The Battle of San Nicolás was a naval engagement on 2 March 1811 on the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...

between the Spanish royalists from

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, and the first flotilla created by the revolutionary government of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. It was the first engagement between the two fleets in the Río de la Plata region since the revolution, and a royalist victory.

Background

On 25 May 1810 the River Plate colonies revolted against the Spanish Viceroy at the May Revolution in Buenos Aires, claiming the necessity of assuming local government due to the difficult situation in Spain, which was occupied by

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

troops. The royalist authorities in Montevideo opposed the measure and declared a

naval blockade A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...

of Buenos Aires. In the city of Montevideo, there was a navy base serving as port for the royal Spanish fleet in the South American Atlantic coast. The local Junta Grande (Buenos Aires' revolutionary government) decided to establish a fleet to contest the Spanish dominion of the local waters.

Creation of the rebel fleet

The Junta Grande which took control of the government in Buenos Aires named Francisco de Gurruchaga, as secretary of the Navy. He immediately set to work to create a small naval fleet. With effort, Gurruchaga bought five vessels of different types from local owners, and equipped three of them with

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

, which had been taken for the most part out of service as obsolete. He obtained a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

, a

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...

and a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, christened respectively "''Invencible''", "''25 de Mayo''" and "''América''". Recruiting of the crew was another difficult endeavor, as the inhabitants of the pampas were not used to a sailor's life. The solution was to hire foreigners, who for the most part did not speak Spanish. The rank and file was filled with locals. Command of the flotilla was given to a Maltese

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, Lieutenant Colonel Juan Bautista Azopardo. This sailor had arrived in the River Plate at the beginning of the 19th century, and had participated in the British invasions of the Río de la Plata of 1806 and 1807. Azopardo commanded the "''Invencible''", seconded by Hipólito Bouchard on "''25 de Mayo''", and Ángel Hubac, on "''América''".

The first mission

At the beginning of 1811 the Junta Grande was immersed in armed conflicts in various fronts against counter-revolutionary (royalist) forces. A small army under the command of

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...

had been sent to

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

to help the locals join the revolution, but after an initial victory at the

Battle of Campichuelo The Battle of Campichuelo was an action fought on 19 December 1810 between revolutionary forces led by Manuel Belgrano and royalist troops on the right bank of the Paraná River, part of the Paraguay campaign of the Argentine War of Independence ...

, he was defeated at the

Battle of Paraguarí The battle of Paraguarí took place on January 19, 1811, in Paraguarí, Paraguay, between the patriot army led by Manuel Belgrano and the Royalist army located in Paraguay led by Bernardo de Velasco. The battle would end with a Paraguayan vic ...

and was forced to retreat. The Junta decided to respond to the reinforcement request from Belgrano, and tasked Azopardo with the transport by river of the reinforcement troops and artillery to Paraguay. The Maltese raised his flag in the "''Invencible''", while the Frenchman naturalized Argentine

Hipólito Bouchard Hippolyte or Hipólito Bouchard (15 January 1780 – 4 January 1837) was a French-born Argentine sailor and corsair who fought for Argentina, Chile, and Peru. During his first campaign as an Argentine corsair he attacked the Spanish colonies ...

was put in charge of the brigantine "''25 de Mayo''". Lastly, the sloop "''América''" was put under the command of the Frenchman Abel Hubac. The royalist authorities in Montevideo learned of these plans and detached a flotilla to intercept the rebels. The mission was given to Jacinto Romarate, an able officer, who could deploy seven small warships of superior quality, and firepower than his enemy's.

The Battle of San Nicolás

Azopardo's flotilla left Buenos Aires, going upriver on the Paraná. Arriving near San Nicolás they saw the royalists and Azopardo decided to do battle. The rebel commander order a battery of cannons were removed from the ships and installed on the coast, and that a regiment of sailors and militias made ready to fight from the river coast. On 2 March they fought, when the royalist ships closed in the rebels. In the first encounter, two royalist brigantines ("''Belén''" and "''Cisne''") became groundned near the coast and were made targets for the coastal cannons and the rebel

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

. Nonetheless, Azopardo could not get to board them and the ships finally freed themselves and retreated. After several hours the royalists tried a new attack, and shot at the "''Invencible''". The "''América''" was hit several times, with a gash opening on her

prow The bow () is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern. Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the forward-most part ...

, beginning to take on water, and had to be abandoned by the crew. The royalists then concentrated on the "''25 de Mayo''", which they tried to

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...

; the poorly trained crew became panicked and abandoned ship jumping overboard, against the attempts of Bouchard to stop them. The royalist vessels closed in on the "''Invencible''", which was by now fighting on her own, and boarded her. The crew fought valiantly for almost two hours until the situation became unsustainable. Azopardo tried to blow up the munitions depot, but the wounded begged him not to do it, so he was forced to surrender.

Consequences

The defeat caused the destruction of the rebel fleet and the taking control over the Rio de la Plata, Paraná and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

rivers by the royalist fleet from Montevideo; which would last until 1813 with the creation of a new

naval squadron A squadron, or naval squadron, is a significant group of warships which is nonetheless considered too small to be designated a fleet. A squadron is typically a part of a fleet. Between different navies there are no clear defining parameters t ...

and the victories of William Brown. In the short term, the reinforcements requested by general Belgrano did not arrive; few days after the battle at San Nicolás, Belgrano's army was attacked and defeated at the

Battle of Tacuarí The Battle of Tacuarí (9 March 1811) was a battle in Southern Paraguay between revolutionary forces under the command of General Manuel Belgrano, member of the Primera Junta government of Argentina, and Paraguayan troops under colonel Manuel ...

(9 March 1811). Juan Bautista Azopardo became a prisoner of the royalists and was taken to

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

, Spain. The revolutionary government in Buenos Aires, still started a judicial process '' in absentia'' to determine his involvement in the defeat. The report obtained recognized Azopardo's courage, but concluded he had demonstrated lack of experience in command and that he had allowed lack of discipline on his crew. The sentence given was the indefinite removal of command in the armed forces, establishing that he could only serve as a subordinate officer. Azopardo confronted while imprisoned in Spain charges of adhering to the revolutionary cause; and was condemned to death to later have his sentenced commuted. Finally in 1820, the liberal movement in Spain headed by general

Rafael de Riego Rafael del Riego y Flórez (7 April 1784 – 7 November 1823) was a Spanish general and liberal politician, who played a key role in the outbreak of the Liberal Triennium (''Trienio liberal'' in Spanish). Early life Riego was born on 7 April ...

freed all political prisoners including Azopardo allowing him to return to South America. The following year, Buenos Aires rescinded his order and allowed him to return to military life in the Argentine Navy. The governing Junta communicated to the people the news of the defeat in a public proclamation on 4 March 1811:

Bibliography

* *