The Spanish force stationed at Valdivia consisted of part of the regiment of Cantabria, part of the Casadores dragoons, artillery, pioneers, marines, infantry of Conception, artillery of ditto, battalion of Valdivia, dragoons of the frontier, and lancers of the Laxa; these were the remains of the Spanish army which left Conception, under the command of General Sanches, in 1819, besides the regular garrison of the port, amounting in all to about one thousand six hundred, while the expedition under Lord Cochrane amounted only to three hundred and eighteen.
The government of Chile ordered a medal to be struck in commemoration of this important victory, and it was distributed to the officers. His lordship expected some remuneration for his men as prize-money, but the government could not understand how prize-money could be due to a naval expedition for services done on shore. The Dolores had been laden with warlike stores at Valdivia; the admiral requested that the value of these might be decreed to the captors, but the answer to this request was an order for the stores to be disembarked in the arsenal at Valparaiso, and the following paragraph from the pen of the hireling Monteagudo made its appearance in the Censor de la Revolucion, which was conducted by this patriotic scribbler:—
"We are informed that Admiral Lord Cochrane is determined not to allow the debarkation of the warlike stores brought from Valdivia in the ship Dolores, on the plea of their being a prize to the squadron which has restored that province from the hands of the enemy to Chile. We cannot persuade ourselves that his lordship does not acknowledge, that all the stores existing at Valdivia at the time of its restoration belong to the state of Chile in the same manner as those in the provinces actually forming the state, without any other difference than that these were restored to the free exercise of their liberty before that was. Even if Valdivia did not belong to Chile, we do not make war on every section of America, but on the Spaniards who hold a domination over it: these are the principles which have always regulated the conduct of our armies; and nothing save the exclusive property of the Spaniards has been subjected to the rights of war. It would also be a pernicious precedent to future operation if whatever was found in a conquered territory should belong exclusively to the victors. We are persuaded that some misunderstanding has taken place respecting these warlike stores brought by the Dolores: Admiral Cochrane is well acquainted with public rights, and the high opinion which we entertain of his honourable character obliges us to doubt that which we are not inclined to believe."
Lord Cochrane afterwards asked Monteagudo if he believed what he had published was just or according to law; no, said he, certainly not, but I was ordered to write and to publish what appeared in the Censor. His lordship being convinced that the government was determined not to reward the services of the squadron, assured them, that this would certainly be the last service of the kind which they would receive from it: he also warned them against expecting that men would risk their lives, after undergoing the greatest privations, without any remuneration: he told them, moreover, that as he considered the proceedings on the part of the government as most unjust, he should never request of his officers or men any sacrifice, except when the means of rewarding them were in his own hands. The government wishing to conciliate the Admiral, made him a present of a large estate in the province of Conception; but his lordship immediately returned the document, stating, that it was the services of the men which ought to be rewarded, that his own were amply repaid by the glory of the achievement. All his pleadings, however, were in vain, and no reward was ever given to them by the government for the capture of this most important fortress; nay more, it was questioned whether Lord Cochrane ought not to be tried by a court-martial for having fought and conquered an enemy without the sanction of the government! a fair proof of what would have been the consequence had not the result been favourable to his lordship.
A series of plots now began to take place one after another, which seemed to threaten even the stability of the government: the regiment number one, stationed at Mendosa, revolted, Benavides entered Conception, and committed several most daring outrages; and a conspiracy was said to have been formed in the capital against the government by the Carrera party, and the supreme director was so thwarted by the senate, that he could not act with that promptitude and decision which circumstances required: the greatest possible evils, publicity and procrastination, where secresy and despatch were necessary, counteracted in the most essential points the wishes of the supremacy. The persons who were accused of being conspirators were apprehended, among whom were included the last remains of the Carrera family, and other individuals who were obnoxious to O'Higgins: these were all embarked on board the brig of war, Pueyrredon, and sent down to the coast of Choco, where it was expected that they would shortly die, and where in fact the uncle of the Carreras did die; but, contrary to the expectation and even the request of the Chilean government, that of Colombia received them as friends, and some of the exiles being officers, Bolivar incorporated them in his army, with a promotion; for which act of justice he never had any reason to complain. The fluctuations in the designs of the government are well portrayed in the following letter from Lord Cochrane to the supreme director:
"Most Ext. Sir—Being at present indisposed with a palpitation of my heart, which at times afflicts me most severely, and which would be increased with a journey to Santiago, were I to undertake it according to the request of the government, I feel myself obliged to solicit an excuse; persuaded as I am, that the following exposition, which contains all that is necessary to remind you to reflect on what is past, and to anticipate what is to come, will be sufficient. I also hope that my exposition will be ascribed to the sincere desire that I have of serving your excellency, to whose interests I am most sincerely attached, as being the august representative of the sacred cause of your country's welfare.
