The War of the Pacific, also known as the Nitrate War and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Chilean claims on coastal Bolivian territory in the Atacama Desert, the war ended with victory for Chile, which gained a significant amount of resource-rich territory from Peru and Bolivia.
The Battle of Topáter, or Battle of Calama, was fought on March 23, 1879, between Chile and Bolivia. It was the first battle of the War of the Pacific.
The Battle of Tarapacá occurred on 27 November 1879 during the Tarapacá Campaign of the War of the Pacific. Three Chilean columns of almost 3,900 soldiers attacked a numerically inferior Peruvian contingent of 3,046 troops at Tarapacá - 500 of which were at Quillahuasa, 1 hour away from the battlefield - commanded by Gen Juan Buendía, resulting in a harsh defeat. The Chilean 2nd Line Regiment was the most damaged unit, losing almost half of its force, along with its commander Col. Eleuterio Ramírez and his second in command, Lt. Col. Bartolomé Vivar. The unit lost its banner, which was recovered six months later after the Battle of Tacna. Despite the victory, the Allies could not contest for the domination of the Tarapacá department, abandoning it to Chilean control.
The Blockade of Callao was a military operation that occurred during the War of the Pacific or the Salitre War and that consisted of the Chilean squadron preventing the entry of ships to the port of Callao and the neighboring coves between 10 April 1880 and 17 January 1881.
The Battle of Tacna, also known as the Battle of the Peak of the Alliance, effectively destroyed the Peru-Bolivian alliance against Chile, forged by a secret treaty signed in 1873. On May 26, 1880, the Chilean Northern Operations Army led by General Manuel Baquedano González, conclusively defeated the combined armies of Peru and Bolivia commanded by Bolivian President, General Narciso Campero. The battle took place at the Inti Urqu (Intiorko) hill plateau, a few miles north of the Peruvian city of Tacna. As a result, Bolivia was knocked out of the war, leaving Peru to fight the rest of the war alone. Also, this victory consolidated the Chilean domain over the Tarapacá Department. The territory was definitively annexed to Chile after the signing of the Tratado de Ancón, in 1884, which ended the war. Tacna itself remained under Chilean control until 1929.
The Maritime history of Chile started when Chile gained independence, but traces it origin in the colonial era and has ultimately origin in the seafaring tradition of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and the Mediterranean as well as from indigenous peoples of Chile.
Eleuterio Ramírez Molina was a Chilean lieutenant colonel. He founded the Foro Militar military newspaper in 1871.
Pedro José Domingo de Guerra was a Bolivian jurist who served as the acting President of Bolivia in 1879 in the absence of Hilarión Daza who was personally commanding the Bolivian Army in the War of the Pacific between Chile, and an allied Bolivia and Peru. His grandson, José Gutiérrez Guerra, was also president of Bolivia between 1917 and 1920.
The Lima campaign is the third land campaign of the War of the Pacific, carried out by Chile between December 1880 and January 1881. The campaign ended with the Chilean occupation of the Peruvian capital and the establishment of the Chilean authority in it and other surrounding territories, which would extend until 1883, with the end of the war.
Otto Magnus Ludwig Gerhard Graf von Moltke von Rantzau, also known as Otto von Moltke, was a German-Danish military officer who fought in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and, after immigrating to Chile in 1876, in the War of the Pacific in 1879. He was killed in battle in 1881, during this last war.
The Bombardment of Pisagua, was an act of arms by Chile on Peru that took place on April 18, 1879, within the framework of the naval operations developed during the War of the Pacific. The first civilian casualties of the war were produced there.
Quintín Quintana Lauchen, born Liu Tang Sin Shin, Leotàn Sin-Shin, or Leo Shin, was a Chinese-Peruvian, later Chinese-Chilean, merchant and police detective. Born in China, he worked as a coolie in Peru and took a Spanish-language name. During the War of the Pacific, fought by Peru and Bolivia against Chile, Quintana joined the Chilean intelligence service and led a Chinese émigré collaboration effort against the Peruvian government.
The Battle of Pampa Germania was a cavalry battle of the Tarapacá campaign of the War of the Pacific that took place on November 6, 1879. In this battle, the Chilean cavalry led by Lieutenant Colonel José Francisco Vergara and Sofanor Parra ambush and massacre the allied cavalry commanded by Peruvian Lieutenant Colonel José Buenaventura Sepúlveda who was in the rear of the allied army, which had already undertaken their march to Dolores, in the Pampa Germania sector, near Agua Santa.
José Buenaventura Sepulveda Fernández was a Peruvian Lieutenant Colonel that served the War of the Pacific and was notable for his service at the Battle of Pampa Germania, in which he was killed at the aforementioned battle.
José Francisco Vergara Echevers (1833-1889) was a Chilean politician, war hero, cavalry commander, presidential candidate, engineer and journalist who was notable for founding Viña del Mar as well as his several military campaigns of the War of the Pacific.
The Battle of Buenavista was a battle of the Tacna and Arica campaign of the War of the Pacific on April 18, 1880, between a Chilean cavalry detachment led by Commander José Francisco Vergara, and the forces of Colonel Gregorio Albarracín in the Sama River, Tacna Province, Peru.
José Domingo Amunátegui Borgoño was a Chilean Brigadier General who participated across many battles of the War of the Pacific as well as a primary commander of the Lima campaign.
Justo Pastor Dávila Herrera (1829-1901) was a Peruvian colonel who was a primary commander throughout the Lima campaign as well as the Sierra campaign during the War of the Pacific as well as the Prefect of Tarapacá in 1879.
The Battle of El Manzano, also known as the Battle of Pachacamac was a confrontation between Peruvian and Chilean forces that occurred on December 27, 1880 in the El Manzano hills on the south side of the Lurín River during the Lima campaign during the War of the Pacific.
Mariano Santos Mateo was a Peruvian Civil Guard officer who fought in the War of the Pacific. He became famous by capturing, during the Battle of Tarapacá, the war ensign of the 2nd Infantry Regiment "Maipo" of the Chilean Army, for which he was nicknamed the Brave Man of Tarapacá.
