"Treinta y Tres" has now developed into a proper name in the Banda Oriental; for the number of men who started out from Buenos Aires for the sake of Uruguay was thirty-three. The name has now been locally immortalised. Among the infinite variety of objects that it endows may be counted a province, a town, innumerable plazas and streets, and a brand of cigarettes.
There is certainly nothing that is intrinsically humorous in the adventures of these noble men who set out for their patriotic purpose in the face of such terrible risks. Yet as a specimen of the constitution of the armies of the South American factions at this period a survey of the grades held by the small gathering is illuminating. In the first place the diminutive expedition had for its Commander-in-Chief Colonel Juan Antonio Lavalleja, who had beneath him three majors and four captains. These in turn were supported by three lieutenants, an ensign, a sergeant, a corporal, and a guide. The remaining eighteen constituted the rank and file of the force—in fact, the Army proper.
The little expedition so overwhelmingly officered set out from Buenos Aires, proceeding northward along the Argentine shore. Reaching a point where the river had become comparatively narrow, they embarked in small boats, and launched out on the Uruguay at dead of night. A gale obliged them to seek refuge on a friendly island, and caused a day's delay. But the next evening they embarked once more, and reached in safety the beach of La Agraciada on their native shore. There they unfurled their chosen tricoloured banner, and swore once again to attain liberty or death.
The expedition was now actually on the scene of its mission, and shortly after daybreak it began its march to the north. During the course of a few hours they collected en route reinforcements of forty able-bodied and armed Orientales.
Proceeding steadily onwards, the gallant little army, officers and all, found itself in the neighbourhood of the small town of Dolores, better known formerly as San Salvador. This was held by a garrison of eighty men in the service of Brazil. Determined to inflict a first decisive blow, Lavalleja led his men onwards to the attack. The moment chanced to be especially propitious, since the officers and principal men in the town had attended a dance on the previous night. So great had been the delights of the baile that the principal men had found it necessary to continue their repose long into the morning—a circumstance that is not unknown even to this day.
Had it not been for an error on the part of the patriot guide the town would undoubtedly have been captured by surprise and taken almost without a blow. As it was, the official chanced to mistake the situation of a ford in an intervening small river. This necessitated a lengthy march along the banks ere a place suitable for the passage was found, and the presence of the small company with the tricoloured flag was discovered with amazement by the inhabitants.
Thus ere Lavalleja's expedition had succeeded in crossing the stream there had been moments of wild bustle in Dolores. Officers sprang out of bed to gird on their swords in haste; soldiers ran to assemble with uniforms even more than usually awry, while the municipal officers doubtless ran to and fro in aimless confusion. Nevertheless by the time that the turmoil was at an end the garrison had had an opportunity to muster, and to sally out against the advancing band that had not yet gained the town.
Since the Portuguese forces were under the command of an Oriental, Colonel Julián Laguna, a parley took place ere the two forces met. In the end, Laguna deciding to remain staunch to the foreign cause, the thirty-three and their allies charged, routing the enemy completely. Thus in the course of their first victory they won not only the town of Dolores itself, but a number of Uruguayan volunteers who joined them from out of the beaten force.
The thirty-three with their companions, delaying a very short while in the captured town, continued their march. A more pressing danger now menaced them. General Rivera, the Oriental who, having so distinguished himself in the former wars against the Portuguese, had entered the latter service when the Uruguayan cause became lost, was sent out with a force of seventy men to annihilate the daring aggressors. Here, again, when numbers and rank are compared, it will be seen that the regular forces of the country were more or less on a par with the thirty-three in their generosity in the matter of titles.
Nevertheless, however it was commanded, the thirty-three were destined to gain yet further support from the force detached against them. On his near approach to the devoted band, Rivera's patriotic instincts overcame all other considerations. At a meeting contrived between him and Lavalleja the pair embraced, and Rivera forsook the Brazilian service on the spot to join the cause of his country. The addition to their ranks of the famous fighter and his men was naturally greeted with enthusiasm by the patriots, who advanced filled with renewed confidence. On the other hand, the news of the defection created no little consternation among the Brazilians, who set a price upon the heads of both Rivera and Lavalleja, valuing the former at five hundred dollars more than the fifteen hundred offered for Lavalleja, although the latter remained the actual commander of the expedition.