Hippolyte Bouchard | |
|---|---|
 Hippolyte Bouchard, oil on canvas byJosé Gil de Castro | |
| Born | André Paul Bouchard (1780-01-15)15 January 1780[1][A] |
| Died | 4 January 1837(1837-01-04) (aged 56) nearPalpa, North Peru, Peru–Bolivian Confederation |
| Parents |
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Hippolyte orHipólito Bouchard (15 January 1780[1][A] – 4 January 1837), known inCalifornia asPirata Buchar, was aFrench-bornArgentine[2][3]sailor andcorsair (pirate) who fought forArgentina,Chile, andPeru.
During his first campaign as an Argentine corsair he attacked the Spanish colonies of Chile and Peru, under the command of theIrish-Argentine AdmiralWilliam Brown. During his overseas voyage he blockaded the port ofManila,Philippines. InHawaii, he recovered an Argentine privateer which had been seized by mutineers. He also met the local ruler, KingKamehameha I. His forces occupiedMonterey, California, then a Spanish colony, raised theArgentine flag and held the town for six days. After raiding Monterey, he plunderedMission San Juan Capistrano inSouthern California. Toward the end of the voyage Bouchard raided Spanish ports inCentral America.[4] His second homeland remembers him as a hero and patriot; several places are named in his honour.
Bouchard was born in a small village close toSaint-Tropez,Bormes-les-Mimosas, on theCôte d'Azur (French Riviera) in 1780.[1][A] The son of André Louis Bouchard and Thérèse Brunet was baptized as André Paul but eventually went by the nameHippolyte. He initially worked in the French merchant fleet, then served in theFrench Navy in their campaigns against the English, thus starting his life at sea. After many campaigns including theFrench Campaign in Egypt by the future EmperorNapoleon Bonaparte and theSaint-Domingue expedition, disillusioned with the direction of theFrench Revolution, Bouchard went to Argentina in 1809 and, to aid theMay Revolution, became a part of the National Argentine Fleet, led byAzopardo. On 2 March 1811 he fought for the first time under theArgentine Flag when the Spanish Captain Jacinto de Romarate defeated the first Argentine flotilla atSan Nicolás de los Arroyos, and in July and August of that year he played a major role in defending the City ofBuenos Aires from a Spanishblockade. In March 1812 Bouchard joined theMounted Grenadiers Regiment led byJosé de San Martín and took part in theBattle of San Lorenzo in 1813, where he captured a Spanish flag and therefore was granted Argentine citizenship.[3] Some months later he married Norberta Merlo.[5]
In 1815 Bouchard started a naval campaign under the command of AdmiralWilliam Brown, wherein he attacked the fortress ofEl Callao and theEcuadorian city ofGuayaquil. On 12 September 1815 he was granted acorsair license to fight the Spanish aboard the French-builtcorvetteHalcón, which had been bought for the Argentine State byVicente Anastacio Echeverría. Most of the officers were French, except for the second commander, the Englishman Robert Jones, and Ramón Freire. Before weighing anchor a conflict between Bouchard and his superiors arose when the expedition's agent, Severino Prudant, promoted several sailors. Echeverría intervened and settled the conflict.
The campaign fleet was composed of thefrigateHercules under the command of William Brown, theSantísima Trinidad under the command of his brother, Miguel Brown, theschoonerConstitución under the command of Oliverio Russell, and theHalcón. TheHércules andSantísima Trinidad set sail fromMontevideo on 24 October; the other two ships departed five days later. The plan was for all four ships to rendezvous atMocha Island where they would establish a plan of operation. The Brown brothers arrived at the island on 28 December, with theHalcón arriving the following day. Upon arrival Bouchard announced that while circumnavigatingCape Horn his ship was exposed to fourteen days of severe weather, and it was on that basis that he had concluded that theConstitución had sunk (neither the ship nor its crew were ever seen again). On 31 December Brown and Bouchard agreed to operate together during the first hundred days of 1816. Any plunder would be divided as follows: two parts to Brown, as the commander-in-chief, and one-and-a-half parts each for theSantísima Trinidad and theHalcón.[6] Bouchard and Miguel Brown subsequently set course for thePeruvian coast, while theHércules sailed to theJuan Fernández Islands in order to free a number of patriots that were being held prisoner there.
