Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE FIRST BRITISH INVASION,
AS WITNESSED BY A CREOLE
MILITIA OFICER, 1806
I
t was more than 10 years that I [Manuel Belgrano] was a captain
of the urban militias, more out of whim than affection for the mili-
tary life: My first essays about it were from this era. The marqués de
Sobremonte [viceroy of the Río de la Plata], days before the disgraceful
incursion [by English troops], called me in order to form a company of
cavalry, recruited from the young men of commerce, and to that end
he gave me veteran officers to provide instruction. I looked for recruits,
but did not find any, because there was much hatred toward the militia
in Buenos Aires.
They sounded the general alarm, and imbued with honor I rushed to
the fortress, the point of assembly; there one found no kind of order
or organization, as it usually happens in groups of men ignorant of all
discipline and without any kind of subordination. There they formed up
some companies, and I mustered into one of them, feeling ashamed that
the most trivial rudiments of the militia were being ignored.
The first company marched out to occupy the House of the Filipinas
(the old slave-trading warehouse), while those remaining were disputing
with that same viceroy that they were for defending the city and not
going to the countryside.
The result was that there being no veteran troops nor disciplined
militiamen to oppose the enemy, [the English] conquered the city with
relative ease. When we went into retreat, I myself heard it said, “They
do well in resolving to withdraw, because we are NOT PREPARED FOR
THIS CHALLENGE.”
Source:
“Autobiografía de Manuel Belgrano.” In Di Tella, Torcuato S.
Historia argentina desde las orígenes hasta nuestros días
. 2 vols. (Buenos
Aires: Editorial Troquel, 1995), vol. 1, p. 167.
British. After a useless venture of two years in the Río de la Plata, the
British forces finally abandoned Montevideo, too.
The Spaniards came back to Buenos Aires after it was all over, but
the Creoles never allowed them to return to their old autocratic pow-
ers. The militias backed the
cabildo
(town council), dominated now
by Creole members. The Spaniards who had collected funds from
