The destruction of the revolutionary fleet allowed royalists to dominate the Río de la Plata, Paraná, and Uruguay rivers for roughly eighteen months. That control deprived Belgrano of reinforcement before his defeat at Tacuarí and left Montevideo’s flotilla free to use the river system. Azopardo was imprisoned in Spain while the revolutionary government judged him courageous but inexperienced and barred him from future independent command. Spain separately condemned him for joining the revolution, although he was released in 1820 and later readmitted to Argentine service. The revolutionary cause eventually found a more effective naval leader in William Brown. Brown’s later squadron and insistence on professionalism reversed the earlier imbalance.
Notable Point · 2:25:08-2:29:22
Defeat, royalist river control, and William Brown
San Nicolás gave Montevideo’s royalists control of the Río de la Plata river system until 1813 and helped expose the need for a more professional Argentine naval force.