The Arauco War was a long conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people of the region of Araucanía, of modern Chile. The beginning of the conflict is usually placed at the Battle of Reynogüelén, which occurred in 1536 between an expedition of Diego de Almagro and a well organized and numerous group of Mapuche soldiers, near the confluence of the Ñuble and Itata rivers. Its end however, is more difficult to pin down. After 1609, each governor of Chile held "Parlamentos" with the Mapuche chiefs, in which they discussed the maintenance of a treaty between both parties, violations of which were quite frequent.
Campaigns of Pedro de Valdivia (1546–1553)
During the early phase of the Conquest of Chile, the Spanish conquistador, Pedro de Valdivia conducted a nine year campaign to secure the city of Santiago, which had been destroyed on September 11, 1541 by the Mapochoes under the direction of their chief, Michimalonco. Valdivia hoped to enlarge the territory under his jurisdiction and, despite injuries from a fall from his horse, resolved to take personal command of a land expedition into Araucanía.
In 1544, he had sent a naval expedition comprised of the barks, San Pedro and Santiaguillo, under the command of Juan Bautista Pastene, to reconnoiter the southwestern coast of South America to the Strait of Magellan. The expedition set sail from Valparaíso, entered the bay of San Pedro, and made landings at what is now known as Concepción and at Valdivia, which was later named in honor of the commander. Encountering severe storms further south, he then returned to Valparaiso.
Valdivia himself set out in 1546, with sixty horsemen plus native guides and porters, and crossed the Itata River and were attacked by Mapuche warriors in the Battle of Quilacura near the Bío-Bío River. Realizing that it would be impossible to proceed in such hostile territory with so limited a force, Valdivia wisely elected to return to Santiago after finding a site for new city at what is now Penco and was the first site of Concepción.
Founding of Concepción, Imperial, and Valdivia
In 1550, a new expedition was launched, consisting of a naval force under Pastene, and a land force of two hundred Spaniards mounted and foot and a number of Mapocho auxilleries under Valdivia. They planned to reunite on the shores of the Bay of Concepción. The expedition advanced beyond the Itata River and Laja River, to the shores of the Bio-Bio River. Along the way they had several battles with groups of Mapuches as they explored the region killing many with little loss to themselves. After spending over a week in the area and encountering increasing opposition, the Spanish marched toward the Sea through the valleys of the Laja and Bío-Bío rivers, towards the coast at Penco. On the banks of the Andalién River, they camped for two days between the river and a lake, where they were attacked on the second night by a large force of Araucanians under their toqui Ainavillo in the Battle of Andalien. The night attack was defeated, the Spaniards suffering one killed and many wounds to men and especially their mounts. After a day treating their wounds they continued onward towards their rendezvous at the Bay of Concepción.[1][2] There Valdivia began building fort at what is now Penco.
On February 23rd, the naval force under Pastene anchored in the bay, and provided materials to finish the fort, brought supplies and reinforcements.[1] On March 1 Valdivia founded here the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo. On March 3rd of that year, the fort was completed and was attacked nine days later by the largest force of Mapuches yet seen in the Battle of Penco. This force was broken and routed despite the small size of the Spanish forces.[1][3] Despite the resulting submission of the local tribes, Valdivia sent an emissary to the Viceroy of Peru, asking for additional forces; he knew that it would not be possible to complete the conquest of Araucania with only the forces at his disposal. After reinforcement at Concepción in 1551, he organized another expedition to establish the fort La Imperial on the banks of the Imperial River. He then returned to Concepción to prepare another expedition and await the reinforcements the Viceroy had promised to send by sea.
Leaving orders that the new troops should disembark on the Tierras de Valdivia that Pastene had discovered earlier, Valdivia left with two hundred soldiers in the direction of Fort Imperial. Once he had passed it on his way south, he ordered Jerónimo de Alderete to drive inland and establish a fort, with the goal of securing his eastern flank. To this end, Alderente reached Lake Villarrica and established a fort there. Meanwhile, Valdivia's column advanced southwards and joined the reinforcements sent from Peru, under the command of Francisco de Villagra. There, Fort Valdivia was established. After garrisoning the new forts, Valdivia returned to his base at Concepción in 1552.
Lautaro and the Battle of Tucapel
With the goal of securing the lines of communication with the southern forts, Valdivia launched a third expedition which established forts at Tucapel, Purén, Confines, Arauco, and Lebu. The Araucanians didn't offer any resistance to the conquistadors in their fort-building.
In 1553, the Mapuches held a council at which, because of the growth of Spanish forces in their territory, they resolved to make war. They chose as their "toqui" (wartime chief) a man called Caupolicán and as his vice toqui Lautaro, because he had served as an auxiliary to the Spanish cavalry, his experiences with the Spanish gave him insight into the best methods for fighting the conquistadors.
