BATTLE OF ARICA: CAUSES, DEVELOPMENT, HEROES AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The Battle of Arica was a warlike confrontation within the War of the Pacific, an armed conflict that pitted Chile against the coalition formed by Peru and Bolivia. Also known as the assault and taking of the Morro de Arica, this battle took place on June 7, 1880 and was the most important of the Tacna and Arica Campaign.

The war between Chile and Peru-Bolivia began in 1879. The event that set off the conflict was the dispute over land rich in saltpeter and the tax that Bolivia tried to impose on the Chilean company that was in charge of exploiting them.

The battle of Arica. by Juan Lepiani, via Wikimedia Commons

Chile began hostilities by invading Antofagasta, which was answered by the Bolivians. Peru, which had signed a secret mutual defense agreement with Bolivia, entered the war to comply with the treaty.

After a few weeks of the maritime campaign in which Chile defeated its enemies, the land campaign began. The Chileans, even with some important defeat such as the battle of Tarapacá, made a rapid advance. Arica, due to its strategic position, became one of its objectives to win the conflict.

Background

Also called the Saltpeter War, the Pacific War pitted Chile against the alliance formed by Peru and Bolivia. The conflict began in 1879 and ended in 1883 with the Chilean victory.

Historians point out that historical tensions existed between these countries since the time of Spanish rule due to the vagueness of the colonial borders. However, the reason that led to the armed confrontation was the dispute over the exploitation of land rich in saltpeter in Antofagasta.

Although that territory belonged to Bolivia, under previous agreements it was a Chilean company in charge of exploiting them. In 1878, Bolivia imposed a tax on this company, which provoked the reaction of the Chilean government, which asked to submit the matter to an impartial arbitration.

The Bolivians did not accept this proposal and proceeded to seize the possessions of the Chilean company. On the day that said embargo was to be carried out, the Chilean army invaded Antofagasta, later advancing to parallel 23ºS, Peru, fulfilling a secret agreement signed with Bolivia, mobilized its troops, although it also sent a negotiator to Santiago to try to stop the conflict. Faced with the failure of this attempt, war was inevitable.

Maritime campaign

Once war was formally declared, the first stage took place at sea. The so-called Pacific Campaign faced only Chileans and Peruvians, since Bolivia did not have its own navy.

Chile wanted to control the ports of its rivals, preventing them from moving their troops and receiving weapons. For about six months, the two countries faced each other in the Pacific, until on October 8, 1879, Chile captured the last Peruvian tank. After this the Chileans were able to begin their campaign by land.

Tarapacá campaign

After achieving maritime dominance, Chile set itself the objective of conquering the Tarapacá region, essential to later advance towards Lima.

Despite the resistance of the Peruvians and Bolivians, who defeated their enemies in the battle of Tarapacá, Chile took control of the area. The Peruvians quickly left the area, heading for Arica.

Tacna and Arica campaign

After the battle of Dolores, the Chilean government considered landing its troops in the vicinity of Lima, thus shortening the conflict. However, the faction that preferred a more complete invasion prevailed, which its supporters said would ensure a more lasting peace.

For this reason, they finally approved to begin the capture of Tacna and Arica, Bolivia's natural outlet to the sea. On February 26, 1880, 11,000 Chilean soldiers landed near Tacna. In addition, Chile sent another military expedition to Mollendo, to destroy the port of the town.

On March 22, the battle of Los Angeles took place, in which the Chilean army defeated the Peruvians. Strategically, this meant cutting off communications between Tacna and Arequipa, isolating the region they wanted to conquer.

On May 26, the Chileans took Tacna after defeating the allied troops. The road to Arica was, in this way, clear.

Causes

As previously mentioned, the reason for the war was the control of the nitrate-rich zone of Antofagasta. The Bolivian claim to impose a tax on the Chilean company that exploited the fields violated, according to Chile, the 1874 boundary treaty signed by both countries.

Strategic situation of Arica

Once maritime control was achieved and after conquering Tarapacá, Chile set itself the objective of invading the region of Tacna and Arica. This second locality was in a strategic location to continue later towards Lima.

The port of Arica was also perfect for the supply of the Chilean troops and was close to the territory of Chile and the saltpeter deposits.

Secure the supply line

The Chileans, who had already conquered Tacna and Tarapacá, needed a safe port to receive war material and food. The most suitable was that of Arica, since it allowed to ensure the supply line for the Lima campaign and, at the same time, it served to reinforce its presence in that part of Peru.

