Battle of Perdriel
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| Lorenzo López Saves the Life of Gral. Juan Martín de Pueyrredón in the battle of Perdriel. |
The colonel Gillespie not is the only English who praised the benevolence with which the conquerors were treated by the main families of Buenos Aires. And if well the gentlemen showed certain reluctance in political matters, "the ladies –says– us compensated with excess the absence of those matters, with the animated chat, the fascinating sweetness and, by what never fail in their purposes, the desire of pleasing." Ignacio Núñez adds that, except for objections related to points of religion, the English "were particularly distinguished by the main families of the city, and their generals walked arm in arm through the streets, with the Marcos, the Escaladas and Sarrateas." And the lieutenant Linch reassured his mother with a letter in which he said: "Here not me consider as an enemy; the kindnesses of which I am object in all parts and especially those that me dispense the noble families of Lastra, Terrada, Sarratea and Goyena, are very great for attempt to explain them with words."
Be what be about these refinements, and of one that other romance with which Buenos Aires gifted to the English, we know that to many Spaniards and Creoles dominated them the rancor, the indignation, the shame; as was seen in the rudeness of the countryman Guanes, which had to cost him a beating with belts and a night in the stocks, in the pride of a foul-mouthed girl of the inn. "Astonished the people at seeing conquered the city by a handful of men that could undo with stones," soon began to react. "All we fled to hide in the farms and in the fields; but with the purpose of avenging ourselves," tells us José Melián. They had to "combine some plan to shake off the yoke that the English just imposed on them," says Trigo.
With much secrecy, some patriots began to mature the idea of reconquering the country. "I, who desired it with eagerness –would say Zelaya– and who had many friends with whom I met, I resolved immediately to work in this sense."
Indeed: in the 46 days of English domination there were complaisant ones who entertained the invaders with their gatherings, their sweets, and their waltzes. There were helpful spies who, by night, brought them the small snack of their betrayal. "We had in the city some hidden enemies," tells Gillespie. There were others who already practiced the "do not get involved" inside the city or moving away from it with some pretext. But, also, there were those who risked themselves to vindicate the masculinity stained that should have been in half of Buenos Aires: those who would risk their fortunes and their lives to expel the intruders. Among these dissenters was Zelaya. He was then 24 years old.
Various subversive groups intended to harass the English, each one in their own way. Gerardo Esteve Llach, with the help of Pepe "the Blond" (José Alday), wanted "to gather a portion of sailors," to capture with them the English ships that were at anchor and take them to Montevideo. But the young Felipe de Sentenach convinced him that "it would be better if they tried to see if they could achieve the reconquest of this plaza," for which it would be a good strike to install mines beneath the barracks occupied by English detachments.
For his part, Juan Vázquez Feijoo had proposed to Juan Trigo that on a determined day and at an agreed hour, they attack the parade and the detachment of the fort "with knife in hand."
Martín Rodríguez thought that, taking advantage of the habit of Beresford and Pack of going out for horseback rides with two soldiers up to the Paso de Burgos, they could be kidnapped.
Several conspirators who were with Liniers before he went to Montevideo in search of reinforcements, tried to dissuade him, and "they proposed to him several projects for an immediate movement"; but to him, they seemed some absurd and others very dangerous (Nuñez).
With the purpose of "gathering the spirits of the various factions and opinions that there were" and joining their efforts, Sentenach, Llach, Tomás Valencia, Trigo, and Vázquez met on the outer seats of the Plaza de Toros (Retiro) and decided to work together. New meetings were held at the house of the comedian Sinforiano, in the back room of Valencia’s bookstore, and in other homes, with the necessary secrecy, to discuss what should be done.
Don Martín de Alzaga, who was willing to contribute "all the money that was needed," summoned the conspirators for a decisive meeting at his house (today, Bolívar 370). In it, "each of the attendees proposed the idea that in his concept should be adopted"; and, "after having debated various plans to carry out the reconquest," they agreed on a common plan.
This agreement did not entirely conceal, however, the ill-will between the subversive group of "the Catalans," led by Sentenach and financed by Alzaga, with the "party" of Trigo and Vázquez. The resentment of these was particularly directed at Alzaga, whom his followers would come to call "the Father of the Homeland"; and his detractors, "Martincho Robespierre." And it would culminate later when Trigo accused Alzaga and the Catalans of having "ideas of independence" that were heard in the secret councils of the conspirators. More precisely, it was stated that in the back room of Valencia’s bookstore, they had talked about forming an independent republic after the reconquest. And perhaps something of this was overheard by an orphan girl that Valencia had; "because as a girl she sneaked in to hear everything, although sometimes they threw her out of the room, and she would go and come, either out of curiosity or with the purpose of bringing some mates." Such a "horrendous crime" could not be proven, which slander had attached like burrs to the honor of faithful vassals; but it gave them a grievance.
To all this would lead the rivalry of the Catalans with the "dependents" of Trigo, for the moment still united in a common subversive plan.
The Plan in Motion
The plan consisted of recruiting people, stockpiling horses, weapons, and ammunition, and placing explosive mines beneath the barracks where English detachments were stationed.
