The Influence of Naval Power on the war of Chilean Independence
By: Olaf Jablonski
Tags: History, Thomas Cochrane, Chilean Independence, Latin American History, Revolution

The Influence of Naval Power on the war of Chilean Independence

The Spanish Empire was one of the longest lived colonial empires. The empire plummeted into a steep decline in the 17th and 18th centuries. This decline was the result of persistent fiscal difficulties, military failures, and poor stewardship. Before the reign of Charles II the Empire was oscillating between recovery and crisis. The reign of Charles II sowed the seeds of the collapse of the Spanish empire. This ruler was so inept and so useless, that the fortunes of the Empire were irrevocably damaged. Upon the death of Charles II , there was a succession crisis in Spain which led to a Bourbon monarch being installed. The new monarch, Philip V, attempted to end the stagnation by introducing comprehensive administrative reforms. In the case of Colonial Latin America these reforms alienated the Creole elite who believed the crown was taking away their privileges. These Bourbon reforms created a lasting enmity which was a large factor in the direct breach with the Spanish Crown during the turmoil of Napoleonic Era. The replacement of the Bourbon monarch Ferdinand VII by Joseph Bonaparte created a power vacuum in the administration of colonial Chile. Joseph Bonaparte polarized colonial society by introducing the first constitution in the Spanish Empire which placed the colonial settlers on the same legal footing as those on mainland Spain. During the rule of Joseph Bonaparte various factions appeared in Chile that consisted of: autonomists, royalists, and pro independence .The lack of legitimacy and the bungled administration by elements of the military loyal to the crown forced the colonial subjects to take matter into their own hands. The colonial subjects created a Junta, in 1810, that was based in Santiago, which nominally proclaimed its allegiance to the rightful king Ferdinand VII. By 1812 this temporary form of administration evolved into a dictatorship led by Miguel Carrera which sought a complete break with Spain. During this time Miguel Carrera’s government established diplomatic relations with the United States of America. This proved to be instrumental as it created a direct link between liberalism and federalism in revolutionary Chile. The viceroy of Peru was uncomfortable with the developments in Chile and ordered an invasion by his forces which were loyal to the Spanish Crown. This development led to the forced resignation of the extremely radical Miguel Carrera and his replacement by the moderate Bernardo O’Higgins. The Chilean revolutionaries were soundly defeated by the Peruvian viceroy’s military forces and were forced to retreat to neighboring Argentina. The leadership of the Chilean movement came to the conclusion that the war for independence can only be achieved through mastery of the sea. San Martin of Argentina assumed broad control of the revolution in both Argentina and Chile. The navy had to be built from scratch. The native colonists had limited naval experience and thus O’Higgins and San Martin decided to send recruiters to both New York and London to purchase and man warships. These locations were targeted as London was the seat of the greatest maritime power of the time while New York was one of the largest ports of commerce in the new world. . This was a tremendous investment by a revolutionary force and one that showed that the leadership understood that mastery of the sea was necessary to prevent Spanish reinforcement. The revolution also had a major success as they had managed to successfully recruit an English naval captain of great renown. This English captain was Thomas Cochrane who was seeking to rehabilitate his reputation after experiencing a devastating political disgrace that resulted in the loss of his naval commission. The recruitment of an experienced naval captain with a track record of results under his command proved crucial in making the navy a legitimate force. He was immediately made a vice admiral and a Chilean citizen upon his arrival to Latin America. The forces under his command comprised of two thirds British or American seamen, and an almost entirely Anglophone officer corp. Cochrane’s tremendous victories proved to be instrumental for the success of the revolution. The capture of Valdivia was his most famous exploit. Valdivia was the largest and best armed Spanish fortress in Chile that served as landing site for the armies of the crown. This attack proved to be a defining moment in the struggle for independence. An outmanned Chilean force managed to takeover an extremely well defended fortress and seized fifty tons of gunpowder, ten thousand cannonballs , one hundred seventy thousand musket balls , and one hundred twenty eight pieces of artillery. The success of this attack preserved limited manpower, and granted additional resources that likely would have been either evacuated or destroyed. One may argue that this victory was only possible thanks to having such a savvy and experienced officer . The formation of a competent Chilean Navy that dominated the Pacific proved to be instrumental not only for Chilean independence but for Peruvian independence as well