History (battle development)

The Army of the South was in Arica, but in April it left for Tacna when it learned of the Chilean plans to conquer that city. Camilo Carrillo remained at the head of the reduced garrison of Arica, but an illness caused his replacement by Francisco Bolognesi.

According to some experts, Bolognesi thought he was going to receive reinforcements from Arequipa. However, the military leaders of that city claimed afterwards that they had given orders to leave Arica and head north. That supposed order never reached its destination and Arica found itself without support from its army.

The Chileans had 4 thousand soldiers, supported by four boats with the capacity to bomb the city. For their part, the Peruvians only had 2,100 men and the crew of the armored Manco Capac.

Preliminary movements

At the end of May, the Chileans headed for Arica. There, Bolognesi ordered to place mines in the surroundings.

A skirmish between a Chilean patrol and Peruvian shooters ended with the capture of the Peruvian engineer Teodoro Elmore, responsible for laying the defensive mines. Apparently, this provided information to the Chileans about the location of the traps.

On June 2, the Chileans received reinforcements by rail. This allowed them to occupy Chacalluta and the Azapa valley. Two days later, the Chilean troops prepared the artillery, especially in the hills located east of Morro de Arica.

Conversations

On June 5, Chile tried to convince the Peruvian defenders to surrender. The Chilean Juan José de la Cruz and Bolognesi maintained a dialogue that has gone down in the history of Peru:

-Salvo: Sir, the General in Chief of the Chilean Army, eager to avoid a useless bloodshed, after having defeated the bulk of the Allied Army in Tacna, sends me to request the surrender of this square, whose resources in men, food and ammunition we know.

-Bolognesi: I have sacred duties to fulfill and I will fulfill them until the last cartridge is burned.

-Salvo: Then my mission is accomplished.

Following this conversation, the Chileans began firing at the Peruvian defenses. The attack lasted two hours, with no significant results.

Bombing the city

The Chilean army bombed the city again on June 6, this time aided by the National Squad. In the afternoon, they released the engineer Elmore so that he could bring a new offer of surrender to Bolognesi. The Peruvian chief did not agree and Elmore returned with the answer to the Chilean camp.

Morro attack

The final attack took place in the early morning of June 7, 1880. At 5:30 in the morning, the Chilean troops attacked the fort Citadel of Arica. The soldiers assaulted their objective from three different directions, managing to conquer it in no time. The same happened with the Fort of the East.

The surviving Peruvian soldiers joined the Morro de Arica garrison. According to experts, at that moment something happened that changed the plans drawn up by the Chileans to conquer the area. Someone shouted “Get on the nose, boys!” And the Chileans put aside their instructions and launched into the attack.

The Chilean soldiers managed to reach the Morro de Arica and hoist their flag. Given this, the captain of the Peruvian ship Manco Cápac sank his ship so that it would not fall into enemy hands.

Most of the defending officers perished during the fighting, including Bolognesi and Ugarte. According to legend, Colonel Bolognesi preferred to throw himself into the sea so that the Chileans would not catch him.

With this victory, Chile took over the city. The treaties of 1883 and 1929 legalized this situation.

Execution of prisoners

The disorder caused after the taking of El Morro led the Chilean soldiers to commit multiple excesses. Thus, Peruvian prisoners were shot at the gates of the field hospital. This could only be stopped when the Chilean officers arrived in the city and managed to bring order.

Heroes of Peru

Despite the defeat, Peru celebrates the anniversary of the battle every year. Many of the fallen are considered heroes in the country for their bravery.

Francisco Bolognesi

Francisco Bolognesi was born in Lima in 1816. He enlisted in the army in 1853, rising to take charge of a cavalry regiment.

For many years, his career was linked to that of Marshal Ramón Castilla, president of Peru on several occasions. It was this president who appointed the military general commissioner of the army, first, and aide-de-camp of the government, later.

Bolognesi, then a colonel, traveled to Europe in 1860 and 1864 to buy weapons. This would be used six years later during the combat in Callao between Peru and the Spanish Pacific squad. Soon after, he went into retirement.

However, the soldier requested to rejoin active service when the war with Chile broke out. He was sent south in command of the Third Division. He participated in the battles of San Francisco and Tarapacá.

