Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil Volume I Part 1

Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil, from Spanish and Portuguese Domination.

Volume 1.

by Thomas Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald.

PREFACE.

The first of these volumes forms a history of the consolidation of Chilian independence, and of the subsequent liberation of Peru--through the instrumentality of the Chilian squadron under my command; a service which called forth from the Governments and people of the liberated states the warmest expressions of grat.i.tude to the naval service collectively, and to myself personally, as having planned and conducted the operations whereby these results were attained.

It records also the strangely inconsistent fact that--beyond these marks of national approbation--neither Chili nor Peru ever awarded to the squadron or myself any more substantial reward--though, in a pecuniary sense, deeply indebted to us; for, during the greater portion of the war of independence, the subsistence of the crews, and the repairs and equipment of the Chilian squadron were solely provided for by our own exertions, without cost to the Government; since, in addition to the capture of Spanish ships-of-war and merchant vessels--money, provisions, and stores to a great extent fell into our hands; all of which--though our own stipulated right--were voluntarily devoted to state exigencies, in the full conviction that, at the expiration of the war, the value of our sacrifices would, as a point of national honour, be returned to us by Chili. As regards Peru, our still unpaid for captures of ships-of-war formed her first naval force, for which the only requital has been, a vote of her first National a.s.sembly--almost its inaugural act--ascribing to me the double praise of her liberation from the Spanish yoke, and of her subsequent deliverance from an intolerable military tyranny.

The volume contains another point, which forms a yet stranger sequel to my services on the Western sh.o.r.es of South America. After the expiration of thirty years, Chili granted me the absurdly inadequate sum of .6,000 _in full of all my claims!_ And this, with the knowledge that, after my return to England I was involved in litigation on account of the legal seizure of vessels under the orders of her former Government--by which I was subjected to a loss, directly and indirectly, of _more than three times the amount_. The Chilian portion of this history, therefore, resolves itself into the fact, that not only did I reap no reward whatever, for the liberation of Chili and Peru, but that the independence of both countries was achieved _at a heavy pecuniary sacrifice to myself!_ in compensation for which, as well as for my recognised services--Chili has thought its national honour sufficiently vindicated by allotting me _one-third of my losses only_, without other compensation of any kind! I regret to add, that my necessities at the time, arising for the most part from the pecuniary difficulties to which I had been subjected on Chilian account, compelled me to accept the amount tendered.

The second volume is of a character somewhat similar. It narrates the circ.u.mstances under which--by promises the most inviting, and stipulations the most binding--I was induced to accept the command, or rather organization of the first Brazilian navy. It details the complete expulsion of all Portuguese armaments, naval and military, from the Eastern sh.o.r.es of the South American Continent, by the squadron alone, wholly unaided by military co-operation; in the course of which arduous service, ships of war, merchant vessels, and valuable property to the extent of several millions of dollars were captured under the Imperial order, and their value--in spite of previous stipulations--_refused to the captors_, on the falsely a.s.sumed ground that the provinces liberated were Brazilian--though a Brazilian military force had been recently beaten in an attempt to expel the Portuguese--and though these provinces were, at the period of my a.s.suming the command, in the uninterrupted occupation of the very Portuguese fleets and armies afterwards expelled, it was falsely pretended that the property captured was not enemy's property--though expressly described as such in numerous Imperial decrees--and more especially by the instructions given to me by His Imperial Majesty to seize or destroy it wherever found.

It was, in short, subsequently decided by a Court of Admiralty--for the most part composed of Portuguese members, acting under the influence of a Portuguese faction in the Administration--that neither myself nor the squadron were ent.i.tled to the prizes made--though most inconsistently, the same tribunal condemned the ships of war taken--as "_droits_" to the crown--for which, compensation was awarded to the squadron by His Imperial Majesty, but never paid by the ministers to whom the order was directed.

