"At ten o'clock all was in readiness, the boats being formed in two divisions, the first commanded by Flag-Captain Crosbie and the second by Captain Gruise,—my boat leading. The strictest silence and the exclusive use of cutlasses were enjoined; so that, as the oars were muffled and the night was dark, the enemy had not the least suspicion of the impending attack.
"It was just upon midnight when we neared the small opening left in the boom, our plan being well-nigh frustrated by the vigilance of a guard-boat upon which my launch had unluckily stumbled. The challenge was given, upon which, in an undertone, I threatened the occupants of the boat with instant death if they made the least alarm. No reply was made to the threat, and in a few minutes our gallant fellows were alongside the frigate in line, boarding at several points simultaneously. The Spaniards were completely taken by surprise, the whole, with the exception of the sentries, being asleep at their quarters; and great was the havoc made amongst them by the Chilian cutlasses whilst they were recovering themselves. Retreating to the forecastle, they there made a gallant stand, and it was not until the third charge that the position was carried. The fight was for a short time renewed on the quarterdeck, where the Spanish marines fell to a man, the rest of the enemy leaping overboard and into the hold to escape slaughter.
"On boarding the ship by the main-chains, I was knocked back by the sentry's musket, and falling on the tholl-pin of the boat, it entered my back near the spine, inflicting a severe injury, which caused me many years of subsequent suffering. Immediately regaining my footing, I reascended the side, and, when on deck, was shot through the thigh. But, binding a handkerchief tightly round the wound, I managed, though with great difficulty, to direct the contest to its close.
"The whole affair, from beginning to end, occupied only a quarter of an hour, our loss being eleven killed and thirty wounded, whilst that of the Spaniards was a hundred and sixty, many of whom fell under the cutlasses of the Chilians before they could stand to their arms. Greater bravery I never saw displayed than by our gallant fellows. Before boarding, the duties of all had been appointed, and a party was told off to take possession of the tops. We had not been on deck a minute, when I hailed the foretop, and was instantly answered by our own men, an equally prompt answer being returned from the frigate's main-top. No British man-of-war's crew could have excelled this minute attention to orders.
"The uproar speedily alarmed the garrison, who, hastening to their guns, opened fire on their own frigate, thus paying us the compliment of having taken it; though, even in this case, their own men must still have been on board, so that firing on them was a wanton proceeding. Several Spaniards were killed or wounded by the shot of the fortress. Amongst the wounded was Captain Coig, the commander of the Esmeralda, who, after he was made prisoner, received a severe contusion by a shot from his own party.
"The fire from the fortress was, however, neutralized by a successful expedient. There were two foreign ships of war present during the contest, the United States frigate Macedonian and the British frigate Hyperion ; and these, as had been previously agreed upon with the Spanish authorities in case of a night attack, hoisted peculiar lights as signals, to prevent being fired upon. This contingency being provided for by us, as soon as the fortress commenced its fire on the Esmeralda, we also ran up similar lights, so that the garrison did not know which vessel to fire at. The Hyperion and Macedonian were several times struck, while the Esmeralda was comparatively untouched. Upon this the neutral vessels cut their cables and moved away. Contrary to my orders, Captain Gruise then cut the Esmeralda's cables also, so that there was nothing to be done but to loose her topsails and follow. The fortress thereupon ceased its fire.
"I had distinctly ordered that the cables of the Esmeralda were not to be cut, but that after taking her, the force was to capture the Maypeu, a brig of war previously taken from Chili, and then to attack and cut adrift every ship near, there being plenty of time before us. I had no doubt that, when the Esmeralda was taken, the Spaniards would desert the other ships as fast as their boats would permit them, so that the whole might have been either captured or burnt. To this end all my previous plans had been arranged; but, on my being placed hors de combat by my wounds, Captain Gruise, on whom the command of the prize devolved, chose to interpose his own judgment and content himself with the Esmeralda alone; the reason assigned being that the English had broken into her spirit-room and were getting drunk, whilst the Chilians were disorganized by plundering. It was a great mistake. If we could capture the Esmeralda with her picked and well-appointed crew, there would have been little or no difficulty in cutting the other ships adrift in succession. It would only have been the rout of Valdivia over again, chasing the enemy, without loss, from ship to ship instead of from fort to fort."
Lord Cochrane's exploit, however, though less complete than he had intended, was as successful in its issue as it was brilliant in its achievement. "This loss of the Esmeralda," wrote Captain Basil Hall, then commanding a British war-ship in South American waters, "was a death-blow to the Spanish naval force in that quarter of the world; for, although there were still two Spanish frigates and some smaller vessels in the Pacific, they never afterwards ventured to show themselves, but left Lord Cochrane undisputed master of the coast." The speedy liberation of Peru was its direct consequence, although that good work was seriously impaired by the continued and increasing misconduct of General San Martin, inducing troubles, of which Lord Cochrane received his full share.
In the first burst of his enthusiasm at the intelligence of Lord Cochrane's action, San Martin was generous for once. "The importance of the service you have rendered to the country, my lord," he wrote on the 10th of November, "by the capture of the frigate Esmeralda, and the brilliant manner in which you conducted the gallant officers and seamen under your orders to accomplish that noble enterprise, have augmented the gratitude due to your former services by the Government, as well as that of all interested in the public welfare and in your fame. All those who participated in the risks and glory of the deed also deserve well of their countrymen; and I have the satisfaction to be the medium of transmitting the sentiments of admiration which such transcendent success has excited in the chiefs of the army under my command." "It is impossible for me to eulogize in proper language," he also wrote to the Chilian administration, "the daring enterprise of the 5th of November, by which Lord Cochrane has decided the superiority of our naval forces, augmented the splendour and power of Chili, and secured the success of this campaign."
A few days later, however, San Martin wrote in very different terms. "Before the General-in-Chief left the Vice-Admiral of the squadron," he said, in a bulletin to the army, "they agreed on the execution of a memorable project, sufficient to astonish intrepidity itself, and to make the history of the liberating expedition of Peru eternal." "This glory," he added, "was reserved for the Liberating Army, whose efforts have snatched the victims of tyranny from its hands." Thus impudently did he arrogate to himself a share, at any rate, in the initiation of a project which Lord Cochrane, knowing that he would oppose it, had purposely kept secret from him, and assign the whole merit of its completion to the army which his vacillation and incompetence were holding in unwelcome inactivity.