Campaign of the Breña or Sierra

Campaign of the Breña or Sierra

With apparent encouragement from the United States,^[33] Peruvians kept up the resistance for three more years in a campaign known in Peru as the Campaign of the Breña. The leader of the resistance was General Andrés Avelino Cáceres (nicknamed the Warlock of the Andes), who would later be elected president of Peru. Cáceres's troops faced against the better equipped and armed Chilean troops with the usage of archaic weaponry such as machetes, spears, clubs, stones, and few old muskets.^[34] Under his leadership, the Peruvian militia forces strengthened with Native Americanmontoneros inflicted several blows upon the Chilean army in small battles such as Pucará, Marcavalle, Concepción, and Tarmatambo, forcing Colonel Estanislao del Canto's division to return to Lima on 1882.

Chile would once again attempt to dominate the region by sending another campaign force, but the Chilean troops were defeated at the battles of Chicla and Purhuay. However, Cáceres was conclusively defeated by Colonel Alejandro Gorostiaga at the Battle of Huamachuco on 10 July 1883. Even still, without any major forces left to continue the resistance, Cáceres managed to keep Chileans on the retreat at Ayacucho. Finally, after the Peruvian victory at the Battle of San Pablo, ColonelMiguel Iglesias manages to reach a diplomatic solution with Chile on 20 October 1883 with the signing of the Treaty of Ancón, by which Peru's Tarapacá province was ceded to the victor; on its part, Bolivia was forced to cede Antofagasta. Nonetheless, the treaty would not come into official effect until 8 March 1884. During the time prior to that date, Chilean troops occupied the city of Arequipa after an uprising forced the puppet regime of Lizardo Montero to flee to La Paz, Bolivia. Afterwards, the Battle of Pachía, on 11 November 1883, forced the Chileans to retreat to Moquegua. Despite the Peruvian victory, the lack of resources and manpower forced the Peruvian advances in Tacna to stop.

[edit]First campaign of La Sierra

To annihilate the guerrilla, Lynch started in January 1882 a new offensive with 5,000 men^[1](p315-) first in the direction of Tarma and then southeast: Huancayo, until Izcuchaca. The Chilean troops suffered enormous hardships: cold, snow, mountain sickness (more than 5,000m). On 9 July 1882 was fought the emblematic Battle of La Concepción. The Chileans had to pull back with a loss of 534 soldiers: 154 died in combat, 277 died to disease and 103 deserted.

[edit]Rise of Miguel Iglesias

During the administration of James A. Garfield (Mar. 4, 1881 – Sep. 19, 1881) in the USA, the anglophobic Secretary of State James G. Blaine wanted to advance the US presence in Latin America. He believed that England had prodded Chile into war on Peru to secure England's stake in the mineral weath of the disputed areas. Blaine made a proposal that called for Chile to accept a monetary indemnity and renounce claims to Antofagasta and Tarapacá. These American attempts reinforced Garcia Calderon's refusal to discuss the matter of territorial cession. When it became known that Blaine's representative to Garcia Calderon, Stephen Hurlburt, would personally profit from the business trade-off, it was clear that Hurlburt was complicating the peace process.^[35]

Because of President Calderon's refusal to relinquish Peruvian control over Tarapacá, he was placed under arrest. Before Garcia Calderon left Peru for Chile, he named Admiral Lizardo Montero as successor. At the same time President Pierola stepped back and supported Avelino Caceres for the Presidency of Peru. Caceres refused to serve and supported Lizardo Montero insrtead. Montero moved to Arequipa and in this way Garcia Calderon's arrest achieved the union of the forces of Pierola and Caceres.^[1](p329)

Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, successor to Blaine as US Secretary of State after the assassination of President Garfield, publicly disavowed Blaine's policy while abandoning any notion of intervening militarily in the dispute^[1](p306) and recognizing Chile's right to annex Tarapacá.^[1](p329)

On 1 April 1882 Miguel Iglesias, former Defence minister under Pierola, became convinced that the war had to be brought to an end if Peru was not to be completely devastated. He issued a manifesto,"Grito de Montan", calling for peace and in December 1882 called a convention of representatives of the seven departments of northern Peru where he was elected "Regenerating President"^{[1](p329-330)[4](p181-182)}

[edit]Second campaign of La Sierra

To protect and support Iglesias against Montero, on 6 April 1883, Patricio Lynch started a new offensive to drive the Montoneros from central Peru and destroy Caceres' little army. Unlike in previous plans, the Chilean troops pursued Caceres to northwest through narrow mountain passes until 10 July 1883 as the definitive Battle of Huamachuco was fought. The Peruvians were defeated.^{[1](p317-338)[4](p183-187)} It was the last battle of the war.

