On this day in 1818, Peter Campbell, born in 1780 in Tipperary, was appointed first naval commander of the Uruguayan patriot fleet. It is on this basis that he is still remembered today in Uruguay as the ‘Father of the Uruguayan Navy’. Indeed, the Peter Campbell Merit Medal has been awarded since 1993 to civilians, military personnel, military units or institutions in recognition of relevant services to the Uruguayan National Navy.
Little is known of Campbell’s early life, or even where exactly he was from in Tipperary. He joined the British Army as a young man and found himself in Buenos Aires in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. Britain was hoping to seize the Spanish colony of the ‘Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata’, which encompassed modern day Argentina and Uruguay. Spain was, at this time, allied to Napoleonic France.
The campaign was unsuccessful but Campbell managed to remain in the River Plate region and joined the Uruguayan patriot ranks as a guerrilla fighter, harassing Spanish forces on land and on the Paraná river. He became notorious for his dexterity in gaucho-style duelling, wielding a long knifed in one hand and using a poncho wrapped around the other arm as a protective measure.
Campbell rose to prominence as a superb guerrilla fighter under Jose Artigas, a man regarded as one of Uruguay’s founding fathers. Campbell acted as deputy-governor of the Corrientes region for a spell, he was responsible for establishing what would become a much-feared regiment of mounted Tapé indigenous people and, in 1814, he put together a squadron of river vessels to support Artigas on the Paraná. It was on 21 August 1818 that Artigas appointed Campbell as the first naval commander of the Uruguayan fleet and he became known as the founder of the Uruguayan navy.
In a naval battle in July 1820, Artigas and Campbell were defeated. Campbell was captured and banished in shackles to Paraguay. Campbell’s life was spared, possibly out of respect for his courage and military prowess. He would die in Paraguay in 1832 but his remains were handed over to Uruguay in 1961 and he was re-interred in Montevideo.
Sources:
Edmundo Murray, “Peter Campbell (1780-c1832): Naval Officer and Founder of the Uruguayan Navy”, Irish Migration Studies in Latin America Vol. 4, No. 1: January-February 2006 Link- https://www.irlandeses.org/0601.pdfhttps://wawards.org/.../naval-commander-peter-campbell
