Battle of Miraflores

Battle of Miraflores
Part of the War of the Pacific
Date January 15, 1881 Location Miraflores District, Peru Result Decisive Chilean victory
Belligerents
Chile	Peru
Commanders and leaders
Manuel Baquedano Patricio Lynch Emilio Sotomayor Baeza Pedro Lagos	Nicolás de Piérola Andrés Avelino Cáceres Belisario Suárez Justo Pastor Dávila
Strength
~ 10,000 - 13,000 soldiers 88 cannons	8000 soldiers - 2500 reserve
Casualties and losses
2,124 killed	3,000 killed

The Battle of Miraflores occurred on January 15, 1881 in the Miraflores District of Lima, Peru. It was an important battle during the War of the Pacific that was fought between Chile and the forces of Peru. The Chilean army led by Gen. Manuel Baquedano defeated the army commanded by Nicolas de Pierola guarding the second defensive line of the Peruvian capital city. Two days later, the capital city of Lima, Peru was occupied by Chilean troops. Gen. Manuel Baquedano's forces marched into Lima triumphant, while Peru's president and his officers fled into the interior, leaving the country without any government. Although the fall of Lima, the war continued between the occupation army and the troops of Andres Caceres for another three years. During the occupation of Lima, Peru's National Library was set on flames, while a number of other monuments were ransacked by Chilean forces and taken as war trophies.

During the battle, Peruvian naval officer Captain Juan Fanning became a national hero for leading a spectacular infantry charge of marines that nearly outflanked the enemy. Fanning's brigade caused some Chilean casualties until running out of ammunition, then continued to fight with knife and bayonet until Fanning was mortally wounded. 400 of Fanning's 524 men were killed during the charge.

Prelude

After the Chilean victory at Chorrillos, a truce were declared between both sides meanwhile peace conversations took place. The Chilean objective was to obtain an unconditional capitulation and save the Chilean army another battle before entering in Lima. For this purpose, General Manuel Baquedano held conversations with Nicolás de Piérola, the dictator of Perú and the mediation of Spencer St John of England, Jorge Tezanos Pinto of El Salvador and M. de Vorges of France. Sadly, this conversation failed.

Peruvian defenses

Gen. Andrés Cáceres

During the peace conversations, Pierola arranged his army at the second defensive line at Miraflores. The defenses of this line were arranged in a similar way to those at Chorrillos two days earlier. A 12 km line extended from the beach at Miraflores until the Surco River, formed by 10 strongholds about 900m apart.

This line was divided in three sectors:

• On the right flank, under the command of General Andrés Cáceres, Redoubt Nº 1 was defended by the 2nd Battalion commanded by the Provisional Colonel Lecca. Right next to this forces, the Guardia Chalaca Battalion, led by Carlos Arrieta, and the Guarnición de Marina Battalion commanded by Captain Juan Fanning. Right next to it, the 4th battalion was posted in the Redoubt Nº 2, under the order of the Provisional Colonel Ribeyro, this stronghold was by the railroad. The Redoubt Nº 3 was defended by 6th Battalion commanded by Provisional Col. de la Colina.

• On the center of the line was the division commanded by Belisario Suárez.

• On the left was located the division commanded by Justo Pastor Dávila. The 8th battalion was set on Redoubt Nº 5. The 10th battalion was at the Redoubt Nº 6. 12th Battalion on Redoubt Nº 7, 14th Battalion on the Camacho bridge, and on the right of this last unit, the 16th Battalion. In total, the Peruvian forces had 10.500 men between the regular army and the reserve.

The Chilean Forces

File:Pedro Lagos.jpeg

Gen. Pedro Lagos

The Army of Chile had a strenght estimated about 12.000 men and was divided into four divisions:

• The 1st Division of Navy Capt. Patricio Lynch had two brigades, the 1st Brigade of Col Juan Martínez formed by the 2nd Line, Talca, Atacama, Colchagua infantry regiments. The 2nd Brigade of Col. José Dgo. Amunátegui had the 4th Line, Chacabuco, Coquimbo, Artillería de Marina infantry regiments and the Quillota and Melipilla infantry battalions.