Not to antic.i.p.ate the contents of the volume devoted to Brazilian affairs. It being found after the expulsion of the enemy, that the stipulations made with myself were too binding to be easily set aside, several futile attempts were made to evade them, but this being found impossible, the unworthy expedient was resorted to of summarily dismissing me from the service, after the establishment of peace with Portugal--an event entirely consequent on my individual services. By this expedient--of the rect.i.tude or otherwise of which the reader will be able to judge from the doc.u.mentary evidence laid before him--I was got rid of without compensation for my claims, which for thirty years were altogether repudiated; but, at the expiration of that period, fully recognised as _having been due from the beginning!_ The Brazilian Government, however, satisfied its own sense of justice by awarding me less than _one-half the simple interest of the amount stipulated in my patents_; thus retaining the whole of the princ.i.p.al admitted to be due.

The preceding remarks form a _synopsis_ of my career on both sides of the continent of South America; the narrative, where dispute might arise, being carefully founded on, and in all cases accompanied by doc.u.mentary evidence, which admits neither dispute nor contradiction.

The trifling amount awarded by Chili, would probably not have been granted at all, but for the earnest remonstrance of Lord Palmerston, warmly seconded by the efforts of the Hon. Mr. Jerningham, British Minister to the Chilian Republic, by whose joint exertions the Government was induced to admit--that national honour was involved in fulfilling national obligations; though an infinitesimal view of either the one or the other was certainly taken when awarding me the insignificant sum previously mentioned.

In Brazil the case was somewhat different. It is to His present Imperial Majesty, Don Pedro II. that I owe any investigation of my claims, by the appointment of a Commission (_Seccoes_), which reported that they ought never to have been withheld, as being my stipulated right. But even the limited amount awarded in consequence of this decision, was on the point of being further diminished one half by its projected payment in a depreciated currency--and, had it not been for the intervention of Lord Clarendon, and of the Hon. Mr. Scarlett, British Minister at Rio de Janeiro, of whose zealous exertions in my favour I cannot speak too warmly--this further injustice would have been perpetrated without the knowledge or sanction of His present Imperial Majesty.

It may be asked, why--with the clear doc.u.mentary evidence in my possession--and now adduced--I have for so many years endured an amount of obloquy and injustice, which might at any time have been set aside by its publication? The reply is obvious. The withholding of my claims by the Governments of both sides the South American Continent, and the ruinous expense to which I was put on account of Chili, entailed upon me many years of pecuniary difficulty. To have told even the truth--unbacked as I then was, by the British Government--would have been to have all my claims set at defiance, so that compulsory discretion was a sufficient reason for my silence. It was long before I could induce a British Minister to satisfy himself of the rect.i.tude of my conduct--the soundness of my claims--or the dishonesty of those who, believing me to be powerless, laughed at reiterated demands for my stipulated rights. Yet more I have never sought from those to whom I gave liberty and dominion.

There is, however, a reason for the present publication, of which I have never lost sight. Amidst all the injustice which it has been my lot to sustain, I have ever determined--for the sake of my family--to whom my character is an heir-loom--that no obloquy shall follow me to the grave, for none have I merited. On the day these volumes see the light, this resolution will be partially fulfilled. On that day I shall have completed the eighty-third year of a career strangely chequered, yet not undistinguished; and, therefore, the opinions of either Chilians or Brazilians are now of small moment to me in comparison with a reputation which has been demmed worthy of belonging to history. None of the present ruling powers in either Chili or Brazil can possibly be offended with me for giving a guardedly temperate doc.u.mentary narrative of what must hereafter form the basis of their national annals. I do not for a moment contemplate that men of enlightened views such as now direct the affairs of both countries have either part or sympathy with self-interested adventurers who in popular revolutions too often rise to the surface, and for a time make confusion worse confounded; till replaced--as a matter of course, no less than by necessity--by men of greater grasp of mind and more exalted aspirations.

But this is as it maybe--my reputation as a British seaman is to me of the highest moment, and it shall not be sullied after my death by the aspersions of those who wilfully revenged the thwarting of their anti-Imperial designs, by imputations which can alone enter into the minds of men devoid of generous impulses and therefore incapable of appreciating higher motives. I have not followed their example, but where it is necessary to bring forward such persons--they will be viewed through the medium of their own doc.u.ments, which are incontestible and irresistible, and which would as easily convict me of untruth as they convict my maligners of practices unworthy the honour of a nation.

