Grito de Asencio Day in Uruguay

The Grito de Asencio or the Admirable Alarm was the decision taken by Creoles of the Eastern Band on February 28, 1811 on the banks of the Asencio stream, to undertake the first revolutionary actions against the Spanish royalist authorities of Montevideo, adhering to the Junta of Buenos Aires.

On February 27th the contingent of revolutionaries commanded by Pedro José Viera decided to undertake the first actions. The following day they took the nearby towns of Mercedes and Santo Domingo Soriano.

With Benavídes in command of the troops, the revolutionaries then captured the towns of El Colla, now Rosario, on April 20 and San José, on April 25. On May 26 they besieged Colonia del Sacramento, which fell a week later.

The incipient movement received a strong impulse with the incorporation of Artigas, who soon became the leader of the revolution in the Eastern Band.

In the Asencio park, place where the events of February 28, 1811 took place, the monument to the Admirable Alarm with the shield of Uruguay and the departmental shields of the whole country, made in concrete, is raised at the moment. In them there is land of each one of the departments. The place is to approximately 10 km from the city of Mercedes.