THE EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH.
1821.
Cochrane, having failed to persuade San Martin to undertake active
operations against Lima, and not content with the rôle imposed upon him
of simply blockading Callao, set his fertile brain to work to devise
some means of capturing these fortifications.
San Martin entered heartily into his plans, and by means of his secret
agents opened communications with some of the subordinate officers of
the fortress, and placed Miller with 550 men under the orders of the
Admiral.
Nails, made in Lima for the purpose, were distributed among the
conspirators, who were to spike the guns when an attack was made on the
northern forts; a part of the garrison was bought over, and false keys
were made to open the gates; but the Viceroy, who seemed to be quite as
well served by his spies as San Martin was by his, took measures to
circumvent these plans, so nothing was attempted.
Cochrane then proposed, with a small force of infantry moved rapidly by
sea from place to place, to wear out the Royalist army by continual
marchings to and fro; and San Martin at last resolved to send an
expedition to the South, to co-operate with the movements of Arenales in
the Highlands. Six hundred picked infantry and eighty horse under
Miller, were placed at the disposal of Cochrane for this purpose.
On the 22nd March Miller and his troops landed at Pisco, and took
possession of the town of Chincha, under protection of the guns of the
_San Martin_, _O’Higgins_, and _Valdivia_, an attack on an advanced
party by Colonel Loriga being beaten off by Captain Videla.
On the same day an insurrectionary movement took place in Cuzco, headed
by Colonel Lavin, an Argentine, formerly an ardent Royalist, but at this
time under arrest in that city on account of an abortive conspiracy at
Arequipa. The insurrection was put down, all the insurgents, including
Lavin, being killed.
Leaving Miller at Chincha, the Admiral then sailed off to Cerro Azul,
but being unable to effect a landing on account of the heavy sea, he
wrote to San Martin again, advising an attack on Lima, and later on
asked for a further reinforcement of infantry for an attack on Cerro
Azul, which was the key to the provinces of the south. San Martin could
spare no more men, whereupon he wrote to O’Higgins, asking for a
contingent which would enable Miller to penetrate into Upper Peru. San
Martin also wrote in support of this suggestion, but the Chilian
Government replied that they could do no more, which was the simple
truth. Meantime the Spaniards at Pisco and their adherents suffered
heavily from forced contributions, to the great discredit of the
expedition.
The Viceroy, on hearing of the landing at Pisco, despatched a division,
under Camba, to watch the movements of the Patriots. Inland from Pisco
lay two beautiful valleys, the Chincha Alta and the Chincha Baja. Camba
encamped in the first of these valleys, while Miller moved up from the
town and encamped in the second. For a month the two parties sat
watching, each the other, nothing doing, then an enemy more to be feared
than either came down on both of them, the endemic fever of the coast,
the tertian ague. Both those beautiful valleys became hospitals, where
officers and men alike lay prostrate. Cochrane’s idea of wearing out the
Royalist army by fruitless marchings to and fro was by no means easy of
accomplishment, yet still he persevered. On the 22nd April the
expedition was re-embarked, Miller being carried on board, while most of
his men were barely able to hold their muskets.
Cochrane then sailed away for Arica, where there was a six-gun battery
and a garrison of 300 men. After a fruitless cannonade, 250 men were
landed higher up the coast in two divisions, one of which, led by
Miller, marched on the city of Tacna; while Major Soler of the
grenadiers marched with the other upon Arica, which is the port of
Tacna. Arica was evacuated by the enemy on his approach, and Soler,
starting in pursuit, captured a string of mules on the road to Lima,
which were laden with 120,000 dollars in specie. Effects to the value of
300,000 dollars, the property of Spaniards resident in Lima, were also
confiscated in the town and shipped on board the _San Martin_.
Miller was received with enthusiasm at Tacna, and was joined by many
volunteers. The garrisons of both the city and the port passed over to
him, and were embodied in a new battalion styled “The Loyalists of
Peru.” Cochrane presented the new corps with a flag, a golden sun on a
blue ground.
One of the volunteers was a Peruvian named Landa, a man of gigantic
stature, and well acquainted with the country, who had served in the
ranks of the Royalists. To the service which he subsequently rendered to
the Patriots much of the success of the expedition may be attributed.
Another of the volunteers was Colonel Portocarrero, also a Peruvian, who
was one of the secret agents of San Martin.
Miller had now 900 men under his orders, of whom 400 were drilled
troops, and determined to enter upon a formal campaign. Rumour had
greatly exaggerated the number of his forces, and all the country about
was in a ferment.
General Ramirez, who was stationed at Puno, directed several detached
corps to concentrate on the river Ilo, under Colonel Santos la Hera, to
resist the invasion. Miller, who was kept well informed by Portocarrero
and Landa, started to prevent this concentration of the Royalists. He
reached the river Samba on the 20th May, and at midnight, after a forced
march of eighteen hours across a desert, reached the Ilo, opposite to
the village of Mirave, where La Hera was encamped. An advanced picket
gave the alarm, but two Englishmen, named Hill and Hunn, with twenty
men, forded the river, and drew off the attention of the enemy, while
Miller and the bulk of his force crossed unmolested in the darkness. At
daybreak Miller attacked the village, and carried it after a sharp
struggle, in which young Welsh, Cochrane’s physician, who accompanied
the expedition as a volunteer, was killed.
Hardly had the last fugitives of La Hera’s party disappeared when
Colonel Rivero came in sight, with another detachment from Puno, mounted
on mules. A few rockets put them to flight.
The same afternoon Miller started in pursuit, and on the 24th reached
the city of Moquegua, where Portocarrero was Deputy Governor, who at
once passed over to him. The remains of La Hera’s force had been
overtaken and made prisoners by Soler, and on the 26th Miller overtook
Rivero, and either killed or made prisoners nearly all his party. In
fifteen days from landing Miller with his small force had put more then
a thousand of the enemy hors de combat, and Cochrane wrote to San
Martin, telling him that in eight days more they would have Arequipa.
La Hera, having met in his flight with other parties on the march to
join him, now turned upon Miller and tried to cut off his retreat, but
Miller reached Tacna in safety, and was there met by the news of the
armistice of Punchauca.
During the suspension of hostilities Miller employed his time in
drilling his raw troops, while Ramirez collected 2,000 men to oppose
him; Cochrane returned to Callao, leaving only three small transports at
Arica, which very soon followed him.
Miller, left to himself, was at the expiration of the armistice
compelled to retreat to Arica, where he seized four merchant vessels and
embarked with those of his partisans who were most seriously
compromised, leaving his sick to the care of La Hera, who, grateful for
kindness shown by Miller to his prisoners, gave them every possible
attention. A great contrast to the general procedure of the Royalist
leaders.
Miller, now raised to the rank of colonel, sailed from Arica on the 22nd
July, and, being unable by reason of the heavy sea to land near Islay
for an attempt on Arequipa, turned north and landed at Pisco. After
destroying a Royalist force under Santalla, he established himself at
Ica and assumed command of the district.
As a diversion this expedition was more successful than could have been
expected from the small force employed, thanks to the brilliant
qualities displayed by Miller in separate command. Greater results might
have been achieved by the employment of a larger force, but without
reinforcements from Chile, that could only have been accomplished at the
expense of more important objects.
This campaign concluded with a disaster. The _San Martin_, already laden
with booty, had, in defiance of the armistice, seized a cargo of wheat
at Mollendo, and went to the bottom when discharging at Chorillos; a
fate ominous of that which was soon to overtake her great namesake.