After the army's defeat at Arroyo Grande, Montevideo was expected to fall. Oribe instead faced a siege described as lasting nine years. The account identifies 5,000 freed slaves defending their freedom, together with a large community of foreign residents and exiles. Veterans of earlier wars supplied experience and drill while younger defenders provided much of the physical manpower. More recent veterans and residents from several countries added to that combination.
Chapter · 5:59:11-6:00:58
Montevideo's freed slaves, veterans and foreign defenders
A field-army defeat did not deliver Montevideo to Oribe because the city had a substantial and varied body of defenders.