To my own countrymen these volumes can scarcely be matter of indifference; though, perhaps, few reflect that the numerous fleets of British merchantmen which now frequent both sh.o.r.es of South America, are the consequence of the deliverance of these vast territories from an exclusive colonial yoke. It is true that England had previously formed a treaty with Portugal, permitting English vessels to trade to her South American Colonies, but such was the influence of Portuguese merchants with the local governments, that it was nearly inoperative; so that, practically, the Portuguese were in the exclusive possession of that commerce which my expulsion of the fleet and army of the mother country unreservedly threw open to British enterprise. The same, even in a higher degree, may be said with regard to Chili and Peru.

Yet, scarcely had my mission to Chili become known, than the influence of Spain induced the British Ministry to pa.s.s a "Foreign Enlistment Act," the penal clauses of which were evidently aimed at me, for having entered into the service of unacknowledged governments without permission--though I had shortly before been most unjustly driven from the service of my native country.

In blind animosity towards me, my former English persecutors failed to perceive the advantage to British commerce, of freeing both sides of South America from lingering war and internal dissension. An amusing instance of this occurred on my return to England. Having occasion to wait upon the then Attorney-General relative to a patent which I had in hand, he brusquely inquired "_whether I was not afraid to appear before him?_" On my replying that "I was not aware of having reason to fear appearing in the presence of any man," he told me the question had been officially put to him, whether I could be punished under the "Foreign Enlistment Act," for the part I had taken in the liberation of Chili, Peru, and Brazil? To this I replied, that "if Government was indiscreet enough further to persecute me for having thrown open to British commerce the largest field for enterprise of modern times, they could take what steps they chose, for that I, having accepted service in South America before the pa.s.sing of the Act, was not afraid of the consequences of having infringed its provisions." It is almost needless to say that no such prosecution was inst.i.tuted, though the will was good, despite the national benefits conferred.

I will not enter farther into the subject in a preface to volumes which themselves form only a summary of events in which I was a princ.i.p.al actor, but at the same time, one, which I hope will prove satisfactory and decisive. It would have been easy to have dilated the narrative, but my object is solely to leave behind me a faithful record of events which must one day become history, and there is no history like doc.u.mentary history.

To those high personages who have advocated my cause with other nations, the present volume will give satisfaction, as affording additional proof that their advocacy rested upon no visionary basis. To the members of the press, who have adopted the same views, this exposition will be equally satisfactory. To all these I owe the thanks of recognising in me, a love for that service, from which--for a time I was unjustly expelled. It is my intention, if G.o.d spare my life, to add to these Memoirs a narrative of my former experience in the British navy, and, what may be of greater utility, an exposition of that which, from jealousy and other causes no less unworthy, _I was not permitted to effect_. To these I shall add a few remarks upon my connexion with the liberation of Greece, developing some remarkable facts, which have as yet escaped the notice of historians. These reminiscences of the past will, at least, be instructive to future generations and if any remarks of mine will conduce to the permanent greatness and security of my country, I shall deem the residue of my life well spent in recording them.

At my advanced age, such a task as that now partially executed, would, perhaps, have presented insuperable difficulties, but for the a.s.sistance rendered me by Mr. Earp, who, with great perseverance, has unravelled--what, in the lapse of time, had become the almost inextricable confusion of my papers. That, however, has, with his a.s.sistance, been accomplished in such a way as to base upon original doc.u.ments every incident contained in the work--the more important of these doc.u.ments being adduced, so as to admit of neither doubt nor question. The same course will be pursued in the forthcoming English portion of my career, with a result, I trust, equally clear and convincing.

DUNDONALD.

CHAPTER I.