For the mines, they considered renting the house of Manuel Espinosa, in front of the first bastion of the Fort, towards La Merced; but as they could not, they rented the house next door, which had an entrance through La Alameda and belonged to P. Martiniano Alonso. To disguise it, a supposed carpentry was installed there.
Near the grounds of San Ignacio, on the streets of San Carlos and the Holy Trinity (Alsina and Bolívar), in the building that had belonged to the Procurator’s Office of the Missions, was installed the Fixed Infantry Barracks, commonly called Ranchería Barracks; in it, there was also an English detachment. Therefore, they rented, in its vicinity, the house of José Martínez de Hoz; and there the "miners" Bartolomé Tast and Isidoro Arnau dug the tunnel entrance to place the explosive. An armed group watched from the rooftop of the Café and billiards of José Marco.
Recruiting people carried the risk of being discovered by an informant. To avoid greater harm in this case, they adopted a cell system, the only contact being 5 volunteers; and each captain would be the head and only contact of 5 corporals.
In this they set out to see a subject who had told me he had 80 men ready –tells us Domingo Matheu–; but that they had to be given 4 reales daily until the reconquest." There was no issue: Alzaga had assured that they had "a great fund at disposal"; and he was not the only one contributing money.
The 27 of June at night, instructed to Cornelio Zelaya, who in little time recruited 72 countrymen. Each one received daily, at the prayer, their four reales (Honor for Hipólito Castañer, a modest laborer “who wanted nothing”). The canary Zerpa recruited 50 men. Others stockpiled white weapons and firearms. In some secret place, howitzers were being mounted. The conspirators did not rest.
Another relevant “leader” was Juan Martín de Pueyrredón, who had arrived from Montevideo with Manuel Arroyo to recruit countrymen and prepare provisioning, in support of the expedition of Liniers. “Pueyrredón passed us the word, that instantly found echo in all our friends” – tells us Melián. “We enlisted more than 300, who should meet armed on a given day in the Chacarita of the Colegiales,” adds Martín Rodríguez.
It had been arranged that the volunteers were concentrated and prepared outside the city. For that, the called “Chacra of Perdriel” was rented, a property situated 4 leagues from Buenos Aires (Villa Ballester, Street Roca 1860, 200 meters from kilometer 18 of Route 8), not far from the farm of Diego Cassero. It had taken the name of its former owner, the Frenchman Julián Perdriel, and later belonged to Domingo Belgrano. It was enclosed with thorny trees that bordered a ditch and had a building of two bodies and a terrace, whose rooms faced a central patio, closed with a gate.
In the night of the 26 of July, Trigo and Vázquez went with some 200 men towards the farm of Perdriel and installed the camp there. There are those who say that the objective was to call the attention of the enemy “and distract it from what was being executed in the city,” where “there was already enough scandal or murmur” about the conspiracy.
Certainly, “the enemies did not lack news about these movements” (Núñez), due to “their informers, of whom they had many” (Beruti).
One day (27 of July), while Zelaya was at his house with his friend Antonio Villalta, discussing details of the subversive plan, a constable of the Cabildo, nicknamed Petaca, came to look for him and said:
“Are you Mister Cornelio Zelaya?”
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“By order of His Excellency the Governor, you must present yourself immediately in the chapter hall, where His Excellency awaits you.”
“Very well. Tell His Excellency that I will go at once.”
Zelaya entered, meditating on a well-founded suspicion, and told Villalta:
- “Friend, they have discovered me! Beresford is calling for me, and it can only be to hang me. While I go to the billiard hall to see if I can find Palomares to arrange something, do me the favor of saddling my horse. As soon as I return, I will mount and ride to the countryside before they capture me. And you will lead the people to Perdriel.”
Indeed, Palomares was in the billiard hall, and upon learning that Beresford had found the end of the thread, he fled along with Zelaya, fearing being turned in “by so many informers.”
Both went to the farm of Francisco Orma, in Barracas, where they met with Diego Baragaña, Manuel Arroyo, José Pueyrredón, and other patriots who had gathered to go together to Luján, where they would join the forces of Juan Martín de Pueyrredón.
They left at dusk in the direction of the newly founded parish of San José, in the lands of Ramón Flores (today the neighborhood of Flores). From there, they took the road to Córdoba (today Gaona), which crossed the ravine of Morón by the north of Nuestra Señora del Camino (Morón), and at midnight, they reached the bridge of Pedro Márquez, from where they would continue to Luján.
Pueyrredón had gathered the contingent of countrymen summoned in the Chacarita of the Colegiales and in the Holy Places of Jerusalem (today San Martín), along with the dragoons that Commander Antonio Olavarría had collected on the frontier. Together, they returned towards the farm of Perdriel.
For their part, the Catalans had dispatched, on the 30 of July, a body of 50 riflemen and 4 howitzers under the command of Esquiaga and Anzoátegui, with the secret intent of replacing Trigo and Vázquez, either peacefully or forcibly, in the command of the camp. But they had not yet mounted the howitzers when they encountered an unexpected surprise.
