Battle of Rancagua
Battle of Rancagua.
| date | October 1. bis 2. October 1814 |
|---|---|
| place | Rancagua about 80 km south of Santiago de Chile , Chile |
| output | Victory of the Spanish royalists |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
South American freedom fighters |
Spanish royalists |
| Commander | |
|
General Mariano Osorio |
|
| Troop strength | |
| 1,750 | 5,000 |
| losses | |
|
600 killed, 400 wounded, 350 captured |
|
Rancagua - Chacabuco - Chalchuapa - Cancha Rayada - Maipú
Battle of Rancagua is the first major battle of the Chilean independence from Spain from 1. October bis 2. October 1814 .
In 1814, under the leadership of General Mariano Osorio, the Spaniards gathered around 5,000 soldiers, mainly from Peru and the island of Chiloé . Spanish troops then went ashore near Valdivia and took to the field against the Chileans.
Bernardo O'Higgins and José Miguel Carrera were actually expecting the Spaniards at Paine . Carrera had taken a defensive position there. O'Higgins wanted to enter Rancagua beforehand , so the Chilean troops were divided into two parts. This turned out to be the wrong decision and Bernardo O'Higgins was surrounded by the Spanish at Rancagua.
O'Higgins' troops were crushed; Carrera could no longer intervene. O'Higgins and Carrera escaped the Spanish troops and were able to flee to Argentina . The Spanish reconquest of Chile, the so-called Reconquista , lasted until the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817 .
In the Battle of Rancagua, some of the later presidents of Chile were captured and exiled to the Juan Fernández Islands in the Pacific, including Juan Egaña Risco and Manuel Blanco Encalada .