Army of The North - Fourth Campaign and Gaucho War

Fourth Campaign and Gaucho War

The fourth campaign was the last attempt to liberate Upper Peru. Belgrano sent troops with the objective of supporting the resistance in Oruro. The army also intervened in this stage in internecine quarrels.

On 10 December 1816 Belgrano sent La Madrid to quelch the autonomist movement in Santiago del Estero, defeating Juan Francisco Borges's troops at Pitambalá. On 1 January 1817 Borges was executed by firing squad in Santo Domingo by order of the Tucumán Congress.

On 18 March 1817 a troop of 400 soldiers left San Miguel de Tucumán under the command of general La Madrid to advance to Oruro. Once in Upper Peru they were joined by local rebels under the command of Eustaquio Méndez, José María Avilés and Francisco Pérez de Uriondo, who helped to stop reinforcements from reaching Tarija's royalist commander, Mateo Ramírez. On 15 April 1817 the rebels were victorious at the Battle of la Tablada de Tolomosa, taking over Tarija. The victory gave the Army of the North a lot of arms, ammunition, supplies and prisoners, plus over a thousand new volunteers from Upper Peru who joined the army. La Madrid stayed in Tarija until 5 May 1817. He named Francisco Pérez de Uriondo governor of Tarija and marched towards Chuquisaca. In the course of his march, he captured an entire Royalist company on Cachimayo hill. La Madrid attacked Chuquisaca on 21 May in a frontal assault, but was defeated. On 12 June the army was caught by surprise at Sopachuy (120 kilometres (75 mi) southeast of Chuquisaca) and was defeated after a brief battle. They had to retreat to Salta, by the same road.