In tracing the course of the progress of Brazil it should be mentioned that in the year 1776 the fort of Nova Coïmbra was founded on the Upper Paraguay, in the province of Matto-Grosso, as a protection against the formidable tribe of the Guaycurús, which people, it is estimated, inflicted upon the Portuguese the loss of four thousand lives and three millions of cruzados. It should also be mentioned that about the same time the Academy of Sciences and Natural History was founded at Rio de Janeiro. One of the first meetings of this body was made remarkable by the statement of an army surgeon who had served in the war of the Seven Reductions, that a Spaniard who had been in Mexico had pointed out to him the cochineal upon several varieties of the cactus in Rio Grande. It was found soon afterwards in the island of S. Catherine, and plants with the insects were brought to the botanic garden of the Academy.
The attention of the Brazilian Government was, however, soon turned from this discovery to cares of a different description. Don Joseph Moniño, subsequently Count Florida Blanca, had recently been appointed Minister of Spain; and he sought the opportunity of distinguishing his administration in the pending disputes with Portugal concerning the limits of Brazil. He was urged on by Zeballos, now appointed the first Viceroy of La Plata and sent thither with a force of nine thousand men, with twelve ships of war and a transport. The first object of the expedition, which reached the coast of Brazil in February 1777, was the possession of Sta. Catherina, an island about thirty-six miles in length and from four to ten in breadth. The Portuguese had several times endeavoured to establish themselves on this island, but in vain. They, however, considered it as belonging to Brazil; and at length some families were transported thither from the Azores. At the date of the expedition it was defended by a fort and garrison, represented by the Spaniards as strong and numerous.
The enemy landed about nine miles from the capital of the island; but no resistance was made, and every fort and battery was deserted without firing, or even spiking, a gun. The governor fled to the mainland, his timorous example being followed by the garrison; and although he was now safe he, for unexplicable reasons, thought fit to capitulate and surrender to the King of Spain not the island of St. Catherine alone, but likewise all its dependencies upon the mainland. After this capitulation, Zeballos despatched orders to the governor of Buenos Ayres to march against Rio Grande with all the force he could collect. Don Juan de Vertiz accordingly set out for Sta. Teresa with two thousand troops and some cavalry; but the Viceroy, owing to contrary winds, was unable to enter Rio Grande, and therefore made for Monte Video, whence he proceeded without delay against Colonia.
The commandant of the latter place had long been aware of his risk, and had applied to Rio de Janeiro for reinforcements and provisions; but these had not reached him, having fallen into the hands of the enemy’s cruisers. Nor was this the only misfortune which befell him, for one of his despatches had likewise been captured, in which it was stated that his garrison could not hold out longer than the 20th of May. Zeballos reached Colonia two days after this date, when the Portuguese had only five days’ supply of food left them. Resistance seemed useless; and, at the recommendation of a council of war, an officer was sent to propose terms of capitulation. He was detained the entire day, and at nightfall sent back by Zeballos with the reply that when his works were finished he would communicate the orders of his sovereign. When his batteries were in order, he informed the Portuguese that he had been sent to punish the insult which they had committed by invading Rio Grande in time of peace; and they were required to surrender at discretion. They had no choice but to submit, and were treated with much inhumanity.
After this second success Zeballos was preparing to advance on Rio Grande when he received official information that a preliminary treaty of limits had been signed at Madrid. By it Portugal ceded Colonia with all its claims upon the northern bank of the Plata, and acknowledged the exclusive right of the Spaniards to the navigation of that stream and likewise of the Uruguay as far as to the mouth of the Pepiri Guazú. The Spanish line of frontier was to begin at the mouth of the Chui, where fort S. Miguel stood. Thence it went to the sources of the Rio Negro, which, with all other rivers flowing into the Plata or into the Uruguay below the mouth of the Pepiri Guazú, now belonged to Spain. The Rio Grande was assigned to Portugal. The Uruguay missions were to remain as they were, and a line was drawn fixing the frontier so as to protect them, the commissioners being instructed to follow the line of the tops of the mountains and so to arrange the boundary that the rivers from their source should flow always within the same demarcation. The lakes Mirim and Manqueira and the land between them, and the narrow strip between the latter and the sea, became neutral territory, which was not to be occupied by either people. The Portuguese were not to go further south than the river Tahim, nor the Spaniards further north than the Chui. The artillery taken at Rio Grande was to be restored, as was Sta. Catherina.
This treaty was looked upon with much pride by Florida Blanca as having settled a dispute which had lasted for two centuries and a half. The demarcation between the two territories from the mouth of the Pepiri northwards was in every respect the same as in the former Treaty of Limits which had been cancelled. It should be stated that by this time Pombal had fallen into disgrace, on the death of King Jozé. Many of the measures of that minister were now annulled, amongst them the companies of Maranham and Pernambuco. These had, however, done their work by the increased impulse which they had given to commerce, more especially to the growth of cotton, which they had promoted at Maranham, and which was extended to Pernambuco.
