The Cry of Asencio () or Admirable alarm () was an 1811 ''

pronunciamiento A is a form of military rebellion or coup d'état particularly associated with Spain, Portugal and Ibero-America, especially in the 19th century. Typology The is one category of praetorianism: the practice of military figures acting as pol ...

'' that took place at the

Banda Oriental Banda Oriental (Eastern Bank), or more fully Banda Oriental del Río Uruguay, was the name of the South American territories east of the Uruguay River and north of Río de la Plata that comprise the modern nation of Uruguay, the modern state of Ri ...

(modern

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

) against the Spanish rule in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. Made in support of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, which had already ousted the viceroy and established a local government during the

May Revolution The May Revolution () was a week-long series of events that took place from 18 to 25 May 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, ...

, it is considered the beginning of the Oriental revolution.

History

Antecedents

Montevideo and Buenos Aires were part of the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...

, a Spanish colony in South America. The

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

in Spain generated a political crisis at the Spanish colonies, as the king

Ferdinand VII of Spain Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (t ...

was captured by the Napoleonic forces. Buenos Aires, the capital of the viceroyalty, ousted the viceroy

Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros y de la Torre (6 January 1756 – 9 June 1829) was a Spanish Navy officer and colonial administrator. He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar, and in the Spanish resistance against ...

in 1810 during the

, and established a local government, the

Primera Junta The Primera Junta ("First Junta") or ''Junta Provisional Gubernativa de las Provincias del Río de la Plata'' ("Provisional Governing Junta of the Provinces of the Río de la Plata"), is the most common name given to the first government of what ...

. Montevideo did not accept the authority of the new Junta, and acknowledged the

Cortes of Cádiz The Cortes of Cádiz was a revival of the traditional ''Cortes Generales, cortes'' (Spanish parliament), which as an institution had not functioned for many years, but it met as a single body, rather than divided into estates as with previous o ...

as the legitimate Spanish authority. As a result of Buenos Aires's rebellion, Montevideo was appointed the new capital of the Viceroyalty, and governor

Francisco Javier de Elío Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...

was promoted to viceroy. The villages near Montevideo supported Elío, while the villages linked to Buenos Aires supported the Junta. Elío declared war to Buenos Aires on February 12, 1811. He arranged many new taxes to support the war effort, which harmed the local economy, already weakened by the Peninsular War.

The conflict

Many criollo military enlisted in the Spanish forces defected from them and joined the resistance against Montevideo. This is the case of

José Gervasio Artigas José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (; June 19, 1764 – September 23, 1850) was a soldier and statesman who is regarded as a national hero in Uruguay and the father of Uruguayan nationhood. Born in Montevideo, Artigas enlisted in the Spanish ...

, who defected from

Colonia del Sacramento Colonia del Sacramento (; ) is a city in southwestern Uruguay, by the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is one of the oldest towns in Uruguay and the capital of the Colonia Department. As of the 2023 census, it has a populatio ...

on February 15, asking Buenos Aires support for their rebellion. The rebellion took place on February 28, and it was headed by Venancio Benavídez and Pedro Viera, following instructions from Artigas.Grito de Asencio
Nearly a hundred men met next to the Asencio stream, and rejected the authority of Elío. the villages of San Carlos, Minas, Maldonado, Durazno, Canelones and Pantanoso soon joined the pronouncing against the Spanish rule.Abad de Santillán, p. 475 They captured the village of Mercedes in the morning, and Viera captured Santo Domingo de Soriano in the afternoon, the same day. Artigas joined the fight shortly afterwards.

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

and

San José de Mayo San José de Mayo (; ''Mayo'' ) is the capital city of the San José Department in southern Uruguay. Geography The city is located at the centre of the department, on the intersection of Route 3 with Route 11, from the centre of Montevideo. T ...

would be captured in April, followed by the first victory in an open military conflict against the Royalists in the battle of San José.

Legacy

The Cry of Asencio is considered the initial step of the Uruguayan theater of the

Spanish American wars of independence The Spanish American wars of independence () took place across the Spanish Empire during the early 19th century. The struggles in both hemispheres began shortly after the outbreak of the Peninsular War, forming part of the broader context of the ...

. The Uruguay bicentennial was held on February 28, 2011.¿Qué se conmemora?

Bibliography

References

External links

Bicentenario de Uruguay
{{Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata Military history of Uruguay Spanish American wars of independence Conflicts in 1811 1811 in Uruguay February 1811