# Moyobamba uprising (1821)

The Moyobamba uprising was a failed attempt by the city to rise up against royalist forces. Orchestrated by the merchant and supporter of the patriotic cause, Pedro Pascasio Noriega, it took place on April 10, 1821, and ended the next day when the patriots were arrested and Noriega executed. It is considered the initial feat of Maynas' independence from Spanish rule.

## Background

The Maynas independence process was a complex episode, full of liberal desires and, at the same time, a deep attachment to the royalist traditions of the region. This is how Jenaro Herrera, a Moyobamba historian, describes it. In the midst of this context appears Pedro Pascasio Noriega, a merchant from Moyobamba known for his tours of the Amazon and the Peruvian coast. A key figure who some historians point out was a disciple of Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza in the Real Convictorio de San Carlos, but there are no documents to prove this.
It is known that Noriega sympathized with the independence cause and, at some point, established contact with José de San Martín after the arrival of the liberating expedition in 1820. Although there is no consensus on the exact place where this meeting took place, it is theorized that it could have been in Paracas or Huaura. What is clear is that San Martín gave instructions to the Marquis of Torre Tagle to give Noriega a detachment of 40 soldiers. With them, he was to go to Moyobamba and fight the royalists, and then raise Maynas in favor of the independence cause. However, in Trujillo, while preparing his expedition, Noriega confided details of his mission to Lieutenant José Matos, who was secretary to the governor of Maynas. Matos pretended to sympathize with the patriots in order to take control of the soldiers and lead the expedition himself first to Chachapoyas and then to Moyobamba.

## The uprising

In mid-December 1820, Pedro Pascasio Noriega arrived in Moyobamba, ahead of Matos, with the goal of gaining support for the imminent arrival of patriotic forces. Meanwhile, Matos, who now controlled the detachment, arrived in Chachapoyas in January 1821. There, he is said to have participated in the city's proclamation of independence on January 16. He later met with Noriega in Moyobamba. By this time, the royalist leaders had already fled. Manuel Fernández Álvarez, governor of Maynas, and Bishop Fray Hipólito Sánchez Rangel, abandoned Moyobamba and sought refuge first in Lagunas and then in Tabatinga, then Portuguese Brazil. The proclamation of Maynas' independence, planned for April 10, 1821, which seemed imminent, never ended up happening, since on that day Matos betrayed Noriega.
The Spanish lieutenant convinced the troops to revolt against Noriega and against all those who had shown their support for the patriotic cause. They captured 57 sympathizers, who were sent as prisoners to Loreto and Putumayo. Noriega tried to escape, and with the help of some women, he hid in a bakery. But he was found. On April 11, 1821, the day after the incident, he was executed.

## Consequences

Following the betrayal of José Matos and the execution of Pedro Pascasio Noriega, royalist forces retook Moyobamba in mid-April 1821. The governor, Manuel Fernández Álvarez, who had fled, returned to the city and took command again. From there, he sent a letter to the governor of Chachapoyas, Francisco Bustamante y Lavalle, and to the mayor José Martín Dávila. In it, he demanded that they renounce independence and once again side with the King of Spain. But Bustamante and Dávila were not intimidated. They responded firmly, sending a letter to Trujillo asking for reinforcements. This was the starting point for the direct confrontation for the independence of Maynas, since the refusal of Chachapoyas to submit to royalist authority provoked the first battle of this campaign, that of Higos Urco