The combat of Angamos in the story of Gonzalo Búlnes, in 1911. Admiration, respect and a crude narration of the immolation of the great hero of Peru on October 8, 1,879. Impossible not to get excited.
Grau entered the bay of Antofagasta on the night of October 7, leaving the Union out of the port, under observation, while he recognized the ships anchored in the roadstead, hoping to find one of ours and apply torpedoes to it. He stayed about two hours and then continued north with the Union. A little while later, the lookouts sounded the alarm simultaneously in both camps. Riveros's sentinels warned that two smokes were perceived, and the same was said by those of the Peruvian ships. At first, Grau thought they might be transports and went over to check them out, but seeing that they set their course in his direction, he suspected the reality and moved away. It was between 3 and 4 in the morning. Every moment the conviction that the ships were enemies was taking hold in both camps. The twilight of dawn dispelled all doubt. Riveros saw that the ships that were running in front of him had the characteristics that Minister Sotomayor had communicated to him the day before:the Huáscar painted lead, the color of the sea, without skirts, with its armored tops, barely perceptible above the waterline; the Union of the same color, wrapped in chains as an armor, and with its tops also armored. There was no doubt, they were the ships that had crossed our coasts with impunity while the Chilean squadron was nailed in front of Iquique, or with their boilers clogged. A hurrah! resounded aboard our ships and the chase began. All doubts had also disappeared for Grau, but he trusted in the Huáscar's gait and in her fortune, which had so many times provided him with the means of escaping in similar events. He could believe that this would be one more:one more laurel in the noisy celebrity of his career. García y García, Commander of the Union, who had full confidence that he would escape any persecution, since his ship was traveling thirteen miles per hour, was maneuvering to position himself as a bait in front of Riveros and thus divert the attention of the Huáscar, which, moment by moment, was moving away from our armored vehicle. This situation continued until 7:30 a.m. hour in which the Peruvian lookouts shouted that they saw to the north, one, two, three smokes that were approaching the beach in a fast race, in a vertical direction to the direction they were taking. It was Latorre, the audacious and formidable leader who appeared in Grau's hour of hope as the shadow of disaster. Latorre had remained that night cruising in front of Mejillones occupying the center of his line; the O'Higgins and the Loa their wings. Her initial distance was 20 kilometers, less than more, from the coast. The one that gave notice that smoke could be seen to the south was the Loa. When the enemy ships were clearly seen, Latorre ordered Montt and Molinas by signals to go out in pursuit of the Union the "unfaithful consort" of the Huáscar, as Vicuña Mackenna calls her, the one that manifestly departed from him heading north, with a walk of 13 and up to 14 miles per hour. Meanwhile he, Latorre, already facing the enemy he had been so close to in Iquique, bravely ran toward the coast to block his path. The Huáscar was sailing in that direction with all the power of his machine. Grau had rashly entered into danger. It is probable that at first he did not realize the seriousness of it, believing that he only had in front of him the White whose walk was 8 to 9 miles per hour, that is, one and a half to two less than the Huáscar. If he had understood that the Cochrane was waiting for him on his course to the north, before being seen by it, he would have been able to evade the pursuit by putting his bow out to sea until he had lost sight of the White and arrived for the fourth or fifth time in a triumphant race. to Arica, and even now when his lookouts announced three smokes in sight, it was still possible for him to lean to the west, separated as he was from Cochrane by a distance of no less than 8,000 meters that it was not easy for him to suppress since the Their gait did not differ by more than ½ to ¾ of a mile per hour. Launched already in the fatal and vertiginous race close to the coast, the time to flee had passed, but instead he had an operation worthy of high renown:ramming the Cochrane with the spur to reduce the imbalance of the material, because if that element of combat did not equalize the ships, in a certain way it balanced them, and provided, ultimately, the prestige of a feat that would have given a day of glory to the Peruvian navy.
