The Battle of El Quilo, fought during the Chilean War of Independence, occurred at el Quilo, on the southern side of the

Itata river The Itata River flows in the Ñuble Region, southern Chile. Until the Conquest of Chile, the Itata was the natural limit between the Mapuche, located to the south, and Picunche, to the north. See also * Itata *List of rivers in Chile This list ...

, on 19 March 1814.

Background

By January 1814, Royalist forces had received reinforcements from the

Viceroy of Peru The viceroys of Peru ruled the Viceroyalty of Peru from 1544 to 1824 in the name of the monarch of Spain. The territories under ''de jure'' rule by the viceroys included in the 16th and 17th century almost all of South America except eastern Braz ...

and had taken the Patriot stronghold of

Talca Talca () is a city and commune in Chile located about south of Santiago, and is the capital of both Talca Province and Maule Region (7th Region of Chile). As of the 2012 census, the city had a population of 201,142. The city is an importan ...

in March. This had split the line of communication between the two main Patriot armies, led by

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 ...

and

Juan Mackenna Brigadier Juan Mackenna (26 October 1771 – 21 November 1814) was an Irish-born, Chilean military officer and hero of the Chilean War of Independence. He is considered to have been the creator of the Corps of Military Engineers of the Chilean ...

respectively.

Gabino Gaínza Gabino or Gavino Gaínza y Fernández de Medrano (October 20, 1753 or 1760, depending on the source, Guipúzcoa, País Vasco, Spain – c. 1829, Mexico City) was a Spanish military officer and politician in Spain's American colonies. During t ...

, the Royalist commander, sent Manuel Barañao with a vanguard of troops, some 400 strong, across the

to prevent O'Higgins from reuniting his army with Mackenna's, resulting in the battle of el Quilo.

The battle

Barañao's force comprised around 400 men and had been placed in defensive positions on the south side of the

, supported by the main body of Gaínza's men on the other side. O' Higgins instead immediately launched an attack without pausing to assess the situation, relying on his larger force and aggression. Barañao's men did not receive reinforcements from Gaínza during the battle and were forced to retreat from their positions.

Aftermath

Concerned that if he pursued Barañao, the royalist commanders would recombine their forces and defeat him, O'Higgins instead entrenched his existing position and stayed on his bank of the river. In turn, the Royalist forces turned north across the river against the forces of Mackenna, leading to the

battle of Membrillar The battle of Membrillar occurred on 20 March 1814, during the War of Chilean Independence. Background Prior to the fall of Talca in early March, Juan Mackenna had been positioned along the rata Itata river with a small division of patriot ...

a few days later. {{DEFAULTSORT:El Quilo, Battle of Conflicts in 1814 Battles involving Chile Battles of the Spanish American wars of independence Battles of the Chilean War of Independence Battles of the Patria Vieja Campaign Battle of El Quilo Battle of El Quilo Battle of El Quilo