page_title: Battle of Sangrar
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Sangrar / Battle
caption_attribution_description: Español: Representación del combate de Sangra, 26 de junio de 1881.
context_page_description: The Battle of Sangrar or Combat of Sangra was fought on June 26, 1881 in the Peruvian central Andes, during the Letelier expedition, the first of its type during the sierra campaign of the War of the Pacific, sent to eliminate the Peruvian resistance growing over there after the fall of Lima and conducted by Andrés Cáceres. An 80–man Chilean detachment led by Cpt. Jose Araneda successfully held off an outnumbering attacking force commanded by Col. Manuel Encarnación Vento at Sangrar.
context_section_description: On the afternoon of June 26, the attack over the Chilean garrison began. Araneda has already divided his men as it follows: 15 men at Las Cuevas under Sgt. Blanco, 4 officers and 50 soldiers distributed between the chapel and the main farmhouse.
  Several hundreds of Indians climbed the hills trying to assail the soldiers at Las Cuevas, but were repelled by Blanco, who waited for the proper time to rendezvous with the rest of the detachment at the farm, but the attacker's flow is steady, cutting any escape routes. The same thing happened at Sangrar, but the soldiers were behind stone walls, shooting from a safe position and inflicting several casualties to his enemies.
  After more than three hours of combat, Guzmán's group had to fall back to the chapel, with four dead and seven wounded. A similar thing occurred at Sangrar, where the combat is very harsh, until the Peruvians withdrew to regroup, giving the Chileans a rest for a while.
  At this point, an honorable surrender was offered Araneda, promising all kinds of guarantees. But Araneda knew that the Indians would dismember them if doing so.  Also, they did not feel defeated, because they still had a good amount of ammunition. Hence, Araneda refused the offer. The montoneras attacked again forcing the Chileans to retreat.
  Since taking the position was taking so much time, Vento began to wonder if the division would arrive at any time. His troops and montoneras were exhausted because of the fighting and the extensive march across the mountains. They could not get anything to eat or drink because of the fighting more than expected.
  So, he ordered his troops to attack continuously, ordering to set the chapel on fire to force its defenders out. The Chileans bayonet their way out from their burning shelter, attempting to reunite with Araneda. Since being outnumbered, Guzman did not reach his objective, so he deviated his soldiers to Las Cuevas to join Blanco's men. Blanco took a horse and rode to Casapalca seeking reinforcements. After informing the situation, two companies of the 3rd Line and Esmeralda battalions were dispatched to the area.
  Inside the farm, the Chileans believed that they had been left alone and would have to resist to the death. The Peruvians believed that, at any time, Letelier would arrive with the bulk of his forces.
caption: Battle of Sandra, oil on canvas by Nicolás Guzmán Bustamante
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Google", "Image ExifOffset": "58", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "650", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "391"}