With six thousand warriors under his command, Lautaro attacked the fort at Tucapel. The Spanish garrison was unable to withstand the assault and retreated to Purén. Certain that the Spaniards would attempt to retake it, Lautaro seized Tucapel. Valdivia, with a reduced force, mounted a counter-attack, but he was quickly surrounded and his army was massacred by the Mapuches in the Battle of Tucapel. This was Pedro de Valdivia's last battle; he was captured and later killed in captivity [4].
Campaigns of Caupolicán and Lautaro (1554–1557)
After the defeat at Tucapel, the Spanish hurriedly reorganized their forces, reinforcing fort Imperial for its defence and abandoning Confines and Arauco in order to strengthen Concepción. However, Araucanian tradition dictated a lengthy victory celebration, which kept Lautaro from exploiting the weakness of the Spanish position as he desired. It was only in February of 1554 that he succeeded in putting together an army of 8,000 men, just in time to confront a punitive expedition under the command of Francisco de Villagra at the Battle of Marihueñu.
Despite this new victory, Lautaro was again unable to pursue the opportunity due to the celebrations and beliefs of his people. By the time he arrived at Concepción, it was already abandoned. After burning it, he could not continue the offensive with his remaining forces, and the campaign came to an end as the warriors demobilized.
In Santiago, Villagra reorganized his forces, and that same year of 1554, he departed again for Arauco and reinforced the strongholds of Imperial and Valdivia, without any interference from the Mapuches, who were dealing with their first epidemic of smallpox, which was brought by the Spanish. In 1555, the Real Audiencia in Lima, ordered him to reconstruct Concepción, which was done under the command of Capitan Alvarado. Lautaro attacked Concepción when he learned that it was being rebuilt, with 4,000 warriors. He put the town under siege, which Alvarado attempted to break unsuccessfully. Only 38 Spaniards managed to escape by sea from this second destruction of the city.
Meanwhile in the north the victories of Lautauro lead to uprisings by the previously subdued Promaucaes in the valley of the Mataquito River and the Picunche in the valley of the Aconcagua River but these were put down [5]. In 1556, the Promauces sent a message to the Mapuche of Arauco promising food to support their army and warriors to join it in a war against the Spanish in Santiago [6].
Lautaro's campaign against Santiago
After his victories in the south and the messages promising support from the north, Lautaro planned an assault on Santiago. With the ravages of the recent epidemic and the needs of the campaign against the Spanish still occupying cities within Mapuche territory still going on, he was not able to draw many troops from the main Mapuche army for his campaign to the north [7]. He had to rely on recruiting warriors among the people north of the Bio Bio River among subjugated Mapuche and the Promaucaes north of the Itata River, who were now inspired by the previous successes of Lautaro to revolt again.
But when he entered the places subject to Santiago, he began taking reprisals against the Promaucaes who refused to join him, doing great damage and depopulating the land. The refugees fled to the city for aid and protection [8]. In October of 1556 he reached the Mataquito River in his northward march. There he built a fortified camp near Teno in a place called Peteroa as a base of operations against Santiago. Lautaro ambushed a first probe by a small Spanish force from Santiago. A larger force under Pedro de Villagra later attacked the fortress at Peteroa over several days but were not able to take it and were forced away by flooding. However with unfavorable losses and more Spaniards coming to Villagra's support, Lautaro retreated towards the Maule River hoping to establish himself there. However the Spanish cavalry of Juan Godíñez pursued to the Maule River cutting down stragglers and one of Lautaro's detachments was cut to pieces. Lautaro's army gave them the slip, but was forced to fall back beyond the Itata River. Captain Gudiñez returned victorious from this pursuit and put great fear into the Promaucaes by punishing them with distruction of their herds, fields and houses and by cutting off some heads, as a lesson not to call upon the Mapuche army or give aid to them [9].
In January 1557, Francisco de Villagra marched south to aid the remaining cities against the Mapuche army led by Caupolicán. Informed by his allies the city of Santiago was now relatively unprotected, Lautaro evaded Villagra, letting him pass to the south while he marched again toward Santiago with a new army including allies under Panigualgo [10]. However Lautaro's mistreatment of the intimidated local Indians to extract provisions had created dissention among his allies. His allies separated from him after the army reached the Mataquito River at Lora, after a dispute over his actions with an allied leader named Chillan who accused Lautaro of acting like the Spaniards[11]. He moved his remaining army over a league up river and again established a fortified camp on the Mataquito River amid a carrizal at the foot of a wooded hill. However its location was betrayed to Francisco de Villagra by local Indians previously abused by Lautaro. Villagra sent word to Juan Godíñez near Santiago to meet him as he hurried north. The Spanish forces met without Lautaro being alerted and made a surprise night march over the hills of Caune, to the hill overlooking the Lautaro's camp, on the shore of the Mataquito River. On April 29th, at dawn Villagra began the Battle of Mataquito with a surprise attack on the camp in which they killed Lautaro and obtained a decisive victory, destroying his army and dispersing his allies.
