Capture of Port Egmont
Encyclopedia
The Capture of Port Egmont on 14 January 1770 was a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 expedition
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...

 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
Falklands Crisis (1770)
The Falklands Crisis of 1770 was a diplomatic standoff between Britain and Spain over possession of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. These events were nearly the cause of a war between France, Spain and Britain — the countries poised to dispatch armed fleets to contest the barren...

.

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. British noncompliance was met by Spanish force. Some 1,400 Spanish soldiers in five ships were dispatched from the Argentine mainland to drive out te British from West Falkland. To such a force the Englishmen could make no serious resistance; so after a few shots, exchanged for the honor of the flag, they capitulated and the Spanish finally captured Port Edgmont.

Background

In 1770 a Spanish expedition from Buenos Aires, commanded by Don Juan Ignacio de Madariaga, arrived at Port Egmont and occasioned another exchange of letters. The officer in charge of the garrison on Saunders Island, Captain Hunt, stated categorically that the Falkland Islands belonged to Britain.

Spanish capture

Captain Juan Ignacio de Madariaga’s frigates Industria, Santa Bárbara, Santa Catalina, and Santa Rosa, plus the xebec Andaluz, surprise the British settlement at Port Egmont. The squadron was dispatched by Francisco Bucareli, the governor of Buenos Aires, to expunge the British and bears an additional 1,400 soldiers
and a siege train under Colonel Don Antonio Gutiérrez. Although the English had erected a wooden blockhouse and an eight-gun battery of 12-pounders, they proved to be no match against the Spanish force.
The Spaniards waded ashore and, after a token exchange of shots, Royal Navy Commodores William Maltby and 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 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. (Three years later Britain abandoned the Falklands because of the costs of maintaining such a remote garrison.)

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 Edmont to British control." This agreement took place on 15 September 1771, six months after the Port Edgmont eviction. The short time frame is significant. Spain's military actions at Port Edgmont 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 for economic reasons 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 Crisostomo Martinez departed, leaving behind a plaque claiming sovereignty for Spain. The United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, which later became Argentina, withdrew the remaining Spanish settlers in 1811.
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