Battle of Montevideo (1807)

Battle of Montevideo
	Part of the British invasions of the Río de la Plata
	; The British attacking a breach in the defenses of Montevideo.
Date	3 February 1807
Location	Montevideo, Uruguay 34°54′36″S56°12′12″W / 34.91002°S 56.20327°W
Result	British victory
Belligerents
Spain	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Pascual Ruiz Huidobro	Sir Samuel Auchmuty
Strength
c. 5,000 soldiers	6,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
1,500 (c. 500 killed) plus 2,000 prisoners.	600 (c. 150 killed and died of wounds).

Last updated October 29, 2024

The Battle of Montevideo took place between the British and Spanish Empires during the Napoleonic Wars, in which British forces captured the city of Montevideo. It formed part of the British invasions of the River Plate. Locally, it is remembered as the siege of Montevideo (Spanish : Sitio de Montevideo).

Prelude

In the early morning of 3 February 1807, 3,000 British troops under Brigadier General Sir Samuel Auchmuty attacked the city of Montevideo. The city's capture was preceded, on 20 January, by an action outside the town, the Battle of El Cristo del Cardal (or Battle of Cardal), in which the 60th Rifles and the 95th Foot (later the Rifle Brigade), especially distinguished itself by an outflanking movement which turned the tide of the battle in favour of the British. About 800 local combatants, mostly non-professional soldiers, became casualties, of whom about 200 were killed. Total British casualties were about 70 killed and wounded.

Assault

Montevideo was put under siege from that date and its capture began at about 2:00 A.M., 3 February, having been preceded by several days of bombardment of the weakest part of the defensive wall at a point very close to the site of the modern Anglican cathedral. Once the breach was large enough the assault began. It was under heavy fire from two contiguous bastions held by the defenders, and was hampered by hides the defenders added to the wall to partially fill the breach. Casualties amongst the British soldiers were heavy, as the troops sought an entry point while caught in a constant cross-fire.

Finally, the breach was located by Captain Renny, 40th Regiment of Foot (later the South Lancashire Regiment), who was killed while attempting to get through it. Lieutenant Harry Smith of the 95th Regiment of Foot, on his first campaign, was the second to locate the breach.

Once inside the walls, the British continued to meet heavy resistance, but they gradually spread out and forced back the defenders. At this point in the battle two leading British officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Brownrigg, 11th Foot, commanding the light infantry detachment, and Lieutenant-Colonel Vassal 38th Foot, were mortally wounded.

A forlorn hope was formed by a small detachment of the 54th Foot. This was followed by the combined, elite light infantry and grenadier companies of the regiments involved, as well as the 95th. Next in line were the 38th Foot, followed by the 40th Foot. Two cavalry detachments, from the 17th Light Dragoons and 20th Light Dragoons and 21st Light Dragoons, formed the reserve and rearguard, together with the 47th Regiment of Foot and a small detachment of recruits for the 71st Regiment of Foot (later the Highland Light Infantry). A detachment of Royal Marines was also present. Reinforcements for the defenders were en route from Buenos Aires, so that the rapid success of the operation was essential.

Meanwhile, at the other side of the peninsula, on which the Old City of Montevideo stands, the 87th Foot (later Royal Irish Fusiliers) were waiting together with a company of the 95th at the city's second main gate, the San Pedro gate. On hearing the noise of battle inside the walls, the 87th did not wait for the gate to be opened for them by their comrades according to the plan of attack; they scaled the wall and attacked the defenders from behind. During the operation, the 87th captured a flag from one of the defending formations, which is now displayed as the 'Flag of Montevideo' in the museum of the Royal Irish Fusiliers at Armagh, Northern Ireland.

The 95th then occupied the tower of the city's cathedral, and were able to use the modern Baker rifle to great effect against the city's main fortress, the Ciudadela. This, together with the general British advance through the city, led Governor Ruiz Huidobro to accept Auchmuty's offer and surrender unconditionally at about 5:00 A.M. In his dispatch, which announced the city's capture, Auchmuty paid tribute to Ruiz Huidobro, and by extension his force, who "defended the town and citadel of Monte Video with great spirit." He also made mention of the Frenchman Hipolite Mordeille, who had been prominent throughout the defence. Mordeille's corps had been entrusted with the defence of the breach, being "best calculated for that arduous service, in which they were very nearly annihilated", in the British commander's opinion. Mordeille himself was killed.

Aftermath

Although there was some looting, which was rapidly suppressed by the British officers, by 8:00 A.M. it was reported by a local resident that civilians were going about their normal business in the streets and mixing with British troops. The occupation of the city by the British army lasted until September 1807, when troops were withdrawn in compliance with the agreement signed following the surrender of British forces in Buenos Aires in July 1807 after the defeat of their second attempt to take the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata from Spain.

Auchmuty and the forces under him, as well as the supporting Royal Navy forces, received votes of thanks from the British Parliament on 16 April 1807.^[1]^[2] In addition, the 38th, 40th, 87th and 95th Regiments of Foot, were awarded the battle honour 'Monte Video', which their successor regiments inherited.

Related Research Articles

José Gervasio Artigas Arnal was a soldier and statesman who is regarded as a national hero in Uruguay and the father of Uruguayan nationhood.

The Argentine War of Independence was a secessionist civil war fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, Martin Miguel de Guemes and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown. On July 9, 1816, an assembly met in San Miguel de Tucumán, declaring independence with provisions for a national constitution.

