DANIEL FOX DIRECTED READINGS: LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY

Andean Tragedy Summary

Introduction

Andean Tragedy: Fighting the War of the Pacific, 1879-1884 is a comprehensive account

of the War of the Pacific between the nation of Chile and the alliance between the nations of

Bolivia and Peru. The author William Sater primarily focuses on the military history of the war

as he provides a tremendous amount of detail ranging from histories of the important military

officers on both sides, precise troop movements and formations during battles, and the use of

new advanced military technology and weapons. Sater divides his book into the defining six

periods of the war.

1. Chile capturing Antofagasta (February 1879)

2. The Naval battles in the Pacific (April-October 1879)

3. Chile invading Tarapacá (November 1879)

4. Chile invading Tacna and Arica (May 1880)

5. Chile attacks Lima (January 1881)

6. The Peruvian guerilla resistance (1881-1883)

Unfortunately for the reader, Sater offers very little analysis or detail about the causes of the War

of the Pacific or the subsequent effects the war had on each nation after its conclusion.

Therefore, from the perspective of the academic historian, Sater's work offers a minimal

contribution to the field of the complex histories of all three nations. However, from the military

historian's perspective, Sater's work is an essential resource that adds further understanding of

the post-industrial revolution evolution of warfare.

Setting the Stage for Conflict

Sater begins Andean Tragedy by providing the reader with a brief overview of the events

that led to the outbreak of war, namely the importance of the Atacama region. The Atacama

region is a vast desert environment that Bolivia had controlled. The region was precious for

Bolivia due to its vast supply of nitrate, which would be subsequently mined and exported to

various nations. However, Bolivia struggled to mine these resources due to the lack of capital

and human labor. Therefore, most of the region's population consisted of Chilean nationals who

flooded the area searching for jobs and financial opportunities. The influx of Chilean labor

would naturally lead to Chilean businesses setting up their operations in the region, which

Bolivia permits in exchange for revenue sharing of the profits gained from the mining operations

located at or near the two nations' border. Unsurprisingly, the greater the Chilean foreign

presence in Atacama, the greater was the cry of the Chileans to influence the Chilean

government to annex the region. Sater compares the situation in Atacama to an event that had

occurred nearly 40 years earlier with the influx of persons in the United States to the Texas

region due to the availability of land and the inability of Mexico to best utilize the resources

Texas provided due to lack of infrastructure and a lower population. Letting a sizeable foreign

population become the majority population of a particular region was a recipe for disaster as the

Mexicans eventually learned on the field of San Jacinto, and the Bolivians would quickly learn in

Atacama. In preparation for potential hostilities with Chile, Bolivia perhaps had seen the writing

on the wall and had reached out to their neighbor Peru in 1873 to form an alliance if either nation

was threatened or attacked by Chile.

Bolivia quickly realized its error of letting Chile maintain a corporate and foreign

presence in Atacama. Atacama represented Bolivia's only avenue to the Pacific Ocean; losing

physical or financial control over the region would be devastating as it would force Bolivia to
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become a landlocked nation. In an attempt to wrestle financial control of Atacama away from

Chile, Bolivia decided to raise export taxes on all Chilean nitrate operations in the region. When

Chilean nitrate companies refused to pay the export taxes, Bolivia quickly seized control of them

and threatened to liquidate them if they failed to pay. President Pinto of Chile saw the situation

occurring in Atacama as an opportunity for both his political alliances and the nation. Chile had

only recently suffered a national embarrassment when it had capitulated to their arch-rival

Argentina a few years earlier during a border dispute. Pinto believed that by standing firm

against Bolivia, he would win the support of the people, congressional seats for his liberal party,

and potential control over South America’s nitrate supply and Pacific coast. On the opposing

side, President Hilarion Daza of Bolivia had been the beneficiary of being on the right side of

history through continuously choosing the right side in multiple Bolivian coups and revolutions,

culminating in himself leading a coup against the previous President after fearing that he would

not win the national election. President Daza led Bolivia in a manner that one would expect

from a military dictator, through control over his personal military, the "Colorados," raising taxes

to spend on luxuries and glorifying himself. Daza viewed the Chileans as weak and did not

anticipate them using force in response to the tax increases he implemented on their exports.

The President of Peru, Mariano Prado, saw the alliance with Bolivia as an avenue to maintain

their nitrate supply by preventing the Chileans from expanding their territory into Bolivia or

southern Peru.

The Militaries

Each nation contained vast popular support for the upcoming conflict as nationalism

swept throughout the region. However, ironically, when it came to enlisting in the military and

"putting their money where their mouth is," each nation struggled to fulfill the quota necessary to
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succeed in the war as most of the population balked at putting their lives on the line. Each nation

would use the impressment of the undervalued of their societies, namely prisoners, the poor,

indigenous persons, and the working class, to fill their armies. Unsurprisingly, the strategy of

impressment would often backfire as desertions were common. Resentment from the indigenous

persons of each country was powerful, considering that many of those indigenous tribes had

spent much of their recent history fighting against the very nations they were now being forced

to represent.