INVITATION TO TAKE COMMAND OF CHILIAN NAVY--ARRIVAL AT VALPARAISO--FIRST EXPEDITION TO PERU--ATTACK ON SPANISH SHIPPING AT CALLAO--DEPARTURE FOR HUACHO--CAPTURE OF SPANISH CONVOYS OF MONEY--PAITA TAKEN--RETURN TO VALPARAISO TO REORGANIZE THE SQUADRON--OFFER TO GIVE UP MY SHARE OF PRIZEMONEY TO THE REPUBLIC--THIS OFFER DECLINED BY THE SUPREME DIRECTOR--POPULAR CONGRATULATIONS--ATTEMPT ON LADY COCHRANE'S LIFE.

In the year 1817, Don Jose Alvarez, accredited agent of the government of Chili--as yet unacknowledged by European powers--applied to me to undertake the organization of a naval force in that country, capable of contending against the Spaniards; who, notwithstanding the successful revolt of the Chilenos by land, still maintained their predominance on the waters of the Pacific.

Having at that time no professional employment, in consequence of my unjust expulsion from the British naval service, by the machinations of the powerful political party which I had offended--and finding that Chili was making great efforts to create a navy, in furtherance of which object a war steamer had been placed on the stocks in London--I accepted the invitation, engaging to superintend her building and equipment, and to take her to Valparaiso when completed.

Meanwhile, Alvarez received orders from his Government, that, if his proposals had been accepted, no time must be lost in my departure, as the position of Chili was critical, the Spaniards threatening Valparaiso by sea, and being still in possession of the continent from Conception to Chiloe, where they were organizing the savage Indian tribes to carry desolation into the newly emanc.i.p.ated provinces. Reliable information had also been received, that the Court of Madrid was making strenuous efforts to recover its lost possessions by a powerful reinforcement to its Pacific squadron, against which the Chileno ships of war, in their present state, were not in a condition to contend.

Alvarez therefore begged me not to wait for the steamer, the completion and equipment of which he would hasten, but at once to sail for Chili in the _Rose_ merchantman, then on the eve of departure. Knowing that the whole of Peru was in the hands of the Spaniards, and that they were also in possession of Valdivia, the strongest fortified harbour to the southward--from both of which there would be considerable difficulty in dislodging them after the arrival of the antic.i.p.ated reinforcements--I embarked without delay; and on the 28th of November, 1818, landed at Valparaiso, accompanied by Lady Cochrane and our two children.

Our reception, both from the authorities and the people, was enthusiastic, the Supreme Director, General O'Higgins, coming from the seat of Government, Santiago, to welcome us. This excellent man was the son of an Irish gentleman of distinction in the Spanish service, who had occupied the important position of Viceroy of Peru. The son had, however, joined the patriots, and whilst second in command had not long before inflicted a signal defeat upon the Spaniards in the interior; in reward for which service the grat.i.tude of the nation had elevated him to the Supreme Directorate.

A variety of _fetes_ was given at Valparaiso in honour of our arrival, these being prolonged for so many days as to amount to a waste of time.

The same scenes were, however, re-enacted at the distant capital, whither the Supreme Director insisted on taking us, till I had to remind His Excellency that our purpose was rather fighting than feasting.

Nevertheless, the reception we had met impressed me with so high a sense of Chilian hospitality, that, heartbroken as I had been by the infamous persecution which had driven me from the British navy, I decided upon Chili as my future home; this decision, however, being only an exemplification of the proverb _"L'homme propose--Dieu dispose."_

The Chilian squadron had just returned from a successful cruise, the gallant Admiral Blanco Encalada, who commanded it, having captured a n.o.ble Spanish 50-gun frigate, the _Maria Isabel_, in the bay of Talcahuano.

The squadron consisted of the recently captured Spanish frigate, now named the _O'Higgins_, in honour of the Supreme Director; the _San Martin_, 56 guns, formerly the _c.u.mberland_ Indiaman, which had been bought into the service; the _Lautaro_, 44 guns, also a purchased Indiaman; the _Galvarino_, 18 guns, recently the British sloop of war _Hecate_; the _Chacabuco_, 20 guns; and the _Aracauno_, 16 guns; a force which, though deficient in organization and equipment, was very creditable to the energy of a newly emanc.i.p.ated people.