It is scarcely necessary to refer to the hostilities which, simultaneously with those of Colonia, had broken out between the Portuguese and the Spaniards on the Matto-Grosso frontier, and in which the Guaycurús were involved. This powerful tribe, however, soon made peace with the Spaniards, and at a later period this peace was extended to the Portuguese.
In another quarter of Brazil we find the first dawn of rebellion in the province of Minas Geraes, where in the year 1789 a conspiracy broke out with the view of declaring that captaincy a separate commonwealth. Fortunately, however, this plot was nipped in the bud, the chief conspirators, including the prime mover, being condemned to be hanged. The latter, however, was the only one upon whom the capital sentence was executed.
When the governor of Rio Grande had received advice of the war which had broken out in Europe, he did not wait for instructions from the Viceroy, but issued a declaration against the Spaniards, who were attacked both on the western frontier and towards the south. The fort of Chui was surprised and sacked, as were the Spanish forts upon the Gaguaron and their establishments towards the Jacuy, whilst at the same time a movement was made upon the seven “Reductions.” The Portuguese, who were formerly the objects of hatred, were received as liberators by the Guaranís, so effectually had the Jesuits’ successors done their work of estranging them from Spain. The commander was permitted by the Portuguese leader to retire with his men, but he and they were made prisoners by another band whom they met on their march.
But these colonial hostilities were of short duration, peace having been concluded between Portugal and Spain before they were effected. The Portuguese, however, insisted on retaining the seven “Reductions,” on the ground that they were not specified in the Treaty of Badajoz; and they accordingly remained a portion of Brazil. At the time of these last-mentioned hostilities, the Spaniards and Portuguese likewise appeared in arms against each other on the upper waters of the Paraguay, where Nova Coïmbra was besieged by the former and the fort of S. Jozé destroyed by the latter.
By the Treaty of Madrid, which followed that of Badajoz, France obtained from Portugal a cession of territory on the side of Guyana. As the limits of this cession were subsequently annulled, the frontier reverting to the Oyapok, no advantage would be gained by detailing them. Brazil fortunately remained at peace when the revolutionary war was renewed: but that war was to have a momentous influence on the destinies of the great Lusitanian colony, bringing about as it did the removal of the Braganzas from Portugal to Rio de Janeiro. By this event the last-named city became the seat of government of the Portuguese dominions; and there can be no doubt that it was owing mainly to the presence of the royal family that, whilst the Spanish dominions in South America, on their separation from the mother-country, became divided into as many as nine separate states, the empire of Brazil has remained one and undivided to the present day.
That vast empire had continued to make marked progress during the eighteenth century. Amongst the old captaincies none, it is said, had undergone greater change than had Pará, where the people had been reclaimed from their former chronic state of turbulence and insubordination. The slavery of the Indians was at an end, which was one great step in advance, although it was reserved for another century to witness, as it may be hoped, the extinction of negro slavery. As regards the Indians, however, the regulations decreed by Pombal for their protection had been disregarded. That statesman had wished that the aborigines should be placed on a position of equality with the Brazilians of Portuguese race—a measure which might possibly have been carried out by the aid of the Jesuits, but which with their expulsion became impossible. As it was, the Indians were governed with a high hand by the directors, who had been appointed with the view simply of guiding them.
The aldeas or settlements established by the Jesuits had undergone great depopulation, owing to the marking out of the limits as laid down in the treaty. In so vast a country, and with such imperfect means of transport, it was inevitable that the work of marking out the borders should be a tedious one, and many natives, who were required for the service of the commissioners, sank in the course of years from the labours imposed upon them or from the fevers to which they were exposed. On the departure of the Jesuits the Indians found themselves emancipated from all moral restraint. The directors did not care to exercise any, nor did they show them an example, whilst the new priests were without power. The bishop of Pará, who between the years 1784 and 1788 went over his extensive diocese, laments the decay of the aldeas and the degraded condition of the Indians.
There were twelve towns at the close of last century on the left bank of the Amazons under the government of Pará, amongst them being Faro to the far west, Obidos, Alemquer, Montalegre, Outeiro, Almerin, Mazagam, Villa Vistoza, and Macapa. The settlements on the southern side of the great river were more numerous and more important. They included Samtarem, which in 1788 contained 1300 inhabitants, and Villa Franca, which contained a similar number; also Mundrucus, so called from the tribe of that name who had begun to cultivate the arts of civilization. Towns and settlements were likewise increasing upon the river Zingu. Vieiros, Souzel, and Pombal contained in 1788 about 800 inhabitants each; whilst Gurupa, which was considered the key of the Amazons, contained 400 of European blood. Melgaço, Oeyras, and Portel were likewise considerable settlements inhabited by Indians in the same captaincy. Cameta was, with the exception of Pará, the largest town in the State, containing about 6000 white inhabitants. The communication between this place and Pará was carried on by one of those natural canals which are so narrow as only to afford a passage for canoes.
