page_title: Battle of Río Grande
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Río Grande / Battle
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Ca. 16 km nördlich von San Pedro de Atacama. Blick aus dem Tal (2670 m ü.M.) des Río Grande bei Ayaviri zum Vulkan Licancabur (5920 m ü.M.) in ca. 33 km Entfernung. Español: Aprox. 16 km al norte de San Pedro de Atacama. Vista desde el valle (2670 m s.n.m) del Río Grande en Ayaviri hacia el volcán Licancabur (5920 m s.n.m.) a una distancia de 33 km. English: At about 16 km north of San Pedro de Atacama. Sight from the Río Grande valley (2670 m a.s.l.) at Ayaviri to the Licancabur volcano at a distance of about 33 km. original uploader information: Chili - cordillère des Andes - le Licancabur (volcan de 5916 mètres) self made PRA
context_page_description: The Battle of Río Grande was a small military engagement that took place on 10 September 1879, during the War of the Pacific. A picket of Chilean soldiers and a Bolivian montonera clashed in Rio Grande, around San Pedro de Atacama.
  Bolivians are defeated, which eliminates local resistance to Chilean occupation in the Litoral Department.
context_section_description: Some Bolivians defeated in Calama dispersed through San Pedro de Atacama and then grouped with the locals, forming a montonera of forty men moderately armed with rifles. This Bolivian force was led by Toribio Gómez, from San Pedro de Atacama, and by the indigenous chief Jaime Ayo, from Río Grande.
  On 6 September, in one of the raids of the Bolivian montonera, the Chilean arriero Francisco Vilches was taken prisoner by these near San Pedro de Atacama, but managed to escape by the pleas of a woman when they wanted to execute him. He immediately alerted the Chilean sub-delegate of San Pedro de Atacama, Ignacio Toro, of the presence of the Bolivians.
  On 9 September, the Sub-delegate Toro, in the company of the Ensign José Miguel de los Ríos and a twenty-five men picket of the Regiment Cazadores a Caballo, departed from San Pedro de Atacama to persecute and defeat the montonera. At dawn the next day, Toro and his forces arrive at the entrance of a rough hillside in the gorge of Rio Grande, where Bolivians were hiding on top among huge rocks. When the Chileans advanced to the hillside, the Bolivians attacked them by surprise from their positions at the top, making concentrated shots and throwing large stones that slide from the top. The noise of the stones that fell from the top of the hillside scared the horses that the Chileans rode, causing several of them to be knocked down from the chair and others wounded by the falling stones. But the Chileans, encouraged by a brief harangue, advanced on foot against the Bolivians and defeated them in the defensive positions they occupied.
  The Chileans had five wounded in battle, one of them seriously. For their part, the Bolivians had thirteen dead in the fight, including their bosses Gómez and Ayo, and the rest dispersed. After the battle, the Sub-delegate Toro returned with his forces to San Pedro de Atacama, bringing with him a booty of 200 lambs, 160 goats and 20 donkeys.
caption: Geography of the battle area.
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