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 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 ...

had been positioned along the rata

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 o ...

with a small division of patriot troops, whilst

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. Althou ...

had remained with the main body of the army in Concepción. After

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 ...

fell to Royalist forces, however, Mackenna realised his lines of communication with O'Higgins were now cut and that he was isolated. Mackenna, the colonel of engineers on the patriot General Staff, formed a solid defensive position, building three mutually supporting

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s on local hills on the north bank of the north side of the

near Membrillar. The Royalist commander,

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 ...

, had sent a vanguard of 400 men into the hills of Quilo, south of the

, to prevent the two patriot commanders from reuniting. This force had been defeated in the

Battle of El Quilo The Battle of El Quilo, fought during the Chilean War of Independence, occurred at el Quilo, on the southern side of the Itata river, on 19 March 1814. Background By January 1814, Royalist forces had received reinforcements from the Viceroy ...

on the 19 March, forcing Gaínza to attempt a different plan. Gaínza instead decided to attack Mackenna's forces immediately, before then turning on O'Higgins.

Chillán Chillán () is the capital List of cities in Chile, city of the Ñuble Region in the Diguillín Province of Chile located about south of the country's capital, Santiago, near the geographical center of the country. It is the capital of the new � ...

sent additional reinforcements, and Gaínza then crossed the

Itata ''Itata'' is a genus of spiders in the jumping spider family, Salticidae. Name The genus name is derived from the Itata River in southern Chile. Species * '' Itata completa'' (Banks, 1929) – Panama * '' Itata isabellina'' ( Taczanowski, 1878) ...

to attack.

The battle

The battle began on 20 March in chaos. A misinterpreted order resulted in confused skirmishes breaking out between the forward units of both armies. The Royalist forces made a disorganised assault on the Patriot trenches surrounding the field by the village of Membrillar; this attack was repelled and immediately the Royalist officer Manuel Barañao led a second attack, this time on the central positions held by Mackenna. Mackenna's forces held and he sent a counter-attack against the Royalists, comprising units led by Santiago Bueras, Hilario Vidal, Agustín Almanza and Balcarce Marks, driving Barañao's forces back. The Royalists continued their waves of attacks for several hours, but all were repulsed. When night fell, the driving rain and the dark encouraged the Royalists to retreat from the field.

Aftermath

In the morning, Mackenna did not realise how much damage he had inflicted on the Royalists and instead focused on repairing the damage to his

fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, expecting another attack. As a result,

was able to regroup and reorganise his forces.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Membrillar, 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 1814 in the Captaincy General of Chile March 1814 events

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 ...

es:Combate de Memebrillar