Justo Pastor Dávila Herrera was a Peruvian colonel who was a primary commander throughout the

Lima campaign The Lima campaign is the third land campaign of the War of the Pacific, carried out by Chile between December 1880 and January 1881. The campaign ended with the Chilean occupation of the Peruvian capital and the establishment of the Chilean aut ...

as well as the Sierra campaign during the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...

as well as the Prefect of

Tarapacá San Lorenzo de Tarapacá, also known simply as Tarapacá, is a town in the region of the same name in Chile. History The town has likely been inhabited since the 12th century, when it formed part of the Inca trail. When Spanish explorer Diego d ...

in 1879.

Biography

Justo was born on August 7, 1829 at

Moquegua Moquegua (, founded by the Spanish colonists as Villa de Santa Catalina de Guadalcázar del Valle de Moquegua) is a city in southern Peru, located in the Department of Moquegua, of which it is the capital. It is also capital of Mariscal Nieto Pr ...

as the son of Don Vicente Fernández Dávila Pomareda and Doña Teresa Herrera Maura. He began military service around 1843 and was promoted to Colonel in 1865. On 1879, he was made the Prefect of Tarapacá before the Peruvian involvement in the

began as

Mariano Ignacio Prado Mariano Ignacio Prado Ochoa (December 18, 1825 – May 5, 1901) was a Peruvian army general who served as the 16th (1865 - 1868) and 21st (1876 - 1879) President of Peru. Biography Born in Huánuco on December 18, 1825, he studied in Huanuco an ...

appointed him as the commander of the Vanguardia Division which was previously commanded by General Manuel G. De la Cotera. This was due to several personnel changes in the command of the divisions during the month of May and after

Belisario Suárez Manuel Belisario Suárez y Vargas (1833–1910) was a Peruvian colonel and politician that was notable for serving in several battles of the War of the Pacific as well as holding several offices within the Congress of the Republic of Peru. Bio ...

was appointed chief of the general staff, replacing Colonel Bustamante, of which Dávila himself supported.

Andrés Avelino Cáceres Andrés Avelino Cáceres Dorregaray (November 10, 1836 – October 10, 1923) served as the President of Peru two times during the 19th century, from 1886 to 1890 as the 27th President of Peru, and again from 1894 to 1895 as the 30th Preside ...

took his position as chief of the second division, to whom he corresponded by seniority. La Cotera grew angry because of this and refused the position of chief of general staff and went to Lima alone with his assistant. He was replaced by Colonel Don Justo Pastor Dávila who was described as a courageous, impetuous and an extremely active chief. Later he was appointed head of the Vanguardia Division, made up of the 6th Puno Battalion and the 8th Lima Battalion, and thus began his participation in the land campaigns of this war. In the general headquarters, the division general Don Juan Buendía appeared as chief, having Colonel Don Juan González as aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel Don

Roque Sáenz Peña Roque José Antonio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Sáenz Peña Lahitte (19 March 1851 – 9 August 1914) was an Argentine politician and lawyer who served as President of Argentina from 12 October 1910 to his death in office on 9 August 1914. ...

, Sergeant, Major Don Emilio Coronado, Captain Don Lorenzo Marolin, 1st Lieutenants Mr. Lorenzo Velásquez and Mr. Luis Darcourt and Mr. Benito Neto as secretary. The Vanguard Division was commanded by Colonel Don Justo P. Dávila, composed of the 6th Puno Battalion and 8th Lima Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonels Don Manuel Isaac Chamorro and Don Remijio Morales Bermúdez. Dávila was also a major critic of other officers as he stated that Generals Villamil and Villegas would be: Dávila would go on to participate at the

Battle of Tarapacá The Battle of Tarapacá occurred on November 27, 1879, during the Tarapacá Campaign of the War of the Pacific. Three Chilean columns of almost 3,900 soldiers attacked a numerically inferior Peruvian contingent of 3,046 troops at Tarapacá - 500 ...

, the

Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos The Battle of San Juan, also known as the Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos, was the first of two battles in the Lima Campaign during the War of the Pacific, and was fought on 13 January 1881. This battle is really a group of smaller, yet fierce ...

and the

Battle of Miraflores The Battle of Miraflores occurred on January 15, 1881 in the Miraflores District of Lima, Peru. It was an important battle during the War of the Pacific that was fought between Chile and the forces of Peru. The Chilean army led by Gen. Manuel ...

before going on to be a primary commander at the Sierra campaign.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dávila, Justo Pastor 1829 births 1901 deaths Peruvian military personnel of the War of the Pacific People from Moquegua Peruvian Army officers