“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

peripheral economic and political relationships. In the short-term, however, Urquiza’s
passivity spelled doom for the Confederation. The interior government had always been
largely bound together through Urquiza’s personal ties and military reputation. With
Urquiza now refusing to fight, opposition to the porteños quickly unraveled. By November,
Derqui had fled Paraná for Montevideo. 192
Mitre moved quickly to consolidate his hold over the Confederation once and for all.
He marched northwards into Santa Fe. From this position, Mitre drew upon his own
coalitions of local allies throughout the interior to corner Urquiza and reduce his sway over
the Confederation’s remnants. Mitre again acted with particular force in Corrientes. In
November, Mitre supported an uprising in the southern portion of the province against the
pro-Urquiza governor, José María Rolón. Opposition to Rolón had been building
throughout the province since he assumed office in 1859. The governor’s continued efforts
to rein in the local department heads in the province’s southern and eastern borderlands
provoked particularly sharp clashes. With Urquiza no longer able to control events from
Entre Ríos, the departmental commanders joined with a small group of pro-Mitre supporters
in the provincial capital to overthrow Rolón. As the revolution broke out, Mitre in turn
lavished financial and logistical support on the rebels. 193
With the revolution underway, Mitre then turned to one of his principal lieutenants,
Venancio Flores, to secure the province. This reflected another prong in Mitre’s decade-
long strategy to fashion alliances throughout the region. Mitre had reached out to a number
of displaced colorados from Uruguay’s factional conflicts. Flores, the exiled colorado
commander, had become one of Mitre’s most effective surrogates. He commanded the
192 Adelman, Republic of Capital, 219-20.
193 Buchbinder, Caudillos de Pluma, Scobie, La Lucha por la Consolidación, 373-75.
238