their
country, not a republic "one and indivisible," but a confederation after
the model in the North, Dorrego was chiefly anxious to consolidate his
power in the maritime state of Buenos Ayres, leaving the interior
provinces to their own devices, and to the tender mercies of Lopez,
Quiroga, Bustos, with a dozen other Gaucho chiefs. Rosas, the incarnation
of the spirit which was then distracting the entire Confederation, was
made Commandant General by Dorrego, who, however, frequently threatened to
shoot "the insolent boor," but who, unfortunately for his country, never
fulfilled the threat. As for himself, he, indeed, met with that fate at
the hands of Lavalle, who landed with an army from the opposite coast of
Uruguay, defeated Dorrego and Rosas in a pitched battle at the gates of
Buenos Ayres, and entered the city in triumph a few hours later.

With the ascendency of Lavalle came the inauguration--and, alas! only the
inauguration--of a new system. Paz, one of the few Argentinians who really
deserved the name of General that they bore, was sent to Cordova, with
eight hundred veterans of his old command. He defeated Bustos, the tyrant
of Cordova, took possession of the city, (one of the most important
strategic points upon the Pampas,) and restored that confidence and
security to which its inhabitants had so long been strangers. This action
was at the same time a challenge to Quiroga in his neighboring domain. It
was a warning that right was beginning to assert its supremacy over might;
nor was the hero of La Rioja slow to understand it. Collecting a band of
four thousand Gaucho lancers, he marched upon Cordova with the assurance
of an easy victory. The _boleado_ General! The idea of _his_ opposing the
Tiger of the Plains!

What followed this movement is a matter of general history. The battle of
the Tablada has had European, and therefore American, celebrity. It is
known to those who think of Chacabuco and Maipu, of Navarro and Monte
Caseros, only as of spots upon the map; let it, therefore, suffice to say
that Quiroga was beaten decisively, unmistakably, terribly. The serried
veterans of Paz, schooled in the Brazilian wars, stood grimly to the death
before the fiery onslaught of Quiroga; in vain did his horsemen shatter
themselves against the Unitarian General's scanty squares; the tactics of
civilized warfare proved for the first time successful on these plains
against wild ferocity and a larger force; Quiroga was