“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

the entrerriano littoral looked on in horror as the combined Brazilian and colorado armies, with
the tacit support from Mitre’s government in Buenos Aires, besieged the Uruguayan city of
Paysandú. From 3 December 1864 until 2 January 1865, more than 5,000 allied troops
surrounded a blanco garrison under the command of Leandro Goméz. Imperial warships
bombarded the city from the Uruguay River. Despite lacking supplies and artillery, Goméz
steadfastly refused to surrender. Eventually the blancos were overwhelmed. The colorados
entered the city and captured Goméz. They then executed him along with the surviving
officers in the public square. 9
The warnings from men like Diego Lamas appeared to be coming to pass. Federalist
calls for a “popular crossing” to oppose the Brazilians, the colorados and their porteño allies
increased throughout eastern Entre Ríos. 10 Urquiza continued his tact of trying to contain
the conflict, but his options were growing more limited. By the beginning of 1865,
Paraguayan officials wrote to Francisco Solano López, the country’s president, arguing that
“General Urquiza will have to take a decisive action within a few days, it no longer being
possible for him to continue as he has.” 11
Urquiza’s hesitance began to open up spaces for other federalists in the province to
bolster their own positions in an effort to challenge the entrerriano leader’s dominance.
Ricardo López Jordán was at the center of these movements. López Jordán came from a
prominent ranching family around Paraná in western Entre Ríos. In 1829, the family had
established ties with the Urquizas. Justo José’s older brother Cipriano had married López
Jordán’s sister Teresa. López Jordán’s own career began in 1841 when he enlisted at age
9 Washington Reyes Abadie and Andrés Vázquez Romero, Crónica General del Uruguay,
2. ed. (Montevideo: Ediciones de la Banda Oriental, 1998), v. 4, 447-54.
10 Duarte, Urquiza y López Jordán, 61.
11 Reyes Abadie and Vázquez Romero, Crónica General del Uruguay, v. 4, 450.
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