THE LANDING OF THE ENGLISH
The commission held by Don Marcelino Ponce de Leon designated him as a
captain of militia, but having a separate command he was known at
Ensenada as the "Comandante de los Morenos." On presenting himself to
his uncle he was ordered to encamp his men near to the river-side to the
north of the town. The land about there was very swampy, and "paja" grew
in great luxuriance; the negroes made themselves little huts with this
paja, in which a man could neither sit nor stand upright, but in which
he could lie at full length and sleep at his ease, quite sufficiently
protected from the night dews or rain. A small rancho close at hand was
taken by Marcelino for his own accommodation, and here he spent rather
more than a fortnight, always on the alert, and practising his negroes
at target shooting in addition to their regular drills.
On the 26th June his brother Evaristo galloped into his encampment,
bringing him letters from the quinta and from the city. Among them was a
short one from his friend Evaña, accompanying a sort of circular letter
which he had addressed to Don Gregorio Lopez and to several other
leading citizens of Buenos Aires.
"I have done what I can," he said in his letter to Marcelino, "but it is
all in vain; the English insist upon the surrender of the city, and
their new general, Whitelock, brings with him his commission as Governor
of Buenos Aires, with a salary of £12,000 per annum. This Whitelock
appears to me to be very inferior to General Beresford both in
intelligence and in military skill, but as he has some first-class
officers with him. Although I cannot join you in defence of the flag of
Spain, I sympathise greatly with your mistaken heroism. Would that I
could wish you success, but I cannot. Your victory will be a misfortune
to our country, and the welfare of our country must with me override all
personal feeling. Vale."
Marcelino had filled up many a lonely evening during the past summer and
autumn by reading in that book whose chief lesson, as his friend Gordon
had told him, was faith. As he read he became more and more convinced
that the book was the Word of God, and that the lessons it taught were
of Divine authority. As he applied these lessons to his own actions, he
became confirmed in his opinion that his present course was the right
one to pursue. If they beat off the English armament they might thereby
forge fresh fetters for themselves, but Marcelino had learnt in this
book that to do right and to leave the result to God was the essence of
faith. He was satisfied that he was doing right, and that the result
would be in some unseen way for the future welfare of his country.
As the bugles sounded the reveillé the next morning, there came a knock
of the door of the rancho in which Marcelino had taken up his quarters.
He sprang from his catre, and, hurrying on a few clothes, opened the
door.
"Adelante," he said, and a negro sergeant stepped into the room.
"Señor Comandante," said the sergeant, "the Señor Lieutenant sends me to
advise you that the river is covered with ships, which appear to be
coming here."
As the door opened Evaristo had also awakened. As the sergeant spoke he
sprang up, shouting:
"The English! and I shall be one of the first to see them. What luck!"
Marcelino rapidly dressed himself, buckled on his sword, and with
Evaristo beside him walked up to a small hillock in front of his
encampment which overlooked the river, and on which it had been his
constant practice since his arrival there to have a sentry at all hours
on the look-out. The sentry was still there, wrapped up in a thick,
striped poncho, and walking rapidly backwards and forwards. As Marcelino
approached he drew himself up, presented arms, and then resumed his
rapid walk up and down. On the hillock stood another man wrapped in a
large cloak, gazing steadfastly towards the river. As the sentry
presented arms he turned and raised his hand to his cap in a military
salute.
"Buenos dias, Asneiros," said Marcelino, returning his salute; "it
appears that we have them at last."
"So it appears, Señor Comandante," replied the other.
Asneiros was a Spaniard who had formerly been a sergeant in the garrison
of Chascomus. He was now first lieutenant of the negro corps, and was
greatly trusted by Marcelino. This trust he merited, for he was a very
active officer, but he was a rigid disciplinarian and very severe. The
negroes obeyed him from fear only; their commandant they obeyed with
cheerful alacrity, for his treatment of them, while always strict,
showed a constant care for their comfort, and a due appreciation of
their efforts to please him.
