_Buenos Ayres_ was no longer the timid colonial city which Beresford had found it. The president of the municipality was _Señor_ Alzaga, an energetic partisan of the King, and who carried great authority in the city, where his fortune placed him in the front rank. The people were armed. The national battalions were animated by the best spirit. Liniers, always brave, had now to sustain his high reputation and to win from the Crown the confirmation of the title which he had received from the people. Their past success gave both chief and soldiers confidence. They had seen what street-fighting was, and Whitelocke and his men would have to run the gauntlet of armed streets before reaching the fort. Such was the spirit by which the colonial forces were animated, when, on the 1st of July, General Whitelocke reached the village of _Quilmes_, fifteen miles to the south of the town. A force of six thousand eight hundred and fifty men, with fifty-three guns, marched out of the town to defend the passage of the _Riochuelo_. On the succeeding night the two armies were encamped, respectively, on either bank of the stream which separated them. Next morning at daybreak the Spaniards were drawn up in battle order, anticipating an attack from the enemy; but General Gower, after having exchanged some shots, moved his troops to the left, with the intention of passing the _Riochuelo_, three miles higher up. Liniers followed his movement, but he did not arrive in time to interfere with his effecting the passage. He, however, succeeded in placing himself between the enemy and the town, near the _Miserere_, on the south-west of the city. A combat now took place between the _Creole_ militia and the brigade of General Crawford; but the discipline of the English troops and their great superiority in artillery quickly decided the day in their favour. The _Creoles_ abandoned the field, leaving the whole of their artillery behind. The colonial force then became divided into two bodies. The cavalry, passing the English left, gained the plains. Liniers, who now gave up the town for lost, following the horsemen, gave them orders to rendezvous at _Chacharita_, a well-known farm three miles to the English rear. This was a wise measure on the part of the general; for had these fugitives entered the town they would doubtless have added to the dismay of the citizens, whilst from this position he could still annoy the English. The infantry took refuge in _Buenos Ayres_, where the general feeling had now undergone considerable revulsion. The night was cold and wet; the fugitives, worn out by the fatigues of the preceding day, were exhausted and beaten; the general was absent, no one knew where.