136 



CHILI. 



Canto's army got into place on the two flanks 

 unobserved. About seven o'clock the second 

 brigade descended the slopes, and the Govern- 

 ment batteries opened fire on them as they 

 advanced on the double quick over the plain. 

 Thinking them the leading columns, the Gov- 

 ernment forces were concentrated to repel an 

 attack in front. The wings advanced, and first 

 the infantry on the Government right was driven 

 back. Soon afterward the Congressional right 

 wing began to advance, and at the end of two 

 hours of fighting the weakened left of the Presi- 

 dent was nearly outflanked. The artillery in 

 the center was turned to this quarter and checked 

 the advance. The Tarapaca regiment melted 

 under the destructive fire. Korner, coming to 

 their support with two regiments, by a long de- 

 tour turned the enemy's left flank completely. 

 In the mean time the Congressional left was gain- 

 ing ground, and the center advanced steadily. 

 The artillery ammunition at the front began to 

 run short, and the Government wings had both 

 spent nearly all their cartridges. The Congres- 

 sional batteries had advanced sufficiently to cover 

 a cavalry attack up the hill from Placilla. The 

 first charge was beaten back with great loss to 

 the insurgents. A second followed, and the 

 riflemen who were advanced to repel it were de- 

 ceived by a detachment which gained the brow 

 of the hill where Gen. Barbosa and Gen. Alzar- 

 reca were and sabered both the commanders. 

 Meanwhile the Congressional right had gained 

 the heights, having both flanked and pierced the 

 defending line. The Government infantry broke 

 and ran, except such as were eager for a chance 

 to throw down their arms and surrender. The 

 gunners still stood to their guns, and the cavalry 

 came up under fire and charged the Congres- 

 sional cavalry, to protect the retreating infantry 

 as it fled down the road to Valparaiso. By 

 eleven o'clock the battle was over. Of the Gov- 

 ernment troops, 3,000 were taken prisoners, 1,000 

 were killed, and 1,500 were wounded. The Oppo- 

 sition had 400 killed and nearly 1,000 wounded. 



All resistance was now at an end, and nothing 

 remained but to take possession of the town. 

 Admiral Viel, the intendenle, resigned his au- 

 thority into the hands of the foreign admirals, 

 who, in conference with Gen. Canto, named Car- 

 los Walker Martinez as provisional governor. 

 The victorious army began to enter the city at 

 one o'clock, cheered by the entire populace. 

 Capt. Alberto Puentes, of the " Lynch," fled, but 

 left the flag flying, and the boat was fired on 

 fronf the shore until the colors were lowered. 

 Insufficient guards were placed in the streets, 

 and at night a drunken and frenzied mob held 

 possession, firing buildings and terrifying citi- 

 zens by the reckless firing of the discarded arms 

 of Balmaceda's troops, murdering about 600 

 men, women, and children. The behavior of the 

 victorious army was exemplary, with few excep- 

 tions. President-elect Vicuna, Capt. Fuentes, 

 ex-Minister Godoy, and other men who were 

 prominent in Balmaceda's Government fled on 

 board the foreign ships. 



Early in the morning of Aug. 29 Balmaceda's 

 representatives at the capital asked for a confer- 

 ence with a view to its surrender, and Gen. Baque- 

 dano was commissioned to act for the Junta. 

 The Congressional fleet entered the harbor of 



Valparaiso, and Admiral Montt went ashore, and, 

 at a conference with the foreign admirals and 

 the intendente, demanded and was formally tend- 

 ered the unconditional surrender of the city and 

 of all the officers and troops as prisoners of war. 

 The members of the Junta arrived from Iquique, 

 and were installed at the capital on Sept. 8. Be- 

 fore the victors took possession of Santiago, the 

 chief members and supporters of Balmaceda's gov- 

 ernment had escaped or hidden, or taken refuge 

 in the foreign legations, where the hunted objects 

 of their vengeance had received protection. The 

 Same vindictive fury was now exhibited by their 

 adversaries. The corpses of the dead generals 

 were paraded through the streets of Valparaiso. 

 The wounded on the battle field were murdered 

 by degraded savages, and those who escaped this 

 fate were left to suffer for days where they lay 

 by their victors, who neglected at first to organ- 

 ize a hospital service even for their own wounded. 

 The houses of Balmaceda's friends were burned 

 and their estates ravaged. A ceaseless hunt was 

 kept up for the fallen President. When it was 

 supposed that he had been taken on to the " San 

 Francisco," the lives of Americans were not safe. 

 He left Santiago on Aug. 29, in the hope of es- 

 caping on the " Condell," but returned on Sept. 

 2, because the passes of the Andes were blocked 

 with snow, and remained concealed in the Argen- 

 tine legation, where, on Sept. 19, he took his own 

 life (see OBITUARIES, FOREIGN). The vengeance 

 visited on Balmacedists by the mob was not coun- 

 tenanced by the new Government, which sought 

 to restrain lawless violence. One of the IMc- 

 tator's ministers, Aldunate, was murdered by his 

 escort at Quillota. The military authorities, after 

 the capture of Valparaiso, asked for the surren- 

 der of the military and civil officers of Balma- 

 ceda's Government who had escaped to the for- 

 eign vessels, but the American, German, and Eng- 

 lish naval commanders refused. 



Rule of the Junta. When the Provisional 

 Government was established in Santiago tho 

 United States, Germany, and the other foreign 

 countries formally recognized it as the de facto 

 Government, and received its accredited diplomat- 

 ic representatives. The internal administration 

 was got into working order after some disturbance 

 in Coronel and other places. Balmaceda's officials 

 were dismissed, and many of the old ones rein- 

 stated. One of the first acts was to restore the 

 judges, who had all been removed unconstitution- 

 ally by Balmaceda, because they would not give 

 legal sanction to his irregularities. The acts of 

 confiscation carried out by the Dictator's officers 

 were requited by the confiscation of their proper- 

 ty. Balmaceda's issues of paper money, amount- 

 ing to 27,000,000 pesos, held largely by the banks, ' 

 presented a troublesome problem. To avert a 

 financial panic, the Junta decided to recognize 

 certain issues and to assume the forced loans 

 raised from the banks by Balmaceda, which 

 amounted to 9,000,000 pesos. A general election 

 for Senators, Deputies, municipal officers, and 

 presidential electors was ordered to be held in 

 the middle of October. Two months before his 

 fall, Balmaceda had transferred from the treasury 

 vaults to the British war vessel " Espiegle " sil- 

 ver bars weighing 30 tons, of the value of $1,- 

 000,000, which the gunboat conveyed to Monte- 

 video to be consigned to England in payment 