"Touching on what is past, you will do me the honour to recollect, that I recommended to you the indispensable necessity of removing among the seamen all kinds of distrust with respect to their pay and prize-money: the first of which they have not yet received, and of the second they have been totally defrauded; your excellency promised me that they should be regularly paid, and that whatever prizes were taken should be entirely appropriated to these two objects; the moiety belonging to the captors should be immediately distributed, and the other, appertaining to government, should be applied to the payment of arrears, and equipment of the vessels of war. I am well aware of the lowness of your funds; but having, according to your promise made to me, informed the crews of the different vessels what would be the course pursued, the men expect a fulfilment of the promise made, and will consider me to be the author of the deception if they discover that what has been promised to them is applied to other purposes. Your excellency will allow me to assure you, that if I had not supported the promise made to the seamen, the real squadron would not have now existed, and that if the promises are not fulfilled, the squadron will now cease to exist.
"Nothing is more difficult than to manage a mass of such heterogeneous materials, as that of which the squadron is composed—men of different nations, manners, and religions—men whose suspicions are easily alarmed, and whose interests cannot be contradicted with impunity; they may be reconciled if duly attended to, and incorporated with those of the state: but if this is not done, they will become opposed to its welfare.
"The experience which I acquired during the first cruize, convinced me most completely, that in addition to the punctual payment of the crews, it was necessary for their health and comfort, as well as for the cleanliness of the vessels, which contributes so much to these objects, that proper clothing and beds should be provided. With respect to the means for procuring these articles themselves, the poverty of some, and the relaxed habits of others, are obstacles, besides which the temptations met with at Valparaiso, generally deprive them of the power before they leave the port. For the acquirement of this desirable object, I made several applications to the different departments of the government, requesting that such articles might be purchased and distributed to the crews, according to the practice observed in all naval countries. The treasury not being able to pay the value of the articles, this was done with part of the prize-money taken during the cruize; at the same time that the money so employed ought to have been applied to the payment of the captors of the Montezuma; and although frequent applications have been made, this, like the debts of the crews of the squadron, has never yet been attended to; but, on the contrary, such sums as were destined, according to the promise of your excellency, to the sole purpose of liquidating such debts, have been applied to other purposes, while part of the seamen who have fulfilled their contract, are wandering about the streets in a state of despair; others, naked and clamorous, remain on board; the invalids are begging alms, and all are cursing the authors of their misfortunes. The result of this conduct on the part of the government is, even at present, that not only the seamen and soldiers, but even some of the officers, avail themselves of every opportunity to dispose of prize goods, as well as of the naval stores belonging to the vessels of the squadron; and when they are discovered, the infliction of punishment is prevented by their alleging that they neither receive pay nor prize-money, and that they despair of ever receiving either.
"On my return from the first cruize, your excellency will also be pleased to recollect, that I reported the necessity of marking each barrel, or package of provisions, with the weight or quality which it contained; making the purveyor responsible both for the quantity and quality of the contents, in order to prevent all kinds of fraud; because, from the purser's reports, I should then have been able to know for what period the squadron was victualled. I was compelled to make this request, because I found that the purveyor had reported at the commissariate that he had delivered twenty-one quintals of beef to the Independencia, when in fact only eleven had been received. Thus the state was charged with the value of ten quintals which had not been delivered, for the purpose of filling the purse of an impostor, whose nefarious conduct might have frustrated the object of our expedition, or even have involved part of the squadron in inevitable ruin. For the purpose of counteracting such iniquitous proceedings, no order has, as yet, been issued, nor am I authorised to correct such as punishable crimes.