José María Paz
Encyclopedia
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 War
.
, 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 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.
in 1811, and participated in the 1812 victories of the Army of the North
, under General Manuel Belgrano
. 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.
centralism. Paz was sent to fight Estanislao López
, chief of the Federal
forces, and beat him at La Herradura, Córdoba
.
, 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
, 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 directed in battles in Salta Province
, calling them the "Hunter Battalion" (Batallón de Cazadores), and he would again direct during the war against Brazil
.
The Argentina-Brazil War
(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
) and the Misiones Orientales
, occupied by the Brazilians since their victory of the Battle of Tacuarembó
over José Gervasio Artigas
in 1820. The war between Argentina and Brazil started in 1825 and concluded with the Argentine victory three years later.
In the Battle of Ituzaingó
, 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
ordered him to prepare the army to combat the many caudillo
s that are emerging in the provinces. Thus, Paz supported the Unitarians
, fighting the Federals
in the civil war
.
Unlike Buenos Aires Province, influenced by ideals from the French Revolution
, in the inner provinces persisted a colonial structure, though based on Caudillos such as Güemes
, Juan Bautista Bustos, Quiroga, Estanislao López
, Aldao or Ibarra, who could confront and defeat a regular army.
Paz decided to start his campaign against the caudillos in Córdoba Province with a small force (about 1000 men strong), many of them veterans who served under him in the Argentina-Brazil War
. 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
, 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 as Battle of Laguna Larga). By August 1830, nine of the fourteen existing provinces were under the control of Paz and the Unitary government that had then paradoxically declared as main enemy the government of Buenos Aires, now declared Federal.
was signed in 1831 between the Provinces of Buenos Aires
and Santa Fe
, which joined to invade Córdoba Province
. Paz was ready to engage Estanislao López. He thus went on a reconnaissance mission to asses a good place to fight the caudillo. Unfortunately, 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 lack of their able commander. The Liga Unitaria 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
to spend yet another three years in Luján
. Rosas had asked for Paz's head previously, but López refused to kill him. Yet upon the assassination of Quiroga, Paz was handed to Rosas, perhaps due to López' poor health condition.
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 fell 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
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
.
in the Battle of Sauce Grande (July 16, 1840). He decided to cross the Paraná River
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
after the ford used to cross the river.
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.
's siege on Montevideo, which was supported by Rosas. Paz coordinated that army until mid 1843, when he returned to Corrientes through Brazil, to became Director of War against Rosas by the new governor of Corrientes, Joaquín Madariaga
, and was given the command of the Fourth Army.
as a province
of the Confederation, Paraguayan governor 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
.
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.
, Brazil. Submersed in poverty, he settled as a farmer. His wife died on June 5, 1848 while giving bith 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.
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 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 named 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
, 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
, from Buenos Aires Province
was named General Paz Avenue
after the cordobés who organised the defence of Buenos Aires.
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...
military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence
Argentine War of Independence
The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown...
and the Argentine 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....
.
Childhood
Born in Córdoba, ArgentinaCórdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...
, the son of criollos
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
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 and law.
After the May Revolution
May 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...
he joined the army that would fight 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...
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 independence
José Paz was sent to Upper PeruUpper 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...
in 1811, and participated in the 1812 victories 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...
, under General 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...
. 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
Battle of Vilcapugio
The Battle of Vilcapugio was an action fought on October 1, 1813 during the second Campaign of Upper Peru in the Argentine War of Independence, where the republican forces led by General Manuel Belgrano were defeated by a pro-Spanish royalist army, led by Joaquin de la Pezuela.The campaign was...
, Ayohuma
Battle of Ayohuma
The Battle of Ayohuma was an action fought on 14 November 1813, during the second Upper Peru Campaign of the Argentine War of Independence...
, 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
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...
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 AiresBuenos 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...
centralism. Paz was sent to fight 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:...
, chief of the Federal
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...
forces, and beat him at La Herradura, 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...
.
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 ArequitoArequito, 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 ....
, 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
Santiago del Estero is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 244,733 inhabitants, making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surface area of 2,116 km². It lies on the Dulce River and on National Route 9, at a distance of...
, where he spent two years away from politics. In 1823, he went to Catamarca Province
Catamarca Province
Catamarca is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province has a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km². Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are : Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, and La Rioja...
to give instruction to some 200 soldiers, whom he had already directed in battles in Salta Province
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...
, calling them the "Hunter Battalion" (Batallón de Cazadores), and he would again direct during the war against Brazil
Argentina-Brazil War
The Cisplatine War or the Argentine–Brazilian War was an armed conflict over an area known as Banda Oriental or "Eastern Shore" in the 1820s between the United Provinces of River Plate and the Empire of Brazil in the aftermath of the United Provinces' emancipation from Spain.-Background:Led by...
.
War against Brazil
Argentina-Brazil War
The Cisplatine War or the Argentine–Brazilian War was an armed conflict over an area known as Banda Oriental or "Eastern Shore" in the 1820s between the United Provinces of River Plate and the Empire of Brazil in the aftermath of the United Provinces' emancipation from Spain.-Background:Led by...
(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
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...
) and the Misiones Orientales
Misiones Orientales
The Misiones Orientales or Sete Povos das Missões are a historic region in South America, in present-day Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost State of Brazil....
, occupied by the Brazilians since their victory of the Battle of Tacuarembó
Battle of Tacuarembó
The Battle of Tacuarembó was a battle between the Portuguese forces under the Count of Figueira, José de Castelo Branco Correia, and the Artiguist forces of Andrés Latorre in Tacuarembó, modern-day Uruguay....
over 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...
in 1820. The war between Argentina and Brazil started in 1825 and concluded with the Argentine victory three years later.
