d among the people was in large measure calmed by the manifesto
which the conquering commander issued on the occasion. In the
_Memoirs_ of General Belgrano we read: "It grieved me to see my
country subjugated in this manner, but I shall always admire the
gallantry of the brave and honorable Beresford in so daring an
enterprise." Beresford was, however, unable to hold his ground, for
the Spaniards got together an army of 10,000 men, and re-took the
city. Beresford was made prisoner, but after five months' detention
he and his brother-officers, among whom was another Irishman, Major
Fahy, managed to escape. Thus ended the expedition of this brave
general, who nevertheless had covered himself and his little army
with glory, for he held Buenos Ayres as a British colony for 45 days,
and had he been properly supported from home the result would in all
probability have been vastly different.

General Beresford was one of the most distinguished men of his time.
He was the illegitimate son of the Marquis of Waterford, entered the
army at 16, and served in every quarter of the globe. After his
defeat at Buenos Ayres he captured Madeira, and was made governor of
that island. In 1808 he successfully covered the retreat of Sir John
Moore to Corunna, a difficult feat, for which he received a marshal's
baton, and was made commander-in-chief in Portugal. In 1811 he
defeated Marshal Soult at Albuera, and subsequently took part in the
victories of Salamanca and Vittoria. For these services he was made
Duke of Elvas, and the British government conferred on him in 1814
the title of Baron Beresford of Albuera and Dungannon. The same year
he was sent as minister to Brazil, and on his return was created
viscount. He married the widow of Thomas Hope the banker, and settled
down on his estates in Kent, where he died in 1854.

The brilliancy of Beresford's achievement in capturing Buenos Ayres
with a handful of men had dazzled the minds of English statesmen, who
felt that 10,000 British troops were enough to subdue the whole of
the vast continent of South America. In May, 1807, an expedition
comprising several frigates and transports with 5,000 troops appeared
off Montevideo from England. A month later Lieutenant-General
Whitelock arrived with orders to assume the chief command, and among
his officers were the gallant Irishmen, Major Vandeleur, who
commanded a wing of the 88th Regiment, and Lieutenant-Colonel Nugent,
of the 38th. Whitelock end