Batallón de Pardos y Morenos was an Argentine military unit formed with soldiers of African and indigenous descent. THe unit had its baptism of fire during the first British invasion of the River Plate. From 1810 onwards, this military unit was part of the Patriot forces that fought against the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

in the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List of o ...

History

The Batallón de Castas (

Caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

s Battalion) was based on Compañía de Granaderos de Pardos libres de Buenos Aires and Compañía de Granaderos de Morenos libres de Buenos Aires. This unit was made up of former slaves, mostly of

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n and

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

n roots, also including pardos and natives of

Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guaraní language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * ...

origin. During the first British invasion of the River Plate, the battalion was under the command of Colonel José Ramón Baudrix, and consisted of two companies of grenadiers and seven companies of riflemen. The Casta battalion also had a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

corps, made up by 4 companies of slaves from Buenos Aires, which would be supplied with armaments during times of conflict. From 1810 the Battalion was elevated to the rank of regiment, taking part of the Argentine forces during the

First Upper Peru campaign The first Upper Peru campaign was a military campaign of the Argentine War of Independence, which took place in 1810. It was headed by Juan José Castelli, and attempted to expand the influence of the Buenos Aires May Revolution in Upper Peru (mod ...

. Later the regiment participated in the expedition 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 ...

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 ...

. The Battalion also participated in the expeditions to the

Banda Oriental Banda Oriental, or more fully Banda Oriental del Uruguay (Eastern Bank), 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 Gra ...

del Uruguay, taken part in the

Battle of Las Piedras The Battle of Las Piedras was fought on May 18, 1811 as part of the Uruguayan struggle for independence. Background and development of events In 1810, the May Revolution had forced the Spanish to abandon Buenos Aires, but they held on to the B ...

. The Castas Regiment had an active participation of the

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

and Third expedition to Alto Perú, integrating the ranks of the

Army of the North The Army of the North ( es, link=no, Ejército del Norte), contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was fre ...

, participated in the battles Tucumán,

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...

, Vilcapugio, Ayohuma and Sipe-Sipe. Among the patriots who were part of this military unit was Ramón Odocio, a lieutenant, who was a descendant of African slaves introduced into the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

during the 18th century.

Gallery

File:Museo del Bicentenario - Soldados de Regimientos Patriotas, Morenos.jpg, Soldiers of Morenos Battalion File:Museo del Bicentenario - Soldados de Regimientos Patriotas, Fieles Pardos.jpg, Soldier of Pardos Battalion

References

{{reflist Regiments of Argentina Military history of Argentina Río de la Plata