It was a bright, clear morning. The muddy waters of La Plata, flowing
slowly and silently onwards towards the great ocean, broke in rippling
wavelets upon the shelving beach at the foot of the hillock. The sun had
not yet risen, but the eastern sky was lighted up with the radiance
which marshalled his approach. The light grey clouds which hung low on
the horizon lifted themselves like a veil of gossamer tinged the rainbow
hues, heralding the advent of a new-born day. Under these light clouds,
away across a wide expanse of dark, still water, the line of the horizon
was broken by a multitude of dark objects of uncertain form; now
clustering together and merging one into the other, anon scattering
themselves and losing their identity as they were hidden from sight by
the clouds of dawn, changing continually.
Side by side stood the two brothers watching them, neither speaking a
word, each communing with his own thoughts, but in manner of thought
differing as their natures differed; the one pondering with the
far-stretching thought of a man, the other with the careless confidence
of a boy eager after novelty; upon both there came a sense of awe which
kept them silent. As they stood so watching, the sun arose steadily from
behind the line of dark waters, and it was day. Then the line of the
horizon stretched farther and farther away, the dark objects which had
broken that line faded, and the first beams of the morning sun fell
diagonally upon the white sails of a vast fleet of ships.
As the sun rose, a breeze ruffled the calm surface of the river and
swept over the hillock where the brothers stood; at the same moment
Marcelino heard a footstep behind him and awoke from his reverie with a
shiver. He looked round, his uncle Colonel Lopez stood beside him.
"Will it be they?" asked the colonel.
"Without doubt," answered Marcelino. "But they are far off yet, and it
is cold; come, let us take coffee."
Three hours later all doubt was at an end, the breeze, though light, was
favourable to the hostile squadron, which came steadily on under easy
sail. Again Colonel Lopez with his two nephews and Lieutenant Asneiros
stood on the hillock watching it. They understood nothing of naval
affairs and could not tell one ship from another, yet even their eyes
could see that they sailed on in perfect order, each ship in its own
station and keeping at due distance from the one before it. The leading
ships were men-of-war of light draught, brigs and gunboats; they had men
in their chains throwing the lead continually, but from the confidence
with which they advanced in the deep channel, avoiding the shoals, it
was evident that their course was already marked out for them. From the
gaff of each of these ships waved the white standard, bearing the red
cross of Saint George, and from their main trucks streamed the long
pennant which marked them as men-of-war. After them came transports
crowded with troops, and deeply laden with stores and ammunition, many
of them with every sail set, and yet thus only just able to keep their
places as marked for them by the swifter, lighter built men-of-war.
These ships carried the red ensign. Beyond them again came larger ships,
sloops-of-war, with their ports triced up and guns run out.
As the watchers gazed two of the brigs crowded on sail and, running
rapidly in, cast anchor, one nearly in front of the hillock upon which
they stood, the other farther to the south. Between them lay a long
stretch of flat shore, where boats might safely run aground, and where
any force attempting to oppose a landing would come under the fire of
their guns.
"Against these we can do nothing," said Colonel Lopez, as he counted the
guns which frowned from the sides of the nearest brig. "Put your men
under arms and march them to the highroad."
In half-an-hour the negroes, with their baggage mules and camp equipage,
marched off under the command of Lieutenant Asneiros; and Marcelino,
after seeing them safe through the swamp to the firm ground beyond,
returned on horseback to the hillock accompanied by Evaristo on his
pony.
No attempt was made by the invaders to land that day, many of the
transports did not come to anchor till nearly sundown. The negroes were
encamped on the high ground about a league from their former station,
patrols of cavalry were set to watch the coast all night, and Colonel
Lopez took his two nephews with him to his quarters at the village of
Ensenada, whence he sent off a despatch to General Liniers, acquainting
him with the arrival of the hostile squadron off that place, but stated
that as they had made no attempt to land it might yet be their intention
to proceed farther north and to disembark nearer to the city.