The allies of Peru and Bolivia maintained a significant advantage in the combined size of

their military over Chile, while each side had to heavily rely upon civilian militias due to

constant troop desertions and attempted mutinies. One exciting addition to Sater's work is the

description of the female "Rabonas," Bolivian and Peruvian women who would accompany their

lovers to the battlefield serving as their army's cooks, nurses, and in some cases picking up a

weapon and fighting alongside the men. Women have been involved in aiding war efforts

throughout history, but the characteristics of the "Rabona" are incredibly unique and deserve

further research and examination in academic literature. On the seas, Peru and Chile both had

comparable Navies in terms of size, modernization, and ability, while Bolivia did not have a

Navy. Both Peru and Chile struggled to find qualified sailors for their vessels, especially highly

skilled positions such as engineers, due to the low pay and lack of formal education and training

sailors would receive upon enlistment. Each nation would be forced to use many foreigners from

Europe and North America to serve within the Navy throughout the war.

Finally, Sater laments how each nation had remained rooted in Napoleonic strategies of

warfare which focused mainly on using large-scale frontal assaults of an enemy's positions to

overwhelm the opponent. However, industrialization had quickly introduced new modern
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weapons to the battlefield, including more advanced artillery, machine guns, more accurate rifles

with a higher rate of fire, and land mines, among many other innovations. Thus, the antiquated

Napoleonic strategy utilized in the modern age would result in a fierce conflict leading to a very

high casualty rate. The onset of disease and malnutrition would exasperate this causality rate and

poor medical care, much like the American Civil War experienced the intersection of modern

warfare with ancient science and infrastructure. Sater is also heavily critical of the leadership

and decision-making of the commanding officers on each side, citing their stubbornness to adapt

to the modernization, poor education, and desire for political prowess as reasons for various

military defeats and blunders.

Events of the War

The War of the Pacific would indirectly begin when the Chilean military moved into

Antofagasta, claiming control over the Bolivian territory (although actual war would not be

declared for another month). The Chilean Navy would then proceed to use Antofagasta as a

staging area to blockade the Peruvian port city of Iquique, preventing any nitrate exports, which

would be detrimental to the Peruvian economy. Using Antofagasta as a staging point would

essentially prove ineffective as Antofagasta lacked the resources to supply the Chilean Navy,

forcing them back to the Chilean port of Valparaiso for supplies and repairs. At the same time,

Peru could transport their nitrate to another port city, bypassing Iquique. The first significant

engagements of the war occur entirely on the coastal seas of Iquique, beginning with the Battle

of Iquique. This battle resulted in the successful sinking of the Chilean ship Esmeralda by the

Peruvian ironclad Huascar. It also demonstrated the ineptitude of the Peruvian naval officers

when their other ironclad Independencia runs itself aground and sinks near the coast as it
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attempts to attack a Chilean ship. This self-inflicted wound would prove to be ultimately fatal

for the Peruvian Navy as they saw the supply of their flagship ironclad vessels cut in half.

Future naval engagements between the two sides would demonstrate the leadership's

ineptitude and the crew's inability. In the Second Battle of Iquique, each side would

continuously fire shells at the other and hit nothing but water. Poor communication amongst the

Chilean Navy would result in Peru capturing a Chilean supply ship and the ultimate dismissal of

the commanding officer Admiral Williams Rebolledo. Admiral Miguel Grau, the commanding

officer of the only Peruvian ironclad remaining the Huascar, would almost sink his ship when a

launched torpedo doubled back and nearly hit his flagship. Finally, the principal naval

engagements would end with the Battle of Angamos when Admiral Grau's Huascar became

sandwiched between the Chilean fleet and was defeated, resulting in Grau's death. To add insult

to injury, the Chilean Navy successfully prevented the Huascar from sinking, after which they

towed the ship to Valparaiso for repairs before it was added to the Chilean fleet. This final naval

battle would set the stage for the Chilean invasion of Iquique.

The initial land engagements of the war occurred between the armies of Chile led by

General Sotomayor and the Bolivian forces led by General Buendia. The desert climate quickly

hindered each side, with the quest for water being an essential resource that largely dictated troop

movements and decision-making. For example, President Daza of Bolivia himself decided to

lead his troops from Arica to join General Buendia but subsequently hung Buendia out to dry

when he ordered his troops to abandon the journey halfway after running out of water. That

decision would result in the Bolivians defeat at the Battle of Dolores, forcing them to surrender

Iquique and retreat to Tarapacá. Despite an allied victory at the Battle of Tarapacá after the

Chilean army was caught in the open desert, the Allies continued their retreat north to Arica due
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to a lack of supplies. With the abandoning of Tarapacá, Chile would control the region and its

nitrate supply, which they could use to fund further military action. Unsurprisingly, the lack of

success by the allies during the early stages of the war created political unrest and turmoil within

their borders as President Daza would be overthrown in a coup and replaced by General Narciso

Campero. President Prado would hand control of the government to General La Puerta, who

himself would be quickly overthrown in a rebellion led by Nicolás Piérola, who would name

himself President. However, Chile would maintain political stability throughout the war, even

holding elections in 1881 where President Pinto would complete his term, transferring power to

the newly elected President Domingo Santa María.