He had to take charge of the defense of Arica, with fewer forces than the Chilean attackers. Despite the surrender proposals, he stood firm and tried to defend the city, dying during the combat.

Colonel Alfonso Ugarte

Alfonso Ugarte y Vernal came to the world in Iquique, on July 13, 1847. Although he was engaged in business, when the War of the Pacific began, he decided to organize his own battalion to fight against the Chileans. Thus, he recruited workers and artisans from his city to form a column of 426 soldiers and 36 officers.

During the battle of Arica, Ugarte was in charge of the defense of the Morro. Seeing the lost battle, he preferred to throw himself from the top, carrying the Peruvian flag so that it would not fall into Chilean hands.

Alfredo Maldonado Arias

Thus, he was only 15 years old when the battle between the Chilean and Peruvian army took place.

Maldonado had signed up as a volunteer at the start of the war. In Arica, it was part of the garrison of Fort Ciudadela. When it was inevitable that his position would be taken, the young man blew up the magazine, dying in the explosion along with the Chileans who were around him.

John William Moore

Born in Lima in 1836, Moore was the captain of the Independencia frigate during the Maritime Campaign of the Pacific War. While chasing a Chilean ship during the Battle of Iquique, his ship ran aground upon colliding with an underwater rock, then sinking. After that, he and his crew were assigned to Arica.

According to biographers, Moore did not recover from the loss of his ship and appeared to seek death in action. He was one of the soldiers who supported Bolognesi in the decision not to surrender and took care of the Morro defense.

Consequences

The battle of Arica produced the figure of between 700 and 900 Peruvians dead and around 474 Chileans. After achieving victory, Chile annexed Arica. The treaties of 1883 and 1929 confirmed this situation, passing the territory definitively into Chilean hands.

After the campaign of Tacna and Arica, the armies of Peru and Bolivia practically disappeared. This made Peru have to form a new one to continue the fight. Bolivia, on the other hand, abandoned the conflict, although it continued to support its allies with weapons and money.

Chile began the so-called Lima Campaign, which culminated in the conquest of the Peruvian capital seven months later, although the war still lasted a few years.

Lynch Expedition

The Chilean authorities thought that the victory in Tacna and Arica would mark the end of the war. The Chilean government believed that its rivals would have to accept the loss of Tarapacá and Antofagasta or, at the very least, they expected Bolivia to abandon its alliance with Peru.

However, within Chile there was a sector that was committed to occupying Lima as the only way to achieve a lasting peace.

Supporters of ending the war at that time devised a plan to convince Peruvians that resistance was futile. This consisted of sending an expedition to the north of Peru and showing the Peruvian army that it could not prevent further advances.

On September 4, under the command of Captain Patricio Lynch, 2,200 Chilean soldiers left for the north of Peru. Its purpose was to impose war quotas on the cities in that area, as well as on the landowners.

The government of Peru declared that anyone who paid Lynch would be tried for treason. The northern landowners had to face the destruction of their property by the Chileans or be declared traitors and, likewise, lose their properties.

Arica Peace Conference

The first peace conference that attempted to end the conflict was held on a US ship anchored off Arica. It was October 22, 1880, and the three countries in conflict participated under the mediation of the United States.

Chile, with an obvious advantage in the war, demanded to stay with the provinces of Antofagasta and Tarapacá. In addition, he asked for an economic compensation of 20 million gold pesos, the demilitarization of Arica and the return of the Rímac and the properties seized from Chilean citizens.

Peru and Bolivia rejected any type of territorial cession, reason why the conversations failed very soon. After this, and after a national debate, the Chilean government decided to continue the war and occupy Lima.

Three more years of war

The Lima Campaign lasted seven months, concluding with the Chilean army taking over the capital. Despite this, the war still lasted until 1883, ending with the victory of Chile.

References

1. Ancient world. Battle of Arica. Obtained from mundoantiguo.net
2. Icarito. How was the taking of Morro de Arica ?. Obtained from icarito.cl
3. Serperuano. Battle of Arica. Obtained from serperuano.com
4. Alchetron. Battle of Arica. Retrieved from alchetron.com
5. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. War of the Pacific. Retrieved from britannica.com
6. Wikivisually. Tacna and Arica Campaign. Retrieved from wikivisually.com
7. The Biography. Biography of Francisco Bolognesi (1816-1880). Retrieved from thebiography.us