“Just think what the taking of Buenos Aires and Montevideo and the Plate Estuary would mean, sirs! There would in time of war be no trade round Cape Horn but for neutrals and our, and allied, shipping! Port Stanley and the Falkland Islands could never support a squadron of ships sufficient to dominate the Cape Horn passages, but the Plate could,” Popham insisted, half-cajoling, half-battering down any argument to the contrary; smiling wide but talking loud and quickly as he bestowed beaming good will.
“Aye, but how would we go about that, sir?” Diomede’s captain asked, frowning. “Other than that Colonel Miranda you met, what are the odds that he represented a real rebel movement, and not just some pack of malcontents meeting in some coffee house? Is there really a sizable portion of the population all that eager to throw off Spanish rule, and welcome us?”
“We are godless Protestant heretics, don’t ye know,” Lewrie had to say, with a snicker. “Good Papists, rebel or no, would rather cut our throats. Hated us for ages!”
“When in London, Colonel Miranda gave firm and believable assurances that his nationalist movement is widespread, and popular with all classes in the Argentine,” Commodore Popham countered. “He came to Protestant England to ask for our aid, and was authorised to grant us basing rights, in exchange for local rule, and civil autonomy, sirs.” Popham paused and brought out a stack of newspapers from a drawer in his sideboard. “I obtained these quite recently from a Captain Waine, of the American merchantman Elizabeth, just come to anchor in Table Bay. They are in Spanish, of course, but my clerks and some of Captain Downman’s officers read and speak Spanish, and they are in full consensus that these papers speak of civil unrest, complaints about Spain taking hands with godless, heretical Jacobin France, the rules by which the Argentine trade is crippled by far-off decrees limiting shipping to Spanish ships only, with no inter-colonial trade allowed, and et cetera and et cetera. No local merchantmen may trade with America, with Portuguese Brazil, for one instance.
“And, there is rich potential in the Argentine, sirs,” Popham enthusiastically drilled on. “Cattle, hides, tallows, and lards, and mineral wealth, along with vast seas of grain crops, and the bark of the cinchona tree, which is a specific against Malaria. And, Buenos Aires is one terminus of the Spanish Philippines trade, with all the spices, gold, and silver that that means, annually. Our Drake, in his time, would have given his right arm for the chance to take one of the ‘golden galleons’. Who knows what untold wealth now lies in the warehouses and counting houses of Buenos Aires, gentlemen? Do we appear in the Río de la Plata to augment and light the match to the nationalist uprising, we will outnumber, and over-awe, those Spaniards who still cling to the old regime in Madrid, and they are a distinct minority, all our intelligence, and Captain Waine’s personal observations, assure me!”
He’s mad as a hatter! Lewrie gawped to himself; As daft as a March hare!
“Won’t this require an army at least as large as the one that we brought to the Cape, though, sir?” Captain Rowley hesitantly asked, sounding tempted, but wary. “And, do we sail for Buenos Aires, and leave Cape Town un-defended, might we run the risk of losing it to an expeditionary force from the French bases in the Indian Ocean, once they learn of its loss?”
“The French have barely enough troops to garrison Réunion and Mauritius,” Popham was quick to dismiss, “so General Baird will be as safe as houses so long as he holds both fortresses, and can field one brigade of his present strength. A naval presence to defend the Cape is of secondary importance, leaving us free to undertake the invasion of the Argentine.
“I have already spoken with Sir David, and he assures me that he may spare us the Seventy-first Foot, and some dis-mounted dragoons, along with field artillery.… Perhaps we may arm and equip these rescued soldiers from the Queens’ and Fifty-fourth Regiments with surrendered Dutch arms and accoutrements, or trade them for a half-battalion more of Sir David’s troops. General Beresford will command our landing force. And,” Popham paused to give them an reassuring smile, “since the passage to South America requires us to take a great circle route Nor’west with the Sou’east Trades and currents, then over towards neutral Portuguese Brazil, I intend to break our passage at Saint Helena for more water and firewood, and prevail upon the island’s governor to lend me some more troops. A force of two thousand, all told, should be more than sufficient for the initial landings, after which the nationalists come to us. Both Colonel Miranda, and Captain Waine, assure me that there are no more than two thousand Spaniards under arms round Buenos Aires.”
“And here I thought we’d be goin’ East, not West,” Lewrie gaped to fill the uneasy, thoughtful silence. “Have a shot at Réunion, and clean out one privateers’ nest. Have a chance to engage a French squadron, broadside-to-broadside? We’ll be back at convoyin’.”
“Well, in this instance, Lewrie,” Popham said with a pleased simper, “we will most assuredly muster all our Marines and as many sailors as may be spared for shore duty. You may have a chance for even more action ashore … and more mud and dirt on your boots!”
“It could be … glorious,” Lieutenant Talbot of the little Encounter brig spoke up for the first time.
“As glorious as Lord Clive of India, sirs!” Popham exclaimed, seizing upon that word. “One man, with a laughably small force of sturdy British for the backbone, leading native armies in rebellion against the great Moghuls and their tyranny, won not just a province, but the entire Indian sub-continent, and came home with honour, and the untold wealth of emperors! And, might I add, un-dying renown, hey?
“I fully intend,” Popham said, turning more business-like, as if his case was won, “to depart round the middle of April, if not earlier, so see to your victualling and readiness, gentlemen. We shall be having future conferences anent our preparations, and meetings with General Beresford and his staff officers. It would be good for all our Sailing Masters to meet, as well, to share what knowledge they possess of the Plate Estuary, their pertinent charts, along with what charts may be available from the chandlers here in Cape Town.…”
Lewrie looked round the table at his fellow captains, wondering if he should say something along the lines of Have ye lost yer bloody mind? or This is all a load of moonshine! and would speaking up make a groat’s worth of difference. There were several hooded expressions of worry, but in the main, his compatriots looked as if they would go along with Popham’s orders, “muddle through”, and hope to make the best of it. Deference to the authority of one’s commanding officer was sacrosanct in the Royal Navy; men had been court-martialled for mute insubordination for obeying but doing so in a surly manner, or for questioning a superior’s order too strongly.
He ain’t askin’ for our suggestions, Lewrie thought; His mind’s made up and he’s Hell-bent on his little … crusade, and nothing anyone can say’d dissuade him! This ain’t goin’ t’end well!
“… may appear wide, but it is rather shallow, so we may have to put off the selection of our landing beaches until we enter the estuary,” Popham had been going on, just bubbling over with enthusiasm, and waving his cabin stewards to come forward with newly-opened wine bottles. “A glass with you all, sirs!” Popham cried as their glasses were filled. “To victory and glory in the Argentine!” he proposed, and they had no choice but to echo that toast and toss back their wines.