The neutral British and American naval commanders in Chilean waters, when notified on the intended plan of attack against Valparaiso, tried to avoid the destruction of the prosperous but defenseless port inhabited by 80,000 people. It was useless. In a romantic gesture, the Chileans even suggested that the two squadrons, without the mighty Numancia, meet at sea to decide once and for all the issue. Commodore John Rodgers, Commander of the American squadron offered to serve as mediator. But it seems that Mendez Nuñez did not like the idea or wanted to take the responsibility. He had been ordered by his Government to destroy the enemy squadron or a city and after failing the first option at Abtao, he chose the later.
The intervention of the diplomatic and consular corps also was to no avail. Even General Hugh Judson Kirlpatrick, the American Minister to Chile, demanded Rodgers to attack the Numancia. Commander Rodgers had at his disposal the powerful 3,400-ton monitor USS Monadnock armed with 2 dual turrets, each with 2x15 inch Dahlgren smoothbore guns. He also had five wooden corvettes, among them the USS Tuscarora, the USS Powhatan (flagship) and the USS Vanderbilt. However he refused any kind of engagement to avoid war between Spain and the United States. Kilpatrick insisted but Rodgers new that the recommendations of the former Civil War federal cavalry officer, whom once General William T. Sherman branded "a damned fool", could not be taken seriously. After Mendez Nuñez learn about Kirlpatrick’s intentions, he said to Rodgers that if he moved his ships to protect Valparaiso,
“I will be forced to sink them, because even if I have one ship left I will proceed with the bombardment. Spain, the Queen and I prefer honor without ships than ships without honor”.
Pareja added that,
“Your Monadnock may be to strong for my Numancia, but I think I could dispose of all your other ships…”
It must be pointed out that at that time the U.S. Pacific squadron was composed of a total of seventeen vessels. The fleet was divided into the North Pacific and the South Pacific squadrons. The North Pacific squadron embraced the coast of North America and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian) while the limits of the South Pacific squadron extended from Panama to Cape Horn and all the way to Australia.
On March 31, 1866, the Spaniards took position in front of Valparaiso with four of their warships: Villa de Madrid, Blanca, Resolucion and Vencedora, and opened fire with their combined 138 guns, several of them 68-pounders.
The city, which had not a single gun to protect her, was mercilessly bombed. During three interminable hours the Spanish squadron discharged its heavy guns, destroying the warehouses, an old unarmed fort, the railroad station, and several other public buildings, with a total of 2,600 shots. Fire fighting companies from Santiago assisted the local fire brigade in putting out the fires and removing debris. Damages to Valparaiso amounted to 14 million pesos, almost half of which belonged to neutrals. There were also casualties in the local population. Before leaving Chile, Commander Mendez Nuñez set all the captured Chilean ships on fire. A total of thirty-three vessels were burned or sunk and it was the total ruin of the Chilean merchant fleet, the most important in the western shores of Latin America.
Next, the Spaniards sailed towards Peru with intention of repeating the Valparaiso action against the main port of Callao. However they were not aware that the new scenario was going to be quite different. In fact they ignored that there, they were going to meet their match. The Callao forts and batteries were of legendary power. In fact, it was considered the most powerfully protected port of the West coasts of South America. The Real Felipe fort had been kept up to date for war since colonial times and was periodically reinforced. The fort was built during the XVIII century in the same place in which previous fortifications faced and responded attacks from such legendary figures as Sir Francis Drake and John Hawkins. Alerted about Mendez Nuñez intentions, President Prado proceeded to reinforce the Callao defenses with heavy British-made guns, mostly Blakelys, recently brought from Europe.
The Spaniards finally arrived at Callao on April 25. Two days later Mendez Nuñez announced that he would bombard the port on May first. However, this date was changed to the second of May, for it was a day of glory for Spain (1). For this task, Mendez Nuñez had a total force of fourteen ships including six frigates and one corvette, with nearly 250 guns of different caliber, that is to say, the Numancia, Blanca, Restauración, Berenguela, Villa de Madrid, Vencedora and the newly arrived frigate Almansa. It was by far the biggest naval force assembled by the Kingdom of Spain after the battle of Trafalgar.
