José Manuel de Pareja y Septien (8 February 1813 – 28 November 1865) was a

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

officer who commanded the Spanish forces during the

Chincha Islands War The Chincha Islands War, also known as Spanish–South American War (), was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia from 1865 to 1879. The conflict began with Spain's seiz ...

Biography

Youth and early career

Pareja was born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

in 1813, the son of Brigadier

José Antonio Pareja Brigadier#Officer rank in the former Spanish empire, Brigadier José Antonio de Pareja y Mariscal (December 7, 1757 – May 21, 1813) was a Spanish Navy officer. He captained the Spanish ship Argonauta (1798), ''Argonauta'' during the Battle of ...

(1757–1813) and Josepha Septien. After the independence of

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

(1821), his family returned to Spain and he joined the

Spanish navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

. He made the corresponding ships of his class and traveled almost the entire planet, arriving in one of them to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. In 1831 he made the instructional cruise aboard the frigate ''Perla'', which was at that time the midshipman school ship.

The Chincha Islands War

Pareja was sent to the Pacific in 1864 to relieve Admiral

Luis Hernández-Pinzón Álvarez Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

, whose seizure of the

Chincha Islands The Chincha Islands () are a group of three small islands off the southwest coast of Peru, to which they belong, near the town of Pisco. Since pre-Incan times they were of interest for their extensive guano deposits, but the supplies were mostl ...

was disapproved in Madrid. On January 27, 1865, he signed the Vivanco-Pareja Treaty which was considered derogatory to Peruvian national honor. A general uprising followed in Peru and the government of General

Juan Antonio Pezet Juan Antonio Pezet y Rodríguez de la Piedra (11 June 1809 – 24 March 1879) was a Peruvian military officer and politician who served in the positions of Secretary of War, First Vice President and the 16th President of Peru. As President ...

fell on July 7, 1865. After

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, in support of Peru, had refused to sell supplies to the Spanish fleet, Pareja went with his fleet to Valparaiso on September 17, 1865 and demanded a public apology. As his demands for satisfaction were refused, he declared war against Chile on the 24th, and proceeded to blockade the principal Chilean ports. During the last weeks of his life, he suffered a series of setbacks in his handling of the

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

. On November 17 an armed launch of the frigate ''Resolution'' was captured by the Allied steamer '' Independencia'' near the port of

Talcahuano Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile. ...

. He could make no positive advances in his war with Chile, his blockade deteriorated, became ineffective and the crews of the ships became demoralized. The proud Admiral was unaware that on November 26 the Chileans had captured the Spanish schooner '' Virgen de Covadonga'', along with the Admiral's correspondence, at the Naval Battle of Papudo and that during the fight the Spaniards had 4 men dead and 21 wounded. When on November 27 the American Consul casually mentioned it, the Admiral suffered a nervous collapse. It was too much for him. The ''Covadonga'' was the second warship lost by Spain (after the loss of the ''Triunfo'') in enemy waters. The next day, November 28, Admiral Pareja dressed in his best uniform, laid down on his bed, and shot himself in the head on board his flagship, the

screw frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. The first such ships were paddle stea ...

, off Valparaiso. In his testament, he requested not to be buried in Chilean waters; accordingly, he was buried on the high seas.

External links

Numancia (includes short biography)

* ttp://www.revistanaval.com/ The "Revista Naval" page published in Ferrol in Spanish for the "Armada Española" {{DEFAULTSORT:Pareja, Juan Manuel 1812 births 1865 deaths Spanish admirals People of the Chincha Islands War Spanish military personnel who died by suicide Burials at sea

Biography

Youth and early career

The Chincha Islands War

See also

External links