The next morning at daylight all three were again in the saddle, and
rode to the hillock from which they had watched the enemy on the day
previous. Evaristo was most unusually silent that morning, keeping near
to his brother continually and wistfully watching him. Marcelino had
hardly spoken to him, but frequently when beside him he had stretched
out his hand caressing him, and when he had spoken his voice had a
gentle tenderness in its tones which filled the boy's mind with vague
apprehensions of misfortune.
In the hollow behind the hillock, close to where the negroes had had
their encampment, a body of cavalry was drawn up where they could not be
seen from the river. The English ships were now at anchor, their sails
either furled or hanging loose in the brails, boats flitted to and fro
among them or hung in clusters at the sides of some bluff-bowed
transport. One large sloop yet lay some distance off, with her top sails
backed and with lines of small flags fluttering in the air from the
trucks of her stately masts. On the gun-brigs and on some of the
transports other lines of flags ran up to the mast-heads in answer to
these signals. The decks of the transports were crowded with
scarlet-coated men, and as the ships rose and fell, swinging to their
anchors, the beams of the rising sun glinted on polished steel.
Marcelino had seen these red coats before and knew them again, they were
the trained soldiery of England, and on the decks of the transports they
swarmed by thousands; but what he had never seen before was an English
fleet, and now his gaze was riveted upon the vast armament, so powerful
yet so completely under control. As he looked upon them his face flushed
and he exclaimed, heedless that any heard him:
"Ah! if we had these with us, what need we fear from Spain?"
Evaristo bent forward on his pony's neck and looked wonderingly at his
brother, but Colonel Lopez, who had dismounted, stamped his foot angrily
and seemed about to make some hasty reply, when from the far side of the
nearest brig there darted out a long jet of grey smoke, and a few
seconds afterwards the dull boom of a heavy gun cut short the words ere
they had passed his lips. Down came the lines of fluttering flags from
the mast-heads of the large ships outside, then three round balls of
coloured bunting ran up in a string to the main truck, and as they
reached that giddy height burst open and became three flags; then from
one of the ports on her lower deck there leaped a bright flash, a jet of
smoke, and sharp through the maze of shipping sounded the report of the
gun which gave the signal for shore.
The roar of that gun echoed in the hearts of the three watchers as a
knell. An infant people had struck down the flag of a mighty nation and
had it trailed in the dust; in all the pomp and imposing majesty of
mature strength a nation came to try conclusions once more with an
infant people.
In an instant the open water between the lines of transports was filled
with boats crowded with the red-coated soldiery, the crews of the
nearest ships sprang into the rigging waving their hats and shouting,
the soldiers responded by a ringing cheer. Then the stout oarsmen bent
their backs, the oars as though moved by one hand took the water, and
swiftly, in long, regular lines, the flotilla glided over the shallow
water to the land.
"Look, uncle!" said Evaristo, pointing to the nearest brig.
Colonel Lopez was at that moment thinking to himself, whether by a rush
of his horsemen upon the boats as they grounded he could not inflict
serious injury upon the foe; what Evaristo pointed out to him gave him
his answer at once. By some means, inexplicable to the colonel, the brig
had been warped round on her anchor till she lay nearly stem on to the
hillock; the brass tompions had been removed from the muzzles of her
guns, and now her whole broadside swept the low-lying land for which the
boats were making.
"Basta!" said the colonel, "we have seen them. Now let Liniers do what
he can with them."
Stooping from the saddle, Marcelino put his arms round his brother's
neck and embraced him.
"You have seen them, now go," he said. "One kiss for mamita," and he
kissed him again.
"But you, Marcelino! Let me----"
"Mamita waits thee," answered Marcelino, as the soft tenderness of his
face faded into an expression of stern command.
