CAPTURE OF VALBTVIA. 



63 



to his dilatory enemies^ to Talcuhuana;, the port 

 of Conception, a frontier town of Chili. Here 

 General Freyre, commanding the district, rein- 

 forced his Lordship with a detachment of troops, 

 and he sailed for Valdivia, an important and 

 strongly fortified Spanish town in the south. On 

 the 2d of February 1820, Lord Cochrane suc- 

 ceeded, by a characteristic combination of cool 

 judgment and impetuous gallantry, in possessing 

 himself of all the enemy's batteries, one after the 

 other ; and, subsequently, of the town and pro- 

 vince. As this is one of the most important 

 achievements of the war, a translation of Lord 

 Cochrane'^s own letter, detailing the event, will, I 

 think, prove interesting. 



" Despatch from Lord Cochrane to the Minister 

 of War and Marine of the Government of 

 Chili. 



On board the Montezuma, 

 " Valdivia, 4th of February 1820. 



" SiE, — I had the honour to inform you from 

 Talcuhuana, that, taking advantage of the oppor- 

 tunity which presented itself of communicating 