The reign of Charles II proved to be devastating to Spain and its colonies. The decades of excesses in the Spanish Hapsburgs had manifested themselves in the king. Charles II was the result of a pedigree collapse within the Spanish Hapsburg who had been marrying within familial lines for generations[1]. He was born with severe mental , emotional , and physical disabilities. This disabled monarch proved to be incapable and held little actual power due to the constraints of his medical conditions. His mother attempted to govern in his stead during the early part of his reign but with little success. The court accused her of playing favorites by appointing people without the qualifications to government offices. This led to internal conflicts between factions vying for power. This led to the dominance of the nobility and the Spanish economy being further damaged by deflation that was intended to stabilize the currency. The terrible conditions of Spain led to vast emigration to Latin America which was seen as more stable. The lack of a strong central monarchy started a drift in the colonies where because the circumstances the colonists and their officials were tasked with more responsibility in their own affairs[2]. When Charles II died, there was a succession crisis which further compounded the issue of decentralization and further weakened the Spanish economy. The winning faction of the War of Spanish succession was the Bourbons. The first Spanish Bourbon monarch was Philip V who attempted to reform the administration of the colonies into one that followed a more centralized model. The Council of the Indies lost most of its authority under these reforms.[3] One trend which Philip V sought to put to an end to was the sale of Audiencia positions. This had a detrimental effect on the colonies as it allowed a monopoly of Audiencia titles to the Penisulares. The sale of Audiencia positions was strongly favored by the Creoles as “Probably over eighty percent of the Creoles but scarcely ten percent of the peninsulars named from 1687 to 1750 purchased their initial Audiencia appointments[4]”. By 1763 only one in five was a Creole which marked a substantial reduction in local autonomy[5]. The Bourbons also sought to centralize taxation as it was put into direct bureaucratic control. Philip V was succeeded by Charles III who sought to further reform colonial administration by introducing standing armies in the colonies complete with an expanded military bureaucracy. The power of the Church was substantially weakened and replaced with secular authorities. This tended to alienate the inhabitants of the colonies as a bone of contention was primarily a cultural one. An example of this is the resistance to mandated extramural burial[6]. The Spanish Crown had managed to stop the bleeding by the 1790s at the cost of putting the colonies under a substantial tax burden while simultaneously reducing autonomy that the colonists had grown used to.

Discontentment was already present in the colonies prior the Napoleonic takeover of Spain but the conflict over the Spanish throne reached a boiling point. The Napoleonic takeover of Spain and the installation of Joseph Bonaparte as monarch had a revolutionary effect as a constitution was granted throughout the lands of the Spanish Crown. However this monarch was not recognized as legitimate in the majority of the Spanish world leading to the emergence of factions across Latin America. The factions were divided into three parties. These consisted of loyalists, autonomists, and those who wished a complete break with Spain. The primary political unit in Latin America becomes the Junta which consisted of indirectly elected representatives of a region. The beginnings of the revolution in Chile can be traced to 1810. In 1810 the corrupt governor Francisco Antonio Garcia Carrasco was overthrown, and his authority was replaced with a Junta. This marks the initial phase of the Chilean Revolution known as the Patria Vieja. The Junta decided to elect the eighty two year old Count Toro Zambrano as president. This new government proceeded to swear nominal loyalty to the exiled Bourbon monarch of Spain, Ferdinand VII. The first steps taken towards independence were the policy enactments of the establishment of a national militia, freedom of trade, import tariffs, and the establishment of a National Congress. By 1811 one man had risen to dictatorial power in the fledgling Chilean separatist movement. This man was Miguel Carrera , a Chilean officer in the Spanish army who had fought in the Peninsular War. Carrera believed that the congress was prone to petty infighting and disunited in achieving any goal.[7]Carrera went on a personal campaign to eliminate the influence of peninsulares in the congress. In doing so Carrera allowed the creole class who had felt that Spain had not granted them fair treatment and equal representation to rise to prominence in the affairs or Chile. Carrera escalated the talk of independence into actual actions towards independence; “Carrera had made it very clear that if they did not agree to a revolution for independence, they would become acquainted with the vigor of the elegant officer that had spoken to them with such virile courtesy[8].”. Carrera embarked on a town to town mission to attempt to convince the Chilean creoles of the necessity to maintain their independent status. [9]His ascendency to dictatorship fractured the unity of the creoles. This discord and the return of Ferdinand VII to the Spanish throne emboldened the Spanish to attempt to reclaim control of the situation. Forces loyal to the Spanish crown utterly decimated the Chilean militia in 1814 at the battle of Rancagua. This defeat was so crushing that the entire Chilean independence movement was forced to retreat across the Andes to the territory of Argentina.[10] Thus began the second phase of the revolution known as the Reconquista.