Evaristo answered no more, but throwing his arms round his brother's
neck he kissed him eagerly, then gathering up his reins, he drew the
back of his hand across his eyes and galloped off.
Half-an-hour later a strong force of the English with two guns had
landed; they were apparently about to make some forward movement, when
Colonel Lopez, who had all this time watched them in silence, turned to
his nephew and said:
"Rejoin your negroes and march by the highroad to the Puente Galvès,
there you will halt and await orders from General Liniers, I will keep
these in sight."
Marcelino touched his hat and rode off; the colonel, leaving the
hillock, remounted his horse, and dividing his men into small
detachments prepared to keep a careful watch on all the movements of the
invaders.
* * * * *
Two hours after sunrise, on the 1st July, a chasque from Colonel Lopez
galloped through the streets of Buenos Aires at headlong speed; as he
passed along, many shouted to him "What news?"
The stolid paisano answered nothing but galloped straight on, and only
drew rein in the Plaza Mayor, where he dismounted in front of the
Cabildo and inquired for General Liniers.
"Are you a chasque?" asked a young officer.
"I am."
"Where from?"
"From away yonder."
"What news?"
"A letter for the Señor Reconquistador."
"He is very busy, is it anything urgent?"
"I have orders to deliver it immediately, and into his own hand."
"Then follow me."
In a large upper room the members of the Cabildo were met together in
consultation. Don Gregorio Lopez was the only native member of that
body, and had been only recently appointed, the others were all
Spaniards. Don Gregorio had just read to them part of a letter he had
received some days previously from Don Carlos Evaña.
"From this letter, Señores," he said, "it is evident that the Señor
Evaña considers it impossible that we oppose any effectual resistance to
the powerful force which is now coming against us. Resistance will only
cause useless bloodshed and expose the city to all the horrors of a sack
by infuriated soldiery. He counsels us to surrender the city and then to
attempt some negotiation."
At this a low murmur of disapproval ran round the room, and several
cried: "No! no!"
"I pray you to listen to me yet, Señores," continued Don Gregorio,
"though I fear I shall try your patience. We none of us wish to see our
country disgraced, but it is well that we shut not our eyes to the peril
which hangs over us. We have but one experienced soldier among us, the
only troops upon which we can place any confidence are collected here in
our city, if in an unequal struggle our general be killed and our troops
dispersed we are left completely at the mercy of our invaders."
"True, true," replied Don Martin Alzaga, who as "Alcalde de primer
voto," was president of the Cabildo. "And he who has Buenos Aires has
everything; but Buenos Aires is not to be swallowed in one mouthful."
"Last year," said Liniers, starting to his feet, "Beresford took our
city by surprise, but he had not everything. In one month our city
became a trap, in which we caught him like a wild beast in a net. Now we
are ready, and have an army; I for my part wish only one thing, that
they may make up their minds to advance from Ensenada upon the city, and
so give me a chance of meeting them in the open field. The first army
that Buenos Aires has ever raised shall hurl the haughty English back
again to their ships in disgrace."
"I do not know whether it will be easy to drive the English back to
their ships, but we must defend the city to the last extremity," said
Don Martin Alzaga.
"I am quite of your opinion, Don Martin," said Don Gregorio; "but I am
sorry to say that I cannot consider the army able to meet the English in
the open field. Therefore with all due deference to the greater
experience of the illustrious Señor Reconquistador, I beg to submit to
you whether it would not be better to turn our attention solely to the
defence of the city. The flat roofs of our houses, and the barred
windows, make each block a separate fortress; by cutting ditches across
the ends of the streets we can in a very few days surround the city with
a continuous line of fortifications, we can call upon every man in the
city to aid in the defence of these lines, and can direct the whole
strength of the troops at once upon the point which may be most
seriously menaced. The chief advantage which the English have over us is
their superior discipline, which will avail them little in the narrow
streets of the suburbs."
