The Decembrist revolution () was a military coup in the
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo Lavalle (; 17 October 17979 October 1841) was an Argentine military and political figure from the Unitarian Party.
Early life and education
Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José Laval ...
, returning with the troops that fought in the
Argentine-Brazilian War
The Cisplatine War was an armed conflict fought in the 1820s between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata over control of Brazil's Cisplatina province. It was fought in the aftermath of the United Provinces' an ...
, mounted a coup on December 1, 1828, capturing and killing the governor
Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego (11 June 1787 – 13 December 1828) was an Argentine statesman and soldier. He was governor of Buenos Aires in 1820, and then again from 1827 to 1828.
Early life and education
Dorrego was born in Buenos Aires on 11 June 1787 t ...
and ultimately closing the legislature. The rancher
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confedera ...
organized militias that fought against Lavalle and removed him from power, restoring the legislature. However, as the coup had reignited the
Argentine Civil Wars
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place in the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Beginning concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1818), the conflict prevente ...
, Rosas was appointed governor of the Buenos Aires province to wage the war against the
Unitarian League
The Unitarian League () also referred to as the League of the Interior () was a league of provinces of Argentina led by José María Paz, established in 1830, aiming to unite the country under Unitarian Party, unitarian principles. It comprised ...
. Both
José María Paz
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 Wars.
Childhood
Born in Córdoba, Argentina, the son ...
, from Córdoba, and Rosas formed a league of provinces. The conflict ended soon after the unexpected capture of Paz, when he mistook enemy troops for his own.
Context
The
Argentine Civil Wars
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place in the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Beginning concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1818), the conflict prevente ...
began during the
Argentine War of Independence
The Argentine War of Independence () was a secessionist civil war (until 1816) fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, Martín Miguel de Güemes, Martin Miguel de Guemes and José de ...
. The conflict was between the
federals, who wanted to organize the country as a federation, and the
unitarians
Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to:
Christian and Christian-derived theologies
A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism:
* Unitarianism (1565–present) ...
, who preferred a centralist government with a capital in Buenos Aires. Following the 1820
battle of Cepeda, a constituent assembly was convened to write a new constitution and organize the country. The provinces rejected the 1826 constitution because of its centralist tendencies, and the unitarian president
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827.
He was educated at th ...
resigned. The provinces became a confederation once more, and federal
Manuel Dorrego
Manuel Dorrego (11 June 1787 – 13 December 1828) was an Argentine statesman and soldier. He was governor of Buenos Aires in 1820, and then again from 1827 to 1828.
Early life and education
Dorrego was born in Buenos Aires on 11 June 1787 t ...
was appointed governor of Buenos Aires.
The
Banda Oriental
Banda Oriental (Eastern Bank), or more fully Banda Oriental del Río Uruguay, was the name of the South American territories east of the Uruguay River and north of Río de la Plata that comprise the modern nation of Uruguay, the modern state of Ri ...
had been conquered and annexed by Portugal, which renamed it as
Cisplatina
Cisplatina () was a Brazilian province in existence from 1821 to 1828 created by the Luso-Brazilian invasion of the Banda Oriental. From 1815 until 1822 Brazil was a constituent kingdom of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algar ...
; the Portuguese colonies in South America declared their independence and became the
Empire of Brazil
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...
shortly after. Argentina and Brazil began the
Argentine-Brazilian War
The Cisplatine War was an armed conflict fought in the 1820s between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata over control of Brazil's Cisplatina province. It was fought in the aftermath of the United Provinces' an ...
for the control of the province. The peace treaty declared it an independent country, the modern nation of
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
, which was resented by the Argentine military that fought in the conflict.
Coup

General
Juan Lavalle
Juan Galo Lavalle (; 17 October 17979 October 1841) was an Argentine military and political figure from the Unitarian Party.
