War of the Supremes

The War of the Supremes (Spanish: Guerra de los Supremos, also called the Guerra de los Conventos) was a civil conflict in Republic of the New Granada (present-day Colombia) from 1839 to 1841 caused by the ambitions of various regional leaders (gamonales) to seize power and depose President José Ignacio de Márquez. It was called the War of the Supremos because of the participation of General José María Obando and other revolutionary gamonales who called themselves jefes supremos (supreme chiefs).

The war began in Pasto, Colombia, after the suppression there of the smaller monasteries. In May 1839 Congress voted to close the monasteries in Pasto and dedicate their income to public education in the province. This was opposed by Ecuador, because the monks there were Ecuadoran.

The population of Pasto was devotedly Catholic. On June 30, 1839 the opponents of the closures revolted, raising the banner of federalism in opposition to the unitary central government. The uprising was supported by General Juan José Flores, president of Ecuador, and by the Catholic Society of Bogotá, formed a year earlier for the political expression of the most conservative sectors of the country.

The opposition Santanderista Party condemned the revolt and offered its services to President Márquez to fight it. They wanted Márquez to name José María Obando to pacify Pasto. They hoped that Obando would gain prestige in the fighting that would aid him in the presidential elections scheduled for the following year.

Nevertheless, the defense of the government was given principally to Generals Pedro Alcántara Herrán and Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, members of the governing party (Partido Ministerial, or Partido de la Casaca Negra). This party was later renamed the Conservative Party of Colombia. Obando, who was friends with the leaders of the revolt but did not support their actions, then went to Bogotá with the object, it was said, of placing himself under government surveillance to establish his noncomplicity.

On August 31, 1839 General Alcántara Herrán defeated the rebels from Pasto at Buesaco. José Eraso, formerly a guerrilla in the service of Obando, was captured. He was famous because Marshal Antonio José de Sucre spent the night before his assassination in Eraso's house. Eraso was now supporting the government forces, but at the same time he was informing the Pasto guerrillas of their movements. According to the official account, when he was exposed as a double agent he thought that his arrest was for his participation in the assassination of Sucre nine years before. He immediately confessed to that crime.

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