Chili thereupon demanded the reasons for her preparations, as indeed she was fully entitled to do, and required that they should cease. Then, receiving no satisfactory reply, she announced her knowledge of a secret treaty, dated the 6th of February 1873, between Bolivia and Peru, and at once declared war against the latter as well as the former.
Immediately following this, Chili increased her navy by repurchasing the corvette Abtao—a sister ship to the famous Alabama of American Civil War times—built in 1864, of 1050 tons displacement, 300 horse-power, and with a nominal sea-speed of 6 knots. This ship was armed with three 150-pounder muzzle-loading guns and three 30-pounder muzzle-loaders; and she played almost as important a part in the war between Chili and Peru as did the Alabama in the American Civil War.
Chili also bought from the Pacific Steam Navigation Company the screw steamer Amazonas, for use as a transport; and by chartering the Rimac, Itata, Lamar, Loa, and Limari from the Chilian Steam Navigation Company, and the Mathias Cousino and other steamers from the Cousino estate, she strengthened the effectiveness of her fleet to a very great extent. All the upper spars of these craft were sent ashore, and their lower yards, where they were retained to serve as derricks, were cock-billed. The head-booms were unrigged, and all but the standing bowsprits of the wooden vessels were landed.
The senior Peruvian naval officer afloat was at this time Captain Don Miguel Grau, a native of Piura, and a man of about forty-five years of age. He is spoken of as “an officer of the highest capacity and bravery, remarkably quiet and unassuming, and an excellent seaman. His people worshipped him, and all who knew him honoured him.” In 1868 he had been given command of the Huascar, an ironclad monitor of 1130 tons displacement, 1200 horse-power, and with a nominal sea-speed of 11 knots. She was armed with two 10-inch 21-ton muzzle-loading guns (both in the same turret), two 40-pounder muzzle-loaders, one 12-pounder muzzle-loader, and one Gatling gun. This ship distinguished herself more than any other of the Peruvian fleet; and in her subsequent bloody battle with the Chilian warships, Blanco Encalada and Almirante Cochrane, in which her gallant commander lost his life, she behaved herself with such gallantry that her name will go down to history as one of the epoch-making ships of the world.
From 1873 to 1879 Admiral Grau was a member of the Peruvian Congress for Paita, but on the outbreak of the war he successfully applied to be reinstated in his former command of the Huascar. By him the Peruvian squadron was arranged as follows: The first division, under Admiral Grau himself, consisted of the Huascar; Independencia, armoured frigate; and the Oroya, a paddle-transport of 1597 tons. The second division was placed under the orders of Captain Carillo, and consisted of the monitors Manco Capac and Atahualpa, bought from the United States, each of 2100 tons; and the Chalaco, a transport of 1000 tons displacement. The third division, under Captain Garcia y Garcia, comprised the Union, a wooden corvette of 1150 tons, and a very famous ship; the Pilcomayo, gunboat; and the Limena, a paddle-transport.
Such was the Peruvian navy at the commencement of the war; and the whole fleet, in three divisions, as above, was under the command of Admiral Grau.
The port of Antofagasta having been occupied by Chilian troops, the squadron under Admiral Williams left the place and commenced a patrol of the coast, with a view to enforcing a blockade. On the 5th of April the fleet appeared off Iquique, in Peru, and the admiral announced that a blockade of that port would begin on the 15th of April following, thus allowing ten days for the Chilian inhabitants of the place to leave and carry with them all their belongings.
Up to this time no naval action had been fought at sea; and it was, even yet, a moot point whether Peru would not “climb down,” and back out of her alliance with Bolivia. But, all unknown to the Chilians, the Peruvian warships Union and Pilcomayo were cruising up and down the coast for the purpose of snapping up any small Chilian craft that they might happen to sight, and to do as much damage to the Chilians as they possibly could.
Now, it happened that, shortly after the Chilian squadron had invested Antofagasta, the small corvette Magellanes arrived at Valparaiso, having returned from police duty in Tierra del Fuego. She was thereupon immediately ordered by the Chilian authorities to proceed northward and join Admiral Williams’s fleet. But on her way, while off the mouth of the river Loa, she fell in with the Peruvian ships Union and Pilcomayo, with which she fought a running action for over two hours, when, owing to her superior speed, she effected her escape. The carnage on both sides was terrible, and the Union, although much the larger ship, was so seriously damaged that she was obliged to return to Callao, the principal seaport of Peru, in order to be drydocked and repaired. The Magellanes then fell in with the main Chilian squadron, off Iquique, and made her report of the occurrence.
It was at first intended that Iquique should merely be bombarded; but to render the attendant conditions as stringent as possible, Admiral Williams strictly forbade the condensation of fresh water on shore, a prohibition that would naturally cause very great inconvenience to the inhabitants, since fresh water, either from springs, wells, or streams, was almost unobtainable in the town. On several occasions, however, smoke was observed to be rising from the spot where the condensing apparatus was located, indicating an apparent disposition on the part of the inhabitants to disregard the prohibition; and this so incensed the Chilian admiral that he determined to send Douglas on shore with a message to the effect that if the offence were persisted in, he would be compelled to bombard.