Bombardment of Valparaíso: Difference between revisions

|image=[[Image:ValparaisoBombardment.jpeg|300px]]

|strength2=N/A<ref>[https://querytimesmachine.nytimes.com/memtimesmachine/archive-free1866/06/01/79807839.pdf?_r=1&res=9506EFD81631EF34BC4953DFB066838D679FDE NY Times Bombardment of Valparaíso and Gallao (sic)]</ref>

The '''Bombardment of Valparaíso''' on 31 March 1866 happenedtook afterplace during the [[Chincha Islands War]], when a Spanish fleet shelled, burned and destroyed the undefended port of [[Valparaíso]].

After the humiliating defeat at the [[Battle of Papudo]] and the indecisive [[Battle of Abtao]], [[Rear Admiral]] [[Casto Méndez Núñez]] was ordered to take punitive action against South American ports. When the Chilean government ordered that vessels supplying or communicating with the Spanish fleet should not be allowed to enter [[Chile]]an ports, Méndez Núñez's first target became the most important and undefended Chilean city of Valparaíso.<ref name=CastoMendez>{{cite news |author= |title=BOMBARDMENT OF VALPARAISO.; OFFICIAL REPORT BY ADMIRAL CASTO MEMDEZ NUNEZ. CurousCurious Statement Regarding the Course of Gen. Kilpatrick and Commodore Rogers |date=10 May 1866 |work=New York Times |url=https://querywww.nytimes.com/gst1866/abstract05/10/archives/bombardment-of-valparaiso-official-report-by-admiral-casto-memdez.html?res=980CE1DA1631EF34BC4852DFB366838D679FDE |accessdateaccess-date=2 January 2010}}</ref>

Efforts to mediate were initially steered by European diplomats whose countrymen were most affected by the initial blockade of Chilean ports and by the threat of bombardment. High-level contacts took place intensively in late 1865 and early 1866 between London, Paris, and Madrid. A formula to resolve the conflict appeared, at one stage, to have been secured. In the final two weeks, the United States was especially active. The American minister to Chile, General [[Hugh Judson Kilpatrick]] and the US Naval Commander [[John Rodgers (naval officer, Civil War)|John Rodgers]] who was at port commanding a US naval squadron composed of the ironclad [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]] {{USS|Monadnock|1863|6}} and the steamerswarships {{USS|Powhatan|1850|2}}, {{USS|Tuscarora|1861|2}} and {{USS|Vanderbilt|1862|2}} attempted a last-minute settlement with the Spanish Admiral. To that effect they enlisted the cooperation of the commander of the British [[Pacific Station]], Rear Admiral [[Joseph Denman]], who had under his command two warships: {{HMS|Sutlej|1855|6}} and {{HMS|Leander|1848|6}}. The British commander, despite coming under great pressure from British merchants in the city, laterafter changedconsulting hiswith mindthe andchief British diplomat in Chile [[William Taylour Thomson]], decided to enforce a strict neutrality, refusing to let his ships cooperate. Thomson himself was more concerned with the cooperationwell-being of hisSpanish shipscivilians in Chile than with the concerns of the British merchants in Chile and did not want the Royal Navy to do anything to provoke the Spanish.

Ultimately, all the attempts at mediation failed, as the chief condition of Admiral Méndez Núñez was the proper salute to the Spanish flag, the return by the Chileans of the captured [[Schooner]] [[Schooner Virjen de Covadonga|''Covadonga'']] and the immediate payment of a crippling indemnity. The talks broke over the matter of the flag salute.<ref name=NYT2may66>{{cite news |author= |title=CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA; The War Between Spain and Chili. Bombardment of Valparaíso by the Spanish Fleet. Remarkable Manifesto Issued by the Spanish Admiral. Failure of Gen. Kilpatrick's Attempt at Mediation. The Spanish Admiral Inflexible on a Point of Etiquette. Details and Incidents of the Bombardment. Over Eight Million Dollars Worth of Property Destroyed, The Principal Losses Sustained by Foreigners. THE CHILIAN WAR. Details of the Bombardment of Valparaise by the Spanish Fleet. PERU. PANAMA. The Uncle Sam in Possession of the Spanish Fleet--Miscellaneous. CENTRAL AMERICA. A Fillibuster Expedition |date=2 May 1866 |work=New York Times |url=https://querywww.nytimes.com/gst1866/abstract05/02/archives/central-and-south-america-the-war-between-spain-and-chili.html?res=940DE6DA1631EF34BC4A53DFB366838D679FDE |accessdateaccess-date=2 January 2010}}</ref> When General Kilpatrick threatened to defend the port with the US squadron and attack the Spanish fleet, Admiral Méndez Núñez famously responded with, ''"I will be forced to sink [the US ships], because even if I have one ship left I will proceed with the bombardment. Spain, the Queen and I prefer honor without ships than ships without honor."'' Consequently the Spanish Admiral, notwithstanding the protest of the diplomatic corps, gave notice on March 27 to all neutrals to evacuate the city.<ref name=NYT2may66/>

