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The occupation of Lima by the Chilean Army in 1881-1883 was an event in the land campaign phase of the War of the Pacific (1879-1883). Lima was defended by the remnants of the Peruvian army and crowds of civilians in the lines of San Juan and Miraflores. As the invading army advanced, the towns of Chorrillos and Barranco were occupied on January 13 of the same year while the town of Miraflores was captured on the 16 of January, after the Battle of Miraflores; finally the city of Lima was taken and held from January 17, 1881, until October 23, 1883, when Miguel Iglesias regained control of the Peruvian government. Background Chilean troops had decades before the War of the Pacific occupied Lima from January to October 1839. The occupation led by Manuel Bulnes was carried out to stabilize the new regime that had emerged in Peru following the dissolution of the Peru-Bolivia Confederation. In January 1881, Chile controlled the sea along the coasts of Peru, as well as the provinces of Tacna, Arica and Tarapacá. The Chilean troops disembarked in the Peruvian towns of Pisco and Chilca, located to the south of Lima. General Manuel Baquedano was in control of the army of Chile during the Lima campaign. Lima was going to be defended at first by the remaining Peruvian army and by a vast number of civilians in the line of San Juan–Chorrillos. The American engineer Paul Boyton narrated: The troops were of natives who had been recruited in the mountain ranges and forced to fight, hundreds of them never had seen before a city. On the other hand, the strategic line of Miraflores was defended by more troops than civilians. Nevertheless, the Chilean Army saw itself successful in the battles of San Juan, Chorrillos and Miraflores, razing the towns, and allowing for an easy occupation of the Peruvian capital. With little effective Peruvian central government remaining, Chile pursued an ambitious campaign throughout Peru, especially along the coast and in the central highlands, penetrating as far north as Cajamarca, seeking to eliminate any source of resistance against the new occupation authority. Chinese–Chilean cooperation As the war progressed in Chile's advantage, the Chilean Army liberated thousands of Chinese coolies who had agreed to come to work in Peruvian haciendas, escaping from the harsh conditions in their own homeland and seeking a better future in Peru. Liberated Chinese served as helpers with the Chilean army and even formed a regiment under the command of Patricio Lynch, whom the Chinese named the Red Prince since he spoke Cantonese, which he had learned during his campaigns in China as an officer in the British Navy, and the Chinese were prone to trusting a man who could speak to them in their own language and whom they felt a connection with. Many Chinese saw the Chilean army as "liberators", in a very controversial decision by which they are mostly deemed as traitors by many of their own countrymen in Peru; in Pacasmayo 600 to 800 Chinese forced labourers looted the sugar estates and this scene was repeated in the Chicama, Lambayeque and Cañete Valleys. The Chinese also fought alongside the Chileans in the battles of San Juan–Chorrillos and Miraflores, and there was also rioting and looting by non-Chinese workers in the coastal cities. As Heraclio Bonilla has observed; oligarchs soon came to fear the popular clashes more than the Chileans, and this was an important reason why they sued for peace. Due to the Chinese support for Chile throughout the War of the Pacific, relations between Peruvians and Chinese became increasingly tenser in the aftermath. After the war, armed indigenous peasants sacked and occupied haciendas of landed elite criollo "collaborationists" in the central Sierra – majority of them were of ethnic Chinese, while indigenous and mestizo Peruvians murdered Chinese shopkeepers in Lima; in response to Chinese coolies revolted and even joined the Chilean Army. Even in the 20th century, memory of Chinese support for Chile was so deep that Manuel A. Odría, once dictator of Peru, issued a ban against Chinese immigration as a punishment for their betrayal. Armistice of San Juan On January 14, the Chilean minister of war in campaign José Francisco Vergara sent his secretary Isidoro Errázuriz in the company of Colonel Miguel Iglesias, who had been captured by Baquedano, to talk with Piérola to avoid more bloodshed. For the armistice, the ships of Callao and the disarmament of the forts were requested. Piérola replied that he would only negotiate with duly authorized ministers. After that answer, Baquedano ordered to prepare the continuation of the battle for the 15th. However, Vergara's attempt was closely followed by the diplomatic corps of Lima, whose dean by seniority was the consul of Argentina and Bolivia, Jorge Tezanos-Pinto y Sánchez de Bustamante (1821-1897). The diplomats first spoke with the Peruvian representatives and then requested an appointment with Baquedano, who agreed for a meeting the following day. Negotiations were unsuccessful, as Peruvian troops opened fire on Chilean troops after misunderstanding their advance for a troop reconnaissance between both parties as an attack, resuming the fighting. Preparations for the occupation Scuttling of the Peruvian fleet in El Callao After the battles of Chorrillos and Miraflores, the Secretary of the Navy, Captain Manuel Villar Olivera, ordered the destruction of the coastal batteries and the ships of the Peruvian squad. The prefect and commander of the batteries Luis Germán Astete and the captain Manuel Villavicencio were in charge of this task. The Peruvian ships, among them, the corvette Unión and the monitor Atahualpa, were beached, set on fire and sunk by the Peruvians themselves to prevent them from falling into Chilean hands. Chilean Rear Admiral Galvarino Riveros Cárdenas noted in a long testimony: [...] at 4 a.m. it was noticed in that port that a fire was declared in all the enemy ships sheltered in the dock and moments later, a series of explosions began to be felt that lasted all day and part of the next, produced by the fire of the powder magazines of the forts the charges of gunpowder and dynamite with which the enemy tried to explode their cannons. [...] Foreign intervention Prior to the occupation of Lima there were fires and sackings by inebriated Chilean soldiers in the towns of Chorrillos, Barranco and Miraflores, and even killings among themselves; as quoted by both Peruvian historians like Jorge Basadre and Chilean historians like Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna. Reports of Chilean destruction and looting resulted in a meeting on between the neutral powers, who, concerned about the protection of neutral individuals, signed a resolution called the Memorandum of Tallenay, concluding that such events would not be allowed in Lima proper. Had the Chilean army destroyed and looted the city as it had done in Barranco, Chorrillos and Miraflores, the observing powers would have used.... Discover the Gonzalo Rivero Torrico popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Gonzalo Rivero Torrico books.