Campaigns of Caupolicán and García Hurtado de Mendoza
García Hurtado de Mendoza
After the death of Jerónimo de Alderete in Panama while returning to Chile, García Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Cañete was designated the interim governor of Chile in 1557, and immediately sailed south from Peru, this time with a much stronger force than before: 600 soldiers, 6 pieces of artillery, and 1,000 horses. He landed in La Serena and had the rival contenders for the for the governorship, Francisco de Villagra and Francisco de Aguirre arrested and sent to Peru and put his own men in control of the province. Sending his cavalry by land he sailed south in winter and landed in early June 1557 on the island of La Quiriquina at the mouth of the Bay of Concepción. He ordered a party to land at Penco and reconstruct the fort of Concepción. A Mapuche army attempted to storm the fort but were defeated by artillery and gunfire. After his cavalry and horses arrived overland from Santiago, Mendoza began his advance to the south of the Bio-Bio and another Mapuche army including Galvarino attempted to stop them in the open field in the Battle of Lagunillas but again were defeated after hard fighting and as a result their fortress at Andalicán the gateway to Arauco was left undefended and was captured soon after the battle.
Caupolicán lead the Mapuche unsuccessfully resisting the advance of Mendoza by attacking him from ambush in the Battle of Millarapue. After further fighting near the site of the ruined fortress of Tucapel, Mendoza left the fort and city of Cañete de la Frontera and continued to the south. There he established the city of Osorno and explored southward to the Gulf of Ancud. Attempting to throw off the Spanish occupation Caupolicán attacked the fort of Cañete expecting the gates to be opened by the treachery of a yanacona within but he was betrayed instead and was badly defeated by Captain Alonso de Reinoso. Although he was able to escape immediately after this last battle when Spanish cavalry did not arrive in time to pursue, he was eventually captured in the mountains by Pedro de Avendaño, sentenced to death by Alonso de Reinoso and executed by impalement in Cañete .
After the death of Caupolicán, García Hurtado de Mendoza thought that finally they had subjugated the Mapuche. On the contrary, the manner of Caupolicán's death inspired the Mapuches to continue the struggle with a guerrilla war in which there was no day that some yanaconas or once in a while some encomendero did not die at hands of Mapuches. When the number of missing or dead reached 400 yanaconas and 10 Spaniards, the governor was convinced that he had been mistaken. In Quiapo, the Mapuches under their new toqui Caupolicán the younger constructed a fort that was to stop the forces of Mendoza from marching into Arauco and rebuilding a fort there. Mendoza advanced from Cañete and crushed another Mapuche army at the Battle of Quiapo. After the battle, Hurtado de Mendoza had most of the captured Mapuche executed, but saved Peteguelén, son of Cuyomanque an important cacique in the Arauco region. Through his help and that of the grateful father, he was able contact and to bring most of the leaders of Arauco and Tucapel to submit to Spanish rule following the reconstruction of the fort in Aruaco[12]. Mendoza also founded the city of San Andrés de Los Infantes not far from the old fort of Confines.
In February 1561, Phillip II relieved García Hurtado de Mendoza, replacing him as governor with the victor over Lautaro, Francisco de Villagra. Mendoza left Chile with the belief that he had overcome the Mapuche. He was one of the few governors who obtained a certain degree of success in the War. This success was due to the large numbers of experienced soldiers, equipment and arms that he brought which were not available to the previous conquerors and because the Mapuche did not have a strategist to equal Lautaro.
The Mapuches pretended peace, but secretly contiued to prepare for a new revolt. Soon after the defeat at Quiapo the surviving leaders gathered and elected Illangulién as the new toqui. With most of the nations warriors dead or wounded and the population decimated by the effects of war, starvation and disease he decided to retreat into the marshes of Lumaco and there gather their strength and train a new generation of warriors for a future revolt. The Mapuche had learned to work iron, use Spanish weapons (including firearms and cannon), ride horses captured from their conquerors and learned better strategies and tactics. The defeats inflicted by Mendoza had made the Mapuche a united people and one committed to renewing the war against the Spanish to recover their freedom.
