An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir May 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie 28 | The libeRATOR OF The sOuTh ATlAnTiC by OLIVER MURPHY W illiam brown was born in Foxford, Co Mayo, in 1777 and at the age of nine he crossed the Atlantic to America with his parents, who were seeking gainful employment and a new life. Unfortunately, his father con- tracted yellow fever and died shortly after arrival. Young William Brown secured a position as a cabin boy aboard an American merchant ship. For ten years he sailed in similar ships, becoming a sailor and in due course obtaining a master's ticket. He was impressed into the Royal Navy and served in their At- lantic Division for 12 years until his ship was captured by a French man-of-war and he was imprisoned in Metz. He escaped but was recaptured and jailed again, this time in Verdun, from where he also escaped and travelled to England. On reaching England he went to sea again, employed by the Merchant Navy, where he be- friended a man called Walter Chitty, whose sister Eliza he married in 1809, in Bromley, Middlesex, England. The couple sailed to Buenos Aires the following year in a ship belonging to Brown and although this ship was lost to a privateer, Brown secured the finance to purchase another and commenced trading on the River Plate. The Argentine War of Independence had been underway for some time and the small, weak patriot navy had been decimated by the royalist fleet on the Plate. In 1814 Brown accepted the offer to organise, rebuild and command the patriot navy fleet, and en- gage the Spanish naval forces. Brown undertook these tasks with great energy and leadership, and in recognition was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Brown incorporated his flag, which consisted of a blue Saint Andrew's cross on a white background (in fact this was an old Russian flag from its previous registration), on his flagship the Hercules. In early March of 1814 Brown sailed out of Buenos Aires harbour with his small and somewhat improvised fleet to engage the Spaniards in battle at the heart of their power on the island of Martin Garcia. This was a key position that dominated the upper River Plate, and the Parana and Uruguay rivers that flowed into it. The patriot fleet arrived at the island on 10th March and with- out delay engaged the opposing Spanish fleet, which comprised of nine ships armed with 18- and 24-pounders sheltering under the batteries of the island's fortress. When Brown's ships were within range a furious barrage com- menced. The tide was ebbing and although the flotilla consisted in the main of small, agile, shallow-draught vessels, Brown's ship received a terrible pounding and in excess of a quarter of her crew were killed. After some consideration Brown decided to land on the island before dawn and storm the fort. A number of the combatants were gauchos, skilled with their facónes (long knives). They landed on the island at four o'clock in the morning unopposed. However, as the troops approached the fort they were spotted by sentries who sounded the alarm. Their advance was halted as men began to fall but Brown, determined to succeed in his auda- cious attack, called on his band to play Saint Patrick's Day in the Morning, which helped rally the patriots, together with shouts of encouragement from the officers, many of whom were Irish. The advance was renewed with spirit and the royalists were over- whelmed and finally surrendered. Thus, Brown secured his first victory against the Spanish, who retreated to the fortified city of Montevideo. Following orders from Buenos Aires, Brown sailed for Montevi- deo, the bastion of royalist strength in South America. On arrival, Brown's flotilla of seven ships surrounded the bay and together with the patriot land forces they completed the encirclement of the city. This stranglehold proved effective and resulted in short- ages of all supplies and the outbreak of epidemics. In an effort to destroy the blockade the Spanish fleet, under the command of Commodore Augustin Sierra, sailed out to meet the patriots with 13 ships armed with 150 guns and 1,200 men. Brown, wanting room to manoeuvre, succeeded in luring the Spanish into the deeper waters of the Plate in order to get between them and the port. Realising the need to be as agile as possible in combat transferred his flag to the Hercules' sister ves- sel the Itati. As firing commenced, Brown, as usual, was exposed to the violent gunfire, and he was soon struck down with great pain. The crew transferred him back to his the Hercules where Doctor Campbell, who was trying to cope with a string of wounded men, attended to him. Brown refused to be carried below decks and insisted on transmitting orders through the use of a large megaphone, so Campbell had no alternative but to set his leg on deck and treat his injury as best he could while Brown gyrated to take in the whole area of combat, and bring his guns to bear on the royalists' fleet. His constant presence was vital to success. Following a furious series of dramatic clashes that lasted for three days, the patriots overcame the Spaniards and entered the harbour of Montevideo, much to the fury of the enemy com- mander Governor Vigodet. The royalist ships San Jose, Neptuno, and Paloma were captured and 500 sailors were taken prisoner. The final destruction of the Painting of William Brown by Henry Hervè circa January 1825

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