Battle of Famaill

Battle of Famaill
Battle of Suipacha
Part of Argentine Civil War

Detail of a lithography of the battle Date September 19, 1841

Location Famaill, Tucumn Province Result Decisive Federal victory

Belligerents
Federal army Unitarian army

Commanders and leaders

Manuel Oribe Juan Lavalle

Strength
2,200 2,000

The Battle of Famaill (Famaill, Tucumn Province, Argentina, September 19, 1841), was a Federal Party victory, under the command of former Uruguayan president Manuel Oribe, over the army of the Unitarian Party under general Juan Lavalle, during the Argentine Civil War.

Prelude to the battle

After the failure of Lavalle's army to occupy Buenos Aires and its defeat at the Battle of Quebracho Herrado, his army and the one under the command of Gregorio Aroz de Lamadrid had to abandon Crdoba Province, marching to the northern Argentine provinces. There they formed an alliance known as Coalition of the North, of Unitarian inspiration, which assembled powerful forces in the fight against Juan Manuel de Rosas and his allies. While Lamadrid formed a new army in Tucumn Province, Lavalle spent several months in a campaign in La Rioja Province, to delay Oribe and to give his ally time to prepare. In order to open new fronts, he sent two divisions, one to Santiago del Estero, which failed without a fight, and another to Cuyo, which was destroyed at the Battle of San Cala. Lavalle was finally forced to retreat towards Catamarca Province, where he and Lamadrid divided the provinces again: the latter would go to Cuyo to try to raise an insurrection against Rosas, while Lavalle would await a confrontation with Oribe in Tucumn, joining his forces with that province's governor, Marco Avellaneda. Oribe also marched towards Tucumn, wishing to finally resolve the war, while sending general ngel Pacheco after Lamadrid.

Battle of Famaill

The battle
After trying to avoid the enemy main force in order to buy time to reinforce his army, Lavalle waited for the Federals on the north bank of the Famaill river, about 40km (25mi) south of the provincial capital. Lavalle's forces comprised about 2,000 men, and the federal army about 2,200, after general Eugenio Garzn's, moved out to occupy the city of Tucumn. The battle started at mid-morning. The Unitarian army included Marco Avellaneda, Juan Esteban Pedernera, Manuel Hornos and other notables. Among the Federals there were Juan Felipe Ibarra, Celedonio Gutirrez, Hilario Lagos and Mariano Maza. At first it seemed it would last without definition for a long time, but early on it was clear that the veterans of the Federal army easily outclassed Lavalle's soldiers. The victory was in the hands of Oribe, and Lavalle and his men were forced to run away.

Consequences
Avellaneda escaped to the north, but betrayed by his security chief, he would be executed at Metn by orders of Oribe and Maza. Lavalle escaped to San Salvador de Jujuy, where he was killed on a chance encounter with a Federal party. His remains were carried to Potos, Bolivia, by Pedernera. The latter would have more luck, as he eventually reached the post of vicepresident of the nation, although he was forced to preside on the dissolution of his own government in 1861. On the Federal side, Gutirrez would become governor of Tucumn for 10 years; Lagos would become the chief of the Federal party of Buenos Aires after the fall of Rosas, and Oribe would return to his country, Uruguay, to govern for another nine years. The Battle of Famaill signaled the end of the Coalition of the North. It was also Lavalle's last battle, and the next to last in the civil war. Only ten days later, Lamadrid was defeated at the Battle of Rodeo del Medio, and the country would be controlled by the Federalist Party, almost without opposition for another ten years.

Bibliography
"Partes de batalla de las guerras civiles". Academia Nacional de la Historia. 1977 Aroz de Lamadrid, Gregorio (1895). Memorias. Buenos Aires. Best, Flix (1980). Historia de las Guerras Argentinas. Buenos Aires: Peuser. Beverina, Juan (1923). Las campaas de los ejrcitos libertadores 1838-1852. Buenos Aires. Pez de la Torre, Carlos (h) (1987). Historia de Tucumn. Buenos Aires: Plus Ultra. ISBN950-21-0907-4. Ruiz Moreno, Isidoro J. (2006). Campaas militares argentinas. Buenos Aires: Emec. ISBN950-04-2794-X. Saldas, Adolfo (1987). Historia de la Confederacin Argentina. Buenos Aires: Hyspamrica. Sosa de Newton, Lily (1973). Lavalle. Buenos Aires: Plus Ultra. Zinny, Antonio (1987). Historia de los gobernadores de las Provincias Argentinas. Buenos Aires: Hyspamrica. ISBN950-614-685-3. Baldrich, Fernando A. (1977). "Mariano Maza, el implacable represor". Revista Todo es Historia (79) Poenitz, Erich (1977). "Los correntinos de Lavalle". Revista Todo es Historia (119) Coordinates: 2723S 652437W [1] This article incorporates information from the revision as of March 2009 of the equivalent article on the Spanish Wikipedia.

Battle of Famaill

References
[1] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Battle_of_Famaill%C3%A1& params=27_2_3_S_65_24_37_W_

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Battle of Famaill Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=571334274 Contributors: Alexf, Aymatth2, Cambalachero, Chanheigeorge, DagosNavy, Fabrictramp, King of the North East, Tabletop, Woohookitty, Xezbeth

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Batalla de Famaill.jpg Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Batalla_de_Famaill.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Cambalachero

License
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