Second Great Rebellion of the Mapuche 1561
Campaigns of Francisco de Villagra
Hostilities resumed with the arrival of Francisco de Villagra to replace Mendoza. It began during the breif interim governorship of Rodrigo de Quiroga with the murder of the hated encomendero Pedro de Avendaño and two other Spaniards in July 1561. The Mapuches spread the news and it initiated a new general rising greater than the previous ones. With Villagra's arrival also came an epidemic that ravaged the native populatin of Chile.
At the end of 1562, the Mapuches under a leader named Meuco, had fortified a pucará in the valley of Lincoya, in the province of Mareguano, three leagues from the city of Los Infantes [13]. Arias Pardo Maldonado destroyed the pucará but he did not gain a complete victory,since most of the Mapuches escaped. Elsewhere the corregidor of Cañete Juan Lazarte was killed at the gates Cañete trying to recapture mounts stolen by about thirty mapuches.
The Mapuches reconstructed the pucará of Lincoya in January of 1563, but Pedro de Villagra was sent again to destroy it. Once again the Mapuche rebuilt it, but this time with sections readily accessible to the cavalry, dispite suspicions of veteran Spaniards they attacked the location, and many fell into well disguised pits. There the governors son, Pedro de Villagra "el Mozo" and forty two other Spaniards died.
When Francisco de Villagra heard the news of his sons death he became ill and left for Concepcion leaving his cousin, Pedro de Villagra, in charge of the campaign. The Mapuches, attacked on two fronts against the forts of Los Infantes and Arauco investing them but were unable to take them. Again Petegüelen offered peace to the Spaniards and Villagra accepted, but this peace was deceptive since the Mapuches needed to harvest their feilds.
In April of 1563, the Mapuche reestablished the siege of Arauco. This lasted forty two days with the Mapuches losing 500 warriors mostly from disentery contracted from drinking contaminated water. Finally they choose to retire and to raise the siege. Shortly afterward, Francisco de Villagra died in Concepcion on June 22, 1563, leaving his cousin Pedro de Villagra as interim governor.
Campaigns of Pedro de Villagra
Because he believed he had too few men to hold all the posts in Mapuche territory and still have a field army the new governor Pedro de Villagra ordered the abandonment of Arauco in July 1563, taking off its artillery and noncombatants by sea while garrison under Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado marched over the rain soaked mountains and flooded rivers to Angol. The Mapuche distroyed the fort shortly after the garrison left and harrassed their march. Regarding the abandonment of Arauco as a victory, it inspired the Mapuche north of the Bio-bio River to revolt.
In 1564, Pedro de Villagra, took measures to protect all the towns and forts he already held and gathering a field army drawn from all these posts in Concepcion. He knew that one of the Mapuche objectives was to surround Concepcion and preparations were made to support a long seige. After a brief fight Loble defeated the troops of captain Francisco de Vaca in the Itata River valley who were coming with reinforcements from Santiago. In addition, Millalelmo ambushed Spanish reinforcements coming from Angol to the south under captain, Juan Perez de Zurita, at a crossing of the Andalién River[14]. Both defeats cut off the city and garrison of Concepcion from outside aid by land. The defeated survivors had to retreat to Santiago and were in no condition to break through the investment around Concepcion. On the other hand, encouraged by these victories in the north, Illangulién resolved to destroy Los Infantes before marching to Concepcion.
At Los Infantes the Mapuche blockade grew tighter as they moved their well sited pucaras closer and closer to the city. Its commander Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado judged them too well defended to attack until they started to build their third pucara close to the city. Then in the Battle of Angol Lorenzo Bernal drove the Mapuche army out of their pucara and pursued them down to the river and pushed them back into it killing Illangulién and a thousand of his men with many others wounded or captured and the rest of the army dispersed. Afterward Paillataru was elected as Toqui.
Meanwhile the caciques Millalelmu and Loble with 20,000 warriors from the area between the Itata and Bio-Bio rivers, settled down to the Siege of Concepcion in February 1564. The Mapuche entered the city, sacking and burning it, crowding all its population within the walls of its fortress with its garrison under Pedro de Villagra. The siege lasted around two months until at the end of March two ships arrived bringing food that would permit the siege to continue for a much longer time. On the other side the Mapuche had used up local sources of food and were finding it difficult to maintain their large force. With the harvest season coming and with the news of their defeat in the Battle of Angol they were nervous that their families might starve or their undefended homes might be attacked from Angol or Santiago. They raised their siege on April 1, and dispersed to their homes for the winter.[15]
After the siege was raised Villagra became aware of an effort to replace him as governor by Martin Ruiz de Gamboa, son-in-law of Rodrigo de Quiroga. Villagra tried to arrest Gamboa who fled to Santiago but Villagra sailed to Valparaíso in a few days with some of his men and arrested him in Santiago when he arrived. Villagra then tried to reorganize the surviving disheartened troops of Vaca and Zurita in Santiago and take them south in October 1564. But he was delayed much longer, spending heavily from the impoverished provincial treasury and contributions exacted from the cities of Chile with difficulty, he slowly refitted and enlarged his army over the winter and spring.
