The Peruvian–Bolivian War of 1828, First Peruvian invasion of Bolivia or First Peruvian intervention in Bolivia was an invasion of Bolivia by Peru headed by Agustín Gamarra in the form of a foreign intervention in an internal conflict in the Republic of Bolivia, being the first important war in the new country, just three years after becoming independent, and endangering its autonomy as a result of the occupation. Its objective was to force the departure of the troops of the Republic of Colombia from Bolivia, the resignation of Antonio José de Sucre, and the prevention of the opening of a southern front in the event of a war with Colombia. The intervention escalated tensions further, culminating in the Gran Colombia–Peru War.
Background
Peruvian independence and the Bolivarian regime
The Peruvian aristocracy was not inclined toward war and was loyal to the Crown because it recognized its privileges and felt a connection toward it. A race war like the one from 1780 was also feared. The nobility quickly supported the viceroy when the rebellions of Huánuco and Cuzco, started by Creoles, were subsequently under the direction of indigenous people.
Because of this, all political alternatives came from regions relatively marginal to Madrid, such as Buenos Aires or Caracas. Only foreign interference could create serious projects of independence. Its declaration was the product of an agreement between the invading patriots and the Peruvian royalists, thus it was foreigners who led the movement, and therefore failed in the formation of an organic "revolutionary state", which delayed for years the possibility of Peruvians to organize their own institutional project. As it turned out, the reality of these wars of independence saw itself play out as a civil war between a minority of patriots supported by foreign troops and a royalist majority.
On September 20, 1822, after meeting in Guayaquil with Simón Bolívar, José de San Martín resigned his position and was succeeded by a junta. This junta was soon delegitimized by its defeats in the battles of Moquegua and Torata. The Constituent Congress that was convened was composed of representatives elected in an undemocratic way and with little legitimacy as the majority of the population was still under realistic control. All this led to the coup of Santa Cruz on January 27, 1823, that made José de la Riva Agüero president of Peru.
Republican Peru, still at war with the royalists who resisted in Cuzco under the orders of Viceroy José de la Serna, was immersed in a chaotic period in which not even the reinforcements of the major general, Antonio José de Sucre, could prevent the setbacks. military. The various pro-independence currents were confronted: the increasingly weak San Martín monarchism, the plebeian, liberal and parliamentary republicanism (José Faustino Sánchez Carrión, Francisco Javier Mariátegui y Tellería and Francisco Xavier de Luna Pizarro), the nationalist and militarist republicanism led by Riva Agüero and the Bolivarian confederation project. Of these, the one with the most support was Luna Pizarro, who wanted a democratic Peru, progressive and free of Spaniards, Colombians and Argentines. He opposed San Martin's monarchism, caudillista militarism and Bolivarian projects.
Finally, Congress requested Bolívar's personal intervention in the country on June 19. Previously, the Aid Agreement was signed on March 18 between Juan Paz del Castillo and Mariano Portocarrero, establishing that Colombia will help Peru with 6,000 soldiers and they will be in command of Sucre until Bolívar's arrival. Eleven days later, a new treaty signed in Lima by Rafael Urdaneta and Ramón Herrera stipulates that Colombian casualties will be replaced with Colombian soldiers who were already in the country or with Spanish prisoners. In the end, during the campaign, 13,000 Colombians would serve in Peru (3,000 arrived with Sucre), of whom 8,000 returned to their country.
On June 23, Congress deposed and banned Riva Agüero, who fled to Trujillo with his supporters, leaving power to Sucre and the new president, José Bernardo de Tagle. A conflict begins between the president of Lima (Torre Tagle) and the president of Trujillo (Riva Agüero), after failing the attempts to reach an agreement by their representatives, General Juan Salazar and Colonel Juan Manuel Iturregui respectively.
The Liberator set sail from Guayaquil on August 6. On September 1, 1823, in the brig Chimborazo and among the cheers of the people of Lima, he landed in Callao. Riva Agüero reluctantly accepted the Liberator's authority but quickly began to negotiate with the royalists. The conflict finally ended when Riva Agüero was captured in Trujillo by Colonel Antonio Gutiérrez de la Fuente's cuirassier regiment on November 25. He was exiled to Germany, where in July 1826 he married Princess Carolina de Looz Coorswarem, made an active negative press campaign against Bolívar and is said to have planned to make expeditions to crown Infante Francisco de Padua or some German prince in America. With the Colombian reinforcements he began the offensive. On December 9, 1824, the decisive battle was fought in Ayacucho, with the royalist forces surrendering on the same day.
Bolívar's regime soon became unpopular, as it was authoritarian in nature and provided citizens with less freedoms than before. A constitution drafted and approved by Bolívar himself in 1826 clashed with pre-existing laws in Peru, which already saw itself most opposed to Bolívar's plans due to unfavorable outcomes for the country, such as the separation of Guayaquil from the rest of the state.
Bolivian independence and territorial claims
What provoked the most resistance to Bolívar was the independence of Charcas. With strong commercial and cultural ties with Peru, it had been under the authority of Lima since 1810 to prevent the revolutionary troops from conquering it. In fact, the town councils had called for such annexation, although in truth it was a maneuver by the viceroy to justify his policy. Viceroy Abascal took advantage of the existence of some royalist strongholds in South America to carry out a policy of territorial expansion autonomously to Spain and at the expense of the "two Bourbon creatures" (the Bourbon viceroyalties that had rapidly collapsed), and also it was a strategy of going on the offensive against the governing boards.
