Artigas's detractors accused him of being "a chief of Indians.".
In some respects they were right, Artigas was indeed "a chief of Indians."
Yes, he was.
For the first time in history, the "brave Indians" (charruas and minuanes warriors) joined a multi-ethnic movement led by a local born european descendant, who, in fact, had lived as an Indian several years during his youth.
Already in 1811 this spontaneous integration of charrúas, minuanes, Guaraní maroons, Afro-Creoles and gauchos into the emancipatory struggle was observed. This massive and spontaneous integration appears registered in several documents of the time.
At the end of December 1811, Artigas wrote to the Buenos Aires government explaining why he decided to attack the Portuguese in Bethlehem with the participation of a strong Charrúa contingent: "... my suspicions turned into realities .... The robberies were they committed millions and their cruelties ... (of the Portuguese) ... went to the extreme of torment some Americans who fell into their hands, also murdering others .... I made up my mind and on the 18th of the current ... (December) ... I marched a division of this weapon made up of 500 men, to the that he united 452 Indians, all under the command of the captain of the blandengues, Don Manuel Pinto Carneiro, in the direction of Bethlehem, in whose vicinity was a Portuguese column of 300 men under the command of Sergeant Major Manoel dos Santos. Vera V.S. that the action was not as complete as it should have been because the position of the enemy, together with the lack of horses on our part, facilitated their escape.
Your Excellency, this has been inevitable. The arms of the fatherland were required to attack them. » We reflect with Maggi: «What interest, what feeling, what hope, what strange adhesion motivates the unfaithful tribes to resent themselves thus, immediately, spontaneously, to enter a war that they do not understand? There is not a single example in the entire American revolution… the Charrúa come to fight for a friend who calls them. ». A little more than three months later, on April 9, 1812, the Portuguese commander José Pereira de Fonseca communicated to the commander general of the Portuguese troops occupying the Banda Oriental that the rebels (revolutionary artiguistas) had formed a "quilombo in the Rincon de Tres Arboles, with a number of 500 men, with the exception of 600 Indians who claim to have in the same quilombo "from where they issued games to take, burn and steal the" Villa de Serro
Largo »(which the Spanish called Melo) at that time occupied by the Portuguese. It should be noted that the "500 men" refer to "gauchos" and that of course it also includes a majority of "Indians" (more or less Christianized). Instead, the expression "Indians" is used here to refer to the "infidel Indians" or "Charruas" o minuanes »The total population of this quilombo, including women, children and the elderly, must have been three times greater, just over 3,000 people, of whom nearly 2,000 were" brave Indians ".
Thus, in the midst of Artigas's exile in the North, there were (at least) 452 charrúa warriors facing the Portuguese in Bethlehem and another 600 harassing the enemy in Cerro Largo. More than 1,000 warriors at both sites. If we add their families we are talking about 3,500 people from the Charrúa Nation and allies who remained in this Band defending the cause of the peoples. T
We must add other groups and families that could be refugees in other parts of the country. This means that by the year 1811 there were still some 5,000 charrúa and minuanes scattered in the southern pampas. Their number was to decrease significantly as a consequence of wars. The defeat of Artigas was also the beginning of the great defeat of the Charrúa Nation in Uruguay..
Reproduced from "The peoples of the jaguar", Danilo Antón, Piriguazú Ediciones
Already in 1811 this spontaneous integration of charrúas, minuanes, Guaraní maroons, Afro-Creoles and gauchos into the emancipatory struggle was observed. This massive and spontaneous integration appears registered in several documents of the time.
At the end of December 1811, Artigas wrote to the Buenos Aires government explaining why he decided to attack the Portuguese in Bethlehem with the participation of a strong Charrúa contingent: "... my suspicions turned into realities .... The robberies were they committed millions and their cruelties ... (of the Portuguese) ... went to the extreme of torment some Americans who fell into their hands, also murdering others .... I made up my mind and on the 18th of the current ... (December) ... I marched a division of this weapon made up of 500 men, to the that he united 452 Indians, all under the command of the captain of the blandengues, Don Manuel Pinto Carneiro, in the direction of Bethlehem, in whose vicinity was a Portuguese column of 300 men under the command of Sergeant Major Manoel dos Santos. Vera V.S. that the action was not as complete as it should have been because the position of the enemy, together with the lack of horses on our part, facilitated their escape.
Your Excellency, this has been inevitable. The arms of the fatherland were required to attack them. » We reflect with Maggi: «What interest, what feeling, what hope, what strange adhesion motivates the unfaithful tribes to resent themselves thus, immediately, spontaneously, to enter a war that they do not understand? There is not a single example in the entire American revolution… the Charrúa come to fight for a friend who calls them. ». A little more than three months later, on April 9, 1812, the Portuguese commander José Pereira de Fonseca communicated to the commander general of the Portuguese troops occupying the Banda Oriental that the rebels (revolutionary artiguistas) had formed a "quilombo in the Rincon de Tres Arboles, with a number of 500 men, with the exception of 600 Indians who claim to have in the same quilombo "from where they issued games to take, burn and steal the" Villa de Serro
Largo »(which the Spanish called Melo) at that time occupied by the Portuguese. It should be noted that the "500 men" refer to "gauchos" and that of course it also includes a majority of "Indians" (more or less Christianized). Instead, the expression "Indians" is used here to refer to the "infidel Indians" or "Charruas" o minuanes »The total population of this quilombo, including women, children and the elderly, must have been three times greater, just over 3,000 people, of whom nearly 2,000 were" brave Indians ".
Thus, in the midst of Artigas's exile in the North, there were (at least) 452 charrúa warriors facing the Portuguese in Bethlehem and another 600 harassing the enemy in Cerro Largo. More than 1,000 warriors at both sites. If we add their families we are talking about 3,500 people from the Charrúa Nation and allies who remained in this Band defending the cause of the peoples. T
We must add other groups and families that could be refugees in other parts of the country. This means that by the year 1811 there were still some 5,000 charrúa and minuanes scattered in the southern pampas. Their number was to decrease significantly as a consequence of wars. The defeat of Artigas was also the beginning of the great defeat of the Charrúa Nation in Uruguay..
Reproduced from "The peoples of the jaguar", Danilo Antón, Piriguazú Ediciones
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