Grau did not try that great and saving resource, but relying on his excellent machine he kept slipping like a shadow along the shoreline, when the Cochrane came out to cross his path. Shortened the distance to 3,000 meters, the Huáscar broke the fire, with his 300 pieces, with excellent marksmanship. The first volley from the tower passed over the Cochrane's chimney without touching it; a cannon shot from the second hit the bow davit used to raise the anchor, which in maritime terms is called "fisherman's davit". The third chipped away at the battery's armor, causing a great commotion to the ship. The machine gave off a jet of steam, and Latorre, who had remained on the bridge until then, ignoring the shots, ordering to close the distance, and not answering so as not to waste time, believed that the cannon shot had destroyed the machine, and that he needed to hurry up and shoot before the enemy gained more space for him. Because of this fear he changed tactics and broke fires. It was 9:40 a.m.; the distance 2,000 to 2,200 meters.
According to the Peruvian versions, the first cannon shot from the skillful Chilean artillerymen hit the combat tower, destroying 12 men. The second cut the guard or chain that gives direction to the rudder, leaving the ship without steering for a moment, while the personnel fixed the spare wheel that was near or in the Commander's room; the third or fourth shot hit the control tower, pulverizing Grau and killing his aide Don Diego Ferré, who was in a low compartment from where he transmitted his orders to him through a wooden grate located at his sides. feet. The effect of the projectile on Grau's body was appalling. He literally flew to pieces, leaving only one foot in that place of the unfortunate and glorious sailor, and the teeth embedded in the wooden lining of that compartment. That shot and another one received by the control tower destroyed the machine's telegraph, and the ship's steering wheel. If it could be accepted that a skilled gunner puts the shell where he wants, it would be said that this time the Cochrane were methodically destroying the leading elements of the enemy; the Commander, the telegraphs, the combat wheel, the rudder guards, without injuring the ship in its vital part, leaving its fundamental organisms intact. This was Huáscar's situation half an hour after the fight began.
His shots had lost the security of the first moments. It was then said that the English gunners were disconcerted to see how confidently La Torre withstood their fire without replying, early in the action. That circumstance may well have influenced this, since victory is really nothing more than dominating the enemy's morale, and also that those gunners had suffered the terrible effects of the Pelliser and Shrapnell grenades that sowed death on the monitor. Whatever the cause, it is certain that the Peruvian shots were less accurate now that the distance had been shortened. The destruction of the steering gear deprived the enemy ship of direction. The Huáscar had a small twist in the spur, which tilted its course to the right, when the steering devices did not develop their full effectiveness. I would not be sure if it was an organic construction defect or damage caused by its naval operations before the current campaign or during it. The situation of the Huáscar was that after the destruction of its steering wheel, the rudder guards and the machine telegraphs. She had lost direction and was subject to that defect that was dragging her to the right. Seeing him turn in this way, Latorre interpreted the movement as if it were to run aground or attack him with the spur, and, continuously, with the resolute integrity typical of this eminent chief, he bravely attacked him to wound him in the same way, but he missed the blow and The monitor passed less than two hundred meters from his keel, presenting him as a target the fin on which the Cochrane fired from the side, having a terrible effect with his grenades. The Huáscar, who had already managed to reestablish her rule, headed north followed closely by her implacable opponent.
When this happened, the combat lasted about an hour. The crew was demoralized. Two sailors came on deck and lowered the banner that fluttered on the mizzen peak. Latorre yelled at his artillerymen:call off fire. But almost instantly, with a difference of a minute and a half to two minutes, an officer was seen coming out of the battle tower and hoisting with his hands the insignia that had just been lowered. Among the officers who fell prisoner, one was Lieutenant Don Enrique Palacios, and the crew of the Cochrane thought they recognized him as the one who had raised the flag, which made the Chilean officers especially honor that brave young man who had 19 wounds when the Huáscar he definitely gave up. He was given the cabin of the second Commander of the Cochrane and he was surrounded by considerations. It is not strange that such a thing happened aboard the Huáscar because death had struck at the heads and the crew itself lacked bosses. After Grau's death, command fell to Captain Don Elías Aguirre, who, unable to occupy the command tower because it was destroyed, moved to the combat tower from where he directed the manoeuvre. There he was hit by a projectile that tore him to pieces. The highest-ranking officer, Captain Don Melitón Carvajal, took the vacant post and was seriously injured by a grenade shell, and he was taken to the infirmary. Carvajal was succeeded by Lieutenant Don Pedro Garezón. It is impossible for a mixed crew such as that of the Huáscar, in which at least 15 percent was made up of foreigners, to have that granite unity that translates into heroism due to duty and sacrifice for the Homeland.
