Battle of San Roque - Prelude

Prelude

General Bustos had governed Córdoba since the days of the Arequito Revolt, in 1820. His confrontation with Paz, who had fought with him in the revolt, had started a few months earlier: Paz thought Bustos had betrayed the rebel group, not carrying his army to the seat of the independence war in Upper Peru.

After a lacklustre career in Salta Province, Paz had made a name for himself in the war with Brazil, where he was promoted to the rank of general after the Battle of Ituzaingó. He then declared himself to be against the Buenos Aires governor Manuel Dorrego who had been forced to sign a peace treaty with the Empire of Brazil which granted the independence of Uruguay and its separation from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. Paz supported the a revolution against Dorrego, organized and fought the forces of Juan Lavalle.

As Lavalle had not been able to vanquish the dissidents in his province, Paz gathered his troops in the interior of the country and marched north, with the excuse of returning his men to their provinces. Instead, he reached Córdoba's provincial capital city, where he demanded Bustos's resignation, whose mandate had expired, and wanted to elect a new governor (the provincial constitution had term limits and prohibited a third mandate), while everybody at the time knew that Paz had in mind to be a candidate himself.

Paz attacked Córdoba with his powerful army, but Bustos escaped to a ranch at San Roque, in the foothills near the city. Bustos tried to negotiate an agreement by which neither would be the new governor. Paz disagreed, and broke relations, accusing Bustos of delaying tactics while awaiting reinforcements. Bustos had sent a message to Juan Facundo Quiroga, the caudillo and militia commander in La Rioja Province, asking for help.