The First Central American Civil War (Spanish: Primera Guerra Civil Centroamericana), also known as the Federal War of 1826–1829 (Guerra Federal de 1826–1829), was a civil political and military conflict within the Federal Republic of Central America which lasted from 1826 until 1829. The civil war was fought between liberals led by General Francisco Morazán and conservatives led by General Manuel José Arce, the president of Central America and a former liberal.
The civil war began in September 1826 after Arce ordered the arrest of liberal Guatemalan governor Juan Barrundia. In October 1826, Federal troops took total control of Guatemala and Arce dissolved the Federal Congress in a self-coup. Arce launched military campaigns into El Salvador and Honduras in 1827 and fought liberal forces led by Morazán. In 1829, Morazán lead an invasion of Guatemala leading to the collapse of Arce's government.
Background
Central American independence
Central America, at the time known as the Captaincy General of Guatemala (consisting of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua), attempted to gain its independence from the Spanish Empire during the Spanish American wars of independence. In 1811, intellectuals in San Salvador led by General Manuel José Arce and priest José Matías Delgado launched a rebellion against colonial intendant Antonio Gutiérrez y Ulloa, but Spanish forces led by José Alejandro de Aycinena suppressed the rebellion. In 1813 and 1814, more rebellions occurred in the Nicaraguan cities of Granada and León, in Guatemala City, and again in San Salvador, but all were suppressed by the Spanish.
On 15 September 1821, the Captaincy General of Guatemala declared its independence from the Spanish Empire. Central American independence was bloodlessly attainted by the region's criollo elite "to prevent the consequences that would be fearful in the event that the people should proclaim it". Central America was briefly annexed by the First Mexican Empire from 1822 to 1823 before regaining its independence after Mexican emperor Agustín de Iturbide was deposed. On 1 July 1823, the National Constituent Assembly of Central America proclaimed the establishment of the United Provinces of Central America, later renamed to the Federal Republic of Central America in 1824 when its constitution was adopted.
Liberal–conservative conflict
The two largest political factions in the Federal Republic of Central America were the liberals and the conservatives. The liberals and conservatives were not organized political party but rather functioned as factions. Liberals supported foreign investments, laissez-faire economics, and the separation of church and state. Meanwhile, conservatives supported protectionism, maintaining the Catholic Church's influence in society, and maintaining the political status quo. Furthermore, the liberals promoted federalism and states' rights while the conservatives supported centralization and a strong federal government. They viewed each other as enemies and accused the other of "demagoguery, disorganization, and anarchism" ("demagogia, desorganización y anarquismo").
Arce, a liberal, defeated conservative José Cecilio del Valle in the 1825 presidential election and was inaugurated as President of Central America on 29 April 1825. Arce won after seven conservatives in the Federal Congress voted for him instead of for del Valle leading to some believing that Arce had formed a secret agreement with the conservatives. Guatemalan historian Alejandro Marure theorized that the conservatives elected Arce over del Valle as Arce was supposedly more likely to acknowledge legislative supremacy than del Valle. Liberal José Francisco Barrundia refused to become Arce's vice president, and liberals Mariano Gálvez and Pedro Molina Mazariegos refused cabinet appointments. These positions were instead filled with conservatives.
Amidst a conflict between the liberal government of Guatemala opposed the conservative-controlled Federal Congress, Arce initially attempted to remain neutral. The liberals viewed Arce's neutrality as a betrayal. In June 1825, liberal Guatemalan politicians refused to attend a ceremony commemorating the 2-year-anniversary of the National Constitution Assembly's establishment as places of honor were reserved for federal government officials. Arce—at the instruction of the Federal Congress—sent federal soldiers to Guatemala to force protesting politicians to attend as their attendance was required by federal law. Juan Barrundia, Guatemala's governor, threatened to raise an army to "contain the despotism of a tyrant (Arce)", after which, the Federal Congress appeased Guatemalan officials by providing the state government offices inside a federal building in Guatemala City; at the time, the state government lacked any offices in Guatemala City after moving the state capital from Antigua Guatemala.
Course of the civil war
1826
Los Altos campaign
In 1826, the Guatemalan government stopped making payments to the federal government in protest of it bearing most of the federal republic's finances. When Arce was forming a federal army loyal to him, Juan Barrundia accused him of illegally arresting Guatemalans and arrested a federal military officer. In response, Arce had Juan Barrundia arrested on 6 September 1826, marking the beginning of the First Central American Civil War. Cirilo Flores Estrada became acting governor after Juan Barrundia's arrest. That month, federal troops commanded by Colonel Manuel Montúfar y Coronado marched from Guatemala City to Antigua Guatemala, Retalhuleu, and Tapachula.
In October, a division federal troops commanded by Brigadier Francisco Cáscaras marched towards Quetzaltenango tasked with suppressing Flores' government. There, Flores was killed on 13 October by an Indigenous mob for his liberal and anti-clerical views. On 18 October, Cáscaras' troops fought Guatemalan troops commanded by Colonel José Pierzon at the Battle of Salcajá resulting in 40 deaths and a Guatemalan victory. They clashed again on 28 October at the Battle of Malacatán where 12 soldiers were killed and 5 more were wounded. The second battle was a federal victory. The success of the federal Los Altos campaign resulted in Arce's government asserting full control of Guatemala and he later appointed conservative Mariano de Aycinena y Piñol as Guatemala's governor.