Chile would continue its march north as they focused on the region of Arica to prevent

further counterattacks on the Tarapacá region, protecting their newly found nitrate supply. The

various Battles of Los Angeles, Tacna, and Arica would all follow similar patterns of the

Chileans successfully overrunning Peru's defensive positions and forcing their retreat.

Ultimately, the Peruvian defeat at the Battle of Arica would allow Chile to control the entirety of

the nitrate supply of the desert regions of southern Peru. Peru no longer had the financial

resources or manpower to defend itself, but President Piérola refused to surrender. Meanwhile,

Bolivia lacking the resources to compete in the war, decided not to aid their Peruvian allies by

keeping their military within Bolivia.

To attempt to end the conflict, Chile turned its eyes towards the Peruvian capital of Lima

and planned for its invasion. To defend Lima, Piérola ordered all men between ages 16 and 60 to

report for military training and eventually register for the reserve military. However, many

wealthy citizens would not report for training, while many poor and indigenous persons

abandoned the army. Ultimately the force defending Lima consisted of roughly 30,000 soldiers,
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half of whom were Quechua natives who did not speak Spanish and lacked military training.

The weaknesses of the Peruvian defense are exploited in the Battles of Chorillos and Miraflores

when the Chilean forces were quickly able to overrun the Peruvian military when the makeshift

forces quickly abandoned their positions. President Piérola flees the capital as the Chilean army

entered the capital on January 22, 1881.

Peruvian Guerrilla Resistance

Chilean Admiral Patricio Lynch is installed as Viceroy of Peru until a treaty is signed.

Peace talks proved difficult as Chile demands that Bolivia cede Atacama while Peru cedes

Tarapacá and Arica, pays 20 million dollars in reparations, returns all Chilean property, dissolves

their alliance with Bolivia. Realizing they did not have the resources to resist Chile, Bolivia was

fully content with any concessions so long as they remained independent. That contentment was

evident when peace negotiations with Bolivia began to stall, and all it took was a quick show of

force by Chile through moving their troops to the Bolivian border to quickly lead the Bolivian

government to capitulate to peace in 1884. However, Peru continued to reject all peace terms,

although it should be noted that these terms would eventually become the Treaty of Ancon and

the Treaty of Valparaiso, which would set the present-day boundaries of Chile, Peru, and

Bolivia. Chile used taxation and its military occupation to submit Peru into surrendering its

nitrate-producing regions in the treaty. However, this proved difficult as the remaining Peruvian

forces waged a guerilla war against the Chilean presence. The Peruvian General Andrés Caceres

led a band of resistance fighters known as "Montoneros" to attack the Chilean forces using the

Andean highlands as their refuge. This resistance resulted in a three-year struggle that followed

the same pattern. The guerillas would seize a territory forcing the Chilean military to expend

resources to mobilize their forces to expel the guerillas, after which the Chileans would have to
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restore order and claim taxes. Then while the Chileans were restoring order to the territory, the

guerillas would seize another territory. Although the guerillas never entirely weakened Chile's

presence, Chile lacked the resources to eliminate the guerilla resistance. The resistance is finally

undone from within when the Peruvian General Miguel Iglesias realizes the futility of their

resistance and agrees to cede Tarapacá to Chile. Outraged, General Caceres attempts to move

his forces to remove General Iglesias, during which the Chilean military was able to trap and

defeat Caceres at the Battle of Huamachucho. The elimination of the Peruvian resistance would

ultimately lead them to accept the Treaty of Ancon, ceding both Tarapacá and Arica to Chile.

Chile succeeded in the war and subsequently set itself up for a bright future for various

reasons. Their geography allowed them to have easy importation of supplies via the Strait of

Magellan and more advanced infrastructure to permit the easy transportation of those supplies

from place to place. Chile also maintained political stability while its rivals endured numerous

coups and other attempted rebellions. Finally, Chile had more capable officers who had more

education and advanced training than their counterparts.

Conclusion

The War of the Pacific, much like the American Civil War or the Franco-Prussian War,

represented the intersection of historical periods where industrialization presented new

technology to the battlefield that would be misused with the now antiquated military strategy and

technique. The modern war had now become a combination of not solely armies, navies,

soldiers, and weapons, but also transportation, supply chains, medicine, engineering,

communications, and management to oversee the entire operation. Chile, Peru, and Bolivia

lacked the infrastructure and education to properly this modern war. However, to their credit,
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each nation would realize the need to reshape their military to include these new modern

elements by inviting European nations to modernize and train their militaries.