On October 9, 1806 an expedition formed by some 4000 soldiers under the command of General Sir Samuel Auchmuty sailed from England to reinforce the forces that were occupying Buenos Aires. On November 12, another expedition with similar forces and commanded by Brigadier General Robert Crawford sailed for Cape of Good Hope. Once there, it would be decided whether it would continue towards the Pacific to invade Chile or head for Buenos Aires. They arrived to the Cape on March 28, 1807, and there Crawford received orders to reinforce Auchmuty, because news had arrived of the Reconquest of the city. The forces would be combined under the command of Major General Sir John Whitelocke.
In March 1807, Buenos Aires had received news of the promotion of Santiago de Liniers -in charge of the Buenos Aires Arms after the Open Cabildo of August 14, 1806 - as Brigadier of the Royal Spanish Navy as well as the demotion of the Viceroy, Marquis of Sobre Monte. It was decided that Pascual Ruiz Huidobro, Governor of Montevideo, or the next in rank, would take over the Viceroyship. Since he was a prisoner of Whitelocke, the Royal Council recognized Liniers as interim Viceroy, a position he retained until the arrival of the last effective Viceroy, Admiral Baltasar H. de Cisneros, who took office in July 1809, and was deposed by a resolution of the Open Cabildo of May 22, 1810.
Whitelocke arrived in Montevideo on May 10, 1807. He left the government of the city in the hands of his second, General Gower, to devote himself to organizing the invasion of Buenos Aires. Crawford's convoy, formed by 33 transport ships and 6 war ships arrived on June 15. Two thousand men were left to garrison Montevideo and the rest embarked in smaller vessels. The major convoy, with over 9,000 men, arrived to Ensenada, some 60 km south of Buenos Aires on June 28 and disembarked immediately.
After disembarking, the British troops began their advance on the city. On July 1, 1807, Liniers reviewed the army of Buenos Aires in Barracas. With a force of 8,000 men, his plan was to leave some 1,000 to guard the city and form the other 7,000 in a battle line a few blocks South of the Riachuelo - today the city's southern limit - with their backs to the river. On June 2, General Gower decided to cross the Riachuelo upstream from the viceroyship's forces, to march to the area of Miserere, location of the slaughterhouse and station of the freight wagons. In view of this, Liniers crossed the Riachuelo and reached Miserere by forced marches. There, the British, commanded by Crawford, led a brilliant bayonet charge and cut the army of Buenos Aires in two: one part went to Chacarita and the other moved towards the center of the city. Had Crawford continued his march, he would have taken the city that very same night.
A war committee was urgently formed to organize the defense. It was decided to fortify the center of the city, so that the defenders would be able to fight from houses and trenches, with barricades being set up in every street crossing. On July 3, the soldiers began assembling the defense of the city starting from the Main Square (today May Square). An internal perimeter was built, starting from the Square and the Fort (located where the Presidential Palace currently stands), with trenches equipped with artillery and troops on the rooftops, and an external defense, made up of an imaginary line of cantons surrounding the Square at a distance of some 3 blocks. The idea was that the external defense would weaken the attackers so much that they would be unable to successfully attack the core defense. This external defense covered what are currently the streets called Sarmiento, Suipacha, Tacuarí and Belgrano, approximately. It had also been decided to defend the Retiro square and its Arsenal. The three Patricios battalions were deployed throughout the defenses.
General Gower proposed a plan that was not successful, based on the assumption that the enemy army would fight face to face on the streets. He proposed the displacement of one corp to take Retiro, an operation that was successful, while at the same time forming 8 columns to advance from the North and the South of the Square, squashing all resistance with bayonet attacks.
On the dawn of the 5th, the British began their attack from the axis formed by the current Callao-Entre Ríos avenues, advancing in columns of 6 to 7 soldiers abreast, drawing heavy fire from the houses and defenses, that caused them great losses: over 2800 men counting dead, wounded and prisoners. The viceroyship's army had some 200 casualties and 400 wounded. On the 6th, Whitelocke went to Retiro to concentrate his army there and continue the fight, but he had suffered such heavy losses that his officers convinced him to accept Linier's terms of surrender, since his army had lost its fighting spirit. The British Commander then proposed a 24 hour humanitarian truce, that was rejected by Liniers, forcing a capitulation that was signed on July 7.
This march was written by Major Rafael Yozia (b. 1927), as an homage to the corp of Patricios, distinguished in the defense of Buenos Aires.
