Historical and descriptive narrative of twenty years' residence in South America (Vol 3 of 3) / Containing travels in Arauco, Chile, Peru, and Colombia; with an account of the revolution, its rise, progress, and results

by active 1803-1825 William Bennet Stevenson

"Dupuy was afterwards tried, by order of the government of Buenos Ayres, for several acts of assassination and cruelty which he had committed, and he defended himself by producing written orders from San Martin for the assassination of Raposo and Conde, as also for the murder of the unfortunate Rodrigues—these orders were very laconic—pasará por San Luis, tiene mi pasaporte, recibale bien, pero que no pase el monte al atro lado de San Luis. Prontitud, y silencio, asi, conviene para el bien de la Patria: will pass through San Luis, he has my passport, receive him politely, but allow him not to pass the wood on the other side of San Luis.—Promptitude and silence, this is necessary for the good of the country. However, Dupuy was exiled to La Rioja, whence he escaped, and followed San Martin to Peru. He also proved, that the order for the execution of the Carreras was a verbal one given by San Martin before he left Mendosa."

With respect to General San Martin, it may be observed, that as his character and actions have been so grossly mis-stated by other writers, it becomes necessary that some traits which have hitherto been withheld should be published, as well for the purpose of historical truth, as for that of dissipating the cloud which envelopes the conduct of several individuals who have lent their assistance to the cause of American liberty. The presence of Monteagudo at Mendoza for the execution of the Carreras, and of his being employed on a similar mission at San Luis, are rather strange coincidences; with the additional circumstance, that he was arrested in the house of an English merchant residing at Santiago, and in the supposed character of a prisoner, was sent by the order of San Martin to San Luis, where he was considered a prisoner until called upon to form the process, and draw up the sentence of death against the Spanish officers, which sentence appears to have decreed his own liberation, for he immediately recrossed the Cordillera, and remained with his patron.

In 1819 the Spaniards under the command of General Sanches evacuated Conception and Talcahuano, crossed the Biobio, and proceeded through the Araucanian territory to Valdivia. Sanches plundered the city of Conception of every valuable which he could take with him; the church plate and ornaments, and even many of the iron windows belonging to the houses; he also persuaded the nuns to leave their cloisters and to follow the fortunes of the army: they did, and were abandoned at Tucapel, and left among the indians.

A native of Chile named Benavides was left by Sanches at the town of Arauco, for the purpose of harassing the patriots at Conception, and several Spaniards of the most licentious characters chose to remain with him. Benavides was a native of the province of Conception, and served some time in the army of his country, but deserted to the royalists: at the battle of Maypu he was taken prisoner, and, among other delinquents, was ordered to be shot, in the dusk of the evening. However, Benavides was not killed, although his face was stained with the gunpowder, and having fallen, he made some motion, which the officer observing, cut him across the neck with his sword, and left him for dead; but even after this he recovered sufficient strength to crawl to a small house, where he was received and cured of his wounds. It is said that after his recovery he held a private conference with San Martin; I have been perfectly satisfied on this head, and I am certain that no such interview ever took place; indeed San Martin is not the man for such actions, nor would it have been prudent for any chief to have risked his existence with a desperado like Benavides. This monster fled from Santiago, joined General Sanches at Conception, and was left by him in the command of the small town of Arauco, where the most atrocious hostilities commenced that have ever disgraced even the war in America.

The attention of the government was employed in fitting out a second naval expedition to the coast of Peru, for the latest advices from Europe confirmed the former, which stated, that a naval force preparing in Cadiz, and composed of the two line of battle ships Alexander and San Telmo, the frigate Prueba, and some smaller vessels, was destined to the Pacific. The Chilean squadron was by no means competent to cope with such a force; besides which, two frigates, the Esmeralda and Vengansa, three brigs of war, and some small craft, as well as armed merchantmen at Callao, being added to what was expected from Spain, the force would have been overwhelming. It was therefore determined, that the squadron should attempt the destruction of the vessels in Callao, by burning them. Mr. Goldsack, who had come to Chile, was employed in making Congreve's rockets, of which an experiment was made at Valparaiso, and which answered the expectations of Lord Cochrane.

