Jacinto de Romarate brought combat experience to the royalist flotilla

Jacinto de Romarate had joined the Spanish Navy and served in Puerto Rico and Montevideo before the revolutionary crisis. He fought the British invasions, was wounded during the recovery of Buenos Aires, and returned for the second defence. When political authority fractured, he rejected both the Buenos Aires revolution and a separate royalist mutiny, then served Montevideo’s blockade. His experience gave the royalists a commander familiar with the local waters, naval combat, and the political divisions of the River Plate. That background sharpens the contrast with Azopardo’s newly assembled crews and improvised command system.