f U.S. Naval Institute_ (1894) (for La
Placilla); and the military and naval periodicals of 1892.

CHILE-PERUVIAN WAR (1879-1882). The proximate cause of this war was the
seizure, by the authorities of Bolivia, of the effects of the Chilean
Nitrate Company at Antofagasta, then part of the Bolivian province of
Atacama. The first act of hostility was the despatch of 500 soldiers to
protect Chilean interests at Antofagasta. This force, under Colonel
Sotomayor, landed and marched inland; the only resistance encountered
was at Calama on the river Loa, where a handful of newly raised militia
was routed (23rd March 1879). About the same time Chilean warships
occupied Cobija and Tocapilla, and Sotomayor, after his victory at
Calama, marched to the latter port. Bolivia had declared war on the 1st
of March, but Peru not till the 5th of April: this delay gave the
Chileans time to occupy every port on the Bolivian coast. Thus the
Chilean admiral was able to proceed at once to the blockade of the
southern ports of Peru, and in particular Iquique, where there took
place the first naval action of the war. On the 21st of April the
Chilean sloop "Esmeralda" and the gunboat "Covadonga"--both small and
weak ships--engaged the Peruvian heavy ironclads "Huascar" and
"Independencia"; after a hot fight the "Huascar" under Miguel Grau sank
the "Esmeralda" under Arturo Piat, who was killed, but Carlos Condell in
the "Covadonga" manoeuvred the "Independencia" aground and shelled her
into a complete wreck. The Chileans now gave up the blockade and
concentrated all their efforts on the destruction of the "Huascar,"
while the allies organized a field army in the neighbourhood of Tacna
and a large Chilean force assembled at Antofagasta.

On the 8th of October 1879 the "Huascar" was brought to action off
Angamos by the "Blanco Encalada," and the "Almirante Cochrane." Grau was
outmatched as hopelessly and made as brave a fight as Prat at Iquique.
Early in the action a shot destroyed the Peruvian's conning tower,
killing Grau and his staff, and another entered her turret, killing the
flag captain and nearly all the crew of the turret guns. When the
"Huascar" finally surrendered she had but one gun left in action, her
fourth commander and three-quarters of her crew were killed and wounded,
and the steering-gear had been shot away. The Peruvian navy had now
ceased to exist. The Chileans resumed the blockade, and more active
operations were soon