Puerto Soledad

The settlement was established as a French colony under the name Port Saint Louis in 1764, and within a year reached a population of 75 (most of them Acadians), with three marriages and two births recorded (one of the births was François Benoit in 1764, son of Augustin Benoit and Françoise Thériault – apparently the first ever in the islands' history). After three years of French possession the settlement was ceded to Spain, and all the French settlers left to be replaced by Spaniards. Acting on personal instructions by King Carlos III, the Spanish Government reimbursed the founder of Port St. Louis, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, 618,108 French livres. Bougainville himself sailed to Port Saint Louis on board the Boudeuse, accompanied by the Spanish ships Esmeralda and Liebre to hand the settlement over to Felipe Ruíz Puente, the first Spanish governor (1767–1773) of Puerto Soledad, as the settlement would become known. The ceremony took place on April 1, 1767, and from Puerto Soledad Bougainville set sail to make the first French circumnavigation of the world. Puerto Soledad had 103 residents in 1781: the governor, two priests, a treasury official, three officers, one surgeon, 50 soldiers, 43 convicts, one mason, and one baker. They occupied some 20 buildings including dwellings, barracks for officers, seamen, convicts and troops, chapel, hospital, kiln, blacksmith and carpenter shops, etc. Eventually the number of buildings increased to about 30 in 1811, with the population dropping to 46. The settlement was protected by three batteries: San Carlos (later renamed San Marcos), Santiago, and San Felipe Batteries. Supply ships came from Montevideo to Puerto Soledad on an annual basis during the summer, bringing relief and supplies.