Irish history lessons Part 2

Day 1,886, 12:30 • Published in Ireland Ireland • by Uljanov


Today i would like to write about another great Irishmen.

Now that our Argentine friends are at war i would like to dedicate this article to them. Good luck friends.

Please listen to this song while reading this text.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsnMWE__LCU

Admiral William Brown in Argentina also known as as Guillermo Brown born 22 June 1777 died 3 March 1857.



William Brown was born in little Irish town of Foxford, County Mayo. When hes family emigrated to Philadelphia. If they stayed in Ireland they would face famine and unjust treatment by the British like many at that time.

His navy life started while he was a young boy, Merchant ship captain hired him to be a cabin boy, low rank but it was on the naval promotion ladder where he well earn the highest ranks in the navy.

For the next 10 years he got his captain rank. Also was press-ganged into a British ship and forced to fight for the British crown.

When he was 32 he escaped to Germany, later to England and married Elizabeth Chitty. Later that year he moved to Buenos Aries. Next few years he worked as a trader between Buenos Aries and Montevideo and inland of South America.



He purchased a schooner called "Industria" and became main trader between Buenos Aries and Montevideo was the first such venture in South America. At this point, the Spanish colonial government stepped in, sensing a threat to its mercantile interests.

Spanish ships destroyed Brown's schooner, and took drastic effects to nullify Argentina's attempts to defend her coasts against Spanish raiders. Argentina provided ships to defend it's coast and appointed William Brown Lieutenant Colonel and Commander-in-Chief of the Argentine fleet.

I don't want to get into the boring details of the wars he fought but here is the list of them:

War with Spain 1814.
War with Brazil 1825-1827.
War with Uruguay 1845-1850.

In 1847, Admiral Brown visited his native Foxford accompanied by his daughter.

Admiral William Brown's legacy



Brown is regarded as one of the heroes of Argentine history, to such extent that he has named after him: several ships of the Argentine Navy, an Argentine naval base, three towns, 320 schools, six football clubs and about 1100 streets. A public park in Foxford under development is also to be named after him. He has been commemorated on postage stamps issued both by Argentina and by the Irish Republic.



Argentine government:
"With a life of permanent service to the national wars that our homeland has fought since its independence, William Brown symbolized the naval glory of the Argentine Republic"



General Bartolomé Mitre:
"Brown in his lifetime, standing on the quarterdeck of his ship, was worth a fleet to us"

The Argentinean destroyer ARA Almirante Brown: