Bombardment of Valparaíso

After the humiliating defeat at the Battle of Papudo and the indecisive Battle of Abtao, Rear Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez was ordered to take punitive action against South American ports. When the Chilean government ordered that vessels supplying or communicating with the Spanish fleet should not be allowed to enter Chilean ports, Méndez Núñez's first target became the most important and undefended Chilean city of Valparaíso.{{cite news |title=BOMBARDMENT OF VALPARAISO.; OFFICIAL REPORT BY ADMIRAL CASTO MEMDEZ NUNEZ. Curious Statement Regarding the Course of Gen. Kilpatrick and Commodore Rogers |date=10 May 1866 |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1866/05/10/archives/bombardment-of-valparaiso-official-report-by-admiral-casto-memdez.html |access-date=2 January 2010}}

Efforts to mediate were initially steered by European diplomats whose countrymen were most affected by the initial blockade of Chilean ports and by the threat of bombardment. High-level contacts took place intensively in late 1865 and early 1866 between London, Paris, and Madrid. A formula to resolve the conflict appeared, at one stage, to have been secured. In the final two weeks, the United States was especially active. The American minister to Chile, General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick and the U.S. naval commander John Rodgers, who was at port commanding a United States Navy squadron composed of the ironclad monitor {{USS|Monadnock|1863|6}} and the warships {{USS|Powhatan|1850|2}}, {{USS|Tuscarora|1861|2}}, and {{USS|Vanderbilt|1862|2}}, attempted a last-minute settlement with the Spanish admiral. To that effect they enlisted the cooperation of the commander of the British Pacific Station, Rear Admiral Joseph Denman, who had under his command two warships: {{HMS|Sutlej|1855|6}} and {{HMS|Leander|1848|6}}. The British commander, despite coming under great pressure from British merchants in the city, after consulting with the chief British diplomat in Chile William Taylour Thomson, decided to enforce strict neutrality, refusing to let his ships cooperate. Thomson himself was more concerned with the well-being of Spanish civilians in Chile than with the concerns of the British merchants in Chile and did not want the Royal Navy to do anything to provoke the Spanish.

{{cite book

|last=Woods

|first=David J.

|date=2011

|title=The Bombardment of Paradise

|location=France

|publisher=WTA Publishing

|page=

|isbn=28 3990 800X

}}

Ultimately, all the attempts at mediation failed, as the chief condition of Admiral Méndez Núñez was the proper salute to the Spanish flag, the return by the Chileans of the captured schooner Covadonga and the immediate payment of a crippling indemnity. The talks broke over the matter of the flag salute.{{cite news |title=CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA; The War Between Spain and Chili. Bombardment of Valparaíso by the Spanish Fleet. Remarkable Manifesto Issued by the Spanish Admiral. Failure of Gen. Kilpatrick's Attempt at Mediation. The Spanish Admiral Inflexible on a Point of Etiquette. Details and Incidents of the Bombardment. Over Eight Million Dollars Worth of Property Destroyed, The Principal Losses Sustained by Foreigners. THE CHILIAN WAR. Details of the Bombardment of Valparaise by the Spanish Fleet. PERU. PANAMA. The Uncle Sam in Possession of the Spanish Fleet--Miscellaneous. CENTRAL AMERICA. A Fillibuster Expedition |date=2 May 1866 |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1866/05/02/archives/central-and-south-america-the-war-between-spain-and-chili.html |access-date=2 January 2010}} When General Kilpatrick threatened to defend the port with the US squadron and attack the Spanish fleet, Admiral Méndez Núñez famously responded with, "I will be forced to sink [the US ships], because even if I have one ship left I will proceed with the bombardment. Spain, the Queen and I prefer honor without ships than ships without honor." Consequently the Spanish Admiral, notwithstanding the protest of the diplomatic corps, gave notice on March 27 to all neutrals to evacuate the city.

At 7 am on March 31, the Spanish fleet took positions in front of their targets. It consisted of Numancia, Resolución, {{ship|Spanish frigate|Villa de Madrid||2}}, {{ship|Spanish frigate|Reina Blanca||2}}, Vencedora, and {{ship||Paquete de Maule||2}}. The frigate {{ship|Spanish frigate|Berenguela||2}} remained behind to guard against the possible escape of the merchant fleet. At 8.10 AM, the Numancia discharged two shots as final notice and to give opportunity for the people still in town to take cover. The bombardment itself started at 9 am and lasted for three hours without fire being returned, as Valparaíso was totally defenseless.

The Spanish bombarded the town unhindered.{{cite news |title=VALPARAISO.; Official Report to the Chillan Government on tire Bombardment by the Spanish Fleet |date=16 May 1866 |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1866/05/16/archives/valparaiso-official-report-to-the-chillan-government-on-tire.html |access-date=2 January 2010}} The loss in public and private property was estimated at $1,000,000, and in merchandise at $9,000,000, huge sums at the time.{{cite news |title=SOUTH AMERICA.; From the Seat of War--Great Preparations and "Great Expectations"--The Grand Movement of the Allied Fleet Again Delayed -- Paraguayan Spies and their Stories--The War Beginning to Affect the Finances of the Argentine Confederation. THE BOMBARDMENT OF VALPARAISO Letter from an Americal Naval Officer |date=6 May 1866 |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1866/05/05/archives/south-america-from-the-seat-of-wargreat-preparations-and-great.html |access-date=2 January 2010 | first=Our | last=Own}} A 2011 account suggests that in that year's money the losses amounted to the equivalent of around $224,000,000.{{cite book|last=Woods|first=David|title=The Bombardment of Paradise|year=2011|publisher=WTA Publishing|location=Geneva|isbn=978-2-8399-0800-9|pages=268}}

The action created an international scandal. While the Spanish were heavily criticized for attacking an unarmed city, so too was the British government for not employing its own naval force to protect the lives and property of its own nationals. Most of the losses were actually endured by British merchants, and a large argument developed in the British Parliament when news arrived in May 1866."Indeed, the bombardment of Valparaiso might even be described as a Spanish victory over Britain". Mayo, John: British Merchants and Chilean Development, 1851-1886. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987, {{ISBN|081337278X}}, p. 83.

File:Whistler James Nocturne in Blue and Gold Valparaiso Bay 1866.jpg

James McNeill Whistler, who was on board the American ships, painted his famous "Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaíso Bay" the night before the bombardment. It shows the Chilean merchant fleet at its moorings where it would be destroyed the next morning.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Barros Arana |first=Diego |author-link=Diego Barros Arana |title=Historia Jeneral de Chile |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSsOAAAAQAAJ |volume=I-XVI |year=1884–1902 |publisher=Rafael Jover |location=Santiago, Chile |language=es }}
• {{Cite web |url=http://www.revistamarina.cl/revistas/1997/1/garcia.pdf |title=La Campaña del Pacífico (1862-1866) |access-date=1 January 2010 |last=García Martínez |first=José Ramón |year=1997 |work=Revista de Marina |language=es |archive-date=17 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617061936/http://www.revistamarina.cl/revistas/1997/1/garcia.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Colin |title=Warship 2011 |date=2011 |publisher=Conway |location=London |isbn=978-1-84486-133-0 |pages=94–101|chapter=Battle at Valparaíso|editor-last1=Jordan|editor-first1=John}}
• {{Cite web |url=http://historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?action=toc&bid=16 |title=Chile: A Brief Naval History |access-date= 1 January 2010 |last=López Urrutia |first=Carlos |work=Historical Text Archive }}
• {{Cite web|url=http://members.lycos.co.uk/Juan39/THE_WAR_WITH_SPAIN.html|title=The War with Spain of 1865–1866|access-date=2 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231064328/http://members.lycos.co.uk/Juan39/THE_WAR_WITH_SPAIN.html|archive-date=2007-12-31|url-status=dead}}
• {{Cite web |url=http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfHistorica/GuerraPacificoEspaniaChPeru/Pacifico1base.htm |title=Guerra del Pacífico - 1864–1865 Conflicto de España contra Chile y Perú |access-date= 2 January 2010 |work=Historia y Arqueologia Marítima |language=es }}
• {{Cite web|url=http://www.historiadigital.es/art1_1.htm |title=España y la Guerra del Pacífico |access-date=2 January 2010 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211095411/http://historiadigital.es/art1_1.htm |archive-date=2009-12-11 |url-status=dead }}
• {{Cite web|url=http://www.soberaniachile.cl/norte2c.html |title=Liberation of the Chinchas |access-date=2 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312050911/http://www.soberaniachile.cl/norte2c.html |archive-date=March 12, 2008 |url-status=dead }}

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Category:History of South America

Category:Naval battles involving Spain

Category:Battles involving Chile

Category:Battles of the Chincha Islands War

Category:Conflicts in 1866

Category:1866 in Chile

Category:History of Valparaíso Region

Category:March 1866