Between 1805 and 1807 the British mounted several expeditions into the
South Atlantic aimed at weakening Napoleon's Spanish and Dutch allies.
The targets were the Dutch colony on South Africa's Cape of Good Hope,
which potentially threatened British shipping routes to India, and the
Spanish colonies in the Rio de la Plata basin (now parts of Argentina
and Uruguay). In 1805 an army of around 6,000 men was dispatched for
the Cape under the highly-respected General David Baird. They were
escorted and assisted by a naval squadron under Home Riggs Popham. The
Cape surrendered in January 1806. Popham then persuaded Baird to lend
him troops for an attack on Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires was taken in
July but the paltry British force (around 2,400 men) was then besieged
and forced to surrender in August. Popham was later court martialled
for exceeding his orders.In Feb 1807 Montevideo was taken by a new
(officially sanctioned) British force of 6,000 men. Whitelocke, the
British Commander then attempted to retake Buenos Aires (not least to
free British prisoners from the first attempt) but was defeated by
unexpectedly fierce resistance stiffened by armed creoles and slaves.
After heavy losses he signed an armistice, surrendering Montevideo and
withdrawing all his forces. He too was court-martialled. One of the
major themes of this new account is the strong Scottish connection
Baird and Popham were both Scots, and the 71st Highlanders made up the
main force in the Cape and Popham's adventure. Another is the unlooked
for consequences of these actions. The arrival of Scottish Calvinist
ministers in the Cape influenced the eventual development of
apartheid, while successful resistance to the British, with little
help from Spain, shaped and accelerated the independence movement in
South America.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781473855250
Publisert
2015
Utgiver
Vendor
Pen & Sword Military (ORIM)
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter