Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos

The Battle of San Juan, also known as the Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos, was the first of two battles in the Lima Campaign during the War of the Pacific, and was fought on 13 January 1881. This battle is really a group of smaller, yet fierce confrontations at the defensive strongholds of Villa, Chorrillos, Santiago de Surco, San Juan de Miraflores, Santa Teresa and Morro Solar. The Chilean army led by Gen. Manuel Baquedano inflicted a harsh defeat on the Peruvian army commanded by the Supreme Chief Nicolás de Piérola. The Chilean triumph eliminated the first defensive line guarding Lima, and almost obliterated the Peruvian army defending it.

For other uses, see Battle of San Juan (disambiguation).
Battle of San Juan
Part of War of the Pacific

Troop movements at Chorrillos
Date13 January 1881
Location
Department of Lima, Peru
Result Chilean victory
Belligerents
Chile Peru
Commanders and leaders
Manuel Baquedano Nicolás de Piérola
Strength
23,129 men
88 guns		 22,000 men
85+ guns
Casualties and losses
3,107 killed & wounded 8,500 killed
2,500 wounded
4,000 captured
87 cannons captured
19 machine guns captured
4 flags captured
Total:
15,000 casualties

At the end of the battle, the town of Chorrillos was burnt to the ground by the Chilean army trying to eradicate the Peruvian defenders garrisoned there. During the night, civilian abuses were committed by drunk soldiers.

Despite this result, another battle had to be fought in order that the Chilean army could enter the Peruvian capital city at Miraflores, two days later.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.