As the senior officer in the region, Cáceres was named Political - Military Chief of the departments of the center (April 26, 1881). He dedicated himself to organizing resistance against Chilean occupation, conducting a guerrilla war for which he mobilized the peasant population. Thanks to the local support, the difficult terrain and his own military skills, Cáceres defeated several Chilean expeditions sent against him at the battles of Pucará and another battle there in July 1882, Marcavalle, and La Concepción.