The province of Rio Negro, after the edict by which the Jesuits were removed, seems to have suffered no detriment from that measure. Its most remote establishment was distant from Pará four hundred and eighty-five leagues, which, in ascending the river, was accounted a journey of nearly three months.
Pará itself had become a populous and flourishing city, the cathedral and the palace being built on a grand scale. The Jesuits’ College had been converted into an episcopal palace and a seminary, which boasted professors of Latin rhetoric and philosophy. The city possessed a judicial establishment, a theatre, a hospital, a convent of Capuchins and likewise one of Carmelites. Ships for the navy were constructed at Pará, and timber was exported to Lisbon for the use of the arsenals. Amongst its exports were Oriental and other spices, cacao, coffee, rice, cotton, sarsaparilla, copaiba, tapioca, gum, India-rubber, chestnuts, hides, and molasses.
It unfortunately happened that the Portuguese sent to this magnificent province were of the lowest description, and who, on finding themselves in so luxuriant a locality, gave way forthwith to incurable indolence. Bishop Brandam draws a dark picture of their mode of life, and a still darker one of that of their slaves. There was a brighter side, however, to the picture of society as it existed at this time at Pará. The establishment of a wealthy colonist was so extensive as often to exceed in number the population of a town. For instance, that of Joam de Mores included more than three hundred persons, thirty sons or daughters, with their children, sitting down every day at the family dinner-table. The estate contained a pottery, a sugar-plantation, and several nurseries of cacao. The negroes were treated like children, and were well looked after. Such treatment of slaves, however, in this province, was the exception.
Passing to the adjoining captaincy of Maranham, S. Luiz was accounted the fourth city of Brazil in commercial importance, the number of ships leaving it annually towards the close of the century being nearly thirty, the result of the cultivation of rice and cotton. The population of the city was estimated at twelve thousand. The Carmelites, the Mercenarios, and the Franciscans had each a convent here. The opulent merchants possessed large estates and numerous slaves, some of them having as many as a thousand or fifteen hundred. Alcantara, on the opposite side of the bay, was a large and prosperous town, as was Guimaraens, ten leagues to the north. The interior of the province was ill peopled.
Many rivers enter the sea in this captaincy, some of which are navigable for a considerable way, and the banks of all of which are more or less peopled. The most important of these is the Itapacura, the territory between which and the Paraïba was in great part peopled by a population of European blood or by domesticated Indians, by means of whom large quantities of rice and cotton were raised.
Although the course of the Tocantins was well known in Goyaz and Pará, it was not until the year 1798 that an attempt was made to trace its connection to Maranham, for the purpose of opening up a communication by water between the two provinces in which it respectively rises and ends. But although the effort of the Government failed, the communication was established by means of a runaway Indian, who had made his way in a canoe bound for Goyaz. A settler named Barros, into whose territory the Indian penetrated, then built a canoe on which he embarked with the Indian and three slaves upon the river Manoel Alves Grande; this stream in a day and a half carried them into the Tocantins, on which in due time they met a vessel from Pará. After this successful expedition, Barros was employed in opening up a communication along this important route. Throughout Maranham the cultivation of cotton had, for the most part, superseded that of the sugar-cane. The captaincy produces an abundance of fruit of the finest quality. The navigation of the coast of Brazil is so difficult, on account of both wind and current setting in at certain seasons from the south, that it was easier for Pará and Maranham to communicate with Portugal than with Bahia or Rio de Janeiro; for which reason the bishops of Pará and S. Luiz were suffragans of the Patriarch of Lisbon.
Maranham, Pernambuco, Bahia, and Minas Geraes all looked chiefly to Piauhy for their cattle. That country was explored and conquered, not for the sake of its mines and slaves, but on account of its pastures, on which cattle increased to an enormous extent, the mode of life being similar to that on the Pampas of the Plata. The difficulty of utilizing these herds lay in transporting them to the market over the waterless tracts that intervened. By means, however, of tanks this difficulty was overcome.
It is unnecessary to go over the whole extent of Brazil, but one or two instances may be given, showing the progress which it had already made at the beginning of this century. When the Dutch possessed Paraïba, that captaincy contained seven hundred families and twenty engenhos; in the year 1775 its population was estimated at fifty-two thousand—a population which was more than doubled in the course of another quarter of a century.