Major-General Robert Craufurd was a British officer. After a military career which took him from India to the Netherlands, in 1810 in the Napoleonic Peninsular War he was given command of the Light Division, composed of the elite foot soldiers in the army at the time, under the Duke of Wellington. Craufurd was a strict disciplinarian and somewhat prone to violent mood swings which earned him the nickname "Black Bob". He was mortally wounded storming the lesser breach in the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo on 19 January 1812 and died four days later.

The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was the last to be organized and also the shortest-lived of one of the viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. The name "Provincias del Río de la Plata" was formally adopted in 1810 during the Cortes of Cádiz to designate the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, KOM, OM was a Spanish military officer and a viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Although born Jacques de Liniers in France, he is more widely known by the Spanish form of his name.

The British invasions of the River Plate were two unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colony of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, located around the Río de la Plata in South America – in present-day Argentina and Uruguay. The invasions took place between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, War of the Third Coalition at a time when Spain was an ally of Napoleonic France. In Argentine historiography, the two successive defeats of the British expeditionary forces are known collectively as the "Reconquista" and the "Defensa", respectively.

The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle Corps". In January 1803, they became an established regular regiment and were titled the 95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles). In 1816, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, they were again renamed, this time as the "Rifle Brigade".

Banda Oriental, or more fully Banda Oriental del Río Uruguay, was the name of the South American territories east of the Uruguay River and north of Río de la Plata that comprise the modern nation of Uruguay, the modern state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and part of the modern state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. It was the easternmost territory of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

The 38th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1705. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 80th Regiment of Foot to form the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1881.

The 87th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 89th Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Victoria's in 1881.

Don Rafael de Sobremonte y Núñez del Castillo, 3rd Marquis of Sobremonte, third Marquis of Sobremonte, was an aristocrat, military man and Spanish colonial administrator, and Viceroy of the Río de la Plata. He was accused of cowardice by the people of Buenos Aires after escaping the city during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata in 1806.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martín de Álzaga</span> Spanish merchant and politician

Martín de Álzaga was a Spanish merchant and politician during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pascual Ruiz Huidobro</span> Spanish soldier (1752–1813)

Pascual Ruiz Huidobro, was a Spanish soldier in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, who fought against the British invasions of the Río de la Plata as Governor of Montevideo.

Sir Edward Gerald Butler was an Irish soldier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Cardal</span>

The Battle of Cardal, on 20 January 1807, was the main conflict between the Spanish defense forces of Montevideo, Uruguay, and British troops during the siege of Montevideo during the second British invasion of the River Plate. The British won an easy victory over the outnumbered opposing forces, which paved the way for the fall of the city,

Juan Ángel Michelena was a Spanish Navy officer and colonial administrator who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the Argentine War of Independence. He also served as acting governor of Montevideo. He maintained his loyalty to the Spanish Empire during the Argentine War of Independence. In 1825, Juan Ángel Michelena was designate as governor of Ferrol, Galicia.

Plaza de Toros del Retiro was a bullfighting coliseum of Buenos Aires of the 19th century. This Arena was established in the city during the last years of the colonial period.

Battle of the Retiro was a battle produced during the second British Invasion of the Río de la Plata, between the Spanish troops, led by Santiago de Liniers, and the British forces under John Whitelocke.

The action of 2 June 1807 was an engagement during the British invasions of the River Plate between a British Royal Navy schooner and two Spanish small vessels, a privateer sloop and a felucca, at the mouth of the Paraná Guazú river. The encounter took place when the British warship, assisted by two armed boats, was searching for Spanish shipping off Punta Gorda, in the mouth of the Uruguay river.

The Battle of Colonia del Sacramento took place in the night of 21/22 April 1807, during the British invasions of the River Plate. A force of 1,500 militias led by Colonel Francisco Javier de Eíío was repelled by 1,000 British infantry and cavalry troops holding the fortress of Colonia del Sacramento and commanded by Colonel Dennis Pack.

References

↑ Lord Hawkesbury (16 April 1807). "CAPTURE OF MONTE VIDEO". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 9. House of Lords. col. 476.
↑ Lord Castlereagh (16 April 1807). "CAPTURE OF MONTE VIDEO". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 9. House of Commons. col. 477–480.

Bibliography

José BATLLE y CARREÓ. 'Memorias' in (Revista Histórica tomo VII No 19 pp146–164, Montevideo, 1914).
George BRUCE. Harbottle's Dictionary of Battles. (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981) ( ISBN 0-442-22336-6).
Ernestina COSTA. English Invasion of the River Plate (Guillermo Kraft Ltda., Buenos Aires, 1937).
Ian FLETCHER. The Waters of Oblivion: The British Invasion of the Rio de la Plata (Spellmont Ltd. Tonbridge Wells, 1991). ( ISBN 0-946771-69-3)
Juan Carlos LUZURIAGA. Una Gesta Heroica: Las Invasiones Inglesas y la defensa del Plata (Torre de Vigia Ediciones, Montevideo, 2004). ( ISBN 9974-7789-2-1)
Antonio N. PEREIRA. La Invasion inglesa del Rio de la Plata (Renaud Reynaud, Montevideo, 1877).
Carlos ROBERTS. Las invasiones inglesas. (Emece Ediciones, Buenos Aires, 2000).
John TUCKER, Maj. A Narrative of the Operation of Small British Force under the Command of Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty, employed in the Reduction of Monte Video on the River Plate, A.D. 1807. By a Field Officer on the Staff. (John Joseph Stockdale, London, 1807).

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[lords-1] Lord Hawkesbury (16 April 1807). "CAPTURE OF MONTE VIDEO". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 9. House of Lords. col. 476.

[commons-2] Lord Castlereagh (16 April 1807). "CAPTURE OF MONTE VIDEO". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 9. House of Commons. col. 477–480.

[1]

[2]