Battle of the Vuelta de Obligado

The Obligado Cannon

Obligado's cannon responded to such insolent provocations.
His roar resonated in my heart.
Artillery Colonel Martiniano Chilavert.

Battle of the Vuelta de Obligado.

On November 20, 1845, on the banks of the Paraná, in a bend of the river called Vuelta de Obligado, near San Pedro; The memorable artillery battle took place between the troops of the Argentine Confederation and the naval fleets of England and France.
The two main world powers had become accustomed to imposing their commercial interests from the mouth of the guns of their powerful naval fleets. Egypt and China had already suffered its firepower, leaving Hong Kong as a trophy of savage imperialism, and later its victims would be Mexico and Venezuela. Old history that would be repeated in this century with the sole variation in the caliber of weapons.
In the Río de la Plata they counted as allies a group of ambitious politicians who had fled Buenos Aires to escape punishment for their crimes and others who put their ideology above their homeland.
The intervening fleet had blockaded the port of Buenos Aires, captured the island of Martín García and also the small Argentine naval fleet. They demanded, with no other right than the arrogance of their cannons, the free navigation of the interior rivers of the Republic. The obedience and cowardice of the exiles in Montevideo made them assume that they were facing another easily dominated republic.
But the habit, which they still maintain, of achieving easy triumphs through diplomatic pressure or the threat of force, collided with the iron stance of a ruler who was neither pusillanimous nor corrupt. General Juan Manuel de Rosas fought them on all fronts. In the diplomat with his skillful management of the enemy's weaknesses and with the invaluable collaboration of General San Martín; in the financial sector, causing heavy losses and a conflict on their internal front; and in the military, giving them a battle that caused the admiration of the aggressors themselves.
On the morning of November 20, the ships of the fleet took position in front of the batteries that General Lucio Norberto Mansilla, a veteran of Chacabuco and Maipú, had hastily ordered to be built. The design of the batteries was in charge of the hero of that day, Colonel Juan Bautista Thorne. The entire width of the river was crossed by three lines of chains placed on barges and dismantled boats, which were tied at one end to three anchors and at the other to the brig “Republicano”, under the command of Captain Tomás Craig, an Irishman who had arrived in Buenos Aires. Aires with the English invasion of 1806 and after becoming a Creole he fought in the Northern Army under the orders of Belgrano, and carried out the Peruvian campaign with San Martín.
They managed to build four of the seven batteries that were planned. These were: the “Restaurador” battery with 6 pieces under the command of Senior Adjutant Alvaro de Alzogaray; the “General Brown” battery with 8 pieces under the command of Lieutenant. Eduardo Brown, son of the Admiral; the “General Mansilla” with 8 pieces, commanded by Lieutenant. of artillery Felipe Palacios and, beyond the chains that closed the passage of the river, the “Manuelita” battery with 7 pieces (two flying trains) under the command of Colonel Juan B. Thorne. Most Argentine cannons were 10-pounders and only a few were 24-pounders.
To the right of the batteries, in a forest, the troops of the Buenos Aires Patricios Regiment and its military band were stationed, under the orders of Colonel Ramón Rodriguez. Behind the “Restaurador” battery there was a rural body of 100 men under the command of Lt. Juan Gainza, followed by the militiamen of San Nicolás under the command of Cte. Barreda and another rural corps under the command of Colonel Manuel Virto.
The reserve was commanded by Colonel José M. Cortina and included two cavalry squadrons under the orders of Aide Julián del Río and Lt. Facundo Quiroga, son of the Tigre de los Llanos. Behind the reserve were about 300 neighbors, including women, from San Pedro, Baradero and San Antonio de Areco, who gathered at the last minute, armed with what they could bring.
The fleet was made up of eleven ships with a total of 99 guns, most of them 32-pounders, some 80-pounders and others with the Paixhans fuze-based bullet system whose explosives wreaked havoc on the defense.
At 9 in the morning the English ship Philomel launched the first cannon shot, the Patricios Regiment band broke into the chords of the National Anthem and the Argentine batteries began to respond with cheers to the country.
In a few minutes, the quiet banks of the Paraná became an imitation of hell. About forty projectiles per minute were launched from both sides, causing widespread casualties among the Confederate troops. At eleven o'clock a group of French infantry tried to disembark and was attacked by Virto's troops, most of them perishing under the Argentine sabers or drowning while fleeing.


General Lucio N. Mansilla

Towards noon, General Mansilla sent a report to Rosas telling him that he did not know how much longer he could hold off the enemy since his ammunition was running out. However, the fire from the Argentine batteries had managed to knock out the Pandour and Dolphin ships and caused serious damage to other ships; but the cost in lives among the Creole artillerymen was very high. Captain Craig had to sink the brig “Republicano” that was already almost dismantled with cannon fire and reunited with his remaining men in the shore batteries.
At four in the afternoon, the English protected by the ship Fireband managed to cut the chains and surpass the defenses. On the ground, only the Manuelita battery responded, whose leader, Colonel Thorne, caused the admiration of the enemies, giving orders from the top of his position with his entire body exposed to enemy fire. General Mansilla ordered him to cease fire and withdraw, but Thorne rejected the order, responding that his guns demanded that he fire until he won or died. He remained in that position until a cannon shot made him fly through the air, leaving him seriously injured and deaf for life. His soldiers removed him from the field, taking him to the convent of San Lorenzo.
Towards evening, when there were no longer any cannons or artillerymen standing, the invaders landed; Mansilla ordered the enemy to be charged but a shot of shrapnel knocked him down, wounding him in the stomach. Then Colonel Ramón Rodriguez led the attack with the Patricians, giving them a brilliant charge with the bayonet but finally he had to retreat due to the numerical superiority of the enemy.
The Argentine flag that, stained with blood, was taken by the English at the Thorne battery, would be returned 38 years later by Admiral Sullivan (captain of the Philomel) as a sign of his admiration for the head of the Manuelita battery.
In Obligado the interveners had 150 casualties and the Confederation troops had 650 casualties. It was, if you will, an Anglo-French victory. But shortly after, the invaders would understand that the wise words of San Martín, who predicted disaster for them, were a reality. It was impossible to get a foothold and stay in Argentine territory; On the contrary, they were fought throughout the entire length of the Paraná. Quebracho, Ensenada, Acevedo, Tonelero and San Lorenzo marked serious setbacks for the fleet and fundamentally demonstrated the impossibility of maintaining commercial traffic, which was its main objective. The English first and then the French ended up bowing and abiding by the will of the Argentine people.
At this end of the century dominated by the “verse” of globalization, it is good that we remember the examples left by the great men of our history such as Rosas, San Martín and the heroes of Obligado. As the Catalan poet said: “Let the merchant not traffic / with what a people wants to be.”

Oscar Fernando Larrosa (h)

“La Nueva Provincia”, November 20th, 1999, page 7.