On 10 January 1816 the three vessels met again near the fortress ofEl Callao. The ships formed a blockade and bombarded the city and its nearby fortification. The following day the group seized thebrigantineSan Pablo, which was used to transport sick and injured sailors as well as the liberated prisoners. On the 13th the frigateGobernadora was captured, and Lt. Colonel Vicente Banegas, officer of the Republican Army of Nueva Granada, joined the fleet. Four more ships were commandeered on the 18th, including theschoonerCarmen and the brigMístico along with two other ships, one of which was sacked and sunk. On 21 January the Argentine fleet again attacked the fortress, sinking the frigateFuente Hermosa in the process. Seven days later two more vessels were captured, the frigatesCandelaria andConsecuencia. The next day the expanded fleet sailed north in search of theGuayas River. On 7 February the Argentine contingent arrived atPuná Island, near Guayaquil. As they arrived, William Brown ordered Bouchard and his brother to stay close to the seven ships they had captured. Brown took the command of theSantísima Trinidad, with which he wanted to attack Guayaquil. The next day his attack demolished the fort of Punta de Piedras, located some fiveleagues from Guayaquil. However, on 9 February Brown failed in his attempt to take the castle of San Carlos, and was instead captured by the royalist forces. After a long negotiation, the Argentine corsairs traded Brown for theCandelaria, three brigantines and five correspondence chests that had been taken from theConsecuencia.[7]
After three days, Bouchard informed Brown that his ship was close to sinking and that the officers wished to return toBuenos Aires. He then asked for a division of the booty, and received theConsecuencia, theCarmen, and 3,475pesos as compensation (he had to leave theHalcón behind). Bouchard elected to return to Buenos Aires via Cape Horn, and it was there that new incidents with the crew arose, many of which were solved with violence, such as a duel with one of his sergeants. When an officer on theCarmen notified Bouchard that the ship was in imminent danger of foundering, Bouchard nonetheless ordered the man to continue the journey. As a result, the crew mutinied and headed to theGalápagos Islands. TheConsecuencia, with Bouchard still in command, made port in Buenos Aires on 18 June.[8]
Bouchard decided to stay with the frigateConsecuencia for his next campaign. In concert with Vicente Echevarría the ship's name was changed toLa Argentina. Preparing the ship was not an easy task, as it was very heavy and some 100 metres (330 feet) long. Echevarría acquired 34artillery pieces and hired experienced carpenters to mount them in place. Upon Bouchard's request, theArgentine State gave him 4 bronze cannons and 12 iron cannons, 128 guns, and 1,700 cannonballs, but he was unable to requisition small arms such as boarding guns or sabers (even cavalry sabers).[9] Even more difficult was finding the 180 men he needed for a crew, especially given Bouchard's reputation as ill-tempered (which dogged him after the conflicts in thePacific)[citation needed]. Most of the sailors he did enlist were foreigners, though some were from the provinces ofCorrientes andEntre Ríos.
On 25 June, withLa Argentina still in port, a sailor struck one of his superiors, an act of insubordination. When Bouchard discovered this he ordered the sailor's arrest, provoking general unrest. One of the fellow sailors attacked Commander Sommers, who killed him in self-defense. This did not prevent other members of the crew from barricading themselves inside the ship, which led to their being forcibly removed by the marine infantry, led by Sommers. Two crewmen were killed in the conflict, and four others were wounded. Following the altercation Echevarría sent a letter toSupreme DirectorJuan Martín de Pueyrredón explaining that the incident was the result of the crew having been stuck in Buenos Aires for an extended period, and that chances of further outbreaks would be lessened once the ship put to sea. Two days laterLa Argentina headed to Ensenada de Barragán, which started rumors flying that Bouchard had deserted the service. In reality, the frigate disembarked under the authority of a general order which required that ships that were subjected to loading delays and such but were otherwise seaworthy leave the harbor in order that they not be caught at anchor should the Spanish attempt an invasion.
