| abstract
| - Mariath was put in command of a small squadron of four vessels stationed near Colonia del Sacramento. His mission was to defend the local fortifications, in coordination with the garrison of approximately 1,500 men under the command of Brigadier Manuel Jorge Rodrigues. On February 26, 1826, an Argentine squadron under the command of William Brown ran the blockade and appeared to challenge the garrison at Colonia. The men and guns of the Brazilian vessels had been landed to reinforce the fort, and the resulting confrontation was and inconclusive cannon duel, as a ground attack by troops from the Banda Oriental failed to materialize. After repelling this initial attack, Mariath asked for assistance from Montevideo, but the commanding Vice Admiral Rodrigo Lobo refused. On the first of March Brown launched a second attack. The night assault, supported by gunboats, was repelled after a bloody combat in which the Argentine troops suffered heavy losses but succeeded in destroying two Brazilian ships. Later that year, he was put in command of a squadron consisting of the brig Caboclo, the corvette Maceió, and the frigate Nichteroy. He distinguished himself in the defense of the frigate Imperatriz on April 26, in the battle of Ortiz Bank on 3 May, and the battle of Lara-Quilmes on 29 and 30 June. During this last battle, the massed fire of a number of Brazilian vessels succeeded in knocking the major Argentine ship the 25 de Mayo out of action. On 12 May in Montevideo, Admiral Rodrigo Pinto Guedes assumed command of Brazilian naval forces operating in the Rio de la Plata sector, often called the Escuadra del Sur (Southern Squadron). He decided to adopt a more aggressive strategy and divide his fleet in three parts to accomplish it. He put Captain James Norton in command of a squadron (the Division Bloqueo) whose mission it was to definitively blockade the strategic port of Buenos Aires. Another squadron (the Third Division), led by Jacinto Sena Pereira, was ordered to control the Rio Uruguay and thereby cut lines of supply and communication between the Argentines and their expeditionary forces in the Banda Oriental. Mariath was put in charge of the reserve squadron, based at Colonia del Sacramento.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)