The beginning of the Reconquista phase was marked by the emergence of a political conflict between Carrera and the protector of the Chilean Independence movement in exile, San Martin. Bernardo O’Higgins was established as a rival claimant to the leadership of the Chilean independence movement. San Martin played a large role in elevating Bernardo O’Higgins to the leadership of the movement as he believed that Carrera was too brash and reckless. O’Higgins and San Martin decided to make Carrera a non entity by sending him on a mission to the United States to garner American sympathy for the movement[11]. San Martin and O’Higgins decided in the absence of Carrera to follow a more leisurely pace in the re-conquest of Chile from the Spanish crown[12]. San Martin believed that “in order to liberate the continent from Spain, Chile had to be freed first[13].”This decision was made because of Chile’s massive pacific coast line that offered the Spanish crown ample locations to reinforce their forces. Carrera’s mission to the United States proved to be fruitful as he procured warships for the Chilean cause despite acting without the authority to do so. Most of the time spent during the Reconquista phase was in organizing the Army of the Andes and establishing the First Chilean Naval Squadron. In 1817 O’Higgins sent Antonio Alvarez to London with one hundred thousand dollars with the mission to recruit officers and sailors for the nascent Chilean Navy[14]. The end of the Napoleonic Wars had made thousands of British sailors redundant , while officers were on half pay.[15]This made recruitment easy for Alvarez who managed to purchase three warships and recruit a reputable commander in Thomas Cochrane. The meeting between Alvarez and Thomas Cochrane at the time was a match made in heaven. Cochrane was a known radical in British Parliament who had recently been disgraced, with his political career going nowhere, he needed an income to support himself.[16]. In the meantime, The Army of the Andes was made ready and had crossed into Chilean territory, winning a decisive victory at Chacubuco. This victory resulted in the revolutionaries recapturing Santiago and formally declaring independence. San Martin was proclaimed Supreme Director but he declined the post and deferred it to Bernardo O’Higgins. O’ Higgins was viewed as more of a moderate than Carrera which made him a more appealing figure to garner international support in the recognition of Chilean Independence[17]. The declaration of independence marked the start of third and final phase of the war of independence known as the Patria Nueva.

Thomas Cochrane landed in Chile right at the start of Patria Nueva. O’Higgins declared “that the battle of Chacabuco and every other battle would be useless unless the Chileans controlled the sea”. [18]O’Higgins proceeded to make Cochrane, Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean navy. His first mission was to blockade the port of Callao to prevent the landing of royalist soldiers from the Vice Royalty of Peru. Cochrane had seven vessels under his command, which were manned by primarily Anglophone crews.[19] Callao was successfully blockaded by Cochrane using only part of his fleet. He used the remainder of his fleet to conduct coastal harassment operations, using landing parties to raid and pillage. These raids proved to be very lucrative as a raid on Patavilca netted sixty seven thousand dollars belonging to the Spanish treasury, a mule train at Supe yielded one hundred twenty thousand dollars[20]. This campaign can be regarded as piracy, but it contributed much needed funds to the Chilean government. Following this operation, Cochrane set his eye on Valdivia which by that time was last major fortress on the Chilean coast in Spanish hands. At this point the situation in Chile had changed tremendously as the ancillary phase known as the “War to Death” was taking place. Regular revolutionary forces were fighting with indigenous groups of guerilla fighters which had the effect of , devastated farmland , and a severely damaged local economy[21]. This forced the Spanish to retreat to fortifications that could be re supplied from the sea as the carrying capacity of the land could not support them. Valdivia was an important port because it had a large sheltered anchorage with a narrow entrance that was protected by forts and gun emplacements[22]. Cochrane’s mission to Valdivia began in January 1820. He decided on the strategy of a surprise attack, he flew Spanish flags from his flag ship which proved to be wise gamble as the Spanish were actually expecting a frigate sized warship full of reinforcements.[23]He was able to intercept another Spanish warship that was carrying the pay for the garrison of Valdivia as long as maps of the harbor. The Chilean flag ship then retreated to gather marines for the raid on Valdivia itself. Cochrane also gathered two smaller warships and proceeded on one of the most reckless military operations of all time. Valdivia was defended by nearly two thousand men and according to the engineer John Miers , “it was unquestionably the strongest fortification on the whole continent of South America[24].”. To make the success of the raid even less likely Cochrane’s flag ship was disabled due to a leak and all of the soldiers and marines had to be transferred to the two smaller ships. The two smaller ships were flying the Spanish flag in an attempt to once again deceive the Spanish but the Spanish grew suspicious and opened fire on them. Cochrane ordered the Chileans to begin landing, at 4pm, and within an hour there were three hundred marines on the shore. Under the cloak of darkness the Chileans climbed a narrow path to assault the first fort. They split into separate groups to confuse the Spanish defenders who found them being attacked from all sides. This created an infectious panic that spread across the entire western side of the harbor with Spanish soldiers abandoning their posts.[25] By dawn all of the forts on the western side of the harbor were under Chilean control. Cochrane then commanded his two smaller vessels to enter the harbor and drop anchor. Seeing the state of Spanish morale, Cochrane bluffed, by sending his badly damaged flag ship into the harbor as well. His bluff had paid off as the Spanish believed his flagship contained a sizeable amount of reinforcements. Spanish morale was broken and all the forts on the eastern side of the harbor were abandoned giving the Chileans unmolested access to Valdivia. The Spanish governor had fled Valdivia, leading to the Chileans taking the city itself without firing a shot[26]. Valdivia was an important military depot which led to fifty tons of gunpowder, ten thousand cannonballs, one hundred seventy thousand musket balls , thousands of small arms , and one hundred twenty eight cannons being seized by the revolutionaries. [27] The Royalist presence in Chile was minimal now but both O’Higgins and San Martin reached a consensus that as long as the Vice Royalty of Peru remained under Spanish control then Chilean and Argentine independence would be at risk

