Capture of Port Egmont

Capture of Port Egmont

Date	June 10, 1770 (1770-06-10)
Location	Port Egmont, Saunders Island, Falkland Islands
Participants	Spain, Great Britain
Outcome	Garrison surrendered, detained 20 days and released Beginning of the Falklands Crisis.
Deaths	none

The Capture of Port Egmont on 10 June 1770 was a Spanish expedition that seized the British fort of Port Egmont, garrisoned since 1765. The incident nearly led to an outbreak of war between Great Britain and Spain, known as the Falklands Crisis.

The Spanish authorities in Buenos Aires, having been made aware of the British settlement, began issuing warnings to the British to leave the islands, which were considered Spanish territory. The British issued similar warnings to the Spanish to leave British territory. The British were under orders from their Admiralty to order citizens of countries that were not at war with Britain to leave the Islands. If they refused to leave, the British were not allowed to use force, unless it was in self defence.

British noncompliance to leave was met by Spanish force. Some 1,400 Spanish soldiers in five ships were dispatched from the Argentine mainland to drive the British out of West Falkland. The British contingent could not resist such a force, so after firing their guns, they capitulated on terms, an inventory of their stores being taken, and were permitted to return to their own country in the Favourite.

Background

The Spanish were aware of the British presence on the Falklands before they took control of the French colony at Port Louis and renamed it Puerto Soledad in January 1767. On the 28th of November, 1769, the officer in charge of the garrison on Saunders Island, Captain Anthony Hunt, observed a Spanish schooner hovering about island surveying it. He sent the commander a message, by which he required of him to depart. An exchange of letters followed where each side asserted sovereignty and demanded the other depart. Hunt stated categorically that the Falkland Islands belonged to Britain and demanded that the Spanish leave.

Spanish capture

A squadron of frigates was dispatched by Francisco Bucareli, the governor of Buenos Aires, to expel the British. General Juan Ignacio de Madariaga’s frigates Industria, Santa Bárbara, Santa Catalina, and Santa Rosa, plus the Xebec Andaluz carrying 1,400 soldiers and a siege train under Colonel Don Antonio Gutiérrez, surprised the British settlement at Port Egmont. Although the British had erected a wooden blockhouse and an eight-gun battery of 12-pounders, they were no match for the Spanish force.

The Spaniards waded ashore and, after a token exchange of shots, Commander William Maltby and Commander George Farmer sued for terms. They and other settlers were detained for 20 days then permitted to sail for England aboard their sole remaining vessel, the 16-gun Favourite (the Swift had sunk at Port Desire three months before). The new occupiers renamed the town Cruzada and took over ownership. When news reached Britain it produced a public outcry.

Paris refused to back Madrid in its predicament, so the Spaniards were eventually obliged to back down on 22 January 1771, alleging the seizure has been done without Charles III’s authorization, offering to restore Port Egmont as it existed before being captured. By April the 32-gun frigate HMS Juno of Captain John Stott arrived to resume British rule, accompanied by the 14-gun Hound and the storeship Florida.

As part of a system of retrenchment, Britain withdrew the forces from the Falklands in 1774. However, the British Charge d’Affaire later noted in a protest in 1829 that; The withdrawal of His Majesty’s forces from these islands, in the year 1774, cannot be considered as invalidating His Majesty’s just rights. That measure took place in pursuance of a system of retrenchment, adopted at that time by His Britannic Majesty’s Government. But the marks and signals of possession and property were left upon the islands. When the Governor took his departure, the British flag remained flying, and all those formalities were observed which indicated the rights of ownership, as well as an intention to resume the occupation of that territory, at a more convenient season.

Aftermath

News of this forcible eviction created much commotion in Britain. The British government was outraged at what it considered to be a despicable act, and the incident nearly led to an outbreak of war against Spain.

Some amount of rationality prevailed, however, and after a series of intense negotiations between the two maritime powers, they reached agreement on the restitution of the former settlement to the British -"to restore the status quo and hand back Port Egmont to British control." This agreement took place on 15 September 1771, six months after the Port Egmont eviction. The short time frame is significant. Spain's military actions at Port Egmont aroused fears of war on the Continent, and in the context of Britain's overwhelming military superiority, the Spanish were more than willing to seek an early and amicable solution with their "injured" counterpart.

The secretary of state, Lord Weymouth, addressed to the court of Madrid demands for:

"the instant restoration of the colonists to Port Egmont, and for reparation of the insult offered to the dignity of the British crown, by their forcible removal from that place".

To these demands the Spanish court at first gave evasive answers, endeavouring to change the question at issue into one respecting the right of sovereignty over the islands. Lord Weymouth, however, refused positively to discuss that or any other matter, until the restoration and satisfaction which he demanded had been made; and the preparations for war which had been already commenced were prosecuted with vigor.

After some further correspondence, Prince de Maserano, the Spanish ambassador at London, declared himself authorized to say, in the name of his sovereign, that no particular orders had been given to the governor of Buenos Aires on this occasion, though that officer had acted agreeably to his general instructions and oath as governor, and to the general laws of the Indies, in expelling foreigners from the Spanish dominions; and that he was ready to engage for the restoration of the British to Port Egmont, without however ceding any part of His Catholic Majesty's claim to the Falkland Islands; provided the king of England would in return disavow the conduct of Captain Hunt in ordering the Spaniards away from Soledad, which he asserted, had led to the measures taken by Bucareli.

The British withdrew from the islands in pursuance of a system of retrenchment in 1774, leaving behind a flag and a plaque representing their claim to ownership. The Spanish reoccupied the islands during the Anglo-Spanish War, but progressively lost control of its colonies. Spanish troops remained at Port Louis, known then as Port Soledad, until 1806 when Governor Juan Crisóstomo Martínez departed, leaving behind a plaque claiming sovereignty for Spain. The remaining Spanish settlers were removed in 1811 by order of the Spanish Governor in Montevideo.

References

• Daniel K. Gibran The Falklands War: Britain versus the past in the South Atlantic McFarland & Co Inc Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7864-3736-8
• David F. Marley. Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present ABC-CLIO (1998) ISBN 978-0-87436-837-6
• Wagstaff, William Falkland Islands: the Bradt travel guide Bradt Travel Guides; ISBN 978-1-84162-037-4
• Smith, Gordon Battle Atlas of the Falklands War 1982 by Land, Sea and Air Naval-History publishing ISBN 978-1-84753-950-2
• Mahan, Thayer Alfred The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 Dover Publications ISBN 978-0-486-25509-5
• Hunt, Freeman Hunt's merchants' magazine, Vol. 6
• Dickens, Charles / Clive, Hurst / McCalman, Iain. Barnaby Rudge Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-284056-1