Battle of Las Piedras in 2024

When is Battle of Las Piedras Day?

Battle of Las Piedras is an official public holiday in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay on May 18th each year.

It commemorates a key battle in the nation's struggle for independence that was fought on this day in 1811.

History of Battle of Las Piedras Day

The Spanish arrived in the region at the start of the 16th century, but the lack of precious metals and fierce resistance by indigenous tribes meant that colonisation didn't get started in earnest until the 18th century.

By the 19th century, the first stirrings of nationalism and independence from Europe were being felt across the continent. The May Revolution of 1810 had pushed the Spanish out of Buenos Aires, and they moved their headquarters to Montevideo in modern-day Uruguay, then known as Banda Oriental.

The Spanish loyalists moved to defeat the revolutionaries. They met Uruguayan revolutionary leader José Artigas and his patriotic forces on the battlefield at Las Piedras on May 18th 1811.

Though outnumbered, the revolutionaries were bolstered when 200 of the loyalists defected to the revolutionaries and Artigas would go on to score a decisive important victory. It wasn't the decisive battle of independence, but after recent revolutionary defeats, it was crucial for the morale of the independence struggle in both Argentina and Uruguay.