Lugar del combate
Time To Fight
Informed Beresford of that concentration of forces and that they had few weapons, he decided to strike. At dawn on August 1st, a division of 500 infantry with two cannons, commanded by Colonel Pack and guided by the disgraced mayor Francisco González, left the city stealthily.
At 7 in the morning, they fell by surprise upon the farm of Perdriel and, in one swift blow, dismantled that camp of inexperienced men where, with little fortune, the homeland was beginning to be foreseen.
Although Beruti strives to prove that "the victory was ours" due to the stubborn resistance against the enemy, let us accept that, when the English deployed in battle line and opened fire at will, "the rout was total, without a single man remaining in the field," as Martín Rodríguez states. "Ours defended themselves bravely," affirms Sagui, "but could not avoid retreating with some losses." This is corroborated by the author of Diary of a Soldier, admitting that the patriots "fought like lions, but there was no other choice but to flee each as best they could."
With greater detail, Núñez tells us that the patriots insisted on fighting, despite the disadvantage of their weapons, forgetting that the main objective was to prepare to operate with the expedition that was expected to arrive at any moment. “The result was as it had to be: the supporters could not withstand the enemy’s volleys and fled in disorder, despite the heroic efforts of Citizen Pueyrredón and the brave volunteers who accompanied him.”
Yes, the confrontation was unequal. The determined effort of a hundred armed countrymen, the cries of Viva Santiago Apóstol! and Death to the heretics! were not enough to hold back that barrage for long. Olavarría retreated with his blandengues. The howitzers were abandoned. Confusion and panic spread. Suddenly, Pueyrredón and twelve horsemen appeared, launching a fierce charge against the enemy artillery, seizing a cart of ammunition. A bullet struck down Pueyrredón’s horse, but a comrade saved him. The English were victorious but stunned by the audacity of Pueyrredón’s men, among whom was Cornelio Zelaya. He was “one of the few intrepid ones who charged the enemy at my side,” Pueyrredón himself would later say. Palomares confirmed that Zelaya had been “one of those who helped seize the ammunition cart taken from the enemy.”
Pueyrredón, Zelaya, Francisco Orma, Francisco Trelles, José Bernaldez, and Miguel Mejía Mármol headed to San Isidro, where they boarded a boat that took them to Colonia, from where they would return with Liniers’ expedition.
Meanwhile, the scattered men from Perdriel regrouped at the Chacra de los Márquez (Boulogne, Thames Street, between Fondo de la Legua and the Panamericana), where they would meet the expeditionary forces.
When the time came for accusations and justifications, the Catalans blamed the failure at Perdriel on Trigo’s incompetence: “he is a thief who has squandered all the money for the reconquest” and, on the eve of battle, allowed gambling, drunkenness, and the constant presence of “women for dancing and jokes” in the camp. No less scathing were the accusations against Vázquez, who, coming into the city every night, “would speak at gatherings about everything that was being planned” with reckless carelessness. Sentenach added that, while the battle was raging, Vázquez appeared at Fornaguera’s house “dressed in an old poncho, a polished felt cap, and some sandals tied with leather strips”; and to avoid danger, he disguised himself as a friar and disappeared until after the reconquest when he reappeared in uniform once more.
Without adding or removing anything, we suppose that these disputes were influenced by the rivalry between the Catalans and the followers of Pueyrredón. This rivalry had a colorful outburst once in the hallway of Llach’s house when he, unwilling to send his men to San Isidro under Liniers’ command, lost his temper at a pestering interlocutor and responded, “flipping his fingers under his chin” three times: “Do you know what I will give Señor Liniers? A garlic!” (we record the euphemism as it appears in a famous lawsuit later aired publicly). “I do not work for others to take the glory!”
As events accelerated, the Catalans hurried to gather their men in Plaza Nueva (on today’s Carlos Pellegrini Street, between Cangallo and Sarmiento) and sent them to Retiro under Liniers’ command.
August 12
The hour of the reconquest had arrived. On one side were the victors: some disinterested, others ambitious, some opportunists, others dead. On the other side were “the heretics” and the traitors. Núñez recounts that gangs mercilessly targeted those “who had acted as informers” or aided the enemy with “other vile tasks,” dragging them out to be prosecuted, stripping them of everything—“even the iron bars from their houses.”
In that world of joy and tears, of shouts and silences, like a reawakening of the old virreinal Buenos Aires, stood, proud, that reckless young man whom Liniers had praised so highly for being “one of the citizens of this capital who fought most fervently from the beginning to free it from enemy rule.”
Thus had Cornelio Zelaya begun his service to his homeland. He would continue for many years, selflessly. At the end of them, he found himself alone with his memories, in poverty and obscurity. “Even the gold medals with which my homeland decorated me—I had to sell them for trinkets to feed my family…”
Source
Barrionuevo Imposti, Victor – Un combatiente de Perdriel.Efemérides – Patricios de Vuelta de Obligado.
Todo es Historia – Año XV, Nº 178, marzo de 1982.
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