British Campaigns in the South Atlantic, 1805–1807

by J.D. Grainger

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.

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 13, 2015

Reviews

[Rob Markley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like John Grainger's history books - this is the third I've read and he seems to intersect well with perhaps more obscure history topics that pique my interest as well as his own. Consequently I guess because of topic these aren't tremendously big sellers? That is a shame because Grainger does a truly excellent job of explaining very complex questions or situations. He does this with a economy of words and it seems to me good judgement, which I really can't fault, although for some of his other books he has ruled against certain sacred cows and been castigated for his opinions.

In this book he deals with Britain's second and lasting conquest of the Cape -South Africa; and then the attacks on Buenos Aires - the mouth of the River Plate. Not only does Grainger give an excellent coverage of the background and conduct of these under appreciated campaigns, but he also picks up on interesting lines of inquiry in pursuing the Scottish connection to events and consequent developments. This is largely speculative but rather intriguing ideas all the same.

The book was the right length as is, but Grainger could have rounded things off with the accounts of the subsequent court martials. Also the overly economical maps would have benefited from some geographical/nautical features - swamps, hills, shallows and channels; even if rudimentarily drawn in. There are also the odd occasion of typos and where editing for clarity was necessary, but both of these issues suggest all the work was done by Grainger himself and the publisher should have done a bit of work here.

[Mick Scrimshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really interesting history into Britain’s successful invasion of firstly The Cape Colony in southern Africa and then the disastrous expedition to the River Plate area in South America and the fighting against the Spanish in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. These events formed part of the Napoleonic wars but are little known about today. I found the events fascinating especially the political ramifications and response from the British Government which was chaotic to say the least. I wish there had been more detail of the subsequent court marshals of the British commanders as that would have finished off the book nicely. I’m now left with the task of finding another book to give me more details of that aspect of the saga, and my only other slight criticism was the author’s attempts to highlight the Scottish connections to events and to try to contextualise the Scottish military involvement in terms of the highland clearances and other local Scottish issues. To be fair that was sort of the point of the whole book, and a lot of it was certainly relevant but the stories of the wars themselves were interesting enough for me.

[Steve Groves · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly dry account of the expedition to capture the Cape Colony and then the mad invasion of South America . The forces involved were fairly limited, and the British suffered some humiliating defeats in Buenos Aries, so the historical records seem deliberately vague and lacking.