Barrios' War of Reunification

Barrios' War of Reunification
The death of Justo Rufino Barrios as depicted by the Revista Guatemala magazine, 1887
Date 28 February – 14 April 1885 (1 month, 2 weeks and 3 days) Active combat: 31 March – 2 April 1885 (3 days) Location Guatemala and El Salvador Result Anti-Barrios victory Failure to reunify Central America Death of Justo Rufino Barrios
Belligerents
El Salvador  Mexico  Costa Rica  Nicaragua	Guatemala  Honduras
Commanders and leaders
Rafael Zaldívar Adán Mora Porfirio Díaz Próspero Fernández # Bernardo Soto Alfaro Adán Cárdenas	Justo Rufino Barrios † Felipe Cruz Manuel Barillas José Reina Luis Bográn
Strength
20,000[citation needed]	14,500[1]
Casualties and losses
50–200 dead 150 injured	1,500+ dead

Barrios' War of Reunification, also known as Barrios' great attempt (Spanish: intentona de Barrios),^[2] was a war initiated by Guatemalan President Justo Rufino Barrios in 1885 with the goal of reunifying Central America. Of the five Central American countries, only Honduras supported Barrios' reunification effort; Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua opposed it, as did Mexico.

Barrios commanded 14,500 soldiers in an invasion of El Salvador on 31 March 1885, however, he was killed during the Battle of Chalchuapa on 2 April, and Guatemalan forces subsequently withdrew from El Salvador shortly afterwards. Honduras and Guatemala signed peace treaties on 11 and 14 April, respectively, ending the short-lived war.