The Huáscar, who was still running towards the north, cannoned by the Cochrane, repeated that semi-rotating movement, which had been about to produce an encounter with the spur a moment before. Latorre, attributing it to the same purpose, prepared to attack him as before, but at that moment Blanco arrived at the site of the combat, and Riveros, eager to take part in it, wanted to carry out the attacking movement on the opposite side with the battering ram that was preparing to execute the Cochrane, in such a way that the impetuous Commander-in-Chief interposed himself between it and the enemy, forcing the Chilean armored vehicles to carry out a rotating evolution in the opposite direction so as not to collide, which gave the Huáscar time to move away from 200 meters to which it was then, at 1,200. Once the armored vehicles returned to their common course, that is, in the wake of the Huáscar, they chased it closely, beating it both at the same time. The monitor couldn't resist anymore. The Cochrane sailed so close to her starboard quarter that the cries of the sailors could be heard saying:we are exhausted! Latorre ordered them to stop the machine and they obeyed. The pavilion was lowered. Boats were immediately thrown into the water. The first was from the Cochrane manned by some soldiers to take possession of the surrendered boat, with drivers, doctor, chaplain, etc. Commanded by Lieutenant Bianchi Tupper. Then came another from Cochrane himself, commanded by Lieutenant Serrano Montaner, and one from Blanco, manned by the Admiral's senior officer, Captain Castillo, and Captain Peña, appointed by Riveros to command the imprisoned ship.
The defense of the Huáscar was brave, and although the crew did not retain the calm and integrity that would allow a more culminating qualification to be applied to their defense, we must take into account the superiority of the adversary, the frightening effect of the newly invented grenades, the glorious hecatomb of the commanders, and its composition of men of various races and nationalities. In reality, the combat was unequal due to the difference in armor, which the Huáscar could only compensate for, with the spur, or by sacrificing himself until he got so close to the enemy that his projectiles launched from very close range could pierce her armor. When Blanco came within range and when in her last run he and Cochrane shelled her from close range, all resistance was impossible.
The Huáscar's dead were three officers. Crew; It consisted of 200 men. Of these many were foreigners, predominantly English. The most illustrious victim of the combat was Admiral Grau. Among the wounded Lieutenant Palacios. Any praise that is made of the gentlemanly sailor who gave up his life there is justified. Grau served his country with courage, skill and humanity. He imprinted on his actions a chivalrous note. He fulfilled his duty without arrogance. He never found an insult under his pen, nor did his ship uselessly deepen the evils of war. He was able to destroy unarmed populations and did not. Unfortunately he would have been justified if he did. He gave evidence of intelligent activity in the campaign and of great serenity in danger. An elevated soul, tempered in the forge of duty, Grau pointed out a course of honor for the future navy of Peru. The winner paid him the tribute he deserved. The Commander-in-Chief of the Squadron says in the official part of the action:“The death of the Peruvian Rear Admiral Don Miguel Grau has been deeply felt in this Squadron, whose commanders and officers made ample justice to the patriotism and courage of that remarkable sailor.”
Photo:Courret Archive.
Taken from the book “War of the Pacific from Antofagasta to Tarapacá”
work by Gonzalo Búlnes published in 1911 in Valparaíso
(Pages 484-495).