Early life and education
Lavalle was born in Buenos Aires to María Mercedes González Bordallo and Manuel José Laval ...
was initially neither federalist nor unitarian, but after his return began to be influenced by the unitarians, who tried to win him for their side. The bulk of the army arrived to Buenos Aires on November 26, in bad shape: they lacked food and clothing, had not been paid for months, and resented the peace treaty. There were rumors in the city that the army would revolt against the governor Dorrego, but he initially dismissed them. The leaders of the revolution met on December 1 to organize the coup, and Dorrego began to be concerned. However, according to the memoirs of
Tomás de Iriarte
Tomás de Iriarte (or Yriarte) (18 September 1750 in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife – 17 September 1791 in Madrid) was a Spanish neoclassical poet.
Life
Tomás was born to the Iriarte family, many of whose members were writers in the humani ...
, the minister
Tomás Guido prevented the government from organizing a proper resistance. Lavalle's forces gathered in La Recoleta, and began to march at 3:30 in the morning, once he obtained horses for the cavalry. The admiral
William Brown supported the operation and prepared a naval siege of the fort (modern
Casa Rosada
The ''Casa Rosada'' (), , is the president of the Argentine Republic's official workplace, located in Buenos Aires. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the pre ...
), but it was not needed. Lacking any means of defense, Dorrego escaped to the countryside. A group of soldiers occupied the
Buenos Aires Cabildo
The Cabildo of Buenos Aires () is the public building in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, that was used as a seat of the town council during the colonial era and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.
The building w ...
and another secured the police. It was unclear if the Fort would begin a resistance, but once the departure of Dorrego was known, the revolutionaries claimed victory and played a military march.
The disputes between the revolutionaries began immediately: Lavalle had promised to be just the military leader of the operation, but now he sought to be appointed governor. A vote set up in the Cabildo by the military, attended only by supporters of the coup, proclaimed Lavalle interim governor, and the military forces in the fort surrendered at 13:00, accepting Lavalle's rule. The Hall of Representatives, the legislature of Buenos Aires, was closed.
[Donghi, p. 251]
There was no active resistance in the city. Lacking leadership, several groups of federals left the city and sought the help of the rancher
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confedera ...
to coordinate the resistance against the coup. According to Iriarte's memoirs, Lavalle was informed that all the countryside was against the coup, so he appointed William Brown interim governor and left the city with 600 cuirassiers. Dorrego met with Rosas on December 6, and the unitarian
Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid
Comandante General Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid (or "de La Madrid"; 28 November 1795 in San Miguel de Tucumán – 5 January 1857 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentine military officer and briefly, governor of several provinces like Córdoba, ...
met them two days later, proposing peace negotiations. According to Lamadrid's memoirs, Rosas initially rejected the proposal, considering Lavalle an outlaw, but finally agreed to send delegates to negotiate.
Rosas and Dorrego did not agree on the military strategy. Dorrego wanted to head the forces to battle against the unitarians, and Rosas preferred to avoid an early battle, and retreat to the Santa Fe province to seek support from the federal governor
Estanislao López
Estanislao López (26 November 1786 – 15 June 1838) was a ''caudillo'' and governor of the , between 1818 and 1838, one of the foremost proponents of provincial federalism, and an associate of Juan Manuel de Rosas during the Argentine Civ ...
and wait for the dispersed militias of the countryside to join them. Without an agreement, they divided their forces to pursue their own plans. Dorrego was defeated at the
battle of Navarro
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
, and then betrayed by his officers
Bernardino Escribano and
Mariano Acha
Mariano Acha (11 November 1799 - 16 September 1841) was a soldier who fought in the Argentine Civil Wars.
On 20 March 1841 the four hundred men led by Colonel Mariano Acha were surprised by troops under General Nazario Benavídez and scattered.
In ...
, who defected from the federals to the unitarians and took him as a prisoner to Lavalle.

Dorrego was not sent to Buenos Aires for a trial. The unitarians
Juan Cruz Varela and
Salvador María del Carril
Salvador María del Carril (August 5, 1798January 10, 1883) was an Argentine jurist and policy-maker, as well as the country's first Vice President.
