John VI. had greatly enjoyed the peace and comfort of his residence in Brazil as Prince Regent, and he had become more attached to Brazil than to Portugal, when he was proclaimed King of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves in 1816. The people of the mother country resented this heartily; they looked upon him as a deserter; and feared that he would favour the interests of the colony unduly. They were also alarmed at the growing spirit of independence in Brazil; they knew that the chief wealth of Portugal during the eighteenth century had been derived from its great colony, and they were well aware that any separation would be most prejudicial to their prosperity. The affection of the new king for Brazil appeared in the very first year of his reign, for instead of insisting on the restitution of Olivença, he preferred to attack the former possessions of Spain in South America, and ordered to Brazil a corps of 4,500 veterans of the Peninsular War under the command of Lieutenant-General Le Cor. A pretext for war was found in the republican movement of Artigas; the local militia could make no stand against the Portuguese soldiers; on the 20th of January, 1817, Le Cor took Monte Video, and he soon occupied all the country up to the left bank of the River Plate. The victorious general was created Baron of Laguna, and continued to occupy the Banda Oriental until 1825, when the inhabitants rose in rebellion, and after much warfare they founded the Republic of Uruguay, and became independent alike of Brazil and the Argentine Republic.