The biggest pitched battle in Brazilian territory took place on February 20, 1827, about 13 km east of the current city of Rosário do Sul. Alvear (commander of the platine republican army) disguised his movements in order to make Barbacena (commander of the Brazilian imperial army) believe that he was chasing the rear of a retreating army, when in fact all his troops were close by. The battle lasted eleven hours and its end did not mean the end of the Cisplatine War. According to Brazilian historians, Passo do Rosário was an accumulated series of tremendous imperial errors, responsible for not having had a stupendous victory there .