Libertad o Muerte! Pt. III - 1838
Palacio Presidencial - Buenos Aires
"They did what?" Rosas shouted in disbelief and repeated himslef. "They did what?" his voice was trembling with anger. "They can't declare peace out of a sudden!" Rosas shouted. Foreign minister Arana, the one he was shouting at, stayed calm and answered "But they did. And if we deny the peacedeal we would be internationally corrupted and we will be looked at as ferocious aggressors. Which we aren't, are we?". "No we're not. But we could not tolerate an autonoumus bolivian nation. These territories are argentinean!" Rosas replied angrily. "I know the difficulties of the situation we are in but it would be the best choice to accept the peace deal for now." Arana proposed. Rosas looked up from his military maps: "We accept the peace. For now."
The war against the Bolivian-Peruvian Confederation ends with the dissolution of the confederation but without any territorial gains for Chile and Argentina. Lima was within eyespot of the Argentinean Army when peace was concluded. The newly recruited 2. Cav. Div. didn't saw any action at the frontlines.
Dear beloved friend,
It's a pleasure to hear from you again. Things are going very nice lately. Academic circles, reading clubs and intellectual societies are popping out of the ground like mushrooms. Things have changed a much at the university it seems that the professor aren't any longer controlled by the Mazurka. It's like you could breathe more freely and that you can smell with any breath the scent of liberty. I hope this development will continue for a long a time. Hopefully we get another university were future generations of young men could be enlightened. Are there any efforts to found a university at Montevideo? It would be a great place for sure. Perhaps you could bring such a consideration to the governors mind, couldn't you?
[...]
Sincerely yours,
Emilio Estevez
Academic life was blossoming like never before and the 'Universidad de Buenos Aires' became more and more important and a place where one could feel the heartbeat of the nation.
Palacio Presidencial - Buenos Aires
President de Rosas was smiling brightly as he read the newest reports of the Mazurka. The director of his secret service seemed to be a really brilliant man. He accomplished it to oppress the opposition further by the mere introduction of the moustache as a sign of loyalty to the gouvernment. Rosas was glad that the Mazurka had the situation under control. It seemed that he hadn't to worry about a rebellion in the near future.
Left: The moustache became a widespread sign of President de Rosas supporters.
Right: No new tariffs were imposed because a) we have enough money and b) Montevideo is our harbour.
The foreign affairs needed much more his attention. The governor of Calingasta demands his support in a rather unimportant border conflict with the chilean province of La Serena. Perhaps it would be necessary to send out some troops to control the border and some diplomats for negotiations. Maybe this conflict could be solved without bloodshed.
The rather negligible border dispute in the La Serena area became a national affair when gold was discovered in the disputed area.
Parade ground - Buenos Aires
The newly composed "Marcha del Cacador" thundered through the streets as the last line infantry regiment arrived at the parade ground. The military band stopped playing and as the last tones fainted General Gutierrez gave the command to present the arms: "Generalcaptain I report all regiments lined up complete. They are ready to serve the needs of our nation and people and are awaiting your orders."
Generalcaptain (and President) de Rosas assumed command and ordered to lower the arms. A rather long speech followed where the Generalcaptain honoured the fallen soldiers and praised the survivors for their bravery and toughness which allowed to carry away the victory. As he ended the crowd cheered so hard that he could feel the earth trembling beyond his feet. As the crowd silenced Generalcaptain de Rosas walked across the plaza right to him. "General Gutierrez, for your extraordinary braver espacially for your daring venture straight into the enemies heartland I appoint you "Hero of the United Provinces" and "Defender of the Nation"." The crowd cheered and then de Rosas presented him his sabre: "Keep your arm strong and your sword sharp and you won't have to fear any enemy." As the crowd cheered again he whispered: "Mark my words. I guess you'll need your sword earlier than you might have thought."
With a great military parade the victory over Brazil, Uruquay and Bolivia-Peru was celebrated. Every member of this campaigns from the common soldier to the commanding generals were honoured.
I'm not a poet and I only understand a dozen words of spanish so please forgive me that I leave you without a comment to this screenshot.
In the late 1830s the era of romanticism began in Argentina. Unlike european romanticism the argentinean one was shaped by the motif of the sweet death for ones fatherland: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." - Horaz
"Telegrafico del norte" Newspaper - Miranda
Miranda. In the early morning the Ramirez sulfur mine caught fire and burned down to its walls. Four miners died in the flames. Another 23 were severly wounded. The investigating police officers assume that it was malicious arsonry but so far the police don't has a suspect. This newspaper got some secret informations where as the arsonists are presumably brazilian rebels who laid fire to harm Argentinas industry. Miners as well as the citizens of Miranda are crying for vengenace and "bastard" is one of the nicer comments you can hear about brazilians today in the streets of miranda.
On September the 17th a large fire devastated the sulfur mines of miranda. Many newspapers suspected an act of brazilian cruelty and trickiness.
Palacio Presidencial - Buenos Aires
"Presidente the chileans won't back off. I negotiated with them in a very friendly way. I offered them compensation. I even threatened them. But they aren't moving a single inch." Aranda told President de Rosas.
"So we won't. Perhaps we have to make that more visible." Rosas answered and looked for a long moment at a portrait of San Martin before he said:
"Send Gutierrez to the chilean border, send in the cavalry!"
During the entire summer tensions were rising in the border area and during september the hostilities slowly evolved to a full fledged war.
Only hours later the chilean government declared war. The inevitable happened. Rosas knew he couldn't give in without losing his face and the support of serveral governors. It was the same in the case of his opponent for sure. Well, Chile opened just another round and Argentina was prepared for the dance. And de Rosas was willing to win if he was forced to fight. He put on his gloves, his horse and a whole war was waiting for him.
After the chilean declaration of war the Piratini Republic immediately offered their support. By the end of October an elite regiment under the command of the wellknown warhero General Garibaldi and an entire infantry divison were enhancing the argentinean defence efforts.
Left: In the autumn of 1838 the general staff introduced the principles of clausewitzian tactics and strategies in the army. This enhanced primarily the organisation and supply structure.
Right: At the end of the year the Argentinean Army made a few gains in northern Chile. The infantry occupied the gold mines in the La Serena Province while the cavalry was pursuing a single chilean infantry divison. The chilean army tried to avoid a decisive battle, a very important aspect of clausewitzian theory, and did little more as to delay the argentinean advance.
Authors note:
Selfmade event: "Generacion del 37". Written by Juan Chaca for his AAR, I only translated it. Picture by me.
Selfmade event: "Gilden Border Dispute"
Selfmade event: "Defensor de la patria"
Selfmade event: "Border Disputes Escalates"