104 



CHILI. 



only able to move in union with them, my armed 

 intervention cannot take place. In this unhappy 

 juncture I wish, believe me, to do all in my power 

 to protect the interests of neutrals, and I am satis- 

 fied that the Spanish admiral will do all in his power 

 to spare innocent blood and the destruction of pri- 

 vate property, employing solely the force necessary 

 to comply literally with his instructions. 

 I am, sirs, with much respect, 



Your obedient servant, 

 JOHN KODGERS, Commodore. 



A similar answer was given to the memorial 

 of the American merchants and residents of 

 Valparaiso. 



On March 29th there appeared a proclama- 

 tion from the President of Chili, exhorting 

 the people to trust in the government, which 

 would not sign any agreement dishonorable 

 to the republic, and to moderate their just 

 wrath. 



The bombardment, as had been threatened, 

 took place on March 31st. At nine o'clock, A. 

 M., the first shot was fired upon the city. It 

 proceeded from the Blanca, and was aimed at 

 the custom warehouse. Accompanied by the 

 cry of " Long live the queen ! " the firing soon 

 became general. For three and a quarter hours 

 the bombardment was continued. Not an 

 opposing shot was fired in defence of the city ; 

 not a hand was lifted in opposition to the 

 Spanish squadron. "With the means at their 

 command, it was useless for the Chilians to 

 resist the attack. The destruction of property 

 was immense. The warehouses, containing 

 millions of dollars' worth of foreign merchan- 

 dise, were almost totally demolished. It is 

 here that the bombardment affected foreigners 

 so generally. All the public and many private 

 buildings were completely ruined. The Hotel 

 de la Union was fired by a red-hot shot, and all 

 that portion of the city in its immediate vicin- 

 ity was consumed by the conflagration. To 

 complete the entire, destruction of the cus- 

 tom warehouses, a fire broke out about 11 : 45 

 o'clock, A. M., which speedily enveloped the 

 whole of them in flames. Nothing was spared 

 by the enemy within range of their guns. 

 Public property and private, hospitals and 

 churches, wharves and their appurtenances, 

 were each and all made an object of attack. 

 After firing between two thousand and three 

 thousand shot and shell point-blank into the 

 city, the flagship Numancia gave the signal to 

 withdraw. The last shot was fired at 12 : 30 

 o'clock, p. M. The frigates immediately got 

 under way after the firing had ceased, and 

 proceeded to the anchorage from whence they 

 came in the morning. The foreign fleets re- 

 sumed their old positions, and on the water 

 ?very thing soon bore its usual appearance, 

 immediately after the firing ceased, the people 

 on the heights rushed into the city, and strove 

 totcheck the conflagration, in which they par- 

 tially succeeded. Owing to the fact that 

 nearly all the inhabitants had left the place, 

 the number of killed and wounded was com- 

 paratively small. 



Commodore Eodgers, in an official report tc 

 Secretary Welles, dated March 31st, gives the 

 following account of his proposition to prevent 

 the bombardment by force, in case the English 

 should be willing to join the responsibility : 



SIR: I have the honor to announce that upon my 

 arrival in this port with the squadron under my com- 

 mand I called upon the English admiral, who had in- 

 formed me that he intended to prevent any sudden 

 bombardment, and would only suffer it after ample 

 notice. To this I made no reply, but, having con- 

 sidered the matter, sought the occasion the next day 

 to say that I would join him in preventing any sud- 

 den bombardment, and that I would also go as much 

 further as he chose. I assured him that the Monad- 

 nock could take care of the Numancia; that, from 

 target experiments I had witnessed, I was absolutely 

 certain that in not less than thirty seconds, and not 

 more than thirty minutes, the Monadnock herself, 

 entirelv unassisted, would leave only the mastheads 

 of the Numancia above water, and that our wooden 

 vessels, English and American, could look out for 

 the wooden vessels of the Spaniards. 



I told the English admiral that his commerce was 

 more extensive than ours, and more convenient to 

 the coast of Spain ; but as he had more to suffer in 

 consequence of a rupture with Spain, he had also 

 more to preserve by interference that his interests 

 in Chili rose to thousands, while ours were only hun- 

 dreds. 



The English admiral said, at first, that he would 

 accompany me, for I plainly declared that I would 

 not take a step without him. I said that I had no in- 

 tention of becoming a cat's-paw to draw European 

 chestnuts out of the fire, and then have the power I 

 saved laughing at my singed paws while they enjoyed 

 the fruits of my temerity. 



The English admiral finally determined to throw 

 the responsibility upon the English minister, who did 

 not choose to act in the premises. English coopera- 

 tion having failed, no separate action on my part was 

 taken, as none had been proposed. 



The losses sustained by the bombardment 

 were estimated as follows: public property, 

 $432,500; private property, $450,500; furni- 

 ture, $100,000; merchandise, $9,200,000 total, 

 $10,183,000. The private property was said to 

 be divided as follows : belonging to Chilenos, 

 $352,500 ; belonging to foreigners, $9,398,000. 

 As soon as the blockading fleet had left, a mani- 

 festo setting forth the facts connected with the 

 investment and bombardment of Valparaiso 

 was prepared by the consular body, to be sent 

 home to their respective governments. The 

 manifesto was signed by the consuls of Portu- 

 gal, France, England, Hamburg, Prussia, Den- 

 juark, Belgium, Netherlands, United States, 

 Sandwich Islands, Bremen, Oldenburg, Han- 

 over, Brazil, Saxony, Argentine Confederation, 

 Italy, Sweden and Norway, Austria, Salvador, 

 Switzerland, Guatemala, Lubeck, and the Re- 

 public of Colombia. After reciting the circum- 

 stances preceding the bombardment. the consuls 

 state : 



That they have done all in their power to cause the 

 commander-general of her Catholic majesty's naval 

 forces to desist from his purpose, reminding him that 

 the point at issue is an entirely indefensive city; that 

 the bombardment would prove the ruin of number- 

 less neutral families not interested in the questian 

 between Chili and Spain, and the government of 

 Chili would suffer damages of but comparatively 

 small importance ; that the space of four incomplete 



