Uruguayan Civil War

An illustration of the defense of Montevideo from Isidoro De-Maria's book, Anales de la defensa de Montevideo.

Date	1839–1851
Location	Uruguay
Result	Colorado victory

Belligerents

Colorados

Unitarian Party

Empire of Brazil
Italian Legion

France

United Kingdom

Blancos

Argentine Confederation

Commanders and leaders

Fructuoso Rivera

Juan Lavalle

Pedro II of Brazil
Giuseppe Garibaldi

Samuel Inglefield

Manuel Oribe

Juan Antonio Lavalleja

Juan Manuel de Rosas

Pascual Echagüe

The Uruguayan Civil War, also known in Spanish as the Guerra Grande ("Great War"), was a series of armed conflicts between the leaders of Uruguayan independence. While officially the war lasted from 1839 until 1851, it was a part of armed conflicts that started in 1832 and continued until the final military defeat of Blancos in 1904. Out of supporters of presidents Rivera and Oribe grew Colorado Party and the National Party, both of which received backing and support from foreign sources, including neighboring Empire of Brazil, the Argentine Confederation, Buenos Aires Province as well as European powers, primarily the British Empire and the Kingdom of France, but also a legion of Italian volunteers including Giuseppe Garibaldi.

As the population of Uruguay at that time was about 60,000 out of which 15,000 lived in Montevideo, the various "armies" rarely rose to more than a couple of thousand soldiers and horsemen.

After the proclamation of the Uruguayan Independence in 1828 a conflict for primacy arose between the leader of the Thirty-Three Orientals Juan Lavalleja and veteran military commander Fructuoso Rivera, who on November 6, 1830 was chosen as the first President of Uruguay. In June 1832 Lavalleja's supporters attempted to kill Rivera and on July 3 Montevideo garrison revolted, calling for Lavalleja to be made Commander-in-Chief. Rivera, with the help of Argentine Unitarians defeated Lavalleja on September 18, 1832 at Tupambaé, forcing Lavalleja to flee to Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul. There Lavalleja organized a new force with the support of Buenos Aires strongman Juan Manuel de Rosas and in March 1834 invaded Uruguay, just to be defeated by Rivera once again.

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