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There were various times in the 18th and early 19th centuries when the British were at least talking about capturing and taking over, in one form or another, the Rio de la Plata area (Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Colonia, etc.). Which of the following PODs would work best for establishing either a colony or a protectorate (or perhaps accelerated independence of La Plata from Spain):

1. 1710s - as part of the South Sea Company during the War of the Spanish Succession - plan not cancelled like OTL

2. 1740s - as part of the War of Jenkin's Ear (same one in which the British capture Portobelo in Panama only to fail to capture Cartagena) - plan not cancelled like OTL

3. 1761-63 - during the last part of the Seven Years' War


  • a. an official British venture which OTL was redirected at the last minute
  • b. a joint Anglo-Portuguese plan, in reaction to the expedition by Pedro Antonio de Cevallos (the governor of Buenos Aires) against Colonia, that had OTL reached its final destination of Colonia, only to turn back after the loss of the flagship - the Lord Clive - in 1762

4. 1780s - William Fullarton's plan to take the Americas from both the Atlantic and Pacific sides - plan not cancelled like OTL

5. 1796-1805 - Nicholas Vansittart's plan in 1796 or Thomas Maitland's plan in 1800 - both not cancelled like OTL

6. 1806-07 - the best-known such attempt (most of the below PODs are from 1807)


  • a. bad weather to thwart Liniers (on the Buenos Aires criollo side), or alternatively Liniers is killed by a stray musket ball, thus aiding the British - either in 1806 or in 1807
  • b. someone other than John Whitelocke (who was in general incompetent) is the overall commander of the British forces in the Rio de la Plata in March-July 1807
  • c. cavalry is better, so that the British troops under Whitelocke could fight more efficiently
  • d. Whitelocke waits longer for an attack on Buenos Aires (until after the winter rainy season)
  • e. Whitelocke decides at the last minute to send more seasoned units to fight in Buenos Aires - namely, sending the 47th Regiment, some of the 38th Regiment, and some of the 20th and 21st Light Dragoons (which were all valuable, seasoned, and with much experience, having already fought in Montevideo earlier in 1807 and since then in garrison in Montevideo) to combat, and leaving behind (at the British garrison in Montevideo) the 36th and 88th Regiments (cooped up in ships for nine or more months) and the 6th Dragoon Guards (with their heavy and awkward cavalry boots), which were among the men sent as part of Robert Craufurd's reinforcements, instead of the other way around as OTL
  • f. Whitelocke makes more serious reconnaissance of areas around the landing site at Ensenada de Barragan, so that the troops don't march through as much muddy ground in the first days after the landing in late June 1807
  • g. the British columns are more united on the way to Buenos Aires
  • h. on the way to Buenos Aires, Whitelocke decides that the 38th and 87th Regiments should march on with his second-in-command, Leveson-Gower (even more inept than Whitelocke), in the advance column, while the much-less-rested 36th and 88th Regiments should stay with Whitelocke (cf. option e)
  • i. Craufurd builds on the success of the capture of the outskirts of Buenos Aires on July 2, 1807, and Leveson-Gower doesn't order Craufurd to stop
  • j. Leveson-Gower makes a better plan of an attack on Buenos Aires than divided columns and entering with unloaded weapons
  • k. the British have a better understanding of the enemy in Buenos Aires (in 1806 or 1807) than OTL
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