Ejército Grande - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The so-called Ejército Grande (Big Army in English, also called the Ejército Grande Aliado Libertador, Big Allied Liberating Army) was the Argentine

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...

army that in 1852, under the command of the governor of Entre Ríos Province

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....

, Justo José de Urquiza

Justo José de Urquiza

Justo José de Urquiza y García was an Argentine general and politician. He was president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.He was governor of Entre Ríos during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas, governor of Buenos Aires with powers delegated from the other provinces...

, invaded the provinces of Santa Fe

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...

and Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

and defeated Juan Manuel de Rosas

Juan Manuel de Rosas

Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...

's army, which until that moment was in command of the foreign relations of the Argentine Confederation

Argentine Confederation

The Argentine Confederation is one of the official names of Argentina, according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35...

.

Made of 24,000 men, the majority from the provinces of Entre Ríos and Corrientes

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:...

, also including 3,500 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...

ians and 1,500 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...

ans. There were also some divisions commanded by 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....

officers, future notable figures of the Argentine political scene, such as future presidents Bartolomé Mitre

Bartolomé 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 Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. His writing spanned a wide range of genres and topics, from journalism to autobiography, to political philosophy and history...

. The army had 50 artillery pieces. While marching through Santa Fe, they were joined by 2,000 men from that province.

Urquiza had reclaimed from Rosas the control over the foreign relations of Entre Ríos Province at the Urquiza Announcement, of 1 May 1851. He had participated briefly in campaigns in Uruguay

Uruguay

, forcing the end of the Uruguayan Civil War

Uruguayan Civil War

The Uruguayan Civil War, also known as "Guerra Grande", was a series of armed conflicts that took place between the Colorado Party and the National Party in Uruguay from 1839 to 1851...

, and had formalized the alliance with Uruguay and Brazil.

In 1851 Rosas declared war on Brazil, which helped the signature of a treaty against him on 21 November 1851 by the governments of Entre Ríos, Corrientes, Uruguay and the Empire of Brazil.
After removing the siege of Montevideo

Montevideo

Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

, the Ejército Grande started to form, with the forces there for the siege, and incorporating the soldiers from Buenos Aires province that were in the city. To this, many Brazilian forces were added. The new army crossed the Uruguay river

Uruguay River

The Uruguay River is a river in South America. It flows from north to south and makes boundary with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of the Mesopotamia from the other two countries...

camping in the town of Gualeguaychú. later they moved to the port of Punta Gorda (Diamante

Diamante, Entre Ríos

Diamante is a city in the west of the province of Entre Ríos, Argentina, on the eastern shore of the Paraná River. It has about 20,000 inhabitants as per the . It is the head town of the Diamante Department....

).

Between 24 December 1851 and 6 January 1852, the Ejército Grande 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...

entering the territory of Santa Fe province. The infantry and artillery crossed in Brazilian Navy ships, while the cavalry crossed through swimming. Forty days later, on 3 February 1852, fought and obtained victory at Battle of Caseros

Battle of Caseros

The Battle of Caseros was fought near the town of Caseros, more precisely between the present-day train stations of Caseros and Palomar in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on 3 February 1852, between the Army of Buenos Aires commanded by Juan Manuel de Rosas...

near the city of Buenos Aires. Rosas, defeated, resigned from his governorship and was exiled to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

Forming the Ejército Grande

The army formed in Diamante on 20 December 1851, was as follows:

Commanding General: Governor and Captain General of the Province of Entre Ríos, Brigadier Justo José de Urquiza

Justo José de Urquiza

Major General: and Captain General of the Province of Corrientes, Colonel Major Benjamín Virasoro
Total: 28,149 men, of which 2,000 were in the supply trains, cavalry support, and wounded/invalids.

Entre Ríos Army Corps

Total of 10,350 men:

Artillery squadron, under the command of colonel José María Pirán with 230 men
Roving Artillery Corps, under the command of lieutenant colonel González with 200 men
Entre Ríos Infantry Battalion, under the command of lieutenant colonel Ramón Lista with 250 men
Urquiza's Infantry Battalion, under the command of colonel Manuel Basavilbaso with 100 men
Cavalry Division 1°, under the command of colonel Manuel Urdinarrain with 1,300 men
Cavalry Division 2°, under the command of colonel Miguel Galarza with 1,500 men
Cavalry Division 3°, under the command of colonel Manuel Palavecino with 1,100 men
Cavalry Division 4°, under the command of colonel Domínguez (Pacheco with 600 men and Hernando with 700 men)
Cavalry Division 5°, under the command of colonel Salazar with 500 men
Cavalry Division 6°, under the command of colonel Apolinario Almada with 900 men
Cavalry Division 7°, under the command of lieutenant colonel Paso 600 men
Cavalry Division 8°, under the command of major López with 650 men
Cavalry Division 9°, under the command of lieutenant colonel Jacinto González with 500 men
San José Cavalry, under the command of lieutenant colonel Barón Alfredo Marbais du Graty with 300 men
Urquiza's Guard, under colonel Fausto Aguilar with 270 men and colonel Manuel Carballo with 270 men
General's Guard, under the command of lieutenant colonel Reyes with 200 men

Corrientes Army Corps

With a total of 5,260 men:

Artillery squadron, under the command of lieutenant colonel González with 130 men
Defensor Infantry Battalion, under the command of major Marcelino Martínez with 350 men
Patricios Infantry Battalion, under the command of major Acevedo with 360 men
Escort Cavalry, under the command of colonel José Antonio Virasoro with 750 men
Cavalry 1° Regiment, under the command of colonel Manuel Antonio Ocampo with 680 men
Cavalry 2° Regiment, under the command of colonel Bernardino López with 500 men
Cavalry 3° Regiment, under the command of colonel Simeón Paiva with 540 men
Cavalry 4° Regiment, under the command of colonel Nicanor Cáceres with 600 men
Cavalry 5° Regiment, under the command of colonel Bejarano with 650 men
Cavalry 6° Regiment, under the command of colonel Ricardes with 700 men

Buenos Aires Army Corps

With un total de 4,219 men:

Artillery squadron, under the command of lieutenant colonel Bernardo Castro with 110 men
Artillery squadron, under the command of lieutenant colonel Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé 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:...

with 100 men
Buenos Aires Infantry Battalion, under the command of colonel Tejerina with 430 men
San Martín Infantry Battalion, under the command of colonel Mariano Echenagucía with 430 men
Constitución Infantry Battalion, under the command of colonel José Toledo with 430 men
Federación Infantry Battalion, under the command of colonel Rodríguez with 430 men
Cavalry 1°, under the command of colonel Tomás Burgoa with 430 men
Cavalry 2°, under the command of colonel Manuel Hornos with 600 men
Cavalry 3°, under the command of colonel Pedro León Aquino with 540 men
Cavalry 4°, under the command of colonel Jacinto Susviela with 450 men
Cavalry 5°, under the command of colonel Vicente González with 325 men

Uruguay Army Corps

With a total of 1,970 men, commanded by colonel César Díaz:

Roving Artillery Corps, under the command of lieutenant colonel Nicolás de Vedia with 200 men
Resistencia Infantry Battalion, under the command of colonel Lezica with 500 men
Voltíjeros Infantry Battalion, under the command of lieutenant colonel León de Pallejas with 500 men
Guardia Oriental Infantry Battalion, under the command of colonel José María Solsona with 490 men
Orden Infantry Battalion, under the command of major Abella with 280 men

Brazil Army Corps

With a total of 4,020 men, commanded by brigadier Manuel Marqués de Souza: