A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS

Part 2 - Fort St. Louis and Port Egmont

The Establishment of Fort St. Louis

The first settlement in the Falkland Islands was established in February 1764 by a French nobleman, Antoine Louise de Bougainville, who named the Islands 'Isles Malouines' after St. Malo, the port from which the expedition set out.  Bougainville dreamt of founding a new colony for the Acadians who had been expelled from Canada to St. Malo.  He chose the Falkland Islands because he believed their remote location would protect the colonists from harassment.  His expedition was supported by the French Foreign Secretary, the Duc de Choiseul, after whom Bougainville named Choiseul Sound in East Falkland.

The party landed in Berkeley Sound, at what was to become Fort St. Louis settlement.  Dom Pernety, the priest accompanying the expedition, chronicled events.  After construction of a fort (of earth and peat sods) and an apartment house, Bougainville and Pernety returned to France in April 1764 leaving 28 settlers behind.  Bougainville returned to the Islands in January 1765 with a further 53 settlers.  The third visit of Bougainville's ship 'Eagle' at the beginning of 1766 brought more people and stores, but Bougainville himself did not accompany the ship, as he had been instructed by the French King Louis XV to travel to Madrid.  

The Intervention of the Spanish

In 1493 Pope Alexander VI, a Spaniard obligated to the Spanish throne, issued a papal bull which drew a line north to south down the Atlantic one hundred leagues west of the Azores.  Everything East of the line was granted to Portugal, and everything west of the line to Spain.  Portugal and Spain, the two most important Catholic countries of the age, confirmed this division in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas.  England lodged a formal objection to the papal bull.

In 1766 Political expediency forced the French to accede to Spanish demands that France abandon the colony, which the Spanish claimed contravened both the papal bull of 1494 and the recently signed 'Family Pact'.  Bougainville was instructed to sign away the colony in return for £25,000 and reimbursement of the expenses which he had incurred in setting it up.  The formal act of cession was carried out at Fort St. Louis (renamed Port Soledad or Port Solitude by the Spanish) on 1 April 1767 in the presence of Bougainville and a small contingent of Spanish settlers lead by the new Governor of 'Islas Malvinas' Don Felipe Ruiz Puente.

The Arrival of the British Navy

Meanwhile on 12 January 1765 a British exploratory expedition, consisting of the ships 'Dolphin', 'Tamar' and 'Florida' under the command of Commodore John Byron (grandfather of the poet), reached the Falkland Islands.  After a vain search for Pepys Island, Byron concluded that no such place existed at the latitude and longitude laid down by Ambrose Cowley.  The expedition anchored at what became known as Port Egmont on Saunders Island.  A landing was made on 25 January 1765 and the Falkland Islands were formally claimed for the Crown of Great Britain.  A watering-place and vegetable garden were established at Port Egmont.  

Before returning to Britain, Byron spent time surveying the coastline of the Islands, naming geographical features as he came to them: Cape Tamar, the Eddystone Rock, Cape Dolphin, Cape Pembroke, Berkeley Sound.  Had he entered Berkeley Sound he would have discovered the French settlement.

The Establishment of Port Egmont

In September 1765 a further British expedition, consisting of the ships 'Jason', 'Carcass' and 'Experiment' under the command of Captain John McBride set sail to establish a permanent settlement.  Their instructions were precise: any lawless person found on the Islands was to leave or take oath of allegiance to the British Crown.  Should any foreign settlement be discovered the inhabitants were to be informed that the Islands belonged to Great Britain, and given six months within which to leave.  One of McBride's ships was to remain permanently at Port Egmont, the other was to circumnavigate the Islands, exploring those parts which Byron had not had time to visit, and making a survey of the interior as well as the coast.