On 27 June Bouchard obtained the Argentine corsair patent (a "letter of marque") that authorized him to prey on Spanish commerce, the countries ofSpain and Argentina being in a state of war at the time.[7]On 9 July 1817 (the first anniversary of the signing of theArgentine Declaration of Independence) Bouchard set out from Ensenada de Barragán in command ofLa Argentina on a two-year voyage, intending to travel across the Atlantic to theAfrican coast in order to circumnavigate around theCape of Good Hope and engage a fleet of ships operated by theCompany of the Philippines that had sailed from Spain toIndia. However, a fire broke out on 19 July which the crew had to fight for hours until it was extinguished. Consequently, when the ship subsequently arrived in theIndian Ocean it headed northeast toMadagascar, where it laid up atTamatave (on the east of the island) for a period of two months while repairs were effected. Once in Tamatave, a British officer requested Bouchard's assistance in preventing fourslave ships (three British and one French) from leaving the island, whereupon Bouchard offered the use of all his available troops. TheLa Argentina seized the ships' food supplies and recruited five French sailors prior to departing Madagascar with the intent of launching attacks on Spanish merchant shipping in the region. Much of the crew was soon afflicted withscurvy, which required that ship's operations be conducted by those few sailors who had escaped illness. On 18 OctoberLa Argentina encountered aUnited States Navy frigate that passed on the news that the Company of the Philippines had ended trade with India three years prior.
La Argentina headed toward thePhilippines, weathering several storms in theSunda Strait (that divides the islands ofJava andSumatra, and connects theJava Sea with the Indian Ocean) along the way. On 7 November Bouchard decided to land at Java in order to let his sick crew members recuperate. After leaving the island,La Argentina continued on its journey to the Philippines. Traveling through the region was fraught with danger due to the presence ofMalayan pirates, and was compounded by the crew's weakened condition. The pirate ships were equipped with cannons in the prow and in the stern, and were outfitted with one mast and many oars. TheLanun as they were known to the Malay people were not seen until the morning of 7 December, when the watchman sighted four small ships. Combat was delayed until midday when the largest of the pirate vessels attempted to close in onLa Argentina. It arrived towing a boat of the frigate that had visited him in search of provisions.[10] As Bouchard preferred to instigate boarding actions and relied on hand-to-hand combat he therefore chose to forgo firing upon the aggressor.La Argentina's crew prevailed and were ordered to take the ship; in the meantime, the other would-be attackers fled. Bouchard convened a "war council" to judge the prisoners, sentencing all of them to death, save for the youngest. The condemned prisoners were returned to their ship and locked below the deck; the damaged vessel was subjected to salvo after salvo of cannon fire fromLa Argentina until she sank with all hands aboard.[11]
After passing through theMakassar Strait,La Argentina crossed theCelebes Sea and made landfall on the island of Joló. Bouchard arrived in the archipelago on January 2, 1818, and remained there for five days. Large numbers of underwater rocks and strong currents made navigation difficult in these seas. Its inhabitants considered valor as the first of the virtues and always boasted of being invincible. His whole life was based on piracy that regulated his economy, his military forces and his social life. While the frigate's crew was negotiating with the natives to secure adequate supplies, sentries were stationed, loaded with muskets, to repel any possible attack by the Joloans. At night a sentry perceived movements and cautiously alerted the whole crew.When they confirmed that the boats dangerously lurked to the frigate, all the men prepared their arms and when being at a distance of a hundred yards the order was given to open fire.The Joloans were surprised and quickly fled. After a series of incidents finally the monarch appeared with a richly adorned boat. It brought with it a great quantity of fruits and vegetables, besides four buffaloes for the hungry sailors.From that moment they were able to complete the watering without being disturbed and the islanders were allowed to trade freely with the crew of the frigate.[12]