Every necessary arrangement being completed, the squadron, consisting of the O'Higgins, San Martin, Lautaro, Independencia, (which arrived on the 23rd May, 1819, having been built in the United States for the government of Chile) the Galvarino, Araucano, the Victoria, and Xeresana, two merchant vessels which were to be converted into fire-ships if necessary, left the port of Valparaiso on the twelfth of September, and having first touched at Coquimbo, arrived in the bay of Callao on the twenty-eighth. Lord Cochrane announced to the Viceroy Pesuela his intention of destroying the shipping in the bay, if possible; but he proposed to him terms on which he would desist; namely, that he would diminish the number of his vessels by sending part of them to leeward, and fight the Spanish force man to man, and gun to gun, if they would leave their anchorage, and this, said he, might be the means of preserving the property of individuals then in the bay. His excellency, however, declined the challenge, observing, that it was of a nature which had never been before heard of. The preparations for throwing rockets among the shipping immediately commenced, and on the night of the first of October several were thrown, but without effect: the firing from the batteries and shipping began at the moment the first rocket was thrown, which appeared as a signal to the enemy. From our anchorage we could distinguish the heated shot that flew through the air like meteors in miniature; however, little injury was sustained on either side: our loss consisted in Lieutenant Bayley of the Galvarino and one seaman. One of the rafts under the direction of Lieutenant-colonel Charles was protected by the Independencia; the second by two mortars under that of Major Miller, now (1824) General Miller, was protected by the Galvarino; and the third under Captain Hinde was defended by the Pueyrredon. By accident Captain Hinde lost his lighted match rope, and sent on board the brig for another, which the soldier dropped on stepping from the boat to the raft; it fell among the rockets, and an explosion took place, but no serious injury was experienced.

In the nights of the second, third, and fourth several more rockets were thrown, without particular success: some damage was done to the enemy's vessels, but on the fourth they were completely unrigged, which was undoubtedly a wise precaution. Several of the rockets exploded almost immediately after they were lighted, others at about half their range, others took a contrary direction to that in which they were projected, and it became evident that some mismanagement had occurred in their construction. On examining them, some were found to contain rags, sand, sawdust, manure, and similar materials, mixed with the composition. Colonel Charles, who had been commissioned to superintend the making of the rockets, was at first incapable of accounting for this insertion, but at length he recollected, that the government of Chile, with a view of saving the wages of hired persons, had employed the Spanish prisoners to fill the rockets, to which mistaken policy the whole squadron might have fallen a sacrifice; for had the vessels which were expected from Spain arrived, the Chilean forces would never have been able to cope with the Spanish, especially when joined by what was in the bay of Callao.

On the fifth a large vessel was observed to windward. It proved to be the Spanish frigate la Prueba, part of the expected squadron: advices which we received from shore informed us, that the Alejandro had returned to Spain, and the general belief was, that the San Telmo had been lost off Cape Horn, which was afterwards proved to be the case.

The fire-ship being ready was sent into the bay under the direction of Lieutenant Morgel; an unceasing cannonade was kept up both from the batteries and the shipping; the wind died away, and such was the state of the fire-ship, that Lieutenant Morgel was obliged to abandon her, and she exploded before she came to a position where she could injure the enemy. Owing to the news which we received the following day, the admiral determined not to send in the second fire-ship, but to proceed to the northward, to procure fresh provisions and water, as well as to obtain news respecting the Spanish frigate. The crew of the San Martin being unhealthy, his lordship ordered her, the Independencia and Araucano to Santa, and the Lautaro and Galvarino to Pisco, to procure spirits and wine, the royal stores being full at this place. A military force being stationed at Pisco, part of the marines were sent from the O'Higgins and Independencia, and the whole were placed under the orders of Colonel Charles. On the 14th of October we anchored in the harbour of Santa, and immediately began to drive the cattle from the farms belonging to the Spaniards down to the beach; but whatsoever was received at any time from the natives was always punctually paid for; this so enraged a Spaniard, Don Benito del Real, that he headed some of his own slaves and dependents, and came from Nepeña to Santa, where he surprised one of our sailors, and took him prisoner; he immediately returned, and reported by an express to the Viceroy Pesuela, that he had secured Lord Cochrane's brother in disguise. This news made its appearance in the Lima Gazette, and nothing could exceed the disappointment of the royalists in Lima, when they discovered that their noble prisoner was only a common sailor.