McBride arrived at Port Egmont on 8 January 1766 and spent his first weeks founding a substantial shore settlement.  He named the archipelago 'The Falkland Islands' and the north-west chain of islands 'The Jasons'.  He spent the summer months surveying.  During the winter months the blockhouse and two houses were built.  With the return of summer survey work recommenced.  On 4 December 1766 McBride discovered Fort St. Louis and informed the French commander de Nerville that the British had had a colony at Port Egmont since January 1765.  Both men reiterated their countries claims to sovereignty but McBride and his officers had an enjoyable visit to Fort St. Louis.  

McBride noted that there were about 130 inhabitants (men, women and children) at Fort St. Louis.  The settlement received supplies from Montevideo and had three schooners which they used for coasting around the Islands.  There was one stone house occupied by de Nerville, and sixteen other houses made of turf thatched with tussac.  The French had mounted guns at the entrance to Fort St. Louis, and a strong detachment of soldiers.

Dispute between the British and the Spanish

In 1769 British and Spanish ships met whilst undertaking survey work.  Each vessel regarded the other as being there unlawfully, and letters to this effect were exchanged.  In early 1770 Spanish commander Don Juan Ignacio de Madariaga visited Port Egmont.  He exchanged letters with Captain Hunt, officer in charge of the British garrison, in which each reiterated their country's claim to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.  On 14 July 1770 Don Madariaga returned to Port Egmont with a much larger contingent of 5 Spanish warships carrying over 1,000 men, and forced the British to leave Port Egmont.  On 22 January 1771, after the British threatened to declare war on Spain, the Spanish agreed to the British reinstatement.  A British expedition comprising 'Juno' under the command of Captain Stott, 'Hound' and 'Florida' arrived at Port Egmont on 13 September 1771.  A Spanish officer arrived from Port Soledad and on 15 September 1771 Captain Stott formally took repossession.  Captain Stott returned to London, leaving Captain Burr of 'Hound' in charge.  In October two Spanish ships arrived with the artillery, provisions and stores removed from Port Egmont by Madariaga.

British Withdrawal

In 1774 Britain decided for reasons of economy to withdraw almost all its overseas garrisons, and on 20 May 1776 the British forces under the command of Lt. Clayton formally took their leave of Port Egmont, which had grown to be a valuable naval asset, sheltering and resupplying British ships rounding Cape Horn.  Gardens had been established in a sheltered valley a mile away from the settlement in which the British grew every kind of vegetable.  The British flag was left flying and a plaque was fixed to the blockhouse door restating the British claim to sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.  The Spanish appear to have been unaware of the British departure until 1776 when they found the port taken over by sealers, who were informed that the Islands belonged to Spain and the sealers must leave.  The sealers ignored the Spanish, who removed Clayton's plaque to Buenos Aries and made annual visits of inspection to Port Egmont until March 1780 when they destroyed the settlement on instructions from Madrid.

Spanish Withdrawal

The Spanish establishment at Port Soledad was a military post with the addition in later years of a convict settlement.  The Spanish did not make any serious attempt to explore the interior of the Islands (although they did survey the coastline) nor to continue the French colonising venture (although they did import more cattle from Montevideo).  The last Spanish Governor Don Juan Crisostomo Martinez was withdrawn from the settlement at Port Soledad in 1806, leaving behind him a plaque stating the Spanish claim to sovereignty of 'Islas Malvinas'.  So dependent were the settlers on regular supplies arriving from Montevideo that in 1807 they faced near starvation when the British capture of Montevideo interrupted their supply chain.  Eventually supplies arrived from Rio.  In 1811 the remaining settlers were withdrawn by the government of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, which later gained independence from Spain as Argentina in 1816.  Port Soledad, like Port Egmont, then became the haunt of sealers.

The Argentine Claim

In 1820 Argentina claimed sovereignty over 'Islas Malvinas'. claiming right of succession to Spain and relying on the papal bull of 1493 and the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas.  The Argentine government employed American Daniel Jewitt of 'Heroina' to take possession of the Islands and assert Argentine sovereignty against the many sealing and whaling vessels of various nationalities which were using the Islands as a base for their activities.  On 6 November Jewitt took formal possession at Port Soledad, planting the Argentine flag and firing a salute of 21 guns.  

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