The battle of Quechereguas occurred on 8 April 1814, during the War of Chilean Independence.

Background

The Royalists had taken the key Patriot town of

Talca Talca () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, Chile, Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the ...

in March, 1814, and an army, under the command of Gabino Gaínza, now threatened to advance on the Patriot capital of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

itself.

Bernardo O' Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Alth ...

, the famous Patriot leader, attempted to intervene to prevent this.

The battle

Gabino Gaínza had crossed over the

Maule river The Maule river or Río Maule ( Mapudungun: ''rainy'') is one of the most important rivers of Chile. It is inextricably linked to the country's pre-Hispanic (Inca) times, the country's conquest, colonial period, wars of Independence, modern hist ...

with his forces, advancing northwards. O' Higgins was unable to pursue him during the day, because of the size of the Royalist force. During the night, however, O' Higgins secretly made the crossing, marched rapidly to the north and placed himself at the site of Quechereguas, in between the Royalist force and the road to

. Gabino Gaínza responded by attacking the next day; O' Higgins' men firmly repulsed the attack, forcing the Royalists to fall back on

once more.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quechereguas, Battle Of Conflicts in 1814 Battles involving Chile Battles involving Spain Battles of the Spanish American wars of independence Battles of the Chilean War of Independence Battles of the Patria Vieja Campaign History of Maule Region 1814 in the Captaincy General of Chile 1814 in the Spanish Empire April 1814 events

Background

The battle

See also