Pernambuco was, in the early part of this century, one of the most nourishing parts of this great colonial empire; and its chief port, Recife, was only inferior in importance to Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. It contained about twenty-five thousand inhabitants. No other city had derived such benefit from the growth of the cotton trade. It seems to have been a favourite place of resort with the religious Orders; the Fathers of the Oratory, the Franciscans, and the Carmelites had each a convent; whilst the Italian Capuchins and the Almoners of the Holy Land had each a hospice. There was likewise a Recolimento and a hospital for lepers. The Governor resided in what had been the Jesuits’ College. Although people of Portuguese race are perhaps the most temperate in the world, excepting Mahommedans and some other Asiatics, the water-drinkers of Recife were dependent for that element on canoes, by which it was conveyed from the Capivaribe or the Beberibe—there being no aqueduct. The neighbouring city of Olinda well maintained the reputation from which it takes its name.
In the agricultural or cattle-breeding districts in the interior of Brazil the mode of life was primitive; but, owing to the influence of commerce at the ports, it was somewhat more civilized than in La Plata or Paraguay at the same period. Water was served in houses of all classes for ablution before and after meals. It was the general custom to sit on the ground. Knives and forks were superfluities, as were beds, which were replaced by hammocks. The dress of the drover when away from home was somewhat elaborate, as is that of the Pampas gaucho. The home dress of the women was exceedingly simple; nor was their costume luxurious abroad. The cattle were so numerous that the population ate animal food three times a day, taking with it a cake made of mandioc or of rice. Wild fruits were so abundant that none were cultivated save water-melons. It is stated that the scattered population, in these thinly-peopled districts, were indebted for their civilization to a considerable extent to pedlars. These itinerant dealers supplied the farmers and their families with almost every imaginable commodity, including calico, earthenware, rum, tobacco, horsegear, and Irish butter. They usually received payment in the shape of some other commodity.
In the thinly-peopled districts parishes were of enormous extent. Sometimes one could not find a church within eighty or one hundred miles; and this state of things gave rise to a class of itinerant priests, who travelled about carrying a portable altar and its appurtenances in a pack-saddle. These travelling ecclesiastics were furnished with licenses from a bishop, and were assisted at mass by the boy who drove the pack-horse. As laws were but indifferently observed in the Sertam, and murders were frequent, the services of the priest were often required for absolution. Wherever a customer willing to pay could be found, the altar was erected, and the service took place. These priests could likewise perform the ceremonies of marriage and of baptism.
Although rural crime was still frequent, it had decreased towards the end of last century. There had existed a set of bravos who used to frequent fairs for the purpose of provoking quarrels, and who were a constant source of very real danger; but so many of these gentry had come to their deserved end that bucolic life was now much more secure. There was at one time, likewise, a custom to parade certain towns at night, the strollers being cloaked and masked, and in this guise committing any pranks which occurred to them. This habit, too, was put down.
The large number of ports in Pernambuco gave that province the inestimable advantage of a ready means of export for the produce of the interior. Its richest and most influential inhabitants, whether agricultural or commercial, were those most interested in the preservation of order. They were the great promoters of civilization, exercising a liberal hospitality. The long-continued Dutch war had left the Pernambucans proud memories. Many of the chief inhabitants looked upon themselves not only as being the landed aristocracy, but also as being the descendants of the military aristocracy of Brazil. They had indeed about them many of the distinguishing characteristics of a nobility. Their estates went from father to son, and none of their slaves were ever sold. The latter thus enjoyed the comforts and advantages of a permanent residence, and they were, like the adherents of an old Scottish chieftain, permitted to adopt the family name, of which they were not a little proud.
The estates belonging to the monastic orders might boast of a similar stability. Their slaves, likewise, were never parted with; and the treatment of these was so paternal that corporal punishment was neither needed nor thought of. Amongst the smaller proprietors, most of which class were of mixed blood, the condition of slavery was alleviated by the fact that master and slave were employed in the same work, and partook of the same food. That food consisted in the last century, as it does to-day, of jerked beef, salt fish, and mandioc flour. It was further alleviated by the nature of the religious services in which the half-coloured masters and their slaves took part, both worshipping at the shrine of the same Virgin Mary, who was depicted as a negress.
In Pernambuco there were two regiments of pure blacks, entitled, respectively, the Old and New Henriques, in honour of Henrique Diaz, whose services will be remembered in the Pernambucan War; there were likewise mulatto regiments. It is remarkable that the gipsies should have found their way into this province, where they preserve themselves intact from other parts of the population. The wild Indians of this province were, at the close of the century, well-nigh extinct.
