Chile's capture of Arica ended the Tacna-Arica Campaign, secured two Peruvian provinces, and set the stage for the subsequent Lima Campaign.
Key Facts
- Date
- 7 June 1880
- Chilean assault force
- More than 8,000 troops
- Peruvian defenders
- Approximately 1,600 troops
- Duration of combat
- 55 minutes
- Peruvian casualties (est.)
- More than 1,000 men killed
- Arica ceded permanently to Chile
- Treaty of Lima, 1929
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the Battle of Tacna and Bolivia's subsequent withdrawal from the war, Peru was left to fight alone. Chile required a nearby port to supply its army, reinforce troops, and evacuate the wounded, making the Peruvian stronghold at Arica in the Tacna Department the next strategic target.
On 7 June 1880, Chilean forces under Colonel Pedro Lagos, numbering over 8,000 men supported by naval units, launched a combined land-and-sea assault on Arica. The roughly 1,600 Peruvian defenders under Colonel Francisco Bolognesi resisted fiercely; after 55 minutes the Chileans stormed and captured the Morro de Arica. Bolognesi and more than 1,000 of his men died in the battle.
The Chilean victory concluded the Campaña de Tacna y Arica, giving Chile control over the entire Tarapacá and Tacna provinces. It opened the next phase of the war, the Campaña de Lima, which ended with the fall of the Peruvian capital seven months later. Arica was eventually ceded permanently to Chile by the Treaty of Lima in 1929.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Colonel Pedro Lagos.
Side B
1 belligerent
Colonel Francisco Bolognesi.