William Brown (admiral)
| William Brown | |
|---|---|
Founder of the Argentine Navy, William Brown is considered a national hero in Argentina, with more than 1,200 streets named after him.
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| Nickname(s) | Guillermo Brown |
| Born |
22 June 1777 Foxford, County Mayo, Kingdom of Ireland |
| Died | 3 March 1857 (aged 79) Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Buried at | La Recoleta cemetery |
| Allegiance |
 Argentina United Kingdom (press-ganged) |
| Service/branch |
 Argentine Navy Royal Navy (press-ganged) |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Battles/wars |
Napoleonic Wars Argentine War of Independence, Cisplatine War, Argentine Civil Wars |
William Brown (also known in Spanish as Guillermo Brown) (22 June 1777 – 3 March 1857) was an Irish-born Argentine admiral. Brown's victories in the Independence War, the Cisplatine War, and the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata earned the respect and appreciation of the Argentine people, and today he is regarded as one of Argentina's national heroes. Creator and first admiral of the country's maritime forces, he is commonly known as the "father of the Argentine Navy".
William Brown was born in Foxford, County Mayo, Ireland on 22 June 1777. His family emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States, around 1786, when William was nine years old. A short time after the arrival, the friend who had invited them out and offered them food and hospitality died of yellow fever, and several days later, William's father also succumbed to the same disease.
One morning while wandering along the banks of the Delaware River, he met the captain of a ship then moored in port. The captain inquired if he wanted employment and Brown answered yes. The captain then and there engaged him as a cabin boy, thereby setting him on the naval promotion ladder, where he worked his way to the captaincy of a merchant vessel.
Comparatively little is known of Brown's early life, and it has been suggested that he was illegitimate and took his mother's surname, and that his father's surname was actually Gannon.
After ten years on the Atlantic, where he developed his skills as a seaman and reached the level of captain, William Brown was press-ganged into a British ship. British impressment of American sailors was one of the primary issues leading to the War of 1812.
During the Napoleonic wars, Brown is said to have escaped the galley, and scuttled the ship. However, the French didn't believe he had assisted them and took him prisoner and sent him to Lorient. On being transferred to Metz, he escaped, disguised in a French officer's uniform. He was recaptured, however, and was imprisoned in the fortress of Verdun. From there, in 1809, he escaped in the company of a British colonel named Clutchwell and eventually reached German territory.
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Wikipedia