Читать книгу Conozcamos lo nuestro - The Gauchos's Heritage - Enrique Rapela - Страница 20

Regarding the chiripá, Ciro Bayo says:

“Piece of cloth that, with one end, surrounds the waist, and passing the other in between the legs, it becomes what everybody understands, the example everybody has seen how it’s done: a chiripá is, exactly, a wide cloth put like a diaper to a baby and fastened with a sash”.

This piece of clothing had its greatest diffusion back in 1828, when even the government army wore it. So, the owners of the estancias (A) wore the garment of the gauchos, but with the luxury they could afford due to their economic situation. The cavalry troops also wore it, especially the troops from Santos Lugares (B), called that way because the corps of soldiers formed by Rosas were in this place. This camp had in 1840 an estimated of five thousand places. Figure (C) represents a soldier from the 1858 artillery corps of the Argentine Confederation, whose government resided in Paraná and was in charge of the general Urquiza. At a parade of all the armed forces of Entre Ríos, Germán Burmeister makes a description of the public act. Burmeister, illustrious German scientist, physician, writer and naturalist, devoted much of his life to serve our country. From 1862 to 1892, he was the National Museum’s director. Among other things, he writes:

“The type of uniforms, weapons, and the number of soldiers are not without interest. (…) The soldiers wore red flannel ponchos, chiripá of the same color, white cotton breeches and an old Spanish style field cap, also in red. Some were barefoot and didn’t carry any weapon except a saber. The cannons were of compositions and quite worn out. The officers looked like the French in the color and the cut of the uniforms; they wore pants that were wide above and narrow below, a blue frock coat with red details and a small kepi sharper up; absolutely a French model”.

Figure (D) represents a carabineer soldier, a reconstruction based on a document from the National General Archive. As shown in the drawing, the soldiers of the Federation Fort looked like this in 1835:

• Burgundy cloth cap.

• Chiripá made with the same cloth, and with a white trim.

• Bota de potro (foal boot).

• Iron spur as a weapon.

• Carbine.

• Saber.

• Boleadoras.

In some documents of this time, we see among the orders “350 burgundy cloth chiripás”. In another document, there is an order of one hundred boleadoras, formidable weapon in the hands of these gaucho soldiers who killed Paz, Rauch and Medina. In 1839, the uniform of the Cavalry Guard was “blue jacket, red vest, blue pants, black tie, badge with the words “¡Federación o muerte!” [Federation or Death] “¡Vivan los federales!” [Long life to the Federals] “¡Mueran los salvajes unitarios!” [Death to the savages Unitarians]. A red feather in the hat, and a sign of federal mourning: a red headband for “Nuestra ilustre heroína federal, la Sra. Da. Encarnación Escurra de Rosas” [Our illustrious federal heroine, Mrs Encarnación Escurra de Rosas]. The soldiers of the Guard had to ride on surly (dark haired) and red colored horses.

During the Siege of Montevideo, several battalions were organized for its defense, among others the number 5, commanded by the Argentine colonel Mariano Echenagucía. Figure (E) represents a soldier from this corps. His original uniform was composed by a cap similar to the ones called “de manga”, but armed with leather in the interior; it was blue with white soutaches. They had a kerchief tied in their heads, something very common among people from the countryside, because many times it substituted the hat. They wore a short green jacket with a white trim; white shirt with a red short tie; light blue and white vest, similar to the Uruguayan flag. Floral red chiripá with black ornaments; they wore it as an apron like the indigenous people, and the people from Corrientes and Paraguay. Known as “mortero” [mortar], it was secured by a guasca [leather rope] to the waist. White breeches with small pleats instead of fringes completed their outfit, and, in the feet, botas de potro.

The denomination “mortero” with which the way of wearing the chiripá was known supposedly came from this circular utensil; it was very different from the chiripá worn by the gauchos known as Pampa, and especially in the province of Buenos Aires.

The spreading of the chiripá was very large in all social spheres; we have evidence of that in the Museum of Luján, where we can see the photographic reproduction of Ignacio Videla, major of the village in 1860, wearing a colorful chiripá. Figure (F) represents a policeman from the same time and place.

In figure (G), one of the heroic frontiersmen wearing this piece of clothing is shown. Even though, in the decree of creation of the corps, nothing is said about the chiripá, in the practice, they didn’t have any other emblem that identified them as soldiers, except the kepi. The cavalry troops should wear “red kepi (1) with black trims, ring, attributes of the weapon and number of the corps, jacket made of blue gray cloth, with trims and red collar, wide blue gray pants with a red strap, grenadier boots with white cane and bronze spurs”.

Afterwards, by order of the then War Minister Adolfo Alsina, in 1877, the troops received a cow rawhide breastplate that hardened when exposed to the dew. This procedure caused the breastplate to have the strength to stop the blow of the indigenous’ spear. The breastplate was rejected by the soldiers because he supposed to be “opportunistic” in this fight. In spite of the decree creating of the corps, reality was far away from the good intentions of giving uniforms to the troops. Actually, the gauchos wore the few things they have and only some of them were supplied with saber, kepi and, if they were lucky, some jacket.