Hello,
I have thought about creating a TL based on Dorrego fleeing with his militia to Santa Fe instead of fighting in Navarro, which led to his execution OTL. Is anyone interested in this, and how does the writing flow?
Prelude:
“My dear Angelita: At this point I intimate that within an hour I die. I do not know why; but divine providence, which I trust this critical moment, so wanted. I forgive all my enemies and beg my friends not to give any step in relief that has been received by me. My life educates these gentle creatures. I am happy, because you have not been accompanied by the unfortunate Manuel Dorrego.”
-Manuel Dorrego writing to his wife, Angelita , on the day of his execution. 1828. OTL.
From Lander’s World Cyclopedia, 4th Edition. (1978, Durrington Press, Hartford, Connecticut.)
DORREGO, MANUEL: (June 11th 1787- July 23th 18--) Platan [1] statesman,soldier and writer who served as the third President of the United Provinces (1829-1838). Principal author of the Platan Constitution of 18--, Dorrego would preside over the end of the Primera Guerra Desunión (First Disunity War), reform the fractious Federalist [2] Party into the Partido de la Federación, (Party of the Federation)...
...Dorrego, born on June the 11th, 1787, to wealthy Portuguese merchant Jose Antonio do Rego and his Platan wife Mary Ascension Salas, Dorrego was educated at El Real Colegio de San Carlos (Royal College of San Carlos), and later at Real Universidad de San Felipe (now the University of Chile). After he graduated with a degree in law, he was one of the first supporters of the May Revolution. Dorrego later joined the Army of Peru, and fought with distinction during the critical victories of Salta and Tucumán. Dorrego would be an early actor on the nascent Platan political scene, as an avowed Federalist. Exiled by his political enemy Juan Martín de Pueyrredón, Dorrego would live in the United States from 1816 to 1820. This would have important consequences on Dorrego’s life, affirming and inspiring his own Federalist views. Dorrego would return to the United Provinces with the fall of Pueyrredón. When returning to the United Provinces, Dorrego would publish a newspaper criticizing the Dorrego, not much later, would embark on a trip to the north of the United Provinces, where he would meet El Libertador....
From The River of Silver: Dorrego, Federalism and the Early United Provinces by James Henry (1980, Darren University Press, Baltimore, Maryland )
When Dorrego arrived at Potosi on a cool July morning in 1825, he was nominally there to inspect her impressive (if somewhat depleted) silver and tin mines. However, it was no secret that what Dorrego’s main purpose in being at the Villa Imperial [3] was to meet a legend of a man: Simón Bolívar. Dorrego met El Libertador a month prior to the declaration of independence of Bolivia, at a ramshackled casita at the edge of the city. Bolívar was excited at the opportunity to meet someone from another liberated state, whilst Dorrego was just as enthusiastic to meet someone of such great importance. Although Dorrego was a Federalist and Bolívar a Centralist, the meeting left Dorrego deep and newfound respect for Bolívar. He would write letters praising El Libertador, feeling that he was the only man that could unite the disparate states against Brazil. Dorrego also absorbed some of Bolívar‘s philosophy about a united Latin America, in the sense that there must be a united front against imperialism. This seemingly inconsequential footnote would have momentous consequences later on...
[1] TTL Argentine. Derives from the Rio de la Plata. The term “Argentina” will be later assigned to the Buenos Aires province.
[2] OTL Federales.
[3] Nickname for Potosi.
