The last soldiers of the Restorer. Military and militia mobilization in the last moments of Rosism

Authors

  • Vicente Agustin Galimberti Universidad Nacional de Luján - Universidad de Buenos Aires

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ngpt5b85

Keywords:

military mobilization, soldiers, Battle of Caseros, militiament, Rosism

Abstract

The present article provides a comprehensive analysis and description of the recruitment and mobilization of soldiers and militiamen by the Rosist government in response to the invasion of the Grand Army led by Justo José de Urquiza. However, it is not intended to revisit the figure of Juan Manuel de Rosas, the generals or the Battle of Caseros itself, all of which have recently been explored by historians. Instead, the focus is shifted towards the approximately 25,000 men who were also defeated on February 3rd, 1852.  

More mythological than proven images have been constructed about the porteño troops under De Rosas' command. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to achieve a solidly documented description that may respond to a series of questions, simple to pose but difficult to answer, in a satisfactory manner: How was the Buenos Aires army that fought at Caseros formed? Who were the men who put their bodies on the line? How old were they, where were they from, what was their marital status, what was their occupation? How were they recruited and mobilized? How many were they in relation to the population susceptible to take up arms? What was their preparation and equipment to face that crucial confrontation? Did they resist their recruitment? In other words: the aim of this paper is to demarcate the (inevitably working-class) world of those who integrated the Buenos Aires army in that torrid summer morning.  

In order to respond to these questions, a documentary corpus still largely unexplored by historiography was thoroughly examined. This made it possible to formulate a number of conjectures and establish certain conclusions about the modalities of warfare, the nature of the contenders and the resulting loyalties, solidarities and collective identities. In light of the latter, plausible reasons will be sought to explain why, during the Battle of Caseros, several of those who should have swung their swords and pulled the triggers of their rifles, either did not do so or did not put the greatest possible effort into the combat. These attitudes caused part of the Buenos Aires army to put up a weak and meager resistance to the invaders, an issue that intrigued both the protagonists and historians for generations.

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Author Biography

  • Vicente Agustin Galimberti, Universidad Nacional de Luján - Universidad de Buenos Aires

    Profesor y Licenciado en Historia, Especialista y Doctor en Ciencias Sociales, en todos los casos por la Universidad Nacional de Luján. Docente de Historia de América III e Historia Social Argentina I (UNLu) y de Historia Argentina I (UBA). Sus líneas de investigación principales tratan sobre las formas de movilización política, el uso colectivo del derecho de petición, las prácticas electorales y las representativas desarrolladas por la población rural de Buenos Aires entre fines del siglo XVIII y la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. Entre las últimas publicaciones se destacan:

    - “Juan Manuel de Rosas y el ejército de Bueno Aires”, en Canciani, Leonardo, Rabinovich, Alejandro y Zubizarreta, Ignacio (eds.), Caseros. La batalla por la organización nacional, Buenos Aires, Sudamericana, 2022.  

    -“La participación electoral en Buenos Aires: una aproximación cuantitativa, 1815-1862”, en Anuario del IEHS, vol. 36, núm. 1, 2021. 

    -“Las leyes de 1821 y sus implicancias en las dinámicas político-electorales de los pueblos rurales bonaerenses”, en Trabajos y Comunicaciones, núm. 54, 2021.

References

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• Juan M. BERUTI: Memorias curiosas, Buenos Aires, Emecé, 2001.

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Published

2024-07-23

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 26 (2024): Servicio Militar: memoria, movilización y nación

Section

Estudios

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Copyright (c) 2024 Vicente Agustin Galimberti

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How to Cite

The last soldiers of the Restorer. Military and militia mobilization in the last moments of Rosism. (2024). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 13(26), 216-242. https://doi.org/10.53351/ngpt5b85

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