The Vice Royalty of Peru was the seat of Spanish imperial power in Latin America. O’Higgins and San Martin authorized the Liberating Expedition to Peru shortly after the capture of Valdivia. In August 1820 the Chilean Naval Squadron under the command of Thomas Cochrane set sail for Peru. The flotilla consisted of seventeen transport ships carrying artillery and supplies , eight hundred horses , an army of four thousand two hundred men , and eight warships [28]. San Martin was commander of the land elements. The two leaders clashed Cochrane was in favor of bold surprise attacks while San Martin was in favor a methodical advances and the avoidance of pitched battles. The invasion force landed in Pisco Peru where proclamations of independence were proclaimed. Cochrane began to act autonomously of San Martin and embarked on a plan to lure out the Spanish flagship out of Callao. He decided to send two of his warships in a diversion to harass the coast while placing roughly two hundred of his men on fourteen boats. The fourteen boats infiltrated the harbor and managed to take the Spanish flagship the Esmeralda by surprise. The ship was taken at the cost of eleven men. A contemporary British naval officer stated “ The loss of the Esmerelda was a death-blow to the Spanish naval force in that quarter of the world ; for although there were still two Spanish frigates and some smaller vessels in the Pacific , they never afterwards showed themselves , but left Lord Cochrane undisputed master of the coast[29].”Spanish naval power was broken in the Pacific preventing the reinforcement of Peru as Spanish harbors were rendered unsafe. The fact that Cochrane was able to on two occasions infiltrate and dispose of significant Spanish military access only adds to his mystique. After this success San Martin’s strategy of patience began to pay off as Callao was blocked and the presence of the Chilean Army in Peru , intimidated the Spanish presence in Lima into evacuation. In July 1821 both San Martin and Cochrane entered Lima as liberators. Cochrane’s time in the service in San Martin however was coming to an end. Cochrane discovered that his men had not been paid their prize money and wages. Cochrane attempted to resolve this discrepancy with San Martin who argued that the wages should be covered by the Chilean government. [30]Cochrane had not been paid what he claimed was owed to him. The rift was unresolved and Cochrane left the service of Peru and Chile and entered the service of the Brazilian Government in 1823. The war of Chilean independence did not officially end until 1826 as there were still isolated pockets of Royalist forces.

Despite the acrimonious end of the partnership between Cochrane, the assistance he rendered was invaluable. While one may argue that victory in the revolution was inevitable due to the overextension of the Spanish Empire, an argument can be made that Cochrane greatly accelerated the process of independence. The elimination of Spanish naval power on the Pacific prevented the reinforcement of Royalist forces along the Pacific coastline. However, this focus on naval power was a large contributing factor in the poor economic situation of the newly independent Latin American states of Chile and Argentina. Cochrane’s victories were truly dazzling and managed to secure weaponry and funding for revolutionary forces during times of need. The secondary effect of his victories was the irreparable damage to Spanish morale which made even the most fortified outposts doubt their own security. For these reasons the contribution of Thomas Cochrane to the independence movements of Peru and Chile are immense

Bibliography

Burkholder, Mark A., and Lyman L. Johnson. Colonial Latin America. 9th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015

Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008

Cruz, Juan Luis Ossa Santa. “El Gobierno De Bernardo O’Higgins Visto a Través De Cinco Agentes Estadounidenses, 1817–1823 */Bernardo O’Higgins’ Government through the Eyes of Five North American Agents, 1817–1823.” Co-Herencia 13, no. 25 (Jul, 2016): 139–166. doi:http://dx.doi.org.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/10.17230/co-herencia.13.25.5. http://queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/docview/1861371556?accountid=13379.