• The 2nd Division of Col. Emilio Sotomayor, with two brigades, the 1st Brigade of Col. José Fco. Gana, composed by the "Buin" 1st Line, Esmeralda and Chillán infantry regiments. The 2nd Brigade of Lt. Col. Orozimbo Barboza was formed by the Lautaro and Curicó infantry regiments, and the Victoria Infantry Battalion.

• The 3rd Division of Col. Pedro Lagos stuctured in two brigades also, the 1st Brigade of Col. Martiniano Urriola, composed by the Aconcagua Inf. Regiment and the Naval Inf. Battalion. The 2nd Brigade of Col. Francisco Barceló formed by the Santiago and Concepción infantry regiments, plus the Valdivia, Bulnes and Caupolicán infantry battalions.

• The reserve, made of the 3rd Line, Valparaíso and Zapadores infantry regiments.

The artillery consisted in the regiments Nº1 and Nº2. The cavalry had two regiments also, the Cazadores a Caballo and the Cazadores de Yungay.

First Movements

Because of a skirmish between a small groups of Chilean and Peruvian forces, in the night of the 14th, Colonel Lagos ordered Gorostiaga send out a small force in order to scout the terrain at south of Barranco. As a result of this maneuver, the 3rd Division was placed on the southern edge of the Surco river. On the vanguard were deployed a company of the Santiago Inf. Regt. and 40 soldiers of the Acongagua Inf. Bn. and some artillery pieces, in total were 150 Chilean troops at the north of Barranco. The Lagos' division was stationed on the vanguard considering this unit did'nt had as many losses as the other two divisions at Chorrillos.

At this time, in the Peruvian lines, Gen. Pedro Silva decided to make a review of his troops in order to rise their morale, which was very low due to the impact of the defeat at Chorrillos two days ago. This movement made the Chilean officers became suspicious and strengthen their advanced troops (at 400 meters of the Peruvian lines at the northern side of the Surco river). So at 09:30 hrs, 3 companies of the Santiago and another 4 companies of the Artillería Naval were dispatched to those positions. The Santiago and Naval regiments were disposed to the right and to the left of the railroad connecting Barranco and Miraflores. Now there are 1.100 men at the vanguard.

At 10:00 the reserve was ordered to move in direction to Barranco, so did their regiments 3rd Line, Valparaíso and Zapadores arriving at 11:00 to their destination.

At 10:45 Gorosteaga, who was concerned about the vicinity of the Peruvian forces at the other side of the river, and informs this to Col. Lagos who orders to put the entire division in line.

After this, the Lynch's Division moved towards Barranco. The 1st Brigade began to move at 13:00. The 2nd didn't start to move until 14:00. Meanwhile, Gen. Baquedano ordered the cavalry to go to Barranco. Lagos's division continues evolving on the first line with it's 2nd Brigade on the left flank as it follows: on the very left, the Concepción Regiment, then successively to the right the Caupolicán, Valdivia battalions and the Santiago Regiment. The Aconcagua Regiment was not in position, because the unit was unaware of the tense situation, so Lagos issued an order to the unit, commanding to force the march and advance quickly to their positions alongside the 1st Brigade of the Artillery Regt. Nº1. All this movement took place in front of the Cáceres' Division on the front western side.

The Battle

The Beginning

At 14:00 the battle started unexpectedly, and the troops on the left side on the Chilean forces (about 3.380 troops by that time) were engaged by the Cáceres' forces (about 5.000 men). The Chilean battleships started the fire on the Peruvian positions trying to ease the pressure on the division. Cáceres sent the Guardia Chalaca and Guarnición de Marina battalions against Barceló's Brigade, whilst the Urriola's Brigade deployed it's troops in desorder due to the sudden battle start. The strenght of the Peruvian attack forced the Chilean units to retreat. At this time, Lynch's Division has not reached their position yet, thus the cavalry regiments and the artillery pieces withdraw from the front line.

