The Battle of Coatepeque (Spanish: Batalla de Coatepeque) was fought between the forces of El Salvador and Guatemala from 22 to 24 February 1863.

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Battle of Coatepeque
Part of the War of 1863
Depiction of the battle at a memorial to Gerardo Barrios.[1]
Date 22–24 February 1863 Location Coatepeque, Santa Ana, El Salvador Result Salvadoran victory
Belligerents
Guatemala	El Salvador Honduras
Commanders and leaders
Rafael Carrera José Víctor Zavala Vicente Cerna Serapio Cruz	Gerardo Barrios José Cabañas Santiago González Rafael Osorio Eusebio Bracamonte Mariano Hernández Pedro Escalón
Strength
6,500 soldiers[2]	4,000 soldiers[2][3]
Casualties and losses
900+ dead 1,500 injured 9 artillery pieces lost >2,000 guns lost	Unknown

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In 1862, Guatemalan President Rafael Carrera revealed to his subordinates a plan to invade Salvadoran territory and overthrow Salvadoran President Gerardo Barrios, one of his rivals.^[1] The following year, 1863, Carrera invaded El Salvador and captured and devastated the local populations of Ahuachapán, Chalchuapa, and Santa Ana.^[2] On 13 February 1863, Barrios established his headquarters in the town of Jesús de los Milagros de Coatepeque anticipating that it would be Carrera's next target.^[3]

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On 22 February, skirmishes began between the reconnaissance patrols of the two armies.

On 23 February, there were several Guatemalan attacks on the Salvadoran positions on the San Pedro Malakoff hill. The attacks were all repelled by Biscouby's forces. Carrera gave the order for these assaults to stop since the attacks made no progress. The Guatemalans then dedicated themselves to bombarding the primary defending positions. At night the attacking Guatemalan troops managed to surround the San Pedro Malakoff hill and took the Salvadorans by surprise, but the attack was also repelled

On 24 February, the Guatemalans attacked the two hills and the town itself with their entire army. While the Guatemalans were just about to capture a trench, a fire broke out and many soldiers fled. After the fire died down, the Guatemalans regrouped and attacked the town. The assault failed with Barrios himself defeating Carrera with his personal guard. After the attacks left hundreds dead, Carrera decided use his artillery to its maximum capacity, opening fire towards Coatepeque and the San Pedro Malakoff hill from a hill they occupied, however, the cannons did not do enough damage to the Salvadorans.

At around 1 in the afternoon, the Guatemalans attempted a last attack to dislodge the Salvadorans, but a company under the command of Estanislao Pérez defeated them. General Santiago González and his division left their positions and attacked the Guatemalans head-on and managed to push them back a little before being surrounded. González's soldiers broke through the encirclement and returned to their positions. Meanwhile, General Eusebio Bracamonte attacked the Guatemalan rear which caused a panic in Carrera's entire army who began to flee. Carrera, seeing his strength dissipate, gave up and retreated from the battle field at around 5 in the afternoon. Upon seeing the Guatemalans retreat, González pursued the Carrera with cavalry to Jutiapa in Guatemala. The battle ended in a decisive Salvadoran victory.

Carrera was forced to withdraw and leave the cities of Santa Ana, Chalchuapa, and Ahuachapán as well as the other towns he had occupied. However, he again invaded El Salvador in June and directly besieged San Salvador and forced Gerardo Barrios to resign and flee the country on 26 October 1863.^[7][6]