According to Valentina Verbal Stockmeyer, the first troops of the Expeditionary Army of Chile came from the professional army originally fighting the Mapuche in Araucanía. The second wave of soldiers came from the Chilean inhabitants of Antofagasta which praised the Chilean occupation of the territory in February 1879. The next draft came from workers returning from Peru after their eviction. Chilean historian Francisco Antonio Encina estimated that about 7,000 repatriated people were enlisted in the Chilean Expeditionary Army.