The population of Bahia was estimated, at the close of last century, at one hundred thousand souls, two-thirds of whom were mulattoes or negroes. It abounded in convents, nunneries, and other religious establishments; but it likewise possessed public tribunals, and professors of the liberal languages and sciences, as well as a theatre and a mint. It is singular that this city should have been without a single inn; but this circumstance becomes the less remarkable when it is considered that its communication lay wholly with Portugal and with Portuguese, who must have come to it provided with letters of introduction. There were empty lodgings to be hired, as well as eating-houses and coffee-shops.
The chief port of this magnificent bay presented a constant scene of animation, eight hundred launches and boats of different sizes arriving daily. Most of these, it is said, were laden with fruits and flowers. But the port was the centre of trades of various descriptions. There was in the neighbourhood a whale-fishery; there was a sugar-plantation in the interior, which, in the Reconcave, contained the richest and most populous portion of Brazil. This term included the whole sweep of this bay, varying in breadth from twelve to forty miles. One of its largest towns contained, at the beginning of this century, one thousand and eighty-eight families. Its neighbourhood produced copper, and likewise a plant that supplied the place of hemp or flax.
At the time of the capital of Brazil being removed to Rio de Janeiro, that city was estimated to contain a population of one hundred thousand souls. At a time when the communication between Europe and India was round the Cape of Good Hope, the position of this city gave it great commercial advantages. Its harbour, beyond question the most beautiful, was likewise one of the most capacious and commodious in the world. The translation of the court from Lisbon to Brazil gave it freedom of trade and increase of capital. It must always occupy an important position; but a full description of this incomparable place must be deferred for the present.
The lately established captaincy of Minas Geraes had made very considerable strides. In the year 1776 the province contained about three hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants. The whole sum of gold extracted was estimated at forty-five millions sterling, which was probably rather under than over the amount. If it effected no other good, it certainly encouraged the spirit of discovery, and led to the population of vast territories which would otherwise have remained unexplored; whilst by its means Portugal was enabled to pay the balance of trade against her. It is needless to observe that in Minas Geraes, as in all other mining districts throughout the world, whether in California, Australia, or Africa, the proportion of crime was enormous.
The captaincy of S. Paulo is one of the greatest provinces of all those of Brazil. The elevation of the capital makes it in point of climate more desirable than that of any other city in the empire. It contained at the time of the removal of the royal family about twenty-four thousand inhabitants, one-half of them being European. Like all other places in this country, it possessed almost a superabundance of religious establishments; but it was likewise well provided with places of education. The name of Paulista, which is synonymous with that of an inveterate slave-stealer, has given a reputation to the inhabitants of this province in general which certainly many of them did not deserve.
It has been remarked as singular that so immense a country as Brazil, formed as it was by an invading European race, should have maintained its cohesion as it has done; but when the circumstances of the country are considered, the wonder ceases; for in such a vast extent the scanty population were so scattered that combination on any formidable scale became almost impossible. As has been already said, the connecting tie between the various units which form Brazil became doubly knit by the arrival of the family of Braganza, there to make their home.
Note.—This and the preceding Chapters of Vol. II. relating to Brazil are founded on
“History of Brazil;” by Robert Southey;
“Barlæi (Casp.) Rerum per octennium in Brazilia,” 1680;
“History of Brazil;” J. Henderson, 1821;
“Reise nach Brazilien, durch die Provinzen von Rio de Janeiro und Minas Geraes;” Burmeister, Berlin, 1853;
“Purchas,” iv.;
“Travels in Brazil,” Koster (H.); 1817;
Conder (Josiah), “Brazil and Buenos Ayres,” 1830;
“Relation d’un Voyage dans l’Interieur de l’Amérique Meridionale aux cotes du Brazil;” Maest, 1778; and
“Duguay-Trouin, Mémoires de;” Petitot, 2nde ser., lxxv.
CHAPTER XVIII.
REPULSE OF GENERAL WHITELOCKE AT BUENOS AYRES.
1806-1807.
Spain having taken part with Napoleon against the English, by granting the former a monthly subsidy, gave the latter power to make reprisals on the Spanish colonies. The first act of war was the seizure of four transports coming from La Plata—an act which decided Charles IV. to declare himself openly the ally of Napoleon in the war, which declaration was followed by the destruction of the Spanish fleet by Nelson at Trafalgar. To this disaster may in a great measure be traced the facility with which the Spanish possessions in South America were subsequently enabled to throw off the yoke of Spain.
At the time when Nelson and the waves were accomplishing their work of destruction the English Government despatched to the Southern Atlantic a force of six thousand six hundred and fifty men, under the orders of Sir David Baird. The destination of this expedition was kept a secret, but it took the direction of Brazil, then in alliance with England.