Then headed to the Spanish port atManila for the purpose of establishing a blockade. Upon arrival on 31 January 1818 the Argentines stopped an English frigate attempting to dock to determine whether or not it carried supplies for the Spanish colony. Bouchard attempted to hide his origin, but the frigate's captain discerned what his true intentions were and warned the Spanish authorities of his intentions. The City of Manila had fortified walls and was protected by a redoubt,Fort Santiago, with powerful artillery. Bouchard instead began to plunder nearby vessels, all the while staying clear of the Spanish cannons. For the next two monthsLa Argentina captured a total of 16 ships through the use of intimidating cannon fire and quick boardings. To further tighten the siege over the capital of the archipelago, Bouchard arranged for an armed Pontin with 23 crew members to block the strait of San Bernardino under the command of second captain Sommers. In that action they captured a felluca and a galley.[13] While Manila's inhabitants fell into a state of despair as the price of food doubled, and even tripled. The governor sent two armed merchant vessels, accompanied by a corvette, to engageLa Argentina. The group missed its opportunity, however, as Bouchard had already departed the area on 30 March.[14]
Few days after, the ship sighted a brigantine from theMariana Islands. When it noticed the proximity ofLa Argentina, it fled to the port of Santa Cruz.The Argentine frigate was unable to approach the harbor because of itsdraft, so Bouchard ordered Sommers, Greissac and Van Buren to use three boats to capture the ship. The three officers and many crew members started to approach the brigantine that had not arrived to the port. Owing to the speed of his boat, Sommers went ahead and managed to reach the brigantine. But the cutter leading to Sommers was overturned by the crew of the brig that threw moorings to their masts. From the deck of the brig, they attacked the defenseless men in the water, killing fourteen.[15] The others were rescued by Greissac and Van Buren and returned to the frigate.Bouchard wanted to revenge the deaths, but in order to capture the brigantine he needed a vessel with a smaller stern. So he ordered Greissac to lead some sailors and take any of theschooners that sailed near the port. Once captured, Bouchard put a number of cannons in her. He placed Greissac and Oliver in command of her with 35 sailors. The schooner attacked on 10 April but the brigantine's crew had fled. Continuing their navigation, they reached the northern end of the island and captured a pontoon that carried the RoyalSituado to the islands Batanes.[16] However, because of the strong winds it was possible to send only an officer and eight sailors to sail the vessel. The schooner was in sight until 15 April, possibly the insubordination was caused by the value of the shipment.[17]La Argentina traveled to theSandwich Islands (nowHawaii) to find new crew members to replace those who had died from scurvy. Bouchard hiredPeter Corney to captain theSanta Rosa, a captured ship whose crew had mutinied.[18] Filomeno V. Aguilar Jr. in his paper: "Manilamen and seafaring: engaging the maritime world beyond the Spanish realm", stated that his second ship, the Santa Rosa had a multi-ethnic crew which included Filipinos.[19] Mercene, writer of the bookManila Men, proposes that those Manilamen were recruited in San Blas, an alternative port to Acapulco Mexico where several Filipinos had settled during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade era. The Filipinos who settled in San Blas were escapees from Spanish slavery in the Manila Galleons, upon meeting Hippolyte Bouchard who worked for the Argentinians that revolted against Spain, the common grievance the Filipinos shared against the Spaniards, which they shared with the Argentines caused them to mutiny and join the rebel Argentines.[20]
On 17 August Bouchard arrived atKealakekua Bay on the western coast of the island of Hawaii. A group of natives came close to the ship in a canoe and informed them, in English, that a corvette, which used to be Spanish but had been sold to KingKamehameha I, was also at anchor in the harbor. They also told them that, on the previous night, a frigate had departed.Bouchard decided to chase the frigate, which they found becalmed. He ordered Sheppard to take a rowboat to ask the frigate's commander for information about the ship in the Hawaiian harbor. Sheppard found out that it was theSanta Rosa or theChacabuco, a corvette that had weighed anchor atBuenos Aires almost the same day theLa Argentina had. The crew ofSanta Rosa had mutinied nearChile's coast and headed to Hawaii, where the crew had attempted to sell the vessel to the Hawaiian king.[21]The French privateer forced the frigate to return to the harbor, because he suspected that among its crew were hiding some of the mutineers. While investigating the men he found nine men he had seen in Buenos Aires and punished them. After an interrogation he found out the revolt's leaders were hiding inKauai Island.
