Being a primary organizer of the Breña campaign, he led the Peruvian forces at the Battle of San Jerónimo.

He would join the Peruvian Army and would distinguish himself during the Battle of Callao as a Captain during the Chincha Islands War.

He then met up with Nicolás de Piérola and was made prefect of Lima on 29 January 1881 but the city had already been occupied by the Chilean forces by then.

After Francisco García Calderón controversially assumed presidency of Peru, he suggested that Bedoya united his forces with the rest of the Peruvian Army but he would continue to build up his own men.

He would also constitute the Carabineros de Chancay squadron as well as the 1st and 2nd Alianza Battalions which would mark the foundations of the Cazadores del Rímac.