Battle of Cerrito

Part of the Second Banda Oriental campaign

Drawing of the battle by a direct witness

Date	December 31, 1812
Location	Montevideo 34°51′12″S 56°10′13″W / 34.85333°S 56.17028°W / -34.85333; -56.17028Coordinates: 34°51′12″S 56°10′13″W / 34.85333°S 56.17028°W / -34.85333; -56.17028
Result	United Provinces of the Río de la Plata victory

Belligerents

United Provinces of the Río de la Plata

Spanish Empire

Commanders and leaders

José Rondeau

Gaspar de Vigodet

José Muesas †

Strength

1,000 soldiers
2 artillery

2,000 infantry
300 horsemen
8 artillery

Casualties and losses

90 deaths
40 prisoners
1 artillery

100 deaths
146 injured
30 prisoners

The Battle of Cerrito (outskirts of Montevideo, 31 December 1812), was a battle for the War of Independence of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, between the royalist forces who had control of the city of Montevideo and the rebel forces of the government of Buenos Aires.

In the year 1811, the forces deployed by the Junta Grande of Buenos Aires and the gaucho forces led by José Artigas had started a siege to the city of Montevideo, which had refused to obey the directives of the new authorities after the May Revolution. The siege had been lifted at the end of that year, when the military situation started to deteriorate in the Upper Peru.

The change of power in Buenos Aires to the Second Triumvirate, pushed by the change in the situation in the North front allowed them to restart the siege by October 1812 by the rebel forces, commanded by José Rondeau. There was a second army force by the Uruguay River under the command of Domingo French, besides Artigas's militias, who had not yet joined the siege due to disagreements with the political leader of the rebels, Manuel de Sarratea. The siege army took over the city of Colonia del Sacramento the last step to complete the siege of Montevideo.

The royalist forces were numerically superior to the siege army, but their fidelity to the cause they were defending was doubtful. The siege army was also low in munitions and armament and lacked reinforcements. Knowing that fact, Spanish general Gaspar de Vigodet decided to effect a massive breakout to confront the enemy, but he had bad timing as just the night before the attack, Rondeau received reinforcements and supplies.

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Wikipedia