John Coe
Encyclopedia
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
.
Serving as an officer in the Argentine fleet under Admiral William Brown
William Brown (admiral)
Admiral William Brown was an Irish-born Argentine Admiral. Brown's victories in the Independence War, the Argentina-Brazil War, and the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata earned the respect and appreciation of the Argentine people, and today he is regarded as one of Argentina's national...
, he achieved distinction in the battles of Juncal
Battle of Juncal
The naval Battle of Juncal took place between a squadron of the newly independent United Provinces of the River Plate under command of William Brown and a squadron belonging to the Brazilian Empire, commanded by Sena Pereira...
and Monte Santiago in the Brazilian War that led to Uruguayan independence in 1828. Following the war, he moved to Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
and became a partisan of Fructuoso Rivera
Fructuoso Rivera
José Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana was an Uruguayan general and patriot who assisted in the efforts to force Brazilians out of the Banda Oriental.-Founder of Colorado Party and President of Uruguay:...
and the Colorado Party
Colorado Party (Uruguay)
The Colorado Party is a political party in Uruguay.- Aims :It unites Conservative, Moderate and Social democratic groups. It was the dominant party of government almost without exception during the stabilisation of the Uruguayan republic....
.
At the beginning of the Great War
Uruguayan Civil War
The Uruguayan Civil War, also known as "Guerra Grande", was a series of armed conflicts that took place between the Colorado Party and the National Party in Uruguay from 1839 to 1851...
, he was given the rank of Commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
and placed in command over the fledgling Uruguayan Navy
National Navy of Uruguay
The National Navy of Uruguay is a branch of the Armed Forces of Uruguay under the direction of the Ministry of National Defense and the commander in chief of the Navy Admiral Juan H...
's Escuadra Oriental, consisting of the flagship Cagancha; the corvettes Constitución, Sarandi, and 25 de Mayo; the brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Pereyra; and the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
General Rivera.
Although Brown's fleet was of similar size, Coe remained in harbor under the protection of the shore batteries for two months. On 24 May 1841, thinking Brown's forces to be scattered, he sailed out of the harbor only to be forced to retreat back in by dusk. He remained in harbor until 3 August, when the Battle of the Río Santa Lucia saw the General Rivera sunk. In his third engagement on 9 December, the Argentine brig Belgrano captured the Cagancha and all its crew.
Following these reverses, President Rivera elevated the Italian freedom-fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
to Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and created the command of the 2ª División de la Escuadra Oriental, transferring most of Coe's ships to the new fleet. The new unit achieved some success before being scattered by Admiral Brown in combat on the Río Paraná
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...
.
After this, the war simply became a siege of Montevideo, with Argentina and the Blancos
National Party (Uruguay)
The National Party , also known as the White Party , is a major right-wing conservative political party in Uruguay, currently the major opposition party to the ruling Frente Amplio government....
in control of the sea but England ensuring uninterrupted supply to the port.
Commodore Coe is the namesake of the ROU 07 Comodoro Coe, a of the Uruguayan Coast Guard
National Navy of Uruguay
The National Navy of Uruguay is a branch of the Armed Forces of Uruguay under the direction of the Ministry of National Defense and the commander in chief of the Navy Admiral Juan H...
commissioned in 1981.
External links
- Historia y Arqueologia Marítima - Garibaldi: Combate de Costa Brava (in Spanish)