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Battle of La Concepcion
Battle of La Concepcion was a battle between a Chilean patrol and Peruvian forces during the War of the Pacific.
Background
The captain Carrera Pinto knew by indirect means that an attack was next to sift itself on, knew that the procession of the Sunday was not if a pretext for evacuation and which an attack would not have to be expected for the noon of the 7 of July, nevertheless it had to rely on the orders even received that its criterion indicated a fast abandonment to him of the seat, his hope was in soon seeing appear to the division of Del Canto. Nevertheless, when finally the colonel Del Canto could leave Huancayo, its South wing was attacked by followers of Caceres voviendo to delay the advance of the Chilean troops towards the Conception. Amanecido already the 7 of July of 1882 in the Conception, the soldiers noticed as the procession by San Feliciano were thickening as the morning passed. Surprise an invitation was received it Chilean officiality to have lunch in the hotel from an Italian, this invitation was part of a plan to separate the officiality of the rest of the Chilean regiment. Carrera Pinto, even though that knew that it was a scheme, accepted the invitation of its cordial hypocrites. Meanwhile the montoneras of Juan Spent to the control of Peruvian regular forces and Ambrosio Salazar to the control of the montoneras Indians already was on the hill Leon and waited for the signal of attack by means of the use of a tube located in a mount near the town. Just when she was the one of afternoon, Carrera Pinto observed the attitude in afraid end of its hosts and rising it removed his sword while these fled by the doors of the hotel. Just she sounded the cannon shot of beginning of the attack and the Chilean officiality ran to the church to arm her perimeter defensive. The Chileans could contemplate in the edges of hills to Peruvian regular troops and several hundreds of Indians who shouted to all lung, ready to penetrate in the town, the numerical inferiority was 1:30 against the Chileans. It spent waited for the surrender of the seat as soon as it saw the enemy the forces which they faced, thing that was not going to happen.
The battle
Carrera Pinto ordered to divide itself in three sections to defend each one of the entrances to the seat, which occupied the following positions: in the corner of the north, Perez Canto with the first group; in the one of the northwest, Martinez with other twenty soldiers; in the one of the Southeast, Montt with other so many; and he himself, to the front of the sixteen rest, went to occupy the corner of the southwest. One would be to prevent the entrance of the enemy to the seat, but in case of not being able to resist the shock, they would fall back calmly towards the church. The hope of Pinto Race was that soon the forces from Del Canto arrived. The orders of fulfilled quickly and the Chileans prepared themselves for the imminent attack; suddenly the shout stopped and a tomb silence surrounded the town, single from time to time being interrupted by a puch of a window or loose door to the wind.
A parliamentarian in white flag showed itself by the Southeastern corner of the seat and he approached where he was colonel Ignacio Carrera Pinto, it was a surrender message:
Central Army. Separate military command of the Division Vanguard. The Conception, July 9 of 1882. To the Chilean Garrison commander of the Conception. Present. Counting, as you see, on very superior forces in number to whom you have under your control and wishing to avoid an obviously impossible fight, intimate to you unconditional surrender of its forces, coming up to him that, on the contrary, they will be dealed with the rigor yet the war. God keeps you.
JUAN SPENT The Chilean official responded in he himself paper that gave to the emissary the following phrase to him:
In the capital of Chile and one of his main strolls public, he exists immortalized in bronze the statue of procer of our Independence, General Don Jose Miguel Carrera, whose same blood runs by my veins; that's why you will understand who neither like Chilean nor like descendant of that one, must intimidate nor the number of their troops nor the threats to me of the rigor. God keeps you.
IGNACIO CARRERA PINTO The Chilean official dispatched to the emissary, who before leaving the place, watched the message and he used to him that its answer implied the safe extermination of all to its control, Carrera Pinto responded to him that it knew it and gave 5 minutes him to leave the sector. Race became to its men and it exposed the happened thing to them and it indicated to load rifles and to wait for fire signal. Suddenly by one of the flanks of the seat a mass of natives of Commas burst in that informed deafeningly advancing towards the enemy position, the formed Chilean soldiers in double row at your service hoped to open the fire and unloads after unloading ralearon the rows of the natives who fell to the first firings and before the continuity of the execution they backed down. In a second he attacks, this time the Chileans had to support that snipers shot from the ceilings and windows of the buildings, causing to them 7 cassualties, so the Chilean captain did not have another option that to fall back towards the church and to lock in themselves there. The Chilean captain, saw desperate the defense and chose to send to three soldiers as I connect with the mission to warn to the division of Of Canto of the attack who were maintaining, nevertheless no of them managed to leave with life of the perimeter of the Conception and were dead to shots and soon beheaded before the Vista of which they were in the church, coming to dance as a lesson with the heads of their compatriots in the ends of the lances, all the participant natives were lowered accurately. The night arrived at the Conception like a mortuary mantle, the barmaid who was in childbirth had under those unfortunate cirscunstancias, a boy, the soldiers mounted guard and suddenly they realized that the ceiling of the church was being there been dew with paraffin. The intention was obvious to burn them with church and everything. A mass of Indians armed of torches was dropped in the seat and the Chileans practically exhausted their ammunition containing the attack, but they managed to set afire the church, Carrera Pinto and the survivors tried to take refuge in a contiguous house to the church and to contain the Peruvians there, but they lost to the official to the control, Ignacio Carrera Pinto who was reached about the firings and had to give back itself to the church in flames, the low Chileans were strong. Another attack of the montoneras Indians obtained that some hundreds of Indians who managed to perforate the wall of the ardent church but were contained by a bayonet attack of about twelve Chilean soldiers to the control of the second lieutenant Perez Of Canto, hardly returned 6 alive soldiers.
The ending
68 Chilean soldiers had died being left hardly 9 to the control of the second lieutenant Luis Cruz Martinez plus the women.
The situation could not be more untenable for the Chileans. A new attack of natives caused 4 died Chileans, single were left 5. Juan Gasto, in a humanity gesture he contained an attack and he insisted to alive voice to the survivors to a honorable surrender but the Chileans knowing itself the luck that hoped to them, heroicaly rejected it and to the shout of: The Chileans never surrender attacked the human wall of attackers, died pestered all in seconds. The natives inflamed by the sudden victory beheaded and mutilated the bodies of the Chileans and surprised the women who had been, colonel Juan Gasto could not prevent the scene that was developed before its eyes, the inflamed, overflowed masses of Indians and brunk they undressed the women and they violated them, they took to new born and sending it by the air they impale hin, soon broke it the bodies of the feminas and the new born impale him in a lance and they walked them like trophy, a frightful one and macabre scene was in the seat of the Conception. Slowly and quiet the followers went retiring of the town except for some Indians who drunk themselves in the bars of the place, for Colonel Gasto the bitter gained victory him had cost almost 18 hours battle, some tens of line soldiers, a pair of hundreds of dead Indians of Commas and an operational delay. At noon they appeared the Chilean outposts that when seeing the macabre spectacle did a search by bordering hills giving death to those who it was crossed to them by the way, many wounded Indians and drunk were massacreed in the hills. The Colonel Del Canto ordered to extract the heart the four officials: The captain Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Montt lieutenant, the second lieutenant Perez Del Canto and Luis Cruz Martinez and to send them in formalin to Santiago. The rest of the bodies of the 77 Chileans were buried to a flank of thechurch and soon they burned the church to cover the tombs.
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Battle of La Concepcion
