Lieut. C. Brickdale, H.M. sloop 'Comus,' killed; Mr. G. Andrews,
clerk in charge H.M. brigantine 'Dolphin,' killed; Lieut. C. Doyle,
H.M.S. 'Philomel,' very severely wounded--lost arm; Mr. R. Warren,
second-master of ditto; Mr. J. Gallagher, assistant-surgeon of ditto;
Mr. T. Ellstob, assistant-clerk of ditto--all slightly wounded.
Lieut. A. C. Key, 'Fanny,' tender, slightly wounded; 'Gorgon,' one
seaman, one marine, one boy, slightly wounded; 'Firebrand,' one
seaman killed, one seaman severely wounded; 'Philomel,' one seaman
killed, two seamen, one boy very severely wounded, and two seamen
slightly wounded; 'Comus,' one boy killed, two seamen slightly
wounded; 'Dolphin,' three seamen and one boy killed, six seamen
severely wounded, two seamen slightly wounded. Total, 9 killed, 24
wounded.
When we consider the small size of the vessels employed, and the
light weight of their metal brought up to oppose immensely strong
stone batteries, with heavy guns posted on the summit of
perpendicular cliffs, this action may take rank as one of the most
gallant on record.
In consequence of it, Captain C. Hotham was made a Commander of the
Order of the Bath, Commander B. J. Sulivan was posted, and Lieuts.
Inglefield, Levinge, Doyle, and Key, were made commanders; R. Howe,
gunner's mate, was made a gunner; and W. Ross, caulker's mate, was
made a warrant officer; both of whom, though severely wounded, had
refused to quit their quarters till the battle was over.
Two ships of war being left to prevent the enemy offering any
obstruction to the navigation of the Parana, the squadron proceeded
to convoy a fleet of merchantmen up the river.
[1] The following extract from a letter, written by an officer of the
squadron, will more clearly explain the state of affairs:--
"It is somewhat difficult to describe correctly the precise causes of
the fratricidical war which for so long devastated those liberated
Spanish Provinces of South America, the Argentine and Oriental
Republics. It would be even still more difficult to state what were
the aims of the combatants; for when questioned themselves on the
subject, each man had a specific cause of complaint, and a specific
remedy for the evils they wished to cure. The different causes of
this wretched condition may be resolved into one--the misgovernment
of the mother-country, which causing them to throw off their
allegiance to her, left them without a recognized ruler; the bad
education, or rather the entire want of it, the result of which has
been a general moral and and political profligacy, discord, and
confusion. On looking at the map of South America, the magnificent
river of Parana will be seen running a course of many hundred miles
nearly north and south before it falls into the river Plate, and has
on the east side the provinces of Paraguay, Entre Rios, and Banda
Oriental; and on the west and south those of Santa Fe and Buenos
Ayres, comprised under the general name of La Plata. These provinces
the Buenosarian President, General Rosas, wished to unite in one
Confederation with himself, nominally as President, but doubtlessly
as Dictator or Emperor. The party opposing him called themselves
Unitarios, professing to wish to unite all of them into one state;
and for this slight difference of opinion, they for many years were
employed to the utmost of their power in knocking each other on the
head. The Buenosarian forces having blockaded Monte Video, and shut
up or captured some French merchantmen, the French sent a squadron to
take satisfaction, and to open up the commerce of the Plate. The
English soon followed their example, but Rosas boldly set their power
at defiance: the combined squadron, however, were always successful
in their operations, and fought their way with convoys of merchantmen
many hundreds of miles up the river Parana. In England, when
speaking of a river, one thinks of such respectable little streams as
the Thames or the Rhine, but we must remember that everything in
America is on a gigantic scale: estates are measured by square
leagues instead of by acres: herds of cattle and horses are counted
by thousands; trees are upwards of a hundred feet high; and rivers
are many miles broad and thousands in length. This will enable us to
understand the possibility of making a trip of three or four hundred
miles up a river, such as the Parana.