A few days after my arrival a commission was issued, conferring upon me the t.i.tle of "Vice-Admiral of Chili, Admiral and Commander in Chief of the Naval Forces of the Republic." Admiral Blanco, with patriotic liberality, relinquishing his position in my favour, though, from his recent achievement, justly ent.i.tled to retain it; paying me also the additional compliment of personally announcing to the ships' companies the change which had been effected.

My advent was regarded by the captains of the squadron with great jealousy, the more so, as I had brought with me from England officers upon whom I could place implicit reliance. It so happened that two of the Chilian commanders, Captains Guise and Spry, had shortly before arrived from England with the _Hecate_, which had been sold out of the British navy, and bought by them on speculation. The Buenos Ayrean Government having declined to purchase her, they had brought her on to Chili, where the Government took her and received her former owners into its service. These officers, together with Captain Worcester, a North American, got up a cabal, the object of which was to bring about a divided command between myself and Admiral Blanco, or, as they expressed it--"two commodores and no Cochrane." Finding that Admiral Blanco would not listen to this, they persuaded one or two of the inferior ministers--whose jealousy it was not difficult to excite--that it was dangerous and discreditable to a republican Government to allow a n.o.bleman and a foreigner to command its navy, and still more so, to allow him to retain his t.i.tle; the object being to place Admiral Blanco in the chief command, with myself as his second--by which arrangement, as he had not been accustomed to manage British seamen, they expected to control him as they pleased. Admiral Blanco, however, insisted on reversing our positions, offering his services as second in command, in which arrangement I gladly acquiesced. This insignificant squabble would not be worth narrating, but for its bearing on subsequent events; as well as enabling me to confer a pleasing testimony to the patriotic disinterestedness of Admiral Blanco, who is still one of the brightest ornaments of the Republic which he so eminently aided to establish.

On the 22nd of December my flag was hoisted on board the _O'Higgins_, after which the greatest despatch was used to get the squadron ready for sea. Anxious to avoid delay, on the 16th of January I sailed with four ships only, the _O'Higgins, San Martin, Lautaro,_ and _Chacabuco_; leaving Admiral Blanco to follow with the _Gaharino, Aracauno,_ and _Puyrredon_. A mutiny having broken out on board the _Chacabuco_, it became necessary to enter Coquimbo, where the leading mutineers were landed, tried, and punished.

I shall here narrate an incident which occurred on our departure. Lady Cochrane, with her children, had returned from Santiago to Valparaiso, to take leave of me on embarkation. She had just gone ash.o.r.e, and the last gun had been fired to summon all hands on board, when, hearing a loud _hurrah_ near the house where she resided, she went to the window, and saw our little boy--now Lord Cochrane, but then scarcely more than five years old--mounted on the shoulders of my flag-lieutenant, waving his tiny cap over the heads of the people, and crying out with all his might, _"Viva la patria!"_ the mob being in a frenzied state of excitement.

The child had slipped out of Lady Cochrane's house with the officer, insisting on being carried to his father; with which request the lieutenant, nothing loth, complied. To the horror of Lady Cochrane, she saw her boy hurried down to the beach amidst the shouts of the mult.i.tude, and, before she could interfere, placed in a boat and rowed off to the flag-ship, which was at the time under weigh, so that he could not be sent ash.o.r.e again; there being no alternative but to take him with us, though without clothes--which were afterwards made for him by the sailors--and with no other attendance save that which their rough but kindly natures could administer.

On our way along the coast we received information that the _Antonio_ was about to sail from Callao for Cadiz, with a considerable amount of treasure, so that, in the hope of intercepting her, we cruized just out of sight of the port till the 21st of February. As she did not make her appearance, preparations were made to put in execution a plan which had been formed to attack the Spanish shipping during the Carnival, when, in the height of that festival, less vigilance than ordinary might reasonably be expected. We had previously ascertained that the naval force in the harbour consisted of the frigates _Esmeralda_ and _Venganza_, a corvette, three brigs of war, a schooner, twenty-eight gun-boats, and six heavily-armed merchantmen; the whole being moored close in under the batteries, which mounted upwards of 160 guns, whilst the aggregate force of the shipping was 350 guns, as appeared from an official account of their armament.

