I. VENTS SUCCEEDING Till: KI.IXTIOM. 



that a company of American rill-im-M in the :irmy of ('MIX. had picked off" officers on the 



government .side at incredihle distanc,--., causing extraordinary loss of life among them; and 



that tin- action was ntill undecided when he left. Some wont BO far as to assert that each rifle 



:n ni.shed with a Miiall tele-.e,,pe. tin- hetter (,, enalde these marksmen to select th.-ir victims. 



Nor \vT- they the i- ant of Santiago wlio believe I fchi >tory of the rifles, hut men among the 



"upper ten" of the ministerial party, who wen- loud in denunciations of Yankees intermed- 

 dling- turret t'nl how grateful they had shown themselves for <>tjii in/ British interference. All 

 the MICCCKS was attrihuted to Yankee rides, whose number was magnified to tenfold, as was 

 known from a report made hy the United States consul at Talcahuano. That gentleman notified 

 our minister plenipotentiary, Balie Peyton, Esq., that twenty-one Californians had left a ship 

 which put into Talcahuano for supplies, and joined the revolutionists. To their credit be it told, 

 they were ''volunteers without pay, who offered themselves from a hatred of oppression, and 

 spirit of adventure," characteristic of the race. A published decree from the acting Intendente 

 mentions these facts, and very properly compliments whilst it expresses gratitude to the indi- 

 viduals for the service proposed. An English traveller paid the nation the tribute to tell one 

 of the ministerialists, who insisted so earnestly on the presence of at least 200 malditos rifteros: 

 "Had there been so many, Cruz would have been in Santiago long ago." 



The departure of a large supply of ammunition during the night could not be kept concealed, 

 and the offers of $25 bounty at the several additional rendezvous opened for new recruits was 

 another fact calculated to keep up hope among the revolutionists. At sunset there was a repeti- 

 tion of the salute and music, and the same class of insults were offered to individuals as in the 

 morning by those who controlled the movements of the band. Others individuals, most pro- 

 bably, influenced as much by personal envy as by party spirit vented their animosity secretly, 

 and sent cows' tails decorated with flowers to members of the apparently defeated party. Nor 

 was it uncommon, in passing along the street, to hear the word "cola" (tail) contemptuously 

 uttered when one of the same unfortunate number came near his rejoicing adversary. As on 

 the preceding night, silence and solitude reigned in the streets from an unusually early hour. 



On the llth, the only event of consequence was the burial of General Freire with military 

 honors. Persons of the highest rank of both parties, and all foreigners of note, attended his 

 remains to the cemetery. He had ever been a fast friend to the latter, regarding their interests 

 as inseparably connected with the advancement of his country ; and they sincerely lamented his 

 loss. The car on which his remains were transported was decorated with his uniform as a cap- 

 tain-general, covered with a wreath of laurel. It was drawn by personal friends, his sons and 

 nearest male relatives walking beside it, and subsequently assisting in conveying the body to 

 the chapel and grave. An account of the procession and ceremonies has already been given in 

 Chapter VI, together with the bold assertion by one orator: "Freire is dead, and with him 

 Libertyl" 



A bulletin was printed during the day. This contained a brief account of the intelligence 

 brought from the field of battle by the staff officer ; but there was neither official statement nor 

 other particulars than those previously current, and anxiety to learn something of the truth 

 became manifest even among transient sojourners. Thirty-six hours had now elapsed since the 

 arrival of the first express ! Then the main army of Cruz was reported to have been routed, and 

 his cavalry driven into the Loncomilla and drowned by squadrons ; and there remained only a few 

 hundred men in a farm-house, whose capture within half an hour was regarded as certain ; yet 

 nothing had come from the commander-in-chief opposed to him. Where facts were not attain- 

 able, recourse was had to invention ; and the city was filled with a thousand rumors contradic- 

 tory as the diverse desires of their originators could make them. Bulnes was routed; he was 

 dead. He had only defeated Cruz's vanguard, and had himself been vanquished by the main 

 body of revolutionist forces coming upon him when his own men were worn down by a hard 

 day's struggle. Two of Cruz's generals were dead, and a third had lost his reason by the wind, 

 of a cannon-ball. Six hundred of his men and twenty officers were prisoners, and the rest cut 

 42 