Sobremonte, the ninth Viceroy of La Plata, when he heard of the arrival of this force at Rio de Janeiro, became alarmed for the safety of the provinces under his charge, and judged it probable that the English would in the first instance attack Monte Video. He therefore transported thither all his available troops, abandoning Buenos Ayres to the care of the local militia of that place; but scarcely had he completed his preparations for the defence of the Uruguayan capital, when he learnt that the English had turned their prows in the direction of the Cape of Good Hope, which important position they wrested from Holland. The Viceroy breathed again, and returned to Buenos Ayres.
It was at that time the prevailing opinion in England that the Spanish colonies in the southern continent of America were as anxious to throw off the yoke of the mother country as had been her own colonies on the northern continent to free themselves from their connection with Great Britain; and this opinion was confirmed by General Miranda, a native of New Granada, who had been long resident in England. This officer, who had been banished from France, succeeded in persuading the English Government that they had only to show themselves on the Southern Atlantic and Pacific to be hailed as liberators. The assurance was the more welcome in that the spoil was tempting, for South America was still the land of gold and silver.
From the Cape of Good Hope it seemed feasible enough to make a dash on La Plata. Even should it not be successful, it would at any rate create alarm in Spain, and compel that country to weaken its strength at home by sending out reinforcements to its transatlantic dominions. Accordingly Sir David Baird and Admiral Popham, who commanded the fleet, resolved to send a limited force to Buenos Ayres, which place they were assured by an American officer recently arrived from there was not in a condition to offer resistance, since Sobremonte had removed the garrison to Monte Video. Sir Home Popham took the command of the flotilla, on which were embarked one thousand six hundred and thirty-five men under the orders of General Beresford.
On the 6th of June 1806, the squadron arrived at the mouth of the Plata, which stream the vessels had some difficulty in ascending; and it was only on the 25th that they were able to come to anchor near the village of Quilmes, at a distance of fifteen miles to the south of Buenos Ayres. The Viceroy had, on the 17th of the month, learned of the presence of the fleet in the river, and he had forthwith commenced his preparations for defence; but, owing to the impossibility of communicating with Monte Video,—since the English were masters of the river,—he could do no more than muster the militia and transport the contents of the treasury to Lujan, a small town at some miles’ distance in the interior.
On the 25th, the English disembarked without resistance, and throughout that night the alarm-bell at Buenos Ayres sounded unceasingly. The Viceroy, realizing the uselessness of resistance, now thought only of preparing to depart; but at daybreak a body of seven hundred horsemen with six pieces of artillery, hastily gathered together and badly armed, advanced towards the hostile force. This demonstration, however, did not survive the first fire of the English skirmishers; the seven hundred horsemen dispersed, leaving half of their artillery behind them, and Beresford met with no further resistance on his march to the suburb of Barracas, where he encamped on the evening of the 26th.
On the same night the Viceroy abandoned the city and set out with his family for the interior; when the remaining Spanish authorities thought only of capitulating. General Quintana, who commanded the militia, drew up some conditions which he sent to Beresford, whose troops were already in movement, and who, without halting, replied verbally that he would grant what was required of him after he had taken possession of the town. At three o’clock in the afternoon his force occupied the principal square and the fort, on which the English flag now replaced that of Spain.
Next day the municipality received orders to hand over to the English the public treasury as well as the money which the Viceroy had sent to Lujan, the commander giving it to be understood that this treasure was the price exacted for exempting Buenos Ayres from pillage. With this possibility before them, the municipality hastened to beg Sobremonte not to prolong a useless resistance and to accept the terms offered. The terms were accepted, and an English officer was sent with an escort to Lujan, whence, on the 5th of July, he returned with four cars, bearing half a million of silver pieces, which treasure was forthwith transported on board the “Narcissus,” the flag-ship of Sir Home Popham. This ransom money, together with all that found in the public offices, was sent to London, and deposited with great ceremony in the Bank of England.
The English general now announced the conditions to be granted to the conquered, who were required, in the first instance, to swear allegiance to George III. The Catholic religion might be freely professed; private property would be respected; all merchant-ships taken in the port would be restored; commerce would be free as in English colonies; and civil and judicial authorities who should swear allegiance to England should be permitted to retain their functions.
But, notwithstanding the seemingly complete submission, the great majority of the people of Buenos Ayres were not the mere passive spectators which they appeared. The greater proportion of the public employés took the required oath of allegiance; the colonial society opened its salons to the English officers, and the Porteña beauties were not displeased to number them amongst their admirers; but the townspeople in general could not tamely reconcile themselves to see their city, with its seventy-two thousand inhabitants, at the mercy of a paltry force of sixteen hundred men.