At this most of the assembly looked grave; such a step seemed to them an
admission of weakness, and there was a general murmur of dissent as Don
Gregorio resumed his seat. General Liniers glanced rapidly round the
room, and then with a smile on his face rose to reply.
"Permit me, Señor Don Gregorio," said he, "to congratulate you upon the
knowledge you have so unexpectedly shown on military matters, but I do
not at all agree with you. So long as I retain the command in chief I do
not intend to let the English approach within cannon-shot of the city;
if I fall there will be time enough to dig ditches and fortify the
azoteas, in which case, Señores, you know now where you may find my
successor."
"Señores," said Don Gregorio, very calmly, "I make no pretence to any
knowledge of military affairs, but the words I have spoken have not been
spoken unadvisedly. The Señor Evaña has to some extent studied the
science of war. He has surveyed the city, and has drawn up a plan of
defence, which I have with me now. In his letter to me he adds in a
postscript, "If you still determine on resistance remember the plan I
gave you, that is your only chance." Now, Señores, I appeal to you. Why
not----"
Here the speaker was interrupted by the entrance of a young officer.
"A chasque from Quilmes for the Señor General," he said.
"Admit him," said Liniers.
The officer stepped back and ushered into the room a slight-built man of
a clear yellowish complexion, with long black hair which flowed down
over his shoulders. He wore a striped poncho, which covered him
completely down to his knees, below which appeared his boots, each made
of the skin from the hind leg of a colt, a boot which had no seam in it,
and was waterproof except where the great toe projected for the purpose
of holding the stirrup. He held his hat in his hand, and as he came
forward his huge iron spurs clanked at each step he took.
"I seek the Señor General Liniers," said he, looking round him with the
greatest nonchalance, and tossing his poncho on to his shoulder to free
his arm as he drew a letter from a pocket in the tirador which he wore
round his waist.
"I am he," said General Liniers.
"A letter from the Señor Colonel Lopez."
"You can retire," said Liniers, as he took the letter, "but remain at
hand, I may want you."
Liniers returned to his seat, and did not open the letter until the man
had retired.
"Señores, with your permission," said he, as soon as the door was
closed; then breaking the seal he opened the letter. As he read it his
face flushed with a proud joy, then rising to his feet he looked
steadily at each of the watching faces before him.
"Señores, they come," he said; then as no one answered, each waiting
breathlessly for his next word, he continued, "and we, we are ready; I
shall at once give orders that the alarm-guns be fired, and then each
man to his post. Wait till I have given the order, and then I will read
you the letter."
In five minutes an aide-de-camp was walking rapidly across the Plaza
Mayor with an order to the commandant of artillery stationed in the fort
from the commander-in-chief, and Liniers, taking up the letter from
Colonel Lopez, read as follows:--
"La Reduction de Quilmes,
"1 de Julio 1807,
"à las 7 de la mañana.
"A su Excelencia,
"El General Don Santiago Liniers,
"Excelentissimo Señor,
"As I had the honour to advise Y. E. in my despatches of the
27th June and of each day following, the enemy's fleet anchored
near to the Ensenada de Barragan on the 27th, and on the
following day landed a large force about half-a-league to the
northward of that town. For two days I have watched them as
closely as was consistent with the safety of my men, and have
had several skirmishes with their foraging parties and advanced
posts without being able with my cavalry to make any
considerable impression upon them. As far as I can estimate they
appear to be from ten to twelve thousand men perfectly equipped,
and with a large park of artillery, but they have no cavalry, or
very few. Their entire force is now clear of the swamps, and is
echelloned on the highroad between this and the Ensenada. Of
their intention there can be no longer any doubt; they are this
morning marching straight upon the Puente Galvès; their advanced
guard is already within a league of this.
"I shall continue myself with my cavalry in observation of their
movements, but have despatched the infantry corps under the
command of Captain Ponce de Leon to occupy the Puente Galvès.
Doubtless this officer has already reported to himself to Y. E.