When he arrived at the harbor he found theSanta Rosa almost dismantled, therefore he decided to meet KingKamehameha I wearing his uniform ofLieutenant Colonel of theUnited Provinces of the Río de la Plata. During the meeting Bouchard demanded the restitution of the corvette. However, the king argued he had paid 600hundredweight ofsandalwood for her and that he deserved a compensation. Bouchard traded his sword and commanders hat, along with an honorific title of Lieutenant Colonel of the United Provinces. Argentine historian, author and 6thPresident of ArgentinaBartolomé Mitre wrote of this agreement as the first "international treaty" signed by Argentina with a non-Latin American country, an interpretation dismissed by later historians.[22] Historian Pacho O'Donnell affirms that Hawaii was the first state that recognized Argentina's independence.[23]After the negotiation, Bouchard returned to the Bay of Kealekekua, conditioned the Santa Rosa and waited for the king to send him the agreed provisions. As this did not occur he went with his warships to rejoin the monarch at his residence in Kailua.[24]For the risk involved two warships in his capital, Kamehameha indicated that it could be provisioned in Maui[25]After obtaining supplies in Maui he went to Oahu, arriving in Honolulu,[26] where he met Francisco de Paula y Marín, who was appointed representative of the United Provinces of South America and captain of the armies.[27]He also recruited Peter Corney, who put in charge of the corvette Santa Rosa.[28]On 26 August he took charge of theSanta Rosa, which he had to rebuild partially. Six days later he arrived to Kauai island. There he captured those who had mutinied in theSanta Rosa, executed the leaders and punishing the rest with twelve blows with a lash in the face.[29] After buying food, ammunition and hiring eighty men, the fleet left, heading toCalifornia.
Bouchard sailed towardsCalifornia to exploit theSpanish trade. However the Spanish authorities knew his intentions since on 6 October theClarion had reported two corsair ships were ready to attack the Californian coast. The governor,Pablo Vicente de Solá, who resided inMonterey, ordered removed from the city all valuables and two thirds of thegunpowder stocked in the military outposts.[30]
On 20 November 1818, thewatchman of Punta de Pinos, located at the tip of the southern end ofMonterey Bay, sighted the two Argentine ships. The governor was informed; the Spanish prepared the cannons along the coastline, the garrison manned their battle stations, and the women, children, and men unfit to fight were sent to an inland mission atSoledad.[31]
Bouchard met with his officers to design the attack plan. Peter Corney knew the bay from two previous visits to Monterey. They used thecorvetteSanta Rosa to attack since thedeep draftfrigateLa Argentina mightrun aground. The frigate had to be towed by small boats and out of range of the Spanishartillery. Once it was out of range, Bouchard sentcaptain Sheppard to theSanta Rosa, leading two hundred soldiers, carrying firearms andlances.[31]
Santa Rosa corvette, led by Sheppard, anchored by midnight near thePresidio of Monterey.[2] Since, after towing the frigate and rowing back to the corvette the men were very tired, Sheppard decided not to attack in the night. At dawn he discovered that he had anchored too close to the coast and that few meters ahead the Spanish artillery was ready to attack them. The captain opened fire, but after fifteen minutes of combat the corvette surrendered.[32]
From the frigate, Bouchard saw his men defeated, but also noticed that the Spanish lacked boats to seizeSanta Rosa. The corsair ordered his ships to weigh anchor and move towards the port. However, due to the frigate's draft, he could not get close enough to open fire. After sunset they brought the corvette's survivors aboard the frigate.On 24 November, before dawn, Bouchard ordered his men to board the boats. They were 200: 130 had rifles and 70 had spears. They landed 7 km (4.3 mi) away from the fort in a hiddencreek. The fort defended byJosé Bandini resisted ineffectively, and after an hour of combat theArgentine flag flew over it.[4] The Argentines took the city for six days, during which time they stole the cattle and burned the fort, the artillery headquarters, the governor's residence and the Spanish houses. The town's residents were unharmed.[33]