The Viceroy, Sobremonte, having tried in vain to assemble the militia, set out for Cordova, to which place he announced he had transferred the capital. General Beresford, on his part, was so sensible of the weakness of his position that he lost no time in begging Sir David Baird to send a reinforcement to enable him to retain his conquest. He likewise thought of seizing Monte Video; but, as this place was garrisoned by regular troops, he did not flatter himself with the idea that it would fall into his hands as easily as had Buenos Ayres, the malcontents of which latter place had a round-about means of communication with the royal troops by way of S. Fernando, the islands and the Uruguay.
The Spanish colonies of South America had been so treated throughout by the mother country as mere political children, that the people of Buenos Ayres, although they saw the disgrace of the position in which they were placed, were almost incapable of the political vigour necessary for the effort to escape from it. What they wanted above all was a leader; and had they depended solely on colonial genius at this juncture it is very unlikely that General Beresford would have been disturbed in his possession, or at least that any local leader would have been found with the necessary qualities to effect a successful revolt. But the needful leading spirit was found in the person of a Frenchman.
Jacques Liniers had been thirty years in the service of Spain. He had for some time occupied the post of governor of Misiones, and at the time of the English invasion was captain of the small port of Enseñada. He was brave, active, and enterprising, but somewhat apt to be carried away, and without much solidity of character. On learning the triumph of the English, he had asked and had obtained permission to visit his family at Buenos Ayres, but had declined to take the oath of allegiance. It was easy for him to perceive that the common people did not accept the foreign domination with the same resignation which was displayed by the wealthier colonists, who had much to lose in the case of a continuance of military operations; he likewise realized the fact that the gauchos of the surrounding pampas might materially aid a movement which should take the shape of partisan warfare in which they might fight after their own loose fashion. By good luck and a little daring he might easily get the better of an enemy so inconsiderable in number.
Having arranged his plan of action, and acting in accord with Señor Puirredon and other Creole patriots, Liniers quietly quitted Buenos Ayres and made the journey to Monte Video, where he communicated his project to General Huïdobro, who commanded there, and from whom he asked some troops, by whose aid he assured him he would compel the English to re-embark. Huïdobro was willing to aid these patriots with all the resources in his power; and Puirredon and two others were sent into the country in different directions to arrange for a rising. At the same time a small force of regular soldiers, placed under the orders of Liniers, marched for Colonia, opposite to Buenos Ayres, where it was awaited by a flotilla of light boats such as might easily evade the English vessels in the shallow waters of the Plata. Under a thick fog the flotilla crossed to the right bank, and the men disembarked at twenty-one miles to the north of the capital.
Meanwhile Puirredon with some raw forces had encountered the English. A small column of five hundred men and three guns had been sent by Beresford to drive the insurgents from Moron and other small villages where they had assembled. At the first fire the untrained levies were scattered; but the practised horsemen merely continued to circle round the enemy, and in this manner accidentally arrived near one of the field-pieces, of which by a sudden charge they were able to obtain possession. The English column returned to Buenos Ayres much chagrined at this misfortune at the hands of an enemy which they had no means of overtaking.
When Liniers arrived at San Fernando he found the gauchos all excitement at the piece of luck which had befallen them, and which revealed to them their own value in partisan warfare against the English. His small force was composed of sixty-six grenadiers, two hundred and twenty-seven dragoons, a hundred and fifty-eight volunteers, a hundred and forty Catalonians, a hundred artillerymen, three hundred Spanish seamen, sixty seamen from the islands, and seventy-three men belonging to a French privateer, who wished to take part in the affair; in all, of eleven hundred and twenty-four men, with two large guns and four small pieces. After the gaucho success, however, he had good reason to believe that he would be joined by numerous recruits, and he therefore boldly marched on Buenos Ayres.
On the afternoon of the 10th of August he reached the northern suburb, and with such despatch had his operations been conducted that up till now the English had had no notice of his proceedings. His prognostication had been correct as to his receiving recruits, for his little army was already nearly tripled in number; but unfortunately most of the new arrivals were without arms. Such volunteers, however, besides giving his force the appearance of being more formidable than it really was, were of use in the way of contributing to the transport.
On the morning of the 11th, Liniers sent a flag of truce to Beresford, requiring him to surrender. On receiving his reply in the negative, the colonists resolutely entered the town, and took possession of an edifice in which they established their headquarters; and the English, beset on all sides, were obliged to concentrate their defence in the central square and the neighbouring streets. On the morning of the 12th the Catalonian sharp-shooters, together with the men of the French privateer, penetrated as far as the cathedral, the front of which looked on the square. Then commenced a general street-fight, in which regular troops are under many disadvantages. From the balconies and the flat-roofs of the houses there rained on the English a shower of missiles of all sorts. They were driven back into the square and were forced to abandon the neighbouring streets.