"The advanced guard of the enemy, which marches more than a
league in advance of the main body, consists apparently of about
3000 men with four guns.
"I shall this evening concentrate my forces and encamp in the
neighbourhood of the Puente Galvès, where I shall await orders
from Y. E.
"God keep your Excellency many years,
"S.S.,
"Gregorio Lopez, hijo."
"Señores," said Liniers, as he finished reading, "I shall put myself at
the head of the troops and march at once against the invader. I shall do
my duty, I feel sure my troops will do theirs; I shall return
victorious, or you will never see me again. Meantime I leave to you the
care of the city, and trust that you will attend with the utmost speed
to any requisition for supplies that I may make upon you."
"Señores," said Don Martin Alzaga, "we are grateful to the illustrious
soldier who has just spoken for the confidence he has placed in us. To
show our appreciation of his trust, and our determination to aid him to
the utmost of our ability, I propose that this Cabildo declare itself in
permanent session so long as the danger lasts, and that we devote our
time exclusively to such measures as may be requisite for the public
safety."
"Agreed! agreed!" shouted the various members, rising from their seats.
The words had hardly passed their lips ere the roar of a heavy gun from
the fort shook the windows of the room, and drowned the sound of their
voices. They paused, looking at one another, till another heavy gun, and
then another, spoke to the startled city, telling the news that they had
just received, that the foe was at hand. Then crowding round Liniers,
each man shook him by the hand, wishing him God speed. So the
Reconquistador went forth from them in proud confidence, to win fresh
laurels or a hero's grave.
Scarcely had the echoing voices of the alarm guns ceased to reverberate
in the long narrow streets of the city, than from every tower in every
church there sprang the clanging sound of bells. No peaceful voice was
that of these bells calling worshippers to prayer, it was the fierce
clang of alarm calling upon men to hurry forth to battle and to
slaughter. Through all the city, into every home and household, rushed
this voice of terror, surprising the tradesman at his desk, the artisan
at his bench or forge, the student at his books, and the man of wealth
amid the luxuries of a life of ease. To all, the roar of the guns and
the clangour of the bells spoke one message:
"The foe is at our gates; arm, and go forth to meet him."
The summons, though startling, was expected. Each man left at once his
occupation, whatever it might be; the shops were closed, the bench and
forge were deserted, the books were cast aside, and the man of no
occupation found one which might perchance last him for his life-course
yet to run.
Everything had been prepared for this moment; each company of the
militia had its own point of rendezvous, each regiment had its
headquarters, what each man had to do was to arm and proceed at once to
his station. There was hurry and bustle throughout the city, the usually
quiet streets were thronged with groups of armed men pressing eagerly
onwards, mothers kissed their sons with tearful eyes, wives strained
husbands to their bosoms in one last embrace, but there was no faltering
or hanging back. Buenos Aires felt herself strong, and grudged not the
blood of her best and dearest in the most righteous of all causes, the
defence of home and fatherland, for Buenos Aires was a child as yet, and
her childhood was heroic.
Each company of militia as it collected marched off to the regimental
headquarters; the regiments concentrated in the Plaza de Los Perdices,
where General Liniers received them, having with him already a strong
force of regular troops, comprising almost the entire garrison of the
city.
To each regiment was allotted its place in the line of battle, the
Patricios claiming as their right the post of honour, at the head of the
column on the march, on the right flank in action. About an hour before
sundown the whole force was marshalled in order, and marched away
through the city and out by the wide, sandy road which led to the Puente
Galvès, now the Barraca bridge.
Men, women, and children crowded in the streets through which they
passed, gazing upon them in silence, broken only by words of farewell as
some well-known face passed by amid all the pomp of military display.
Many a tearful eye watched them, many a heart throbbed wildly, but as
the eyes looked along those serried files, and glanced at the apparently
interminable lines of bayonets, the hearts swelled with confidence.
Buenos Aires trusted proudly in the champions to whom she had confided
her honour and her defence.