family, and considered one of the founders of independent Chile. Carrera was the most important leader of the Chilean War of Independence during the period of the Patria Vieja...
.
Historical Review
The Arequito Revolt was reported by early historians in a bad light. The chronicles by Lamadrid and Paz, labeled it as treason to the motherland or as an obscure event organized to place Bustos in the Córdoba government house and nothing more. Historians in the second half of the 19th century, starting with Bartolomé MitreBartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...
and Vicente Fidel López
Vicente Fidel López
Vicente Fidel López was an Argentine historian, lawyer and politician. He was a son of writer and politician Vicente López y Planes.-Biography:...
accused him of both. Nobody dared to defend Bustos and his followers, and as the defeat of the federalist party in the civil wars carried forward their enemies, this point of view was the one which survived.
Many years later, the school of Argentina historical revisionism started to see the Arequito Revolt with different eyes. Also, Córdoba historians valued their first autonomous governors, who had supported or participated in the events. At mid-20th century, with the historical revisionism firmly established, and with the apogee of the historical overvaluation of San Martín (who also had refused to participate in the civil war), the Arequito Revolt was seen as an important step in the formation of modern Argentina.
In effect, the rebellion of the Army of the North permitted the provinces to impose their will for the first time over the central government in Buenos Aires, made the strange and almost monarchist unitarian party constitution of 1819 disappear, permitted the birth of the autonomous government in Buenos Aires Province, equalized the rights of the people, and opened the way for an equal treatment and relations between the provinces (path that will prove to be difficult, as it would still need 50 more years of civil wars in Argentina).
Possibly, if the Army of the North would have followed its path to the north, the war between Buenos Aires and the federalists from the Litoral provinces would have lasted much longer, and the inevitable formation of a modern federalist Argentine nation would have been more difficult.
It is without doubt that the rebellion was an act of military disobedience, which, seen from a military point of view is totally inadmissible, but considering its political causes and results, it was a positive step towards a democracy with equal right for all.