This hand-colored manuscript map depicts the Battle of Catalan, January 4, 1817, in which the Portuguese Army, operating from southern Brazil, defeated forces led by José Gervasio Artigas, the leader in the struggle for Uruguayan independence. Portugal was tacitly allied with the government in Buenos Aires, which was seeking to retain its grip on the eastern province of Argentina that would become the independent country of Uruguay. Battle of Catalán; Battles; Cartography