On 29 November they left Monterey, passedPoint Conception, and anchored off of Refugio Canyon, about twenty miles west ofSanta Barbara, where they went to the hacienda of theOrtega family rancho. Bouchard was told the family had strongly supported the Spanish cause. On 5 December the Argentines disembarked near the farm and, meeting no resistance, took all the food, killed the cattle, and slit the throats of the saddle horses in the corrals. A small squadron of cavalry, sent byJosé de la Guerra y Noriega from theSanta Barbara Presidio, waited quietly nearby for an opportunity to capture some stragglers. They captured an officer and two sailors, whom they brought back to the Presidio in chains. Bouchard waited for them the whole day, because he thought they were lost, until he decided to burn the farm and go toMission Santa Barbara, where the three men could have been taken as prisoners. Once he arrived at Santa Bárbara, and seeing the town was heavily defended (in reality, what Bouchard saw through his spyglass was the same smalltroop ofcavalry, which stopped and changed costume each time it passed behind a heavy clump of brush), the privateer sent a messenger to speak to the governor. After the negotiation the three captured men returned to theSanta Rosa and Bouchard freed one prisoner.[34]
On 16 December the shipsweighed anchor and headed toSan Juan Capistrano. There he requested food and ammunition; a Spanish officer said "he had enough gunpowder and cannonballs for me". Threats annoyed Bouchard; he sent one hundred men to take the town. After a short fight the corsairs took some valuables and burned the Spanish houses. On 20 December he left forVizcaíno Bay, where he repaired the ships and allowed his men to rest.[35]Among the Spanish settlements in California the raids earned Bouchard a reputation as "California's onlypirate" (and was therefore often referred to asPirata Buchar by the Spanish colonists of the day).[36][37] To avoid an attack from Bouchard like the one he successfully launched against San Juan Capistrano,San Buenaventura moved all of its herd and valuables inland.[38]
On 17 January they sailed to the port ofSan Blas, located on the west coast of mainlandMexico, and began a blockade eight days later. During the approach, they seized the Spanish brigLas Ánimas, with a cargo of cacao. NearTres Marías islands,La Argentina boarded the BritishGood Hope. After four days, they allowed the ship to weigh anchor, but not before confiscating her cargo of Spanish goods. On 1 March, while blockading San Blas, they sighted aschooner. The two ships began to chase her but failed to reach her. Afterwards, Bouchard ordered them to proceed south toAcapulco following the coastline. Once they arrived, he sent a boat with an officer to explore the place, and to report the quantity and quality of the ships in the harbour. The officer reported there was no relevant ship nearby, and Bouchard decided to sail on.[39]
On 18 March the Argentines went to a town calledSonsonate inEl Salvador. An officer sent to spy on the port reported there were reasonable ships to board. On that day Bouchard captured a brigantine. On 2 April they arrived at the port ofEl Realejo, and prepared two boats with cannons and sixty men, led by Bouchard himself. They were sighted by the port's watch, however, and Spanish troops went to defend the ships. In addition, they had protected the port with four ships: abrig, twoschooners and alugger. After an intense combat three ships were taken. Bouchard burned the brigSan Antonio and the schoonerLauretana, because their owners had not offered enough money for them, 30,000 and 20,000duros respectively. Owing to their quality he kept the lugger,Neptuno, and the second schooner,María Sofía.[40]
After the combat inEl Realejo, the Argentines found the same schooner with the Spanish flag that they had lost in San Blas. The ship went forward towards theSanta Rosa, whose crew was composed of inexpert Hawaiian sailors and had few artillery. A first attack killed three Argentines and wounded many more. When the Argentine ship was going to repel the enemy's boarding, the schooner took out the Spanish flag and showed it was a Chilean ship, calledChileno (Chilean). It was commanded by a corsair whose surname was Croll. Bouchard demanded that his surgeon heal the wounded, but the Chilean corsair decided to go away.[41]
On 3 April 1819 Hippolyte Bouchard's long expedition ended. He went toValparaíso, inChile in order to collaborate withJosé de San Martín's campaign to liberatePeru. Some historians, for example Miguel Ángel de Marco,[42] suggest that the flags of theUnited Provinces of Central America and most of the states that composed it were inspired by theArgentine Flag that Bouchard took with him. While others claim that the flag was modeled on the Argentine flag, but introduced byCommodoreLouis-Michel Aury.