Life and times
Early life
Born in the Andes-range city of San Juan, Argentina, del Carril was a ...
wrote to Lavalle instructing him to execute Dorrego. Varela asked him to destroy the mails after reading them, but Lavalle kept them. Dorrego was executed in Navarro on December 13, 1828.
The execution of Dorrego generated a huge controversy in Buenos Aires. Varela wrote to Lavalle, instructing him to forge documents to make things seem as if he had conducted a trial in Navarro, but Lavalle kept this mail as well. The federals saw Dorrego as a martyr and strengthened their opposition to the military government. The National Convention in Santa Fe (the highest national authority at the time) denounced the coup and the execution of Dorrego as crimes of
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...
, and appointed Estanislao López as the leader of troops to be sent to remove the government in Buenos Aires. The provinces of Córdoba and Entre Ríos joined the offensive, followed by the others. The government in Buenos Aires began a campaign of political repression against federals. Lavalle was soon reinforced by general
José María Paz
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 Wars.
Childhood
Born in Córdoba, Argentina, the son ...
. The number of deaths caused by the political repression was so high that in 1829 Buenos Aires had more deaths than births.
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (; 25 February 177817 August 1850), nicknamed "the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru", was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and central parts of South America's succe ...
returned from Europe at this time. When he learned of the resignation of his political enemy Rivadavia he sailed back to Buenos Aires, to take part in the war against Brazil. The end of the conflict, the Decembrist revolution and the execution of Dorrego took place during his journey: once in Buenos Aires, he was dismayed by the ongoing conflicts and did not leave the ship. Lavalle proposed him as the new governor of Buenos Aires, but he refused to take part in a civil war, and returned to Europe.
Lavalle and Paz moved their armies to Santa Fe and Córdoba respectively. López managed to force Lavalle to send his troops to a region rich in
mío mío, a toxic grass: five hundred horses died, half of his cavalry. Lavalle attempted to return to Buenos Aires, and met Rosas and López at the
battle of Márquez Bridge
The Battle of Márquez Bridge (located on the border between current-day Villa Udaondo and Paso del Rey, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina), fought on 26 April 1829, during the civil war between Unitarians and Federalists, resulting in a victo ...
, where he was defeated. López returned to Santa Fe, because Paz had successfully conquered Córdoba and feared that his province may be next. Completely defeated, Lavalle headed unescorted to Rosas’ base of operations and requested a parley. It was late and Rosas was not there at the time, so he was allowed to sleep at Rosas’ bedroom. When he woke up, Rosas was next to his bed and offered him a
mate
Mate may refer to:
Science
* Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in:
** Mate choice, intersexual selection
*** Mate choice in humans
** Mating
* Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins
Pers ...
. Lavalle, regretful of the execution of Dorrego, agreed to step down from power. They signed the
Cañuelas Pact
The Cañuelas Pact was an agreement signed on 24 June 1829 between generals Juan Lavalle and Juan Manuel de Rosas, with the aim of ending the civil war in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, which had been going on since the revolution of December 1 ...
, calling for elections to a new legislature. Lavalle would stay as governor during the transition. They proposed an unified ballot, with both federal and unitarian candidates.

The unitarians rejected the pactand the action of Lavalle and proposed an alternative ballot, composed entirely of unitarians, and attempted to impose it with electoral fraud. Lavalle, in turn, rejected the unitarians that defied the pact, and called them "enemies of peace" in a mail to Rosas. Lavalle and Rosas began to write to each other, in friendly terms, trying to coordinate actions to end the conflict. Lavalle proposed to retire the most extreme federal candidates on the joint ballot and replace them with moderate unitarians. Nevertheless, unitarians rejected the proposal and imposed their own ballot. Federals prepared to renew the war, but it was not needed. To prevent further hostilities, Lavalle signed a new convention with Rosas. Instead of calling for elections to appoint a new legislature, they agreed to simply restore the old one, closed at the beginning of the decembrist revolution.
Juan José Viamonte
Juan José Viamonte González (February 9, 1774 – March 31, 1843) was an Argentine general in the early 19th century.
