Soon after independence was achieved, the military, which was the only organized institution in the Republic, started to play an influential role in politics, whether directly or indirectly. Caudillo strongmen, often officers from the liberation army, exercised power through force of arms or the elaboration of extensive alliances. The upshot was internal political fragmentation and political instability during the first decade of the post-independence era. The instability situation reached the borders of the new South American Republic, and by 1828 Peru, under the presidency of General Jose La Mar, was involved in a war against the Great Colombia, a confederation presided by Simon Bolivar and composed by the States known today as Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Despite several naval victories and the occupation of the port of Guayaquil, the Peruvian Army was defeated by the confederates, under one of the greatest Latin American Generals, Jose Antonio de Sucre, victor of Ayacucho, at the battle of Portete de Tarqui.
The Peruvians very soon understood that their strategic situation in the centre of South America, facing the Pacific Ocean, and the immensity of their territory, with four borders to protect, made it necessary to have a well organized army. Within this context, Peru's military academy was created by a decree issued by President Agustin Gamarra on January 1830, thus becoming the oldest in Latin America. On January 1831, the first Class, composed of 19 men, graduated. In 1833 they become Infantry and Cavalry Officers. Those cadets who remained at the academy for one more year graduated as Engineer or Artillery officers.
In early 1835, the Bolivian leader, General Andres de Santa Cruz y Calahumana, envisioned a Confederation between his country and Peru, that could become the first South American power. Peruvians were divided on this issue, so Santa Cruz decided to force the implementation of the confederacy despite the opposition of an important sector of the Peruvian citizens. The Bolivian Marshal then marched into Peru to impose his objective. Between 1835 and 1836, the Peruvian army, under General Felipe Santiago Salaverry, fought victorious battles against Bolivian forces at Gramadal, Puente de Arequipa and Uchumayo, but were defeated at Socabaya, on February 7th, 1836. The result of the battle was the establishment of the Confederation, and the division of Peru into two States: North Peru and South Peru. This alliance upset the regional balance of power and caused Chile to raise an army to defeat Santa Cruz and restore the status quo. In January 20th, 1839, at the battle of Yungay, a joint Chilean-Peruvian force, defeated Santa Cruz forces and the Confederation was dissolved.
The results of Yungay become, in effect, a resumption of factional conflict lasting well into the 1840s. In 1841, President, Augustin Gamarra, decided to re-establish the Confederation, this time under Peruvian supremacy so he attacked Bolivia with an army that was unprepared for an invasion. The Bolivians, who were defending their soil, defeated the Peruvians at the battle of Ingavi at the end of that year. Among the Peruvian casualties, was President Gamarra. The first and only war of aggression executed by the army in Peruvian republican history ended as a complete disaster.
During his two governments, Marshal Ramon Castilla, as he did with the navy, supported the invigoration of the army. He ordered, among other measures, the purchase of heavy artillery from Europe and the specialization of officers abroad. The army was organized in corpses and regiments, and each force, Artillery, Cavalry, Infantry and Engineering, was enhanced according to its function. This way the army become a well-trained professional force, in which merits, not politics, become the main factor in rank promotions. The objective of the military, it become clear, was to defend the constitution and the country from foreign threats. In fact, the reforms instituted by Castilla, allowed that in the early 1870's the civilians, not the military, rule the country.
In 1872, the civilian government of Manuel Pardo reformed the academy, creating the "Military School for Officers", in Chorrillos, which followed the model of the old cadets school from Spain. The President also established academies for army and navy Non Commissioned Officers known as "Escuelas de Clases y Grumetes".
It will be to simplistic to state that in the XIX century the Peruvian military was only a political force. Indeed it was much more than that. The army, imperfect as it was, was an institution composed in its majority by heroic and patriotic men who, in the most difficult times of the Republic, against all odds and during the worst conditions, risked and give their lives to protect their country from foreign aggression and danger.
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