by the royalist fleet from Montevideo; which would last until 1813 with the creation of a new naval squadron and the victories of William Brown. In the short term, the reinforcements requested by general Belgrano did not arrive; few days after the battle at San Nicolás, Belgrano's army was attacked and defeated at the Battle of Tacuarí (9 March 1811). Juan Bautista Azopardo became a prisoner of the royalists and was taken to Ceuta, Spain. The revolutionary government in Buenos Aires, still started a judicial process in absentia to determine his involvement in the defeat. The report obtained recognized Azopardo's courage, but concluded he had demonstrated lack of experience in command and that he had allowed lack of discipline on his crew. The sentence given was the indefinite removal of command in the armed forces, establishing that he could only serve as a subordinate officer. Azopardo confronted while imprisoned in Spain charges of adhering to the revolutionary cause; and was condemned to death to later have his sentenced commuted. Finally in 1820, the liberal movement in Spain headed by general Rafael de Riego freed all political prisoners including Azopardo allowing him to return to South America. The following year, Buenos Aires rescinded his order and allowed him to return to military life in the Argentine Navy. The governing Junta communicated to the people the news of the defeat in a public proclamation on 4 March 1811: Bibliography References See also Argentine Navy Juan Bautista Azopardo Action of 14 May 1814 Battle of Martín García (1814) San Nicolás San Nicolás San Nicolas March 1811 events