With a strong anti-Napoleonic propaganda in Peru, sending money and reinforcements to its allies, expeditions were able to be armed that allowed to recover the old viceregal territories. The rejection of this expansionism would be one of the causes of the Chilean-River Plate (1820-1821) and Gran-Colombian (1823-1826) interventions that achieved their purpose of ending Abascal's work. On the other hand, the Peruvian patriots never positioned themselves against this integration policy, the ephemeral nature of their movements prevented it. Abascal's policy of territorial recovery and turning Peru into the symbolic and material center of the South American counterrevolution, was only possible thanks to the coincidence of interests between the Spanish authority and the Peruvian aristocracy.
The revolutionary governments of Lima considered Charcas their territory. One of the reasons that Riva Agüero dispatched the Santa Cruz expedition before Bolívar arrived was to ensure Peruvian sovereignty in Charcas, as he correctly assumed that Colombians did not look favorably on an overly powerful Peru. The result was a military disaster and a confrontation between the Peruvian president and Bolívar.
Despite all controversy, a new country had soon emerged under the name of the Republic of Bolívar, with Bolívar hoping that this new country could serve as a base for his Andean project. Sucre was accused of wanting to divide Peru for allowing this to happen and controversy continued to arise, and in the end the country was left independent in order to serve as a role model not only for Bolívar's planned confederation, but for other soon-to-be states, such as Ecuador.
The Bolivians also claimed Arica, the port where they exported their wealth, but they were forced to stay with Cobija, since Bolívar did not want to provoke the people of Lima any further. However, he offered to hand over Arica to them if they formed a federation with Peru while maintaining the Peruvian sovereignty over the port. Legal workarounds were unsuccessfully worked on by the newly formed Bolivian nation, and this desire to gain the Arican port later manifested itself in its support and active efforts to realize the Peru–Bolivian Confederation.
Attempts at Peruvian–Bolivian integration
At the time, general opinion was that the existence of the "two Perus" would be temporary, and that soon the Libertador's dream of a large Peruvian state would come true. The Bolivian leadership, however delayed any union as much as it was possible, and attempted to negotiate borders that would benefit the new nation in order to recover itself financially. Such plans would have transferred the territories of Arequipa, Cuzco, Puno and Arica to Bolivia. The timing was on the Bolivian side as well, since at the time Peru found itself politically unstable.
War
Chuquisaca Mutiny
The war began with a mutiny in Chuquisaca. On the early mornings of April 18, 1828, Sucre was informed at the National Palace that the Colombian soldiers of the Voltígeros battalion had risen up in the La Guardia barracks. The president sent Colonel José Escolástico Andrade to control the situation, and shortly after he personally attended in the company of his aides, Minister Infante and Colombian captain Cipriano Escalona. There he was received by bullets by the mutineers. Enraged by the reception, he applied spurs to the horse and entered accompanied by Escalona. He rebuked the soldiers asking them:
Grenadiers, what is happening here? What do you want?
Before finishing the sentence, however, three closed volleys by order of Sergeant Guillermo Cainzo from Tucumán pierced his hat, superficially wounded him on the forehead and right arm, while Escalona was hit in the left. The situation very quickly escalated to the point where the assistance of Colombian troops in Bolivia were requested, as well as three messages to Bolívar requesting an invasion of Peru from the north.
While he was convalescing, on April 20, Sucre sent a power of attorney to marry Mariana Carcelén, who was in Quito. Eight days later, Gamarra met with his officers and informed them that La Mar had given him complete freedom to act in the south. He ordered General Blas Cerdeña to send the vanguard of sappers at the river crossing and that a reserve be in charge of Manuel Martínez de Aparicio. His army consisted of the 1st and 2nd battalions from Zepita, 1st and 2nd from Callao and Pichincha, and the Hussars of Junín and Dragones de Arequipa squadrons.
Gamarra intervenes
On May 1, Gamarra crossed the Desaguadero river with an army of 4,000~5,000 men. The Peruvian general published a proclamation criticizing Sucre's policy and indicating that Upper and Lower Peru should be unified. At that time, the insurgents of Chuquisaca had proclaimed Dr. José Antonio Abencey as president, and Gamarra recognized him and affirmed to invade with his authorization given in a letter of April 20. He also sent letters to Sucre offering to preserve order, inviting him to national reconciliation and promising that his troops would never attempt against the life of the victor of Ayacucho. On May 10, Sucre thanked him for his courtesy but refused his help by not trusting his intentions, as it was known that Gamarra had indirectly promoted the mutiny.
This is an internal revolution and to put down it I have enough strength, but I prefer to give my neck to the blade of my murderers, rather than agree that the principle of intervention is sanctioned in America
The La Mar government did nothing to arrest its general because:
[...] the tone of Peruvian politics was one of accentuated anti-Colombianism. It was then believed in Peru that, after the emancipation of Spain, the emancipation of Colombia had come: and it was desired to extend the latter to Bolivia, where a Colombian division continued, despite Sucre's efforts to achieve its departure, Peru had in the North an imminent war with Bolívar and with Colombia and he was suspicious of a combined attack from there and from Bolivia, if Sucre was still at the head of this Republic.