Battle of the Vuelta de Obligado

The international detachment, designed to operate on the Parana River, consisted of 2 British and 1 French paddle steamers and 4 British and 3 French small sailing ships, a small draft of which allowed them to enter the river. The artillery of this detachment was weak, and the British ships had a very limited combat reserve. In addition to the teams, the landing force of 600 people was taken to the ships.

Rosas stretched across the river at the Vuelta de Obligado chain-link on small ships, built 4 batteries on the right bank, 1 brigantine Republicano with 6 guns and 2 gunboats Restaurador and Lagos and several barges became on the left bank. Against the middle of the river, which is about ½ mile wide here, 12 firefighters were made. This position was occupied by 3,500 soldiers.

On November 8, the Allied Expedition left Martin Island -Garcia and it anchored 18 miles 2 miles below the Vuelta de Obligado . The commander of the British ships, Sullivan, personally made a survey at night in the boats under the very batteries of Rosas. On November 20, in the morning, he began to rise along the right bank with 2 English and 2 French sailing ships, and Captain Treuar ( fr. Tréhouart ), commander of French vessels, also with 2 English and 2 French ships, went up along the left bank; Approaching the Rosas batteries, the Allies opened fire on them. The batteries responded with violent fire, which severely damaged the attacking ships. Two hours after the start of the battle, the brigade San Martin , the flagship vessel of Treuar, heavily damaged, broke the anchor cable and was carried downstream. At the same time, on the Argentine schooner, which stood on the right bank, an explosion occurred. This took advantage of the Goths, who with three steamers, overcoming obstacles and breaking through barriers, seized the batteries of the right bank. A strong current and a weak wind prevented the sailing ships from taking their places according to the disposition , and the damage to the anchor ropes made some of them drift under enemy fire and take their places again.

The three steamers that were part of the expedition, at first, it was decided to keep in reserve until the bon was divorced, as they were afraid of damaging their mechanisms; but Treuar's predicament forced them to come to his aid. Around noon, an Argentine schooner, set on fire by her team, which moved to the shore, took off. Then the detachment sent in boats to the Bon, despite the fire from the batteries, threw him out, and immediately the steamers, passing to the batteries No. 1, 2 and 3, already heavily wounded, landed the troops on the shore and occupied these batteries. Battery number 4 surrendered the next day without a fight, but Rosas with the main forces retreated.

In the battle of Vuelta de Obligado, the British lost 9 people and 27 wounded, while the French lost 15 people and 45 wounded. The losses of the Argentines are unknown.

Despite the fact that the attacking forces broke through the Argentine naval defense and crushed it on land, the battle did not reach final success and foreign ships could not safely advance into the internal Argentine waters. The battle also changed the political climate in South America, reinforcing support for Rosas and his government.

In 1850, the French and the British withdrew their troops after signing an agreement that was triumphant for Juan Manuel de Rosas and his Argentine Federal Party ^[1] .

The annual anniversary of the battle of the Vuelta de Obligado in Argentina is celebrated during the holiday of the country's national sovereignty.

• rep. ed. Ermolaev V.I. Essays on the history of Argentina. - M .: Sotsekgiz , 1961. - 588 p.

• Argentine Expedition (1845–46) // Military Encyclopedia : [in 18 t.] / Ed. VF Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-islands I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.
• The Anglo-French Maritime Expedition to the Rio de la Plata in 1845 // Military Encyclopedia : [in 18 t.] / Ed. VF Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-islands I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.