When the forts along the line corresponding to the Northern Frontier were completed and occupied by different detachments, the rest of the troops of the Division began executing the third phase of Minister Alsina’s plan: the construction of an obstacle to discourage indigenous raids—a trench with a parapet.
The project aimed to defend the occupied area, and approximately 650 kilometers of trench were planned, stretching from Fort Cuatreros in Bahía Blanca to Laguna La Amarga in Córdoba.
Alsina’s concept was to gain land through successive advances and to hold onto the conquered territory with a system of fortifications. Despite strong criticism from Buenos Aires newspapers and the opinions of influential figures knowledgeable about the indigenous issue, nothing could stop Alsina’s project. Once the forts were completed, work began on the trench.
The trench, as planned, was to be 3 meters wide and 2 meters deep (these measurements varied according to the terrain), with a parapet 1 meter high built on an embankment facing east, which had a base width of 4.50 meters.
The Northern Division was assigned to complete this work over a stretch of 30 leagues. Colonel Villegas began the construction with dedication and completed the assigned work in a short time.
Soldiers and hired civilians worked on the trench, receiving a payment of 12 strong pesos per meter of trench built. The work was overseen by the French civil engineer Alfredo Ebelot (1), while the efforts of the Northern Division were led by its undisputed commander, Colonel Conrado E. Villegas. They completed 152 kilometers and 200 meters of the planned trench, securing a conquered area of 127,472 square kilometers—the largest territorial gain of the entire advance. This achievement elicited expressions of satisfaction from Minister Alsina when he visited the Trenque Lauquen camp in January 1877.
Profile of the Alsina Trench
The originally projected 600 kilometers were never fully realized, with only about 325 kilometers being built.
To monitor it, 109 forts were established—small, circular structures just over twenty meters in diameter, featuring an adobe hut and a watchtower at the center, surrounded by a ditch and a stockade of pointed wooden stakes to reinforce their defense. Each fort housed between seven and ten soldiers specifically chosen for this assignment, who were required to conduct daily patrols along the line to scout enemy activity. The distance between forts was short, allowing for rapid communication in case of raids or other incidents.
The command post was a fort like the others but with higher status, as it managed the supply of horses and centralized all information from nearby forts. Additionally, soldiers’ families lived there, providing support and companionship, which helped reduce desertion rates.
Reference
(1) Alfred Ebelot, engineer, journalist, and writer, was born in Saint-Gaudens in 1837 and completed his professional studies in Paris. Due to his republican ideals, which opposed the rule of Emperor Napoleon III, he refused to pursue a career as a government official. This defiance led him to work as an editorial secretary for Revue des Deux Mondes, a highly respected publication among Europe’s and America’s intellectual circles.In 1870, when the French Empire seemed stronger than ever and the impending catastrophe was not yet foreseen, he decided to try his luck in Argentina. He arrived in 1871, during a period of transition. Buenos Aires was still "the great village," and the term "the desert" was used to refer to the vast region about 300 kilometers from the capital that remained outside the authority of the national government.
At the time, Argentina’s total population was 1,819,000, with the French community, numbering 32,000, being the third-largest foreign group. It included professionals, industrialists, merchants, landowners, artists, and craftsmen.
In 1870, news of the Franco-Prussian War, which led to the fall of the Empire and the creation of the Third Republic, kept both the French community and the broader public on edge. Upon arriving in Buenos Aires, Ebelot founded a politically charged newspaper, Le Républicain, aimed at defending republican ideals and promoting the actions of Léon Gambetta, whom he knew and admired.
However, the newspaper was abruptly discontinued due to the yellow fever epidemic, which coincided with the dramatic days of the Paris Commune. Seeking new opportunities, Ebelot was hired by the Argentine government to conduct frontier studies. After overseeing the construction of the "Alsina Trench," he accompanied General Julio A. Roca in the Conquest of the Desert.
He passed away in Toulouse in 1920..
Source
- Mayo, José F. – Un titán del desierto, Gral. Conrado E. Villegas – Trenque Lauquen
- Sáenz Quesada, María – Argentina, Historia del país y de su gente – Ed. Sudamericana
- Colaboration: Patricia Cabeza Miró – Trenque Lauquen.
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