Guillermo Brown

William Brown was born on June 22, 1777, in Foxford, County Mayo, Ireland. After migrating to the United States and serving in the British merchant marine, he settled in Buenos Aires in 1810 as a merchant trader, offering his naval services to the nascent Argentine revolutionary government in 1814.

Appointed commander of the patriot naval squadron, Brown accomplished military miracles with hastily assembled merchant schooners. In May 1814, at the Battle of Buceo, he decisively defeated and captured the Spanish royalist squadron, forcing the surrender of royalist Montevideo and securing the independence of the Río de la Plata. He later defended Argentina in the Cisplatine War against the Imperial Brazilian Navy, notably at the Battle of Juncal in 1827.