The Argentine Invasion of Monterey also known as the Argentine occupation of California was a military action carried out between November 24 and November 29, 1818, by naval forces from the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata (modern-day Argentina) under the command of privateer Hipólito Bouchard. This operation was part of Bouchard's broader Pacific naval campaign during the Argentine War of Independence, aiming to disrupt Spanish colonial control along the Pacific coast of the Americas.
Bouchard's forces temporarily captured and sacked the town of Monterey, California, then the capital of Alta California, a province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. After destroying military and government buildings, his forces withdrew a few days later without establishing a permanent presence.
Background
During Argentina's struggle for independence from Spain, naval raids were launched to challenge Spanish authority across the Pacific. Hipólito Bouchard, commissioned as a privateer by the revolutionary government, was given the mission of attacking Spanish holdings as far north as California.
In 1815 Bouchard started...
DulceKennedy
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