Battle of Monte Santiago

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The naval Battle of Monte Santiago was one of many naval encounters during the Argentina-Brazil War (1825-1828).

While many of them were inconclusive, this battle proved to be a major loss for the small Argentine Navy.

While the Imperial Navy of Brazil had, at most, high seas vessels, with more cannons but with less speed, the Argentine Navy relied on fast and maneuvering ones. Some Argentine commanders believed that the lack of maneuvering of the Imperial vessels in shallow waters and the speed of their own ships could decide some engagements in their favour.

The Argentine commander was confident that by surprise, the superior maneuvering of his ships could inflict damage to the enemy and that he could escape before the Imperial fleet was able to coordinate an effective counterattack.

Unfortunately for him, he was unaware of the enemy's three to one advantage in terms of ships. Drummond also underestimated the Brazilian vessels' capacity to cut off any route of escaping in time. As a result, the battle was a two day pouring of shells onto his men. At the end, Drummond received mortal wounds while aboard his second flagship (the first was sunk).

For the Argentine Navy, the war was over. The losses in this battle, along with the loss of the 25 de Mayo (Argentine major vessel) in the battle of Lara-Quilmes (February 24), resulted in the dominance of the Brazilian Navy over the sea.

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Last updated on Saturday March 01, 2008 at 13:08:07 PST (GMT -0800)
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