The Spanish bombarded the town unhindered.<ref name=ChileReport>{{cite news |author= |title=VALPARAISO.; Official Report to the Chillan Government on tire Bombardment by the Spanish Fleet |date=16 May 1866 |work=New York Times |url=https://querywww.nytimes.com/gst1866/abstract05/16/archives/valparaiso-official-report-to-the-chillan-government-on-tire.html?res=9506E6D91631EF34BC4E52DFB366838D679FDE |accessdateaccess-date=2 January 2010}}</ref> The loss in public and private property was estimated at $1,000,000, and in merchandise at $9,000,000, huge sums at the time.<ref name=NYT6may66>{{cite news |author= |title=SOUTH AMERICA.; From the Seat of War--Great Preparations and "Great Expectations"--The Grand Movement of the Allied Fleet Again Delayed -- Paraguayan Spies and their Stories--The War Beginning to Affect the Finances of the Argentine Confederation. THE BOMBARDMENT OF VALPARAISO Letter from an Americal Naval Officer |date=6 May 1866 |work=New York Times |url=https://querywww.nytimes.com/gst1866/abstract05/05/archives/south-america-from-the-seat-of-wargreat-preparations-and-great.html?res=9400EFDC133DE53BBC4D53DFB366838D679FDE |accessdateaccess-date=2 January 2010 | first=Our | last=Own}}</ref> One recent account suggests that in today's money the losses amounted to the equivalent of around $224,000,000 <ref name=WoodsD>{{cite book|last=Woods|first=David|title=The Bombardment of Paradise|year=2011|publisher=WTA Publishing|location=Geneva|isbn=978-2-8399-0800-9|pages=268}}</ref>

===Sources===

*{{Cite web |url=http://historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?action=toc&bid=16 |title=Chile: A Brief Naval History |accessdateaccess-date= 1 January 2010 |author= |last=López Urrutia |first=Carlos |authorlink= |work=Historical Text Archive |publisher= |location= |pages= |language= |doi= |quote= }}

*{{Cite web|url=http://members.lycos.co.uk/Juan39/THE_WAR_WITH_SPAIN.html|title=The War with Spain of 1865&ndash;1866|accessdateaccess-date=2 January 2010|author=|last=|first=|authorlink=|work=|publisher=|location=|pages=|language=|doi=|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231064328/http://members.lycos.co.uk/Juan39/THE_WAR_WITH_SPAIN.html|archivedatearchive-date=2007-12-31|quote=|deadurl=yes|dfurl-status=dead}}

*{{Cite web |url=http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfHistorica/GuerraPacificoEspaniaChPeru/Pacifico1base.htm |title=Guerra del Pacífico - 1864&ndash;1865 Conflicto de España contra Chile y Perú |accessdateaccess-date= 2 January 2010 |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |work=Historia y Arqueologia Marítima |publisher= |location= |pages= |language=Spanish |doi= |quote=es }}

*{{Cite web|url=http://www.historiadigital.es/art1_1.htm |title=España y la Guerra del Pacífico |accessdateaccess-date=2 January 2010 |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |work= |publisher= |location= |pages= |language=Spanishes |doi= |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211095411/http://historiadigital.es/art1_1.htm |archivedatearchive-date=2009-12-11 |quote= |deadurl=yes |dfurl-status=dead }}

*{{Cite web|url=http://www.soberaniachile.cl/norte2c.html |title=Liberation of the Chinchas |accessdateaccess-date=2 January 2010 |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |work= |publisher= |location= |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312050911/http://www.soberaniachile.cl/norte2c.html |archivedatearchive-date=March 12, 2008 |quoteurl-status= |deadurl=yesdead }}

[[Category:Naval battlesBattles of the Chincha Islands War]]