The life of Admiral Guillermo Brown: the sailor who defeated the Brazilians and died in debt

Coming from Quilmes towards the center of the town, you had to go through a street where a simple house stood, with a ground floor and a first floor. It had a small balcony above the entrance, flanked by two columns, at 584 Martín García Street, formerly called “street of brown heroes”. On either side, a cannon was driven into the ground, and the perimeter was surrounded by a wrought-iron fence, supported by white pillars. Locals recognized it as “the canyon house” and others by its color, “yellow house”.

Belonged to Guillermo Brownoh Don Brunoas i called it Juan Manuel de Rosas. The cannons, corroded by years of dampness, recalled the time he had defeated Jose Garibaldi and they were placed there so that the wheels of the carts did not interfere with access to the house.

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This man with blue eyes, white hair and old-fashioned cropped legs and who was dressed in black, many young people who saw him, I didn’t know who it was. He walked with the help of a cane, because during the battle of El Buceo, fought between May 14 and 17, 1814, he fractured his leg due to the recoil of a cannon and limped for life.

Many of his former officers visited him weekly, even more so when his son Edward38 years old, died on the first day of the year 1855.

You could say that her adventurous life started when she was 10 years old. Born in the Irish town of Foxford on June 22, 1777, he had accompanied his father to the United States, in search of new horizons. A week later, while he was in Philadelphia, his father fell victim to the yellow fever epidemic, and the child was orphaned in an unknown country. A captain employed him as a cabin boy and thus began a life of adventures, in which the sea would be the protagonist.

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When Napoleon Bonaparte begins to dominate Europe, he is at the head of a merchant ship flying the English flag and is captured by a French ship. While escaping from Metz prison, disguised as a French officer, he is captured exhausted by a miller who suspects him of being an escapee. He is locked up in the fortress of Verdun. He didn’t give up and devoted himself to making a hole in the floor of his cell, under his bed. He found that of a colonel named Clutch well and they both devised an escape plan. They made a hole in the ceiling which they covered with a flag. They swept the rubble with their clothes and hid them in the corners. With clothes they tied up, they managed to detach themselves from the wall and achieved freedom. They arrived in Germany from where they went to Great Britain.

He returned to the English merchant navy. In 1809, the year he married in London with Elizabeth Chittya Protestant girl ten years her junior, from a family of sailors.

Business took him to the Río de la Plata on the frigate Belmond. His brother John he had been in these lands when he was a member of the English invading army of 1806. He lived in Montevideo and earned his living by maritime cabotage. He had bought from the heirs of the poet Lavarden a saladro in which he is dedicated to the production of Irish-style jerky.

He made trips to Britain, where they were born Elisain 1810 and Guillermo, in 1812, their first two children. He established himself in these lands, where the business flourished, he acquired boats and bought eight hectares in the area of ​​what is now Parque Lezama. On Martín García Avenue he built his house, cannon houseon land he bought from his father Jose Ramon Grelafor 1600 strong pesos.

His experience as a sailor led the authorities of Buenos Aires to propose the creation of a squadron, “in proof of his valor and skill”. I would not disappoint. Commanding the frigate Hércules and at the head of some ships, he occupied the island of Martín García, defeated the Spanish squadron, blockaded Montevideo and obtained its surrender. San Martin declared that the victory of Brown he was “The most important thing done by the American Revolution so far.”

Likewise, he obtained a letter of marque and undertook an engagement from which he did not come out well, allegedly for not having complied with established orders, for having left without the corresponding authorization of the government and for having disobeyed orders during his campaign in the Pacific, in which lost the frigate Hercules. On his return to Buenos Aires had to defend himself against the charges and he remembered those moments with bitterness.

He returns to his business activities, cultivating the land he owns where he lives, while his son Guillermo he was a soldier When the war against Brazil broke out, he was summoned again. He was the only sailor in town with enough experience to take charge of the squadron. The victories he won in unequal battles against enemy naval power – such as Los Pozos, Juncal, Monte Santiago or the Quilmes fight – turned him into a true popular idol. In Los Pozos, the battle could be observed from the rooftops and terraces of Buenos Aires. “Grass fire that people stare at us”harangued his men.

Her daughter Elisawho was dating the Scotsman Francois Drummondone of her officers, died in Riachuelo the year her boyfriend perished in the battle of Monte Santiago, which took place between April 7 and 8, 1827. The girl was found drowned and the legend that spread was that she had used her wedding dress.

When John Lavalle knocked down and shot Manuel Dorrego In December 1828, he was temporarily charged with the post of governor, from which he was relieved in May of the following year. He went back to his business. He traveled constantly to Montevideo and Colonia, where he owned a house given to him by the government of that country. By then two more children had arrived, Martina there Edward.

He will be summoned again by the government, this time by Juan Manuel de Rosaseven knowing that the Irishman had refused in December 1832 to sign the petition for the extension of his extraordinary powers.

In 1841, at the age of 64, as commander-in-chief of the flotilla of the Republic, he had to face the forces of fruitful river with a square He had to fight and defeat the Italian Jose Garibaldi. When a powerful Anglo-French fleet blocks the Río de la Plata, he has no choice but to return the squadron to his command.

It was his last fight.

He liked to ride along the new road (today the avenue that bears his name) to the Arsenal de Marina, to Puerto de los Tacos, today Vuelta de Rocha, or to the center of the city.

Nostalgia had made him take a trip to Foxford, his hometown, in 1847, where he never returned. He returned two years later.

In his later years, he had concentrated on writing his memoirs. “I want to finish this work before undertaking the great journey towards the dark seas of death”wrote to Barthelemy Miter. These memories span from 1814 to 1828 and describe their naval operations.

When in 1854 they repatriated the remains of Carlos Maria de Alvear, who died in the United States, offered to embark on the Bamba River, to bring them to Buenos Aires from Montevideo. He had fought alongside the officer killed at the siege of Montevideo and in the war against Brazil.

At the end of January 1857, he had the impression of dying, so much so that he called his friend, the compatriot Père Antonio Fahy, to give extreme unction. He died in the first minutes of March 3. His partner was with him Jose Muratureto whom he says: “I understand that soon we will change anchorage, I already have a pilot on board”.

That night her body, dressed in white garments and a silk shroud, was laid in a lined pine coffin, which was alternately placed in a lead coffin and finally in a mahogany one, with bronze fittings. It had the caption: “Ashes of Argentine Brigadier General Don Guillermo Brown. Died March 3, 1857″. The next afternoon he was buried in the sepulcher of Jose Maria Paz.

His death was felt by all. It was a time when the country was divided in two, the Argentine Confederation and the State of Buenos Aires honored it. Despite the funeral honors for the precious services rendered, his widow had to cede to the state about six leagues of her property to cancel debts and also had to sell some of her husband’s possessions, such as his spyglass.

One day the admiral surprised him with his visit. Juan Pascual Grenfell, the leader of the Brazilian squadron, against which he had fought off Quilmes, and where he had lost his right arm. They greeted each other affectionately. Brown he lived modestly and that day he took care of his farm. “If you had accepted Emperor Dom Pedro’s proposals, how different your luck would have been. For in truth, republics are always ungrateful to their good servants,” he told her. The old sailor answered: “My dear GrenfellI do not regret having been useful to the country of my children. I consider honors and riches superfluous when six feet of land is enough to rest from so much fatigue and pain.

This boy who had started a life of incredible adventures at the age of 10, knew very well the path to grounding that would lead him to eternity.

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