CAMPBELL, JODI. “Charles II (Spain) (1661–1700).” In Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, edited by Jonathan Dewald, 468–469. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed December 14, 2017). http://link.galegroup.com.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/apps/doc/CX3404900203/GVRL?u=cuny_queens&sid=GVRL&xid=bc50a057

Vilches, Patricia, -. “Not a Fox but a Lion: A Machiavellian Reading of Chile’s First President, José Miguel Carrera.” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 44, no. 1 (2011

[1] CAMPBELL, JODI. “Charles II (Spain) (1661–1700).” In Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, edited by Jonathan Dewald, 468–469. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed December 14, 2017). http://link.galegroup.com.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/apps/doc/CX3404900203/GVRL?u=cuny_queens&sid=GVRL&xid=bc50a057.

[2] Burkholder, Mark A., and Lyman L. Johnson. Colonial Latin America. 9th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. 283

[3] Burkholder, Mark A., and Lyman L. Johnson. Colonial Latin America. 9th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. 310

[4] Burkholder, Mark A., and Lyman L. Johnson. Colonial Latin America. 9th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.310

[5] Burkholder, Mark A., and Lyman L. Johnson. Colonial Latin America. 9th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.310

[6] Burkholder, Mark A., and Lyman L. Johnson. Colonial Latin America. 9th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. 316

[7] Vilches, Patricia, -. “Not a Fox but a Lion: A Machiavellian Reading of Chile’s First President, José Miguel Carrera.” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 44, no. 1 (2011):131

[8] Vilches, Patricia, -. “Not a Fox but a Lion: A Machiavellian Reading of Chile’s First President, José Miguel Carrera.” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 44, no. 1 (2011):133

[9] Vilches, Patricia, -. “Not a Fox but a Lion: A Machiavellian Reading of Chile’s First President, José Miguel Carrera.” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 44, no. 1 (2011): 133

[10] Vilches, Patricia, -. “Not a Fox but a Lion: A Machiavellian Reading of Chile’s First President, José Miguel Carrera.” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 44, no. 1 (2011): 136

[11] Vilches, Patricia, -. “Not a Fox but a Lion: A Machiavellian Reading of Chile’s First President, José Miguel Carrera.” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 44, no. 1 (2011):137

[12] Vilches, Patricia, -. “Not a Fox but a Lion: A Machiavellian Reading of Chile’s First President, José Miguel Carrera.” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 44, no. 1 (2011):137

[13] Vilches, Patricia, -. “Not a Fox but a Lion: A Machiavellian Reading of Chile’s First President, José Miguel Carrera.” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 44, no. 1 (2011): 136

[14] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 264

[15] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 264

[16] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 264

[17] Cruz, Juan Luis Ossa Santa. “El Gobierno De Bernardo O’Higgins Visto a Través De Cinco Agentes Estadounidenses, 1817–1823 */Bernardo O’Higgins’ Government through the Eyes of Five North American Agents, 1817–1823.” Co-Herencia 13, no. 25 (Jul, 2016): 139–166. doi:http://dx.doi.org.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/10.17230/co-herencia.13.25.5. http://queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/docview/1861371556?accountid=1337

[18] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 271

[19] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 274

[20] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008.277

[21] Cruz, Juan Luis Ossa Santa. “El Gobierno De Bernardo O’Higgins Visto a Través De Cinco Agentes Estadounidenses, 1817–1823 */Bernardo O’Higgins’ Government through the Eyes of Five North American Agents, 1817–1823.” Co-Herencia 13, no. 25 (Jul, 2016): 139–166. doi:http://dx.doi.org.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/10.17230/co-herencia.13.25.5. http://queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/docview/1861371556?accountid=13379.

[22] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 278

[23] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 280

[24] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 281

[25] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 283

[26] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 284

[27] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008.288

[28] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 287

[29] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008.291

[30] Cordingly, David. Cochrane: the Real Master and Commander. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. 294