Life and politics
Viamonte was born in Buenos Aires and entered the army in his youth following in his father's footste ...
, a moderate federal, was appointed governor.
Lavalle left Buenos Aires and moved to Montevideo, Uruguay; many federals that were exiled or had left the country began to return. A group of federals, including Viamonte, wanted elections for a new legislature, but Rosas pointed that the terms of the deposed legislators had not ended and were not legally interrupted; his position prevailed. The legislature met on December 1, 1829, a year after the coup. However, although the unitarians had been defeated in Buenos Aires, Paz was still in control of Córdoba and defeated Quiroga at the
battle of La Tablada
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...
. Colonel Smith attempted to mutiny and take his unit to Córdoba; while his attempt was thwarted, it generated great concern in the city. The legislature voted to release the
sum of public power to the governor to deal with the crisis, as it had done with many governments in the city since 1811. Two days later they appointed Rosas the new definitive governor.
Government of Rosas

The state funeral of Manuel Dorrego was held soon after Rosas became governor. He faced the military threat of
José María Paz
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 Wars.
Childhood
Born in Córdoba, Argentina, the son ...
, who began a campaign against federals in Córdoba similar to the one of Lavalle. His actions were not limited to the province of Córdoba, and sent
Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid
Comandante General Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid (or "de La Madrid"; 28 November 1795 in San Miguel de Tucumán – 5 January 1857 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentine military officer and briefly, governor of several provinces like Córdoba, ...
to la Rioja and
Roman Deheza to Santiago del Estero. Quiroga organized a new army and fought against Paz again, suffering a second defeat at the
battle of Oncativo
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
. The provinces under the influence of Paz would become the
Unitarian League
The Unitarian League () also referred to as the League of the Interior () was a league of provinces of Argentina led by José María Paz, established in 1830, aiming to unite the country under Unitarian Party, unitarian principles. It comprised ...
, Paz would style himself the Supreme Chief of the League. In the poor provinces far from Buenos Aires, both unitarians and federals had problems to maintain their armies. While Quiroga's army was larger, Paz's army was more professional and had additional needs. Both Paz and Rosas organized armies for the final conflict. Lavalle, Lamadrid and Martín Rodríguez attempted a coup in Entre Ríos, but failed. Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos signed a defensive and offensive alliance, the
Federal pact
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 League. Other provinces would lat ...
. The Corrientes province joined it several months later.
The military conflicts began in 1831. López headed to Córdoba with 2,000 men, Felipe Ibarra returned to Santiago del Estero from Santa Fe, Ángel Pacheco led the armies of Buenos Aires, and Quiroga moved to Cuyo (Mendoza, San Luis and San Juan). The initial conflicts proved favourable to the federals: Pacheco defeated the forces of Paz, Ibarra and
Benito Villafañe liberated Santiago del Estero and Catamarca, there were local federal rebellions in Córdoba and La Rioja, and Quiroga liberated Mendoza. Still, the most unexpected event of the war was the capture of general Paz. He had dressed his soldiers as
gaucho
A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, the southern part of Bolivia, and the south of Chilean Patago ...
s and, during a reconnaissance mission, confused the troops of López (composed by real gauchos) with his own; his horse was
entangled and he was taken prisoner.
[Donghi, p. 318]
With the capture of Paz, the Unitarian League began to be defeated. López and Balcarce liberated Córdoba on June 11, and Quiroga headed to Tucumán.
José Vicente Reinafé, close to Estanislao López, was appointed governor of Córdoba. All the provinces joined the Federal Pact upon their liberation: first Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, La Rioja and the three provinces of Cuyo between August and October, and Catamarca, Tucumán and Salta the following year.
[Gálvez, p. 151]
References
Bibliography
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{{Argentine Civil War
Campaigns of the Argentine Civil War
Military coups in Argentina
1828 in Argentina
Revolutions in Argentina
1820s coups d'état and coup attempts
1830s coups d'état and coup attempts
Revolutions during the 1820s