ends of Palo Blanco and Confisco. The Sarandí sided with those, to join their fires to the defense. The artillery duel and the rescue and destruction maneuvers lasted for hours. By 7 P.M., Admiral Pinto Guedes' squadron appeared, but of all its vessels only the Pirajá, led by João das Botas, and the Independencia ou Morte, due to their smaller size, could approach the enemy. At night the wind changed, pushing six small schooners from Colonia capable of navigating the banks. The final attack on the stranded Republicans was prepared while the high-board ships closed the escape route. The schooners rounded up the Argentines, hitting them with cannon fire until 2 P.M, when they proceeded to board the Argentine ships. The Independencia lowered the flag, and the Republica, in spite of a well put up resistance, was overwhelmed. Admiral Brown, with a wound in his thigh, transferred to the Sarandí and returned to Buenos Aires. Aftermath The losses in this battle, along with the loss of the large Argentinian vessel 25 de Mayo in the Battle of Quilmes (July 29–30, 1826), kept the Brazilian Navy in control of the River Plate. From that moment on, only raids against commerce ships could be carried out by the Argentine Navy, mostly from its Atlantic base at Carmen de Patagones, but no major operations to challenge the larger ships of the Brazilian Navy were possible. As the British military historian Brian Vale put it, "[...] Juncal had done little to push the Empire in the direction of peace. Now at Monte Santiago, two of Argentina's precious brigs-of-war had been destroyed and the cream of its Navy roundly defeated. The Brazilian Navy's overwhelming superiority at sea had been reasserted in a way which neither William Brown's audacity or Ramsay's newly purchased frigates could seriously challenge". The war reached a standstill: the Argentine Army had greater control in the land operations, but lacked the means to expel the Brazilian Army from Colonia del Sacramento and Montevideo, the two largest cities of Uruguay (which would remain under Brazilian control throughout the whole conflict), and lacked larger ships to challenge the control of the river; at the same time, the losses sustained by the Brazilians during the previous battles discouraged them from extending the naval war into the interior rivers of Argentina, and the shallow waters discouraged the attempt of a direct attack against Buenos Aires. This