Villagra left the city in mid January 1565 with 110 Spaniards and gathered 800 indian auxillaries from their repartimientos as he marched south to the Maule River. There he linked up with 30 Spaniards under Pedro Hernandez de Cordova were observing the frontier with the Mapuche after the Mapuche had blocked them from reinforcing Concepcion. During the seven months Villagra was in Santiago, the Mapuche north of the Bio-Bio had built a strong pucara on the Perquilauquén River, blocking the road south to Concepcion and in the Second Battle of Reinohuelén Villagra rapidly took it and distroyed the Mapuche army holding it. Soon afterward Loble bringing reinforcements but unaware of his armies defeat was defeated and captured in the Battle of Tulmillán. Subsequently Villagra was able to suppress the Mapuche revolt north of the Bio-Bio.
The War during the rule of the Real Audiencia of Chile
Rodrigo de Quiroga
Real Audiencia of Chile
Campaigns between 1568 and 1598
Despite having founded cities and forts in Mapuche territory, all further Spanish conquest attempts failed. The Kingdom of Chile became a problematic region of continual warfare where it became increasingly difficult to get soldiers to serve and which the Spaniards would possibly have abandoned if they not feared its colonization by another European nation. Several Spanish generals and nobles were assigned posts in Chile in an attempt to finish the war with the Mapuche.
Melchor Bravo de Saravia y Sotomayor
Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
Battle of Catirai
1570 Concepción earthquake
Pailacar
Battle of Purén
Campaigns of Rodrigo de Quiroga and Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
Governor Rodrigo de Quiroga
Paineñamcu or Alonso Diaz
Juan de Lebú
Governor Martín Ruiz de Gamboa
Campaigns of Alonso de Sotomayor
Alonso de Sotomayor
Cayancaru
Nangoniel
Cadeguala
Guanoalca
Janequeo
Quintuguenu
Paillamachu
Pedro de Viscarra de la Barrera
Campaigns of Martín García Oñez de Loyola
In September of 1592, Martín García Óñez de Loyola, famous for his capture of Túpac Amaru was appointed as Captain General directly by Philip II, who thought him the most likely candidate to finish the Arauco War. Loyola insisted in penetrating Mapuche territory with an army of soldiers coming directly from Panama. He established a fort Santa Cruz in May of 1594, at the confluence of the Bio-Bio and Laja Rivers. The fort was elevated to the rank of city in 1595 giving it the name of Santa Cruz de Oñez. Later, on 21 December of 1598 Oñez de Loyola became the second governor of Chile to die in war with the Mapuches, surprised by Pelantaro in the Battle of Curalaba.
End of the Spanish conquest (1598–1604)
Mapuche Uprising of 1598
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The Battle of Curalaba became the beginning of a general uprising that would in a few years eliminate all Spanish settlements south of the Bio-Bio River with the exception of Chiloé Island. The viceroy of Peru hastily appointed Francisco de Quiñónez as replacement of the deceased Loyola. He was an experienced military man with great prudence but with little aptitude for the crisis that he was called upon to face. This governor discovered the terrible state of the colony and asked urgently for reinforcements. Meanwhile he tried to support those places that were possible to defend. Nevertheless, things were soon out of his control despite everything done to stabilize the situation, and he sickened and asked for his relief. In September 1600, Alonso García de Ramón the old maestro de campo of Alonso de Sotomayor, arrived as the new governor of Chile.
Campaigns of Alonso García de Ramón
17th Century
Alonso de Ribera and the creation of the Army of Chile
Alonso de Ribera
Huenecura
Alonso García de Ramón replaced Alonso de Ribera as governor for the second time in 1605.
Battle of Boroa
Aillavilu
Anganamon
Defensive War
Alonzo de Rivera returned as governor in 1612 appointed by King Philip III at the specific request of Father Luis de Valdivia. Valdivia was the originator of a new system of defensive warfare in Chile. He planned a static frontier separating the Spanish zone from the Indigenous zone, permitting no one but missionaries to enter the south from the Spanish side. The king was in agreement, and although Ribera himself did not totally agree, he followed the royal orders and established the defensive system.
