Action of 2 June 1807
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• Safe passage of Spanish shipping to Buenos Aires through Paraná River[1][2]
| Action of 2 June 1807 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the British invasions of the River Plate | |||||||
 A Spanish privateer sloop of war | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Spain | United Kingdom | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Francisco Pareja † Francisco de Castro | G. Douglas | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1 felucca 1 privateer | 1 schooner | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
1 killed 8 wounded |
1 schooner disabled 2 wounded | ||||||
The action of 2 June 1807 was an engagement during the British invasions of the River Plate between a Royal Navy schooner and two Spanish small vessels, a privateer sloop and naval felucca, at the mouth of the Paraná Guazú. The encounter took place when the British warship, assisted by two armed boats, was searching for Spanish shipping off Punta Gorda, in the mouth of the Uruguay River.
The British naval presence in the River Plate during the invasions of 1806-1807 was permanent since the arrival of Admiral Home Popham forces in June 1806 until January 1808, well after the withdrawal of the officially sanctioned expedition led by General John Whitelocke. The blockade was formally declared on 16 June 1806, and Buenos Aires was occupied by the British on the 27th. On 4 August a Spanish naval force from Montevideo and led by Santiago de Liniers landed in San Isidro. The only opposition found by the Spanish convoy was the schooner HMS Dolores,[3] that exchanged fire with the escorts without results.[4] The shallow waters of the river played a key role in the outcome of the campaign, hampering Royal Navy's freedom of movement.[5] After the first British invasion army surrendered at Buenos Aires on 12 August, Popham's fleet remained in control of the river and awaiting reinforcements.[3]
As a countermeasure to the blockade, the Cabildo of Buenos Aires agreed with Liniers that all the merchant shipping, national and foreign, should be redeployed from their moorings at Ensenada, Riachuelo and Balizas to the mouth of the Paraná River.[6] The legislative body later decided the internment of all foreign ships, particularly French and American, at the port of Las Conchas, north of San Isidro. The Cabildo also hired sailors to staff Buenos Aires small naval force and employed the services of ship's masters and captains to run the blockade and secure safe passage between Buenos Aires and the Banda Oriental.[6] In the meantime, Liniers granted letters of marque to a number of them to harass the British. One of these privateers was Maltese seaman Juan Bautista Azopardo, commander of the schooner Mosca de Buenos Aires, whose owner was Anselmo Sáenz Valiente, a prominent member of the Cabildo.[7]
Cabildo's countermeasures led to a number of incidents involving British and neutral shipping, such as the capture of the American frigate María[8] and the slave ship Diana by the Mosca de Buenos Aires.[9] On 11 February 1807, the sloop Belén, under the command of Juan Antonio Gutiérrez de la Concha, and assisted by the Mosca de Buenos Aires, seized the British brig Sisters off Ensenada, when the vessel was heading to Buenos Aires in the belief that the city was still in British hands.[9][10] On 11 March 1807, Belén, the sloop Remedios and five gunboats fought a spirited action with two British brigs off the mouth of Paraná river.[3]
On 1 June 1807, the brig HMS Protector and the gun-brig HMS Staunch spotted the Mosca de Buenos Aires off Martin Chico point. Unable to pursuit the Spanish schooner upriver, the commander of HMS Protector, Lieutenant Street, sent HMS Staunch's gig and a HMS Protector's cutter to hunt the privateer. The boats reached Punta Gorda, where they found Azopardo's vessel escorting a seven sails convoy. The British version is that the boats captured an abandoned schooner in ballast while under fire from the Mosca de Buenos Aires and withdrew.[7][2] The Spanish convoy, made up of schooners and sloops, had apparently landed on the Banda Oriental a detachment of Spanish marines and Patricians infantry from Buenos Aires.[1] Azopardo's version only agrees with Street's report on the British failure to capture the Mosca de Buenos Aires; Azopardo claims that he not only repelled the boat attack, but also states that the battle involved four enemy small vessels and that his men captured one of them, with one British officer and five ratings aboard. Azopardo acknowledged three casualties among his crew.[11]