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Buenos Aires: n.p., 1809. Near fine.. Rare colonial Spanish-language broadside reporting on battles of international import — including the victory of the Anglo-Portuguese forces against the French in the Second Battle of Porto, under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington. The Buenos Aires-printed broadside announces the arrival of "most favorable" news from Lisbon, via Rio de Janeiro: the defeat of the French forces at Porto under Marshal Soult, who would later experience several more defeats by Wellington, notably at the Battle of Toulouse in 1814 and as Napoleon's chief of staff during the Waterloo campaign. The announcement further reports a series of successful attacks against the French in the vicinity of Madrid, led by Pedro Caro Sureda, the Marquis of La Romana, and the consequent retreat of Joseph, nominal King of Spain. It closes with an account of Archduke Charles's attack on the French forces "in Franconia" following the Battle of Ratisbon (Regensburg), killing or capturing a reported 50,000 men and 100 pieces of artillery, to the delight and celebration of the inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro.

These events occurred just before the epochal 1810 May Revolution, in which the king of Spain was deposed by Napoleonic forces, leading to a weakening of Spanish colonial power. Revolutionary agitators seized the opportunity and issued their famous 1816 declaration of independence of the United Provinces of South America. An important ephemeral piece demonstrating the dissemination of information about major battles and other events of international import in a colony on the verge of independence. 12.5'' x 7.5'' (unfolded). Original letterpress broadside, folded to 8'' x 5'', bound in modern grey-blue wrappers. Date ("Agosto 19") added in contemporary ink. Few stray pencil markings to margins. (Inventory #: 53134)