Parliament of Paicaví
Loncothegua
Lientur
Resumption of Offensive War
Pedro Osores de Ulloa
Catalina de Erauso
Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Arce
Butapichón
Battle of Las Cangrejeras
Francisco Núñez de Pineda
Francisco Laso de la Vega
Ambush of Picolhué
Battle of Los Robles
Battle of La Albarrada
Quepuantú
Huenucalquin
Curanteo
Curimilla
The First Parliament
Francisco López de Zúñiga
Lincopinchon
Parliament of Quillin
Martín de Mujica y Buitrón
Parliament of Quilín (1647)
Alonso de Figueroa y Córdoba
Mapuche Insurrection of 1655
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Francisco Antonio de Acuña Cabrera y Bayona
The last major uprising came in 1655 when Mapuche armies under Clentaru overwhelmed the Spaniards and came to the shores of the Maule River. After that, the Spanish tactics varied from a "defensive war" proposed by Jesuit missionaries, and parliaments with loncos to make agreements with the Mapuche in so called parliaments. This allowed the growth of commerce and increased the mestization.
Campaigns of the Mestizo Alejo and Misqui
Mestizo Alejo
Misqui
Pedro Porter Cesanete
Francisco de Meneses
The later Seventeenth Century
Diego Dávila Coello, Marquis of Navamorquende
Diego González Montero Justiniano
Juan Henríquez de Villalobos
Ayllicuriche
Marcos José de Garro who was Royal Governor of Chile from 1682-1692, had proposed to embark on the major campaigns against the Mapuches to the viceroy of Peru, Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull Duke of La Plata, and the King of Spain. He planned that the Mapuche chiefs and elders be invited to a conference where they were to be imprisoned so that Araucania could be pacified relatively bloodlessly. However, in 1686, King Charles II of Spain rejected the plan as deceitful.[16] However, in 1685, Garro did decree the depopulation of the Isla Mocha, with the goal of denying resources to pirates who were then ravaging the Pacific coast of Chile. The islands Mapuche natives were settled in a reducción on what is now the modern site of Concepcion, Chile.
The government Tomás Marín de Poveda of was marked by the breif flare up of the War of Arauco in 1694, with the Toqui Millalpal when the Mapuche were incited by the unauthorized activities of Antonio Pedreros against the machis of the Mapuche. Pedreros died of wounds when his force tried to cross the Quepe River to attack the army of Millalpal. The Spanish army of the Kingdom of Chile was then sent against Millalpal under Maestre de Campo Alonso de Cordova y Figueroa and the Sargento Mayor Alonso Cobarrubias. It was impossible for Millalpal to resist and he had to capitulate. The governor then called a parliment with the Mapuche, realizing Pedreros had been the source of the dispute and made a peace that lasted for nearly thirty years.
18th-century
The Mapuche rebellion of 1723
After 30 years of peace the War of Arauco continued with the Mapuche Uprising of 1723[17].
Vilumilla
Gabriel Cano de Aponte
Parliament of Negrete (1726)
The Mapuche Rebellion of 1766
Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga
Curiñancu
Juan de Balmaseda y Censano Beltrán
Francisco Javier de Morales y Castejón de Arrollo
Parliament of Negrete (1771)
Agustín de Jáuregui y Aldecoa
Parliament of Tapihue (1774)
Ambrosio de Benavides
Treaty of Lonquilmo of 1784
The Huilliche Rebellion of 1792
Ambrose O'Higgins
Parliament of Negrete (1793)
Relations at the end of the 18th Century
Although the Mapuches did not allow the free transit of huincas ("whites") into the zones that they considered their own land, from about 1780, the associated Mapuche peoples began to accept the limited presence of Spaniards and Creoles in their territories. Also, with the passage of time the Mapuches slowly entered into more frequent interaction with the Hispanic-Creole culture. Thus they would adopt many of their customs and form of life, thanks to the schools for natives, ambassadors, fairs and the parliaments. The Parliament of Negrete of 1803 was the last great parliament of the colonial period of Chile, in which both sides solemnized their peace and alliances. The commerce and unions between Spaniards and Mapuche, generated in addition a mestization that acted like a bridge between both cultures. Thus a coexistence was established between the Spanish, Creoles,and Mapuches, in which things remained nearly the same over most of the next century. Risings and malons were less and less frequent, but among the Mapuches opposition understandably remained towards total integration.
Chilean War of Independence and Guerra a muerte
During the Chilean War of Independence many Mapuche chiefs allied with the Royalist Spanish that fought for reestablishing the old colonial order in Chile. The Royalist brigadier Gabino Gaínza negotiated with Mapuche chiefs during the Parlament of Quilín in 1814 and gained their support against the Chilean patriots.
In 1817 and 1818 the royalists had suffered many defeats, but continued resistance in south Central Chile together with the Mapuches. José de San Martín who had liberated north-central Chile with Bernardo O'Higgins launched a series of actions against armed bands in the mountains, consisting of assorted outlaws, royalists, and Indians who had taken advantage of the chaos of military expeditions and forced recruitments to pillage and sack the countryside. This time of irregular warfare was later called the Guerra a muerte (Fight to the death) for its merciless tactics, as neither the guerillas nor the government soldiers took prisoners. Only after the band of Vicente Benavides was liquidated in 1822 was the region around Concepcion finally pacified.