Having thus cleared his way, Liniers was enabled to bring up his artillery and to pour small shot into the English as they were packed round the fort. It was then that Captain Kennet of the Engineers, General Beresford’s secretary, fell at the side of his chief. The noise of the firing and the cries of some fifteen thousand men who took part in the struggle were so deafening as to prevent the orders of the officers from being heard; and Beresford perceived that it was necessary to retreat within the fort, which he was the last of his force to enter.
A well-sustained fusillade proved fatal to all such as showed themselves above the ramparts, which in addition were commanded by the flat roofs of the houses, whose inmates might fire in perfect safety on the devoted English. Thus, seeing resistance useless, Beresford ordered a flag of truce to be hoisted; but this signal not being understood or regarded by the assailants, and the fire continuing, the Spanish flag was raised and the future victor of Albuera, showing himself upon the rampart, flung his sword into the ditch, whereupon the firing ceased.
Liniers readily granted his brave adversary all the honours of war. An hour later the English general and his staff, together with the 71st regiment, whose colours bore the names of various actions in the United States and also of Saint Jean d’Acre, had to lay down their arms and standards before the raw forces of the Gascon, by which they were marched in line, and whose prisoners of war they remained. The English occupation of Buenos Ayres had lasted forty-seven days. Its abrupt termination was chiefly due to the utter absence of any intelligence-department in the occupying force. It is difficult to attach blame to General Beresford in this or indeed in any other respect. He had, in obedience to superior orders, undertaken an enterprise for which the force at his disposal was utterly inadequate, and so rapid were the movements of Liniers that he could not possibly anticipate his coming at the head of an expedition capable of opposing him. Even had he anticipated his arrival it is not easy to see what he could have done, quartered as he was in a little fort commanded on three sides by the houses of a hostile town, which had so well disguised its hostility as to afford him no pretext for treating it in an unfriendly manner. Had he adopted the alternative course of destroying all the houses whose vicinity to the fort endangered his position, he would have, doubtless, raised the population against him, and would have found it impossible to obtain provisions for his troops. As it was, he saw the insecurity of his position and had demanded succours from the Cape of Good Hope; but the intelligence and activity of Liniers anticipated their arrival.
This victory on the part of the inhabitants of a province, unaided by Spain, had immense results, since it showed the colonists at the same time their own strength and the inability of the mother country to defend them. Liniers had in fact, to use the words of Mr. Canning, called a new world into existence.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
After the surrender of Beresford the city of Buenos Ayres assumed control of its own destinies. The fugitive Viceroy, Sobremonte, who, had he acted from the first with decision, would have placed himself at the head of the armed forces at Monte Video, and there raised the national standard, had at length succeeded in assembling a militia force with which he advanced to the capital. But his evident incapacity had made him odious to the people of Buenos Ayres; and these, elated by their triumph, resolved no longer to submit to his authority. The municipality summoned the principal inhabitants for the purpose of choosing a new government. On the 14th of August, two days after the surrender of Beresford, the meeting took place. But the citizens had scarcely assembled when the hall was crowded by the people, who with one voice demanded the election of Liniers. This selection made, a commission was appointed to notify to Sobremonte that he was no longer chief of the provinces of La Plata.
Sobremonte, on receiving this information, had nothing better to do than to betake himself to Monte Video, where his militia forces might be of use in defending that place, which was still menaced by the fleet of Admiral Popham. The representatives of Buenos Ayres, foreseeing the probability of a future visit from the English, now decided that their town should be put in a state of defence forthwith. The people had already grasped the idea that they could govern themselves better than could Spain, and likewise that they were better qualified to select a suitable governor than was the court of Madrid. Nevertheless, as yet no one thought of raising his voice in favour of a separation from the mother country.
But Liniers was not long in realizing the fact that, although he had been elected Viceroy, the people who had elected him were nevertheless his masters; and he was compelled to withdraw the concessions which in a spirit of soldier-like generosity he had granted to Beresford and his men. When things had calmed down a little, the municipality had leisure to reflect that it might be well to send some explanation to Spain regarding the events which had occurred; and the envoy chosen for this purpose was Puirredon, who could claim the honour of having captured the first English piece of artillery taken. There were indeed already two parties in Buenos Ayres; the one that of Liniers, who as Viceroy represented the Spanish Government, and the other that of Puirredon, who represented the colonial democracy; and this rivalry was sedulously taken advantage of by those who aimed at the independence of the colony, and whose spokesman was Moreno. These men suggested that the new battalions to be enrolled for the defence of Buenos Ayres should be pledged to that province as a nationality. Four battalions of infantry were formed, and amongst the local militia was a corps of mulattoes and negroes, whilst there were six squadrons of gaucho cavalry.