Enrique Castro (c. 1817 - 1888) was an Uruguayan general who served the Colorados throughout the 19th century. He participated in 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 ...

, the

Uruguayan Civil War The Uruguayan Civil War, also known in Spanish as the ''Guerra Grande'' ("Great War"), was a series of armed conflicts between the leaders of Uruguayan independence. While officially the war lasted from 1839 until 1851, it was a part of armed ...

and the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War (, , ), also known as the War of the Triple Alliance (, , ), was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It wa ...

and was known for organizing and starting the .

Biography

Castro was born about 1817 at the military camp of as the son of Mateo Castro. He accompanied

Fructuoso Rivera José Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana (17 October 1784 – 13 January 1854) was a Uruguayan general and patriot who fought for the liberation of Banda Oriental from Brazilian rule, thrice served as President of Uruguay and was one of the instigat ...

in his uprising of 1836 and participated in the fight against the invasion of

Pascual Echagüe Pascual Echagüe, (16 May 1797 – 2 June 1867) was an Argentine soldier and politician. He served as Governor of Entre Ríos Province, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe provinces and Minister of War and Navy during the government ...

, in which he was seriously injured. In 1846, Castro was pierced by a spear but Timoteo Aparicio managed to save his life due to their personal friendship. Castro remained a prisoner of the Blancos and was sent to Entre Ríos where he joined the ranks of

Justo José de Urquiza Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860. Life Justo José de Urquiza y García was bor ...

. He returned temporarily in 1851 during Urquiza's campaign against

Manuel Oribe Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana (August 26, 1792 – November 12, 1857) was the 2nd Constitutional president of Uruguay and founder of Uruguay's National Party, the oldest Uruguayan political party and considered one of the two Uruguayan "tr ...

and participated in the

Battle of Caseros The Battle of Caseros (; ) was fought near the town of El Palomar, Argentina, on 3 February 1852, between forces of the Argentine Confederation, commanded by Juan Manuel de Rosas, and a coalition consisting of the Argentine provinces of Entre ...

and the battles of Cepeda and Pavón, reaching the rank of colonel in the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

. When

Venancio Flores Venancio Flores Barrios (18 May 1808 – 19 February 1868) was a Uruguayan political leader and general who served as President of Uruguay from 1854 to 1855 (interim) and from 1865 to 1868. Background and early career In 1839, he was made polit ...

began an uprising against President Bernardo Prudencio Berro on 1863, he invaded the country at the head of 250 men and was appointed Chief of Staff of the rebels. After the success of the rebellion, he was the political chief of Salto and later participated in the

, where he obtained the rank of general. Castro was made General Commander of the Campaign on 1870, replacing José Gregorio Suárez. He later had to fight the Revolution of the Lances led by Timoteo Aparicio and was victorious in the Battle of Manantiales. He supported the election of

Lorenzo Latorre Lorenzo Latorre, full name Lorenzo Antonio Inocencio Latorre Jampen, (8 July 1844 – 18 January 1916) was a Uruguayan officer and politician, who was a dictator and President of Uruguay from 10 March 1876 until 15 March 1880. During his rule po ...

and he was appointed commander of the troops located south of the

Negro River In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

but his discrepancies with the dictator

Máximo Santos Máximo Benito Santos Barbosa (15 April 1847 – 19 May 1889) was a Uruguayan political and military figure who was President of Uruguay from 1882 to 1886. He was member of the Colorado Party. He governed as an authoritarian in an alliance with ...

separated him and he marched to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

where he collaborated with the preparations for the . He was appointed general in chief, together with his Blanco colleague,

José Miguel Arredondo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

and invaded the country on March 28, 1886. Defeated, he went into exile to Argentina but returned when the Reconciliation Cabinet was formed, and regained his position as general.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Enrique 1810s births 1888 deaths Uruguayan National Army generals Colorado Party (Uruguay) politicians National Party (Uruguay) politicians People from Florida Department Uruguayan military personnel of the Paraguayan War