Occupation of Araucanía
Background
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In 1860 Chilean president José Joaquín Pérez Mascayano decided to incorporate the territory between the Bio-Bio River and Toltén River (the Araucanía). With the proclamation of the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia by Orélie-Antoine de Tounens it became a priority to incorporate the Araucanía even if Orélie Antonie never was a serious threat. The authorities decided to apply the plan proposed by General Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez which included a mix of military and cultural penetration together with agreements with local chiefs. The plan also included the foundation of cities, building of roads and other public infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
The occupation
Cornelio Saavedra advanced in relatively short time to the Malleco River and founded the city of Angol, together with the forts of Mulchén and Lebu in 1862. From Valdivia in the south the troops also succeeded in advancing along the coast into the Toltén River. This first phase of occupation was carried out with relatively low levels of resistance, but soon after the lonco Quilapán started a revolt near Malleco River. When the War of the Pacific started in 1879 much of the troops in the south of Chile were moved north to fight Peru and Bolivia. In 1880 several Mapuche tribes took advantage of this situation and launched a series of spontaneous attacks on to the Chilean forts established in the frontier. With a victorious Chilean army returning from the War of the Pacific, the government of Domingo Santa María launched the final campaign to incorporate the heartland of the Mapuches into Chile. Colonel Gregorio Urrutia was chosen for this task. The old Spanish town of Villarrica was refounded and the forts of Carahue, Lautaro, Pillánlelbu, Temuco, Nueva Imperial and Pucón where founded. The tribes living close to this forts their territory, and about 10,000 Mapuche Indians were killed in skirmishes by the Chilean army. Many of the survivors escaped to mountains where they joined with the Pehuenches and other tribes escaping from Argentine territory. Some indigenous remnants were placed into reductions and their land was given to Chilean and foreign settlers. Some historians consider the occupation of the Araucania to be the end of a 300-years long War of Arauco.
Aftermath
Araucanía was not fully "pacified" after the campaigns, and it remained an insecure land, in spite of military efforts. Even nowadays some Mapuche groups continue "pillaging" haciendas in their ancestral lands. With the construction of the Malleco viaduct in the 1890s, the region became more accessible and colonization southward in Chile increased even more.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Valdivia, Carta 15 de octubre de 1550
- ^ Jerónimo de Vivar, Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile, Capítulo XCIV and XCV ; Marmolejo, Historia Capítulo X ; Pedro Mariño de Lobera, Crónica del Reino de Chile, Capítulo XXXI
- ^ Vivar, Crónica Capítulo XCVII ; Marmolejo, Historia Capítulo XI ; Lobera , Crónica Capítulo XXXIII
- ^ Valdivia was executed shortly after being made captive with a lance by order of Caupolicán and his head was put on display with the heads of two other brave Spaniards, according to Indians who had been at the battle and interveiwed by the author, Vivar, Cap. CXV.
- ^ Vivar, Crónica , Capítulo CXXVII.
- ^ Vivar, Crónica, Capítulo CXXVIII
- ^ Contempory sources have various numbers in his army: 3,000 men, Vivar, Cap. CXXVIII; 300 men, Marmolejo, Cap. XXII; 8,000 men, Lobera, Cap. LIV.
- ^ Lobera, Chapter LIV
- ^ Diego de Rosales, Historia general de el Reyno de Chile, Flandes Indiano, Tomo II, Cap. VIII.
- ^ Said to be 10,000 men, Lobera, Cap. LV
- ^ Diego de Rosales, Historia general, Tomo II, Cap. X. It is not known if the leader called Chillan by Rosales was Lobera's Panigualgo.
- ^ Lobera, Crónica, Parte tercera, Capítulo XI
- ^ Lobera, Capítulo XVII
- ^ Marmolejo, Historia..., Capítulo XLV, located just two leagues south of the city. Lobera, Crónica..., Libro segundo, Parte segunda, Capítulo XXIII, calls the place Levocatal.
- ^ Diego Barros Arana, Historia General De Chile, Tomo Segundo, Parte Tercera La Colonia desde 1561 hasta 1610, Capitulo Segundo Sec. 4
- ^ Eugene E. Korth (1968). Spanish Policy in Colonial Chile: the Struggle for Social Justice, 1535-1700. Stanford, California: Stanford university Press, 202-204.
