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Battle of San Francisco
The Battle of San Francisco marked the defeat of the bulk of the Peruvian forces during the War of the Pacific. The catastrophe was the result of poor logistics, inefficient leadership and the unexpected desertion of the Bolivian Army under the half-hearted command of Pr. Hilarion Daza.
Preliminary movements
The Chilean forces had disembarked near the port of Pisagua and encountered merely mild resistance. The invaders had taken extreme care in securing water sources (very rare in the dry Atacama desert) and in adopting high and easily defendable positions. Meanwhile the Peruvian army under the command of the old yet incompetent general Buendia marched in an attempt to intercept the Chileans. It was Buendia's hope that his Bolivian allies commanded by Pr. Hilarion Daza would link up with his forces in order to numerically overwhelm the Chileans entrenched in the hill (cerro) of San Francisco. However, the route from the Bolivian highlands to San Francisco was long and perilous; furthermore, the Bolivians stubbornly marched in full daylight, thus having to endure the scorching heat of the desert sun. Naturally, when the Bolivians reached the creek of Camarones near San Francisco, they were in no condition to fight a battle. Buendia was forced to face the Chileans on his own.
The battle
General Buendia attempted to attack his enemies with coordinated and simultaneous assaults from all directions. However this venerable gentleman was unable to control the excessive enthusiasm of his men, who charged irresponsibly against the Chilean Krupp artillery. The result was tragically bloody and ended in the almost complete rout of the Peruvian Army Southern Command.
It must be noted that Andres Avelino Caceres, later president and war hero of Peru, was wounded during the battle.
See also
War of the Pacific
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Battle of San Francisco
