1817 Official battle for the independence of the United Provinces of the Río de La Plata
Republican forces captured Tarija from royalist control in 1817, advancing the independence struggle in the upper Río de la Plata region.
Key Facts
- Date
- 15 April 1817
- Republican local forces
- Over 1000 men
- Army of the North contingent
- Nearly 500 men
- Notable prisoner captured
- Andrés de Santa Cruz
- Royalist commander
- Colonel Mateo Ramírez
- Location
- Tablada de Tolomosa, near Tarija
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Royalist forces under Colonel Mateo Ramírez occupied Tarija, prompting local Montonero guerrillas led by Eustaquio Méndez and allied commanders to mobilize against them. Lieutenant Colonel Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid marched from Argentine territory with roughly 500 hussars and Tucumán militias to reinforce the republican effort.
On 15 April 1817, republican Montonero militias surrounded Ramírez's royalist garrison in Tarija while Lamadrid's column descended from the hills at Tolomosa. Combined pressure on the royalist flanks and center forced the royalists to flee, and the town fell to the revolutionary forces of the Army of the North and local militias.
Following the battle, Ramírez surrendered along with his officers, including Andrés de Santa Cruz, who subsequently switched allegiance and joined the revolutionary forces in Peru. Republican control over Tarija was secured, strengthening the independence movement in the upper southern region of the Río de la Plata.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid, Eustaquio Méndez, José María Avilés, Francisco Pérez de Uriondo.
Side B
1 belligerent
Mateo Ramírez.