The Battle of Marihueñu was one of the early decisive battles of the

Arauco War The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities a ...

; it took place between the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

leader

Lautaro Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') ( " swift hawk") (; 1534 – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would continue to be empl ...

and the Spanish general

Francisco de Villagra Francisco de Villagra Velázquez (1511 – 22 July 1563) was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of Chile. Early life Born at Santervás de Campos, he was the son of Alvaro de Sarría and Ana Velázquez de Villagra, who were not m ...

on 23 February 1554.

History

After the defeat at the

Battle of Tucapel The Battle of Tucapel (also known as the Disaster of Tucapel) is the name given to a battle fought between Spanish conquistador forces led by Pedro de Valdivia and Mapuche (Araucanian) Indians under Lautaro that took place at Tucapel, Chile on D ...

, the Spanish had hurriedly reorganized their forces, reinforcing fort La Imperial for its defense and abandoning Confines and Arauco in order to strengthen Concepción. Araucanian tradition had dictated a lengthy celebration after their victory, which kept Lautaro from exploiting the weakness of the Spanish position as he desired. It was only in February 1554 that he succeeded in putting together an army of 8,000 men, just in time to confront a punitive expedition under the command of Francisco de Villagra at the Battle of Marihueñu. Lautaro chose the hill of

Marihueñu Marihueñu or Marigueno is a large hill in the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta near the coast in the Lota, Chile, Lota commune of the Bío Bío Region of southern Chile. Its name is from the Mapudungun ''mari'', "ten" and ''huenu'', "heights". This height ...

to fight the Spanish, and subsequently organized his forces in four divisions: two had the mission of containing and wearing down the enemy, another would be held in reserve to launch a fresh attack as the Spanish were about to crumble, and the last would work to cut off their retreat. Additionally, a small group was sent to destroy the reed bridge the Spanish had erected across the Bío-Bío River, which would further disrupt the anticipated retreat of Villagra. The Spanish attack broke the first Mapuche lines, but the quick action of the third group maintained the Mapuche position. Later, the wings of this division began to attack the Spanish flanks, and the fourth division attacked from behind. After hours of battle and the loss of their artillery, only a small group of Spanish were able to retreat after a desperate fight to break through the Mapuche that blocked their escape in their rear.

References

Sources

Jerónimo de Vivar Jerónimo de Vivar was a Spanish historian of the early conquest and settlement of the Kingdom of Chile, and author of ''Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile''. Little is known about his life except that according to his ...

Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile (Chronicle and abundant and true relation of the kingdoms of Chile)
ARTEHISTORIA REVISTA DIGITAL; Crónicas de América (on line in Spanish) * de Góngora Marmolejo, Alonso
Historia de Todas las Cosas que han Acaecido en el Reino de Chile y de los que lo han gobernado (1536-1575) (History of All the Things that Have happened in the Kingdom of Chile and of those that have governed it (1536-1575))
University of Chile: Document Collections in complete texts: Cronicles (on line in Spanish) * Mariño de Lobera, Pedro
Crónica del Reino de Chile, escrita por el capitán Pedro Mariño de Lobera....reducido a nuevo método y estilo por el Padre Bartolomé de Escobar. Edición digital a partir de Crónicas del Reino de Chile Madrid, Atlas, 1960, pp. 227-562, (Biblioteca de Autores Españoles; 569-575).
Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (on line in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Marihuenu, Battle Of Conflicts in 1554 Battles involving Spain Battles of the Arauco War 1554 in the Captaincy General of Chile