The mobilization of the Peruvian military and the civilian population was massive. New defenses were built quickly with all available material. The defenses of the port, under command of the Minister of War, the brilliant liberal politician Jose Galvez, consisted in a series of batteries located from North to South. The northern batteries consisted on the Junin Tower and Fort Ayacucho. The positions in the southern sector were composed of Santa Rosa Fort, the Merced Tower and the Zepita Battery (this one armed with two 68-pounders and four 32-pounders) and the Railroad Battery. In total the Peruvians had 52 guns, including several Armstrong and Blakely dispersed in masonry forts, sand batteries and armored turrets. The warships at the harbor under Captain Lizardo Montero mounted additional thirteen guns. They consisted on the steamers Colon, Tumbes and Sachaca plus the Confederate-style casemated ram ironclads Loa and Victoria, whose duty was to reinforce the northern defenses. Infantry troops were garnished at the Chacritas and the Cavalry at Bellavista. The Minister of War set his headquarters at the Merced Tower located in the Real Felipe fortress.
At about 10:00 hours, the Spanish impressive armada was divided into two groups and formed a line of attack in a “V” shape. One side, composed of the Numancia, Resolucion and the recently arrived Almansa, with a total of 137 guns, took position at the North, and the other, composed of the Villa de Madrid, Berenguela and Reina Blanca, with a total of 122 guns, moved to the South of the port. Other ships, like the gunboat Vencedora, remained at the rear.
At 12:15 hours, the maneuver completed, the mighty Numancia, flagship of Mendez Nuñez, fired the first two shots. The Santa Rosa Fort immediately answered and combat erupted. Ten minutes later the Numancia was hit by a Peruvian grenade, being forced to fire only with the guns located at the opposite band of the ship. But when making this maneuver, she was hit again by two more shots that damaged her helmet and injured Commander Mendez Nuñez. The fire was suspended for 15 minutes, and when it started again one of the Peruvian Blakelys was silenced. Another Spanish shot reached the Merced Tower and killed all of its occupants, including the Peruvian War Minister Jose Galvez. The fight however was not over.
The combat became heftier and in both sides prodigies of honorable courage were made. At the northern positions, the frigate Villa de Madrid received a Blakely 450-pound grenade, which killed 27 of her crew and disabled the steam conduction tubes. The gunboat Vencedora had to tow the injured ship out of the fire range. The frigate Almansa received a shot that killed 13 men and caused an explosion on the gunpowder deposits, also forcing her to withdraw from combat. The Berenguela had bad luck as well. A 300-pound Peruvian projectile ran through the ship and almost sunk the frigate. She had to retreat.
At about 5 P.M., fire ceased. Peru's guns had scored 185 hits on the enemy ships. After serious mishaps and without having silenced all the Peruvian batteries, the Spanish were forced to withdraw to the San Lorenzo Island with terrible damages and heavy casualties: The Reina Blanca was hit 30 times; the Resolucion 30 times; the Numancia 51 times; the Almansa 72 times; and the Berenguela and the Vencedora 2 times. Nearly fifty Spanish sailors were killed. Eighty-three were wounded and sixty-eight others suffered minor contusions. Commander Mendez Nuñez was injured nine times. Two of the frigates had to be towed aground on San Lorenzo Island. Despite the fact that the Spanish Admiral declared victory, it was, by no doubts, a Peruvian triumph.
Peruvians suffered about 200 casualties between dead and wounded but despite the heavy Spanish fire, damages to the port were minor. The warships received a total of 13 shots. The steamer Tumbes lost 2 men dead and had 3 wounded.
Through this battle the former colony had assured its independence and had given a lesson of courage and honor against an imperialist power. The war however was not over.
. . . .
(1) On May 2, 1808, the Spanish people revolted against the French invasion of their country. The Napoleonic response to the uprising of the 'Dos de Mayo', was brutal and its aftermath was commemorated in Goya's painting, “The execution of 3rd May, 1808”. Sparked by this uprising in Madrid, the Spaniards united against the French and fought a five-year war of independence.