[edit]End of occupation

After the signing of the peace on 20 October 1883 with the government of Iglesias, Lizardo Montero tried to resist in Arequipa, but fortunately for Chile, the arrival of the its men stampeded Montero's troops and Montero went for a Bolivian asylum.^[36]

On 29 October 1883 ended the Chilean occupation of Lima.

[edit]Campaign of Lima

Chilean charge during the Battle of San Juan‎.

19 November 1880 the Chilean army landed in Pisco, and by January 1881, the Chileans were marching towards the Peruvian capital, Lima. Regular Peruvian forces together with poorly armed people, set up to defend Lima. With little effective Peruvian central government remaining, Chile pursued an ambitious campaign throughout Peru, especially along the coast and in the central Sierra, penetrating as far north as Cajamarca, seeking to eliminate any source of resistance. Peruvian forces were decisively defeated in the battles of San Juan and Miraflores, and Lima fell in January 1881 to the forces of General Baquedano.
The southern suburbs of Lima, including the upscale beach area of Chorrillos, were looted by demoralized Peruvian soldiers^[37]

[edit]See also

• War of the Pacific

[edit]References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy
2. ^ William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 204:

   "only the lack of allied cavalry prevented Buendia's [Peruvian] men from finishing off the few remaining survivors"

3. ^ William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 205:

   "The victorious troops had no choice, as Colonel Suarez ruefully admitted, but to abandon Tarapacá to the Chileans".

4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} B.W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War
5. ^ W.S.Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 181:

   "not only a economic bonanza but also a diplomatic asset that could barter in return for Peru ending the war".

6. ^ Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 120:

   "He [Prado] was met with widespread rioting in the capital in protest over the administration's abysmal handling of the war to date"

7. ^ Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 120:

   "…Prado suddenly gathered up his belongings … and took a ship …"

8. ^ Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 121:

   "Pierola … mounted an assault on the Palace but … leaving more than three hundred corpses …"

9. ^ William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 208:

   "Daza received a telegram from Camacho, informing him that the army no longer …"

10. ^ William F. Sater, Chile and the War of the Pacific, page 180:

    "Even in the midst of the Bolivian crisis, congressional elections occurred in schedule. In 1881, the nation selected a new president, Domingo Santa Maria, and the following year, elected a new congress"

11. ^ Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 130:

    "In the early morning hours of the 31. December 1879 …"

12. ^ William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 222:

    "Baquedano could not simply bypass the Peruvian troops, whose presence threatened Moquegua as well as the communications network extending southeast across the Locumba Valley to Tacna and northwest to Arequipa and northeast to Bolivia"

13. ^ Bruce W. Farcau in The Ten Cents War, page 138 specifies 3,100 men in Arequipa, 2,000 men in Arica and 9,000 men in Tacna, but this figures contradict the total numbers given (below) by William F. Sater in page 229
14. ^ Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 138:

    "…it became evident that there was a total lack of the necessary transport for even the minimum amount of supplies and water"

15. ^ William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 227: "The allied force, he [Campero] concluded lacked sufficient transport to move into the field its artillery as well as its rations and, more significantly, its supplies of water"
16. ^ Valdes Arroyo, Flor de Maria (2004), Las relaciones entre el Perú e Italia (1821-2002), Lima, Peru: Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, ISBN 9974-42-626-2, page 97, in Spanish language
17. ^ Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 152:

    "Lynch's force consisted of the 1° Line Regiment and the Regiments "Talca" and "Colchagua", a battery of mountain howitzers, and a small cavalry squadron for a total of twenty-two hundred man"

18. ^ Diego Barros Arana, Historia de la guerra del Pacífico (1879-1880), volume 2, page 98:

    "[The Chilean government thought that it was possible to demonstrate to the enemy the futility of any defense of Peruvian territory not only against the whole [Chilean] army but also against small [Chilean] divisions. That was the purpose of the expedition, which the claims, insults, and affliction in the official documents of Peru and in the press had made famous"

    (Original: "[El gobierno chileno] Creía entonces que todavía era posible demostrar prácticamente al enemigo la imposibilidad en que se hallaba para defender el territorio peruano no ya contra un ejército numeroso sino contra pequeñas divisiones. Este fué el objeto de una espedicion que las quejas, los insultos i las lamentaciones de los documentos oficiales del Perú, i de los escritos de su prensa, han hecho famosa.")

19. ^ Jorge Basadre, Historia de la Republica del Peru, Tomo V, Editorial Peruamerica S.A., Lima-Peru, 1964, page 2475,
20. ^ Diego Barros Arana quotes Johann Caspar Bluntschli:

    "Bluntschili (Derecho internacional codificado) dice espresamente lo que sigue: Árt. 544. Cuando el enemigo ha tomado posesión efectiva de una parte del territorio, el gobierno del otro estado deja de ejercer alli el poder. Los habitantes del territorio ocupado están eximidos de todos los deberes i obligaciones respecto del gobierno anterior, i están obligados a obedecer a los jefes del ejército de ocupación."

21. ^ John Lawrence Rector The History of Chile page 102
22. ^ Jason Zorbas The influence of domestic politics on America's Chilean policy during the War of the Pacific page 22:

    "The Chilean public demanded that Lima be taken. Bloodlust ran high, as some of the press demanded that the Moneda (the Chilean equivalent of the White House) ""exterminate the enemy the same as Great Britain and Argentina had annihilated the Zulus and the Indians."" The government struggled to satisfy the public demands for an invasion. During the last months of 1880, the Chilean armed forces prepared for a full invastion [sic?] of Peru and as the new year arrived the Chilean forces were poised outside Lima and prepared to invade the capital"

23. ^ Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 149-150:

    "Despite this expectations …"

24. ^ Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 157:

    "… until all vestiges of organized military force in Peru had been destroyed and the capital occupied"

25. ^ Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 157, gives 26,000 men but William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 274, gives 25,000 to 32,000 men
26. ^ ^{a b} Bruce W. Farcau, The Ten Cents War, page 164:

    "This gave Baquedano some twenty thousand men in the assault with a further three thousand in reserve against about fourteen thousand Peruvians in the line with twenty-five hundred in reserve"

27. ^ Hugh Chisholm. "Lima". Encyclopædia Britannica (Google Books). Retrieved 2008-12-04.
28. ^ Dan Collyns (7 November 2007). "Chile returns looted Peru books". BBC. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
29. ^ William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 302:

    "which he [Nicolás de Piérola] did not"

30. ^ John Edwin Fagg Latin America: a general history" page 860
31. ^ Steve J. Stern Resistance, rebellion, and consciousness in the Andean peasant world page 241
32. ^ William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 312:

    "Consequently, the court stripped Letelier of his rank, sentenced him to six years in jail, and demanded restitution"

33. ^ "War of the Pacific" Encyclopædia Britannica. Chilean forces occupied the Peruvian capital of Lima the following January. Peruvian resistance continued for three more years, with U.S. encouragement.
34. ^ http://peruheroico.com/inicio/plinio-esquinarila-bellido/86-plinio-esquinarila-bellido/175-inglaterra-uso-a-chile-contra-el-peru.html
35. ^ William F. Sater, Andean Tragedy, page 304-306:

    "The anglophobic secretary of state …"

36. ^ William F. Sater, Chile and the War of the Pacific, page 220:

    "Since Montero was not a party to the Treaty of Ancon …"

37. ^ See Charles de Varigny, La Guerra del Pacifico, Imprenta Cervantes, Moneda 1170, Santiago de Chile, 1922, page XVIII:

    rendía incondicionalmente. La soldadesca [peruana] desmoralizada y no desarmada saqueaba la ciudad en la noche del 16, el incendio la alumbraba siniestramente y el espanto reinaba en toda ella.

    
    

    
    

    
    

    Fuente:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Campaign_of_the_War_of_the_Pacific