Battle of Curalaba

Battle of Curalaba
Part of Arauco War
DateDecember 23, 1598
Location
Curalaba, on the banks of the Lumaco River, 25 kilometers from Angol
37°55′S 72°53′W / 37.917°S 72.883°W / -37.917; -72.883
Result Decisive Mapuche victory
Belligerents
Spanish Empire Mapuche
Commanders and leaders
Martín García Oñez de Loyola  Vice toqui Pelantaru
Strength
50 Spanish and 300 Indian auxiliaries 600 warriors [1]
Casualties and losses
All but two Spaniards were killed,[2] as were most of the Indian auxiliaries. ?

The Battle of Curalaba (Spanish: Batalla de Curalaba pronounced [baˈtaʝa ðe kuɾaˈlaβa]) was a battle and an ambush in 1598 when Mapuche people led by Pelantaru defeated Spanish conquerors led by Martín García Óñez de Loyola at Curalaba, southern Chile. In Chilean historiography, where the event is often called the Disaster of Curalaba (Spanish: Desastre de Curalaba), the battle marks the end of the conquest (la conquista) period in Chile's history, although the fast Spanish expansion in the south had already been halted in the 1550s. The battle led to a general Mapuche uprising that resulted in Destruction of the Seven Cities. This severe crisis reshaped Colonial Chile and forced the Spanish to reassess their mode of warfare.

  1. ^ Diego de Ocaña (1987). A través de la América del Sur. Madrid: Historia 16, pp. 105. Edición de Arturo Álvarez.
  2. ^ The Spanish survivors were a priest, Bartolomé Pérez, who was captured, and Bernardo de Pereda, a soldier left for dead with 23 wounds who made his way to La Imperial after 70 days.