Battle of San Francisco

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Battle of San Francisco
Part of War of the Pacific
Date November 19, 1879 Location South America Result Chilean victory
Belligerents
Chile	Peru  Bolivia
Commanders
Col. Emilio Sotomayor	Gen. Juan Buendia
Strength
6,000 soldiers 30 Krupps rifle 4 La Hitte smoothbore	7,400 soldiers 18 smoothbore
Casualties and losses
60 killed 148 wounded	220 killed 76 wounded 3200 missing 18 smoothbore

v • d • e War of the Pacific Topáter - Chipana - Iquique - Punta Gruesa - Angamos - Pisagua - San Francisco - Tarapacá - Tacna - Arica - San Juan - Miraflores - Callao - La Concepción - Huamachuco - San Pablo

The Battle of San Francisco, also known as Battle of Dolores was the third battle of the War of the Pacific stage called Tarapaca Campaign, and fougth on November 19, 1879; ending with the defeat of the bulk of the Peruvian forces. A Chilean army under the command of Colonel Emilio Sotomayor successfully held off an dispersed an outnumbering Peruvian army led by General Juan Buendía at San Francisco hill, near the dwell of Dolores. The Allies lost a huge amount of war material such as cannons, ammunition and weapons. The catastrophe for the Allies was the result of poor logistics, inefficient leadership and the unexpected desertion of the Bolivian Army under the half-hearted command of President Hilarion Daza,known as the Camarones betrayal.

Contents 1 Prelude 2 Preliminary situation 2.1 Chilean preliminary situation 2.2 Peruvian preliminary situation 3 Armies layout 3.1 Chilean battle plan and disposition 3.2 Peruvian battle plan and disposition 4 The battle 5 Aftermath 6 Notes 7 See also

[edit] Prelude

The Chilean forces had disembarked at the port of Pisagua after launching an amphibious operation on November 2nd, separating and isolating the Allied strongholds of Arica and Iquique; encountering merely mild resistance. On the 6th, Chilean cavalry men led by Lt. Col. Jose Francisco Vergara almost annihilated the Peruvian Husares de Junin Cavalry Regiment at Pampa Germania^[1]. The Chilean Army had taken extreme care in securing water sources - very rare in the dry Atacama Desert - and in adopting high and easily defendable positions. Meanwhile, the Peruvian army under the command of the old yet incompetent General Juan Buendia marched in an attempt to intercept the Chilean forces. It was Buendia's hope that his Bolivian allies commanded by President Hilarion Daza would link up with his forces in order to numerically overwhelm the Chileans entrenched in the hill (cerro) of San Francisco. However, the route from the Bolivian highlands to San Francisco was long and perilous; furthermore, the Bolivians stubbornly marched in full daylight, thus having to endure the scorching heat of the desert sun. Naturally, when the Bolivians reached the creek of Camarones near San Francisco, they were in no condition to fight a battle. Buendia was forced to face the Chileans on his own.

[edit] Preliminary situation

[edit] Chilean preliminary situation

On November 7th, the "Buin" 1st Line and the 4th Line regiments with the Atacama and Coquimbo battalions, plus an artillery battery marched from Hospicio to Dolores. The next day took the same route the 3rd Line Regiment, the Naval and Valparaíso battalions and another artillery battery. This two forces reunited at Dolores on November 10th. The Chilean forces were under the command of Colonel Emilio Sotomayor, with a strenght of 6.500 men^[1].

[edit] Peruvian preliminary situation

On November 5th, the Allied Army marched to Pozo Almonte, increasing its numbers with stray soldiers. On the 13th, the Allies leave Pozo Almonte and move towards Agua Santa, reaching it's destination four days later. During this march, the soldiers were haunted by the lack of food and water. The troops marched to Negritos, from where started to march to Dolores. On the night of the 18th, Gen. Buendía decide to advance to Dolores and engage the Chilean troops posted there^[2]

[edit] Armies layout

[edit] Chilean battle plan and disposition

When a scout group of the Cazadores a Caballo Cav. Regt. encountered the marching Allied forces, Colonel Sotomayor - after a bitter discussion with Lt. Col. José Fco Vergara - decided to fortify the position on the top of the San Francisco hill, when the larger number of the Allies represented no advantage whatsoever. Also, the artillery was divided into groups guarded with infantry^[3]

[edit] Peruvian battle plan and disposition

Gen. Buendía divided his 7.400 troops in three colums, commanded by himself, other by Col. Andrés Cáceres, and the last one by Col. Andrés Suárez. In this plan, Buendía counted on the Hilarión Daza's men, but this forces after a long and extenouating march, decided to return to Arica.

[edit] The battle

The battle started suddenly after a few Bolivian soldiers went to the San Francisco dwell for water, and one cannon shot was fired by the Chilean artillery, beginning the battle.

The three columns ran to the hill. The flanking columns were held off by the combined action of the Chilean infantry and artillery. However, one battery - Sargeant Major Jose de la Cruz Salvo's battery - had no infantry defense at all, so the Puno, Olañeta, Illimani and Ayacucho battalions; led by Lt. Col. Ladislao Espinar climbed the slope reaching Salvo's battery cannons, who called for reinforcements as he and his men stood in their positions and innutilized the cannons trying to keep them from falling into Allied hands . The Atacama Battalion came in his help, and forced the attacking troops to retreat with a bayonet charge. When the Peruvians refolded, received reinforcements of the Bolivian Dalance Battalion. With this fresh troops, the Allies charged again and almost overran the Chilean defenders. On this critical moment, the Coquimbo Battalion reached the position and in another bayonet charge, along with the remaining troops of the Atacama, the Allies were held off and disbanded.

The Chilean troops didn't chase the Allies in their retreat, staying in their positions at the top of the hill.

[edit] Aftermath

The Chileans lost 208 men between dead and wounded. The Allies had 296 cassualties, plus over 3.000 missing troops. This defeat was a very rough blow for the Peruvian Army Southern Command. The remaining troops marched to Tarapacá.

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• War of the Pacific