Battle of Tacna

Battle of Tacna
Part of the War of the Pacific

Battle of Tacna according to Diego Barros Arana's "Guerra del Pacifico"
Date26 May 1880
Location
Department of Tacna, Peru
Result

Chilean victory

  • Bolivian withdrawal from the conflict
Belligerents
Chile  Peru
 Bolivia
Commanders and leaders
Chile Manuel Baquedano Bolivia Narciso Campero
Strength
11,779[1]-14,147[2]
37 guns
4 Gatling guns[3]
8,930[4]-12,000[5]
16 guns
7 Gatling guns
Casualties and losses
1,932 casualties 3,500-5,000 casualties

The Battle of Tacna, also known as the Battle of the Peak of the Alliance (Spanish: Batalla del Alto de la Alianza), effectively destroyed the Peru-Bolivian alliance against Chile, forged by a secret treaty signed in 1873. On 26 May 1880, the Chilean Northern Operations Army led by General Manuel Baquedano González, conclusively defeated the combined armies of Peru and Bolivia commanded by Bolivian President, General Narciso Campero. The battle took place at the Inti Urqu (Intiorko) hill plateau, a few miles north of the Peruvian city of Tacna. As a result, Bolivia was knocked out of the war, leaving Peru to fight the rest of the war alone. Also, this victory consolidated the Chilean domain over the Tarapacá Department. The territory was definitively annexed to Chile after the signing of the Tratado de Ancón, in 1884, which ended the war. Tacna itself remained under Chilean control until 1929.

  1. ^ Ejército de Chile, Dirección General de Movilización Nacional. "Las Relaciones Nominales". Archived from the original on 25 July 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
  2. ^ according to official sources "Historia del Ejército de Chile, Volumen 6" p. 86 by "Estado Mayor General del Ejército de Chile"
  3. ^ Mackenna Vicuña "Historia de la campaña de Tacna y Arica, 1879-1880"
  4. ^ according to Nicolás de Pierola Archives cited by Jorge Basadre
  5. ^ Gonzalo Bulnes. "Batalla de Tacna" (PDF). Retrieved 23 June 2010.