- ^ Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche, Descripcion Histórico Geografía del Reino de Chile, Tomo II, Capítulo LXXV, LXXVI and LXXVII
Sources
- Pedro de Valdivia, Cartas de Pedro de Valdivia (Letters of Pedro Valdivia), Edición digital a partir de Crónicas del Reino de Chile Madrid, Atlas, 1960, pp. 1-74 (on line in Spanish)
- Jerónimo de Vivar, Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile (Chronicle and abundant and true relation of the kingdoms of Chile)ARTEHISTORIA REVISTA DIGITAL; Crónicas de América (on line in Spanish)
- Alonso de Góngora Marmolejo,Historia de Todas las Cosas que han Acaecido en el Reino de Chile y de los que lo han gobernado (1536-1575) (History of All the Things that Have happened in the Kingdom of Chile and of they that have governed it (1536-1575), Edición digital a partir de Crónicas del Reino de Chile, Madrid, Atlas, 1960, pp.75-224, (on line in Spanish)
- Pedro Mariño de Lobera,Crónica del Reino de Chile , escrita por el capitán Pedro Mariño de Lobera....reducido a nuevo método y estilo por el Padre Bartolomé de Escobar. Edición digital a partir de Crónicas del Reino de Chile Madrid, Atlas, 1960, pp. 227-562, (Biblioteca de Autores Españoles ; 569-575). Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (on line in Spanish)
- Cristobal Suarez de Figueroa, HECHOS DE DON GARCÍA HURTADO DE MENDOZA, Imprenta Real, Madrid, 1616. Texto preparado por ENRIQUE SUÁREZ FIGAREDO
- Melchor Jufré del Águila, Compendio historial del Descubrimiento y Conquista del Reino de Chile(Historial compendium of the Discovery and Conquest of the Kingdom of Chile), Alicante : Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2000. Edición digital basada en la edición de Santiago de Chile, Imprenta Cervantes, 1897. (on line in Spanish)
- Alonso González de Nájera, COLECCIÓN DE DOCUMENTOS INÉDITOS PARA LA HISTORIA DE ESPAÑA, TOMO XLVIII: Desengaño y reparo de la guerra del reino de Chile (Disappointment and repairs of the war of the kingdom of Chile), MADRID, IMPRENTA DE LA VIUDA DE CALERO. Calle de Santa Isabel, núm. 26. 1866. Digitized Sep 12, 2007(History of Chile 1425-1655)
- Diego de Rosales, “Historia General del Reino de Chile”, Flandes Indiano, 3 tomos. Valparaíso 1877 - 1878.
- Coleccíon de historiadores de Chile y documentos relativos a la Historia Nacional, Tomo II By Instituto Chileno de Cultura Hispánica, Academia Chilena de la Historia Published 1862 Imprenta del Ferrocarril, Digitized Jul 27, 2006
- Felipe Gomez De Vidaurre, HISTORIA GEOGRÁFICA, NATURAL Y CIVIL DEL REINO DE CHILE, TOMO II,CON UNA INTRODUCCIÓN BIOGRÁFICA Y NOTAS POR J. T. MEDINA, Coleccíon de historiadores de Chile, Tomo XV, SANTIAGO DE CHILE, IMPRENTA ERCILLA, 1889 Google Books, Digitized Aug 4, 2005 (History of Chile 1535-1764)
- Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche, Descripcion Histórico Geografía del Reino de Chile (Description Historical Geography of the Kingdom of Chile), PDF E Libros from Memoria Chilena (History of Chile 1542-1788)
- Jose Perez Garcia,HISTORIA DE CHILE, TOMO I, CON UN PRÓLOGO DE JOSÉ TORIBIO MEDINA; Coleccion de historiadores de Chile y documentos relativos a la historia nacional, Tomo XXII, By Diego Barros Arana, Francisco Solano Astaburuaga, Sociedad Chilena de Historia y Geografía, Instituto Chileno de Cultura Hispánica, Miguel Luis Amunátegui, José Toribio Medina, Academia Chilena de la Historia, Luis Montt, Imprenta del Ferrocarril, SANTIAGO DE CHILE, 1900 Original from Harvard University, Digitized May 21, 2007 (History of Chile 1564-1808)
- Claudio Gay, Historia fisica y politica de Chile segun documentos adquiridos en esta republica durante doce años de residencia en ella y publicada bajo los auspicios del Supremo Gobierno
- Historia fisica y politica de Chile, Tomo II, En casa del autor, Santiago de Chile, 1845 Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Mar 22, 2006. (1564-1638)
- Historia fisica y politica de Chile, Tomo III, En casa del autor, 1847 Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Mar 22, 2006. (1638-1716)
- Historia fisica y politica de Chile, Tomo IV, En casa del autor, 1848 Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Mar 22, 2006. (1749-1808)
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