The Chilean Counter attack

By 15:00, the first troops of the I Division arrive to their positions to protect the left flank of the Lagos' Division. In the meantime, the Chilean reserve is sent to the front. The Valparaíso and the Zapadores regiments were directed to reinforce the III Division. The Chilean cavalry receive the order to charge, the Carabineros de Yungay to support the I Division on the right side of the front, the Cazadores a Caballo to protect the flank of the Urriola's Brigade. Cáceres sends the battalions Concepción, Libertad and Paucarpata to attack the Chilean troops, which were stopped and began to refold again.

Col. Lagos orders the Santiago Regiment to attack the side of the Peruvian lines in a pincer maneuver, while the battalions Caupolicán and Valdivia, with the Concepción Regiment to attack frontally. The Santiago battalions performed the attack from the left and the right sides of the Cáceres' division; meanwhile, three companies of the other three units launched an assault on the trenches, which had to be reinforced with another five. This forces succeeded in their attempt to reach the other side of the river and take the defenses in this sector, breaking the Peruvian lines in direction to Miraflores.

Lynch's Division initiated the fight on the right of the III Division, deploying first the 2nd Line Regt. and then the Coquimbo, 4th Line and Chacabuco regiments. The Peruvian offensive over Barceló's Brigade decreased as the reinforces began to arrive to the sector.

Orozimbo Barboza's Brigade comenced it's march in direction of the left flank of the Peruvian line, supported by the Melipilla Bn. and the Artillería de Marina infantrymen.

The Chilean 3rd Division, backed up by the 3rd Line Regt. attacked with the objective to take the four redoubts. The Peruvian resistance in the right began to fade, but the situation in the center of the line was very different. These defenders held their positions but began to gave to the thrust of the Chilean's attack, intensified by the arrival of the Buin and Chillán regiments. When the redoubts were taken, the 8th Bn in redoubt Nº 5 refolds. With this retreat, the entire Peruvian front started to collapse.

By 18:30, the Santiago Regt. arrived to the train station of Miraflores, meanwhile the cavalry regiments converged to this position. With the battle already decided, Echeñique orders the remaining troops not to enter in combat, dissolving this forces and sending them home, avoiding the combat to reach the capital's streets. Nevertheless, the positions at San Bartolomé and San Cristóbal continued to fire upon the Chilean troops a while longer. Sadly, Miraflores had the same luck than Chorrillos and was burned to the ground. By midnight, Rufino Torrico, Mayor of Lima surrenders the city to Gen. Baquedano. Lima had fallen after more than five hours of fierce combats and almost two years of war.

Aftermath

Military and political consequences

The casualties in both sides were enormous. The Chilean army lost between 2.200 and 2.600 men, among them Juan Martínez, Commandant of the Atacama Infantry Regt. Lagos' III Division fought in the front line the entire battle, so had the biggest losses, 1.131 men were dead on wounded. The I Division lost 697 men, and the II Division 347 soldiers. The Chilean reserve suffered the loss of 346 men.

The Peruvian army had losses estimated in about 3.200 men (30.4% of their total force), but it's not been confirmed with official reports. After this victory, Lima surrendered and the Chilean army entered in the City of the Viceroys on January 17, 1881. Also, Nicolas de Pierola left the city in direction to the Andes, as many of his officers did. Among this officers was Col. Andres Caceres, who led the resistance in the mountains against the Chilean occupation army. Another four year of war were necessary until the decisive Chilean victory at Huamachuco, on 1883.

BIbliography

• Mellafe, Rafael. La Guerra del Pacífico en Imágenes, Relatos, Testimonios. Centro de Estudios Bicentenario, 2007.
• Machuca, Francisco. Las Cuatro Campañas de la Guerra del Pacífico. Santiago, 1928.