A direct attack with our small force seemed, therefore, a thing not at present to be attempted; but in its place I had formed the design to cut out the frigates during the carnival, which terminated on the 23rd.

Knowing that two North American ships of war were daily expected at Callao, it was arranged to take in the _O'Higgins_ and _Lautaro_, under American colours, leaving the _San Martin_ out of sight behind San Lorenzo, and if the _ruse_ were successful, to make a feint of sending a boat ash.o.r.e with despatches, and in the meantime suddenly to dash at the frigates, and cut them out. Unfortunately, one of those thick fogs, so common on the Peruvian coast, arose, in which the _Lautaro_ parted company, and did not rejoin the flag-ship for four days afterwards, when the carnival being at an end, our plan was rendered abortive.

The fog, which in the climate of Peru often continues for a considerable length of time, lasted till the 29th, when hearing heavy firing, and imagining that one of the ships was engaged with the enemy, I stood with the flag-ship into the bay; the other ships, imagining the same thing, also steered in the direction of the firing, when the fog clearing for a moment, we discovered each other, as well as a strange sail near us; which, when taken possession of by the flag-ship, proved to be a Spanish gun-boat, with a lieutenant and twenty men, who, on being made prisoners, informed us that the firing was a salute in honour of the Viceroy, who had that morning been on a visit of inspection to the batteries and shipping, and was then on board the brig of war _Pezuela_, which we saw crowding sail in the direction of the batteries.

The fog again coming on, suggested to me the possibility of a direct attack, which, if not altogether successful, would give the Spaniards such an idea of our determination of purpose, as would inspire them with respect for the Chilian squadron, and might induce their ships to refrain from the protection of their commerce; in which case a blockade would prevent the necessity of separating our small force in chase of them, should they evince a desire of getting to sea.

Accordingly, still maintaining our disguise under American colours, the _O'Higgins_ and _Lautaro_ stood towards the batteries, narrowly escaping going ash.o.r.e in the fog. The Viceroy having no doubt witnessed the capture of the gun-boat, had, however, provided for our reception, the garrison being at their guns, and the crews of the ships of war at their quarters. Notwithstanding the great odds, I determined to persist in an attack, as our withdrawing without firing a shot, would produce an effect upon the minds of the Spaniards the reverse of that intended; having sufficient experience in war to know that moral effect, even if the result of a degree of temerity, will not unfrequently supply the place of superior force.

The wind falling light, I did not venture on laying the flag-ship and the _Lautaro_ alongside the Spanish frigates, as at first intended, but anch.o.r.ed with springs on our cables, abreast of the shipping, which was arranged in a half-moon of two lines, the rear rank being judiciously disposed so as to cover the intervals of the ships in the front line. A dead calm succeeding, we were for two hours exposed to a heavy fire from the batteries, in addition to that from the two frigates, the brigs _Pezuela_ and _Maypeu_, and seven or eight gun-boats; nevertheless, the northern angle of one of the princ.i.p.al forts was silenced by our fire.

A breeze springing up, we weighed anchor, standing to and fro in front of the batteries, and returning their fire; when Captain Guise, who commanded the _Lautaro_, being severely wounded, that ship sheered off, and never again came within range. As from want of wind, or doubt of the result, neither the _San Martin_ nor _Chacabuco_ had ever got within fire, the flag-ship was thus left alone to continue the action; but as this, from want of co-operation on the part of the other ships, was useless, I was reluctantly compelled to relinquish the attack, and withdrew to the island of San Lorenzo, about three miles distant from the forts; the Spaniards, though nearly quadruple our numbers, exclusive of their gun-boats, not venturing to follow us.

The annexed was the Spanish naval force present: _Frigates_.--Esmeralda, 44 guns; Venganza, 42 guns; Sebastiana, 28 guns.