The Battle of Tarpellanca (September 26, 1820) took place between the forces of nascent

Chilean Army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and ...

and Spanish royalist guerrillas, in the context of the ''Total War'' campaign, during the later stages of the Chilean War of Independence.

Background

After their victory at the Battle of Pangal, the Loyalist forces, composed of approximately 2,400 guerrilla and

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

Allies under the command of

Vicente Benavides Vicente Benavides Llanos (Quirihue, 1777 – Santiago, Chile, February 23, 1822) was a Chilean soldier who fought in the Chilean War of Independence. He is best known for leading Royalists guerrillas in La Frontera during the last years of t ...

, decided to attack and destroy the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. This city was defended by around 400 line soldiers under the command of Marshal Pedro Andrés del Alcázar, and had already survived four attempts by the same enemy. At this juncture, Marshal del Alcázar received forged orders from General

Ramón Freire Ramón Freire Serrano (; November 29, 1787 – December 9, 1851) was a Chilean political figure. He was head of state on several occasions, and enjoyed a numerous following until the War of the Confederation. Ramón Freire was one of the pr ...

to evacuate the city and move his forces to reinforce

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 � ...

and meet with the main Army that was operating out of Concepción. Marshal del Alcázar, ignorant of the defeat suffered by the Patriot army at

Pangal The Meitei Pangals ( mni, Meitei Pangan), also known as the Pangals ( mni, Pangan) or the Meitei Muslims ( mni, Meitei Pangal) or the Manipuri Muslims ( mni, Manipuri Pangal), are a group of Muslims who speak Meitei language as their nativ ...

decided to evacuate the city, taking with him all the inhabitants, who otherwise would have been massacred by the guerrillas. He left the city on the 25th at the head of the ''Cazadores de Coquimbo'' battalion, 50 artillery troops, approximately 150 friendly

allies and about a thousand civilians, with their properties and animals. The long train made for a very slow speed.

The battle

As he was crossing the Laja River at the Tarpellanca ford, early on the morning of the 26th, the column was attacked by the troops of Benavides at the point where the river branched into two inlets leaving an islet in the middle. Marshal del Alcázar and almost all of his column were trapped there at the islet. A defense was hastily organized by making a circle out of the carts, but after 13 hours of battle, just as night was falling, the patriots started to run out of ammunition. In order to try to save the many civilians that were traveling with his column, he decided to negotiate with Benavides. The Patriots surrendered in exchange for their lives and free passage for all the civilians, while Marshal del Alcázar and his officers were to remain as hostages and the surviving soldiers were to incorporate themselves to the guerrilla. The final truce was agreed at 2AM on the 27th.

Aftermath

After the surrender of the troops, Benavides ordered the prisoners to restart the march towards

Yumbel Yumbel is a city and commune of the Province of Bío Bío in the region of the same name, Chile. History Yumbel originated from the small fort of ''San Felipe de Austria'', raised in 1585 by Governor Alonso de Sotomayor, on the cerro del Centin ...

. On the morning of the 28th, Benavides ordered all the prisoners executed, which were then shot, lanced and the bodies torn apart. The city of

was torched.

External links

Biography of Alcázar with details of the battle

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarpellanca, Battle of Conflicts in 1820 Battles involving Chile Battles involving Spain Battles involving the Mapuche Battles of the Spanish American wars of independence Battles of the Chilean War of Independence Battles of the Total War Campaign 1820 in Chile Battle of Tarpellanca September 1820 events