In the Battle of Ituzaingó
Battle of Ituzaingó
The Battle of Ituzaingó was fought in vicinity of Santa Maria river, in a valley of small hills where a stream divided the valley in two....
, and in numerical inferiority, Paz gained terrain over the Brazilian forces, and later obtained their surrender. By order of president
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...
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
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo de Lavalle was an Argentine military and political figure.-Biography:Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José de La Vallée y Cortés, general accountant of rents and tobacco for the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.In 1799, the family moved to...
ordered him to prepare the army to combat the many 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...
s that are emerging in the provinces. Thus, Paz supported the Unitarians
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians were the proponents of the concept of a Unitary state in Buenos Aires during the civil wars which shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1816. They were opposed to the Argentine Federalists, who wanted a federation of independent provinces...
, fighting 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...
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....
.
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.Unlike Buenos Aires Province, influenced by ideals from the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, in the inner provinces persisted a colonial structure, though based on Caudillos such as 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:...
, Juan Bautista Bustos, Quiroga, 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:...
, Aldao or Ibarra, who could confront and defeat a regular army.
Paz decided to start his campaign against the caudillos in Córdoba Province with a small force (about 1000 men strong), many of them veterans who served under him in the Argentina-Brazil War
Argentina-Brazil War
The Cisplatine War or the Argentine–Brazilian War was an armed conflict over an area known as Banda Oriental or "Eastern Shore" in the 1820s between the United Provinces of River Plate and the Empire of Brazil in the aftermath of the United Provinces' emancipation from Spain.-Background:Led by...
. He defeated Bustos in the Battle of San Roque
Battle of San Roque
The Battle of San Roque was part of the Argentine Civil War. It was fought by the Primero River, near the city of Córdoba, Argentina, on 22 April 1829. The Federalist forces of Córdoba Province governor Juan Bautista Bustos were defeated by the Unitarian forces of general José María Paz...
on April 22, 1829, and took the seat of provincial governor. Bustos fled west to La Rioja
La Rioja, Argentina
La Rioja is the capital city of the Argentine province of La Rioja, located on the east of the province. The city has a population of almost 150,000 as per 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 as Battle of Laguna Larga). By August 1830, nine of the fourteen existing provinces were under the control of Paz and the Unitary government that had then paradoxically declared as main enemy the government of Buenos Aires, now declared Federal.
Prisoner of López
The Federal PactPacto Federal
The Federal Pact was a treaty first signed by the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe on 4 January 1831, for which a Federal military alliance was created to confront the Unitarian Liga Unitaria...
was signed in 1831 between the Provinces of 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 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...
, which joined to invade 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...
. Paz was ready to engage Estanislao López. He thus went on a reconnaissance mission to asses a good place to fight the caudillo. Unfortunately, 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 lack of their able commander. The Liga Unitaria was now doomed.
General Paz was delivered to López in the city of Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...
, where he spent four years in prison, before being handed over to 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...
to spend yet another three years in Luján
Luján, Buenos Aires
Luján is a city in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina, located 68 kilometres north west of the city of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1755 and has a population of 94,000 ....
. Rosas had asked for Paz's head previously, but López refused to kill him. Yet upon the assassination of Quiroga, Paz was handed to Rosas, perhaps due to López' poor health condition.
Life in prison
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...
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
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo de Lavalle was an Argentine military and political figure.-Biography:Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José de La Vallée y Cortés, general accountant of rents and tobacco for the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.In 1799, the family moved to...
.
Paz in Corrientes
By the time Paz arrived, Lavalle had been already defeated by the Federal caudillo Pascual EchagüePascual Echagüe
Pascual Echagüe, was an Argentine soldier and politician. He served as Governor of Entre Ríos and Santa Fe provinces and Minister of War and Navy during the governments of Urquiza and Derqui...
in the Battle of Sauce Grande (July 16, 1840). He decided to cross 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...
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
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 Province, under brigadier José María Paz, with a sound...
, so named in Guaraní language
Guaraní language
Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...
after the ford used to cross the river.
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
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...
), 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 OribeManuel Oribe
Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana was the fourth president of Uruguay.-Biography:Manuel Oribe was the son of Captain Francisco Oribe and María Francisca Viana, a descendant of the first governor of Montevideo, José Joaquín de Viana...
's siege on Montevideo, which was supported by Rosas. Paz coordinated that army until mid 1843, when he returned to Corrientes through Brazil, to became Director of War against Rosas by the new governor of Corrientes, Joaquín Madariaga
Joaquín Madariaga
Joaquín Madariaga was a soldier and Argentine politician. Madariaga was Governor of the Corrientes Province and leader of the provinces resistance against the national government of Juan Manuel de Rosas.-The Revolution of Madariaga:...
, and was given the command of the Fourth Army.
Corrientes again
Knowing that Rosas intended to annex ParaguayParaguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
as a province
Provinces of Argentina
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
of the Confederation, Paraguayan governor 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
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...
absence and, if possible, reach 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...
.
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
Laguna Limpia
Laguna Limpia is a village and municipality in Chaco Province in northern Argentina.- History :The village was developed due to the construction of the railroad in the area...
.
Paz moved to the Ubajay
Ubajay
Ubajay is a village and municipality in Entre Ríos Province in northeastern Argentina.-References:...
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 live Corrientes and start a journey to Paraguay that would extend to Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil. Submersed in poverty, he settled as a farmer. His wife died on June 5, 1848 while giving bith 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.
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 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 named Buenos Aires an independent state.
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
, 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
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...
, from Buenos Aires Province
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...
was named General Paz Avenue
Avenida General Paz
Avenida General Paz is a beltway freeway surrounding the city of Buenos Aires. Roughly following the boundary between the city and Buenos Aires Province, it is one of the few motorways in Argentina that is toll-free...
after the cordobés who organised the defence of Buenos Aires.