On 9 July 1819, exactly two years after Bouchard leftBuenos Aires, theSanta Rosa and theMaría Sofía arrived toValparaíso. the 12th of the same month arrived theNeptuno and one day later arrivedLa Argentina. Bouchard was informed thatThomas Cochrane had ordered his arrest.[7] The corsair replied that the Chilean government had no authority to judge him and that he would only speak about his travels to the Argentine authority.The trial for piracy started on 20 July. In September a Chilean fleet had left toPeru to try to takeEl Callao fortress. In order to put pressure on the court, Argentine ColonelMariano Necochea along with 30Mounted Grenadiers and sailors stormedLa Argentina and took control of the ship in the name of the United Provinces.[43] Then, the corsair's defense decided to accelerate the trial and the judge decided, on 9 December, to return all ships, papers and documents to Bouchard; however the money and the booty were not given back.The ships had no sails nor cannons, because they had been requested by the Chilean navy. Bouchard, virtually in bankruptcy, used a schooner to deliver clay toBuenos Aires, and due to the poor future of his ships, he decided to change the name ofLa Argentina toConsecuencia, the name she had before being taken. They were used as transport ships: theConsecuencia carried 500 soldiers to Peru, whileSanta Rosa took cattle and weapons.
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In 1820 Bouchard was in Peru serving with the Chilean navy. In December of that year he requestedJosé de San Martín, who had been named Protector of Peru, to be allowed to return toArgentina due to his economic situation. San Martín ordered him to stay inLima for four more months.[44]
When Lord Cochrane took the money stored in the warships he commanded to compensate for the wages he did not receive, San Martín decided to fight against him. He created thePeruvian Navy and Bouchard was given the frigatePrueba, captured by the Royalists in Callao.[45] Cochrane complained again andTomás Guido asked him to protest to theChilean government and ordered Bouchard to be ready to fight if the Scottish admiral decided to attack the Peruvian fleet. Bouchard confronted Cochrane at sea, to the point of challenging him to a single duel; however, the Chilean admiral refused to fight and sailed back to Valparaíso.[43]
After the incident, Bouchard continued to sail in Peruvian waters commanding theSanta Rosa, becauseConsecuencia had to be sold as firewood.Santa Rosa would end up being burned during theEl Callao rebellion of 1824. Bouchard would also participate, in 1828, inthe war againstGran Colombia. After the death of the AdmiralMartín Jorge Guise, he was in charge of the Peruvian Navy, but he would retire one year later, after the loss of the ensign ship,Presidente.[46]
During his retirement Bouchard decided to live on the properties that had been given to him by the Peruvian Government,San Javier y San José de la Nazca, nearPalpa. He established asugar mill. Bouchard had lost contact with his family many years before: after the expedition with Brown he had lived with his wife for only ten months, and he never knew his younger daughter who was born after the beginning of his expedition around the world. He was killed by one of his servants on 4 January 1837.[5]
In his adopted country of Argentina, Bouchard is revered as a patriot and several places (one being a street in downtownBuenos Aires close to the waterfront) are named in his honor.[2]USSBorie, anAllen M. Sumner-class destroyer sold to Argentina in July 1972, was renamed as ARAHipólito Bouchard; the ship saw action in theFalklands War.[47]
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