Federal self-coup
On 10 October 1826, Arce issued a decree that dissolved the Federal Congress. He effectively staged a self-coup as the decree was illegal; he did not have the power to dissolve the Federal Congress. This was rejected by the Honduran head of state, Dionisio de Herrera, but Arce did not recognize Herrera's authority, claiming that Herrera's provisional mandate had expired and that he was in power illegitimately. The Federal Congress had called for new elections in Honduras, but Herrera ignored the decree and remained in power. For these reasons but under the guise of protecting Copán's tobacco plantations owned by the federal government, Arce decided to oust Herrera.
On 1 November 1826, liberal Salvadoran governor Juan Vicente Villacorta (who sent 300 soldiers to support federal forces in the Los Altos campaign) resigned and was succeeded by Mariano Prado, a liberal opponent to Arce. On 6 December, Prado "[invited] the 'free' States" ("invita a los Estados «libres»") of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua to send representatives to El Salvador to "reestablish constitutional order in the Republic" ("restablezca en la República el orden constitucional"). He also called on federal legislators to meet in the Salvadoran city of Ahuachapán instead of Guatemala City, supposedly to prevent provincial politics from influencing their work; he wanted to restrict Guatemala's influence on the federal government. Honduras and Nicaragua accepted Prado's call in December 1826 while Costa Rica followed in April 1827.
1827
In February 1827, Arce temporarily gave presidential powers to Vice President Mariano Beltranena y Llano and marched federal troops to Ahuachapán and Santa Ana to suppress Prado. On 20 March, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador issued a declaration that withdrew recognition of Arce's presidential authority. Salvadoran soldiers invaded Guatemala and clashed with federal troops personally led by Arce in Arrazola on the outskirts of Guatemala City on 23 March. The battle resulted in a federal victory. After this defeat, Prado built fortifications in San Salvador, El Salvador's capital city.
Herrera was appointed as Head of State of Honduras by the National Constituent Assembly on 16 September 1824. According to the 1825 constitution of Honduras, his mandate would end after three years on 16 September 1827. Arce ordered General José Justo Milla, Herrera's former deputy, to overthrow Herrera in 1827.
On 4 April 1827, Milla prepared for the attack on the city of Comayagua with 200 men, while General Francisco Morazán led the defense troops of the besieged city. Milla ordered the advance and relentlessly faced the Honduran troops under intense fire. The contest ended with the victory of Milla's forces who proceeded to burn down the capital. Herrera was taken prisoner on 9 May and was sent to Guatemala. Milla took control of the city while Morazán managed to leave the capital with Colonel Remigio Díaz and Colonel José Antonio Márquez, arriving in Tegucigalpa, there he is reinforced with 300 men and his intentions are to return to the Comayagua Valley, but at the height of Villa de San Antonio, was attacked by an advance troop under the command of Colonel Hernández and Captain Rosa Medina. Morazán took a defensive position at the La Maradiaga hacienda. In battle on 29 April, Hernández and his invading forces were defeated. Morazán returned to Tegucigalpa to strengthen himself further.
Francisco Morazán, with a safe-conduct, went to Choluteca in southern Honduras, where he met his family in Ojojona but was taken prisoner by the commander of arms of Tegucigalpa. He left on bail some 23 days later and was forced to flee to El Salvador on 28 July 1827, with intentions on fleeing to Mexico. He then moved to León, Nicaragua on 15 September 1827, where his friend General José Anacleto Ordóñez provided him with 135 men to recapture Comayagua. Salvadoran soldiers were then added to the command of Colonel José Zepeda.
In October 1827, Morazán entered Choluteca where Márquez awaited him with a division of men to join the liberating cause. The first Honduran town they arrived in was San Antonio de Texiguat. The town offered Morazán support with weapons and men.
Milla discovered the Morazán's presence in southern Honduras and quickly moved with his troops to Tegucigalpa, where he established his command headquarters. Morazán went to the town of Sabanagrande to prepare for a decisive fight in the Valle de la Trinidad.
At 9 a.m. on 11 November 1827, the first movement of maneuvers was carried out by Colonel Ramón Pacheco. He positioned himself to defend the Avenue that leads from Ojojona to the Valle de la Trinidad. He then attacked Milla's center line. Under the command of Colonel Remigio Díaz, a detachment of 150 men moved along the bank of the Sicatacaro ravine, headed northwest, from Ojojona to Valle la Trinidad and attacked the enemy rear. Morazán, together with Colonel Román Valladares, surrounded the Caranguije hill and attacked the right flank of the federal forces.
The combat intensified for five hours, at 3:00 p.m. the federal troops of Milla were crushed by the men under the command of Morazán. The defeated Milla and some of his surviving officers fled the battlefield, leaving documents, trunks, and other supplies. There were forty casualties between wounded and dead. The reservist force allied under the command of Colonel José María Gutiérrez Osejo and Captain Francisco Ferrera took no further action to pursue Milla. After this victory, Morazán marched to Tegucigalpa to recapture it on 12 November. On 26 November, he arrived at the capital Comayagua where he made his triumphal entry and occupied the headquarters of the State of Honduras which was interim chaired by Miguel Eusebio Bustamante. Morazán installed a new government in Honduras by appointing himself as Head of State of Honduras.
After his victory in La Trinidad, Morazán emerged as the leader of the liberal movement and became recognized for his military skills throughout the Federal Republic of Central America. Morazán received calls for help from liberals in El Salvador. Salvadorans opposed the new conservative congressmen and other government officials elected by the decree issued on 10 October 1826. Salvadorans demanded the restitution of former political leaders, but Arce argued that this measure was necessary to restore constitutional order.