| Battle of Tucapel | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofArauco War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Spanish Empire | Mapuches | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Pedro de Valdivia  | Caupolicán Lautaro | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 55 Spanish soldiers[1] 2,000–5,000yanakuna | More than 50,000 warriors according to Spanish sources, considered exaggerated, modern estimations 10,000[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| All 55 Spaniards killed most of the yanaconas killed | Unknown, but not small[3] | ||||||
TheBattle of Tucapel (also known as theDisaster of Tucapel[citation needed]) is the name given to a battle fought betweenSpanishconquistador forces led byPedro de Valdivia andMapuche (Araucanian) Indians underLautaro that took place atTucapel,Chile on December 25, 1553. Thebattle occurred in the context of the first stage of theArauco War, named the "offensive war" within a larger uprising by Araucanians against the Spanish conquest of Chile. It was a defeat for the Spaniards, resulting in the capture and eventual death of Valdivia.
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The Arauco War was a large scale war that took place in what is now Chilean territory between Spanish conquerors andMapuches.Pedro de Valdivia was the Spanish conqueror, who founded the first cities in Chilean territory. Around 1550, he took a Mapuche man who had offered his services as his servant. The conqueror baptized him as FelipeLautaro. UnderPedro de Valdivia's wing, Lautaro quickly learnedhorse-riding and Spanish military techniques that he would use later in the war that was taking place at the moment. Once he had learned this knowledge, he eventually went back to his village and decided to use these techniques to his advantage. At the same time,Pedro de Valdivia was using a policy of quickly founding cities, and dispersing his forces in the conquered territory. His forces also built numerous forts, like Tucapel and Purén.
Valdivia went on an inspection tour of a group of forts constructed to secure the Chilean interior for the Spanish. He leftConcepción in December 1553 and worked his way south toQuilacoya, where he gathered troops for the march into the restive territory ofArauco. Mapuche spies observed his column from the hills, but merely followed and did not present themselves for battle. Meanwhile, the Mapuche leader Lautaro kept the forces ofGómez de Almagro bottled up in the nearby fort ofPurén through various trickery. He learned through his spies of the southwards movements of Valdivia, and realized that they would probably pass through the fort ofTucapel.
Valdivia became perturbed by the lack of news from Tucapel and by the lack of hostility on the road. On December 24, he decided that he would make for the fort, hoping to find Almagro and his troops there. The tranquility and the occasional sightings of Indians in the distance continued to raise his suspicion, and he sent an advance scouting team of five men under the command ofLuis de Bobadilla to explore the road ahead and return information about the location of the enemy.
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Tucapel fort was located on a hill in the coastal mountain range. In December 1553,Mapuche forces, under the command of the vicetoquiLautaro attacked and destroyed the fort using the battle tactics learned from the Spanish.Pedro de Valdivia had leftConcepción with only 50 soldiers and sent a message to Purén fort to send reinforcements. The message, however, was intercepted by Lautaro's men.
Valdivia received no reports from his leading element, and spent the night a halfday's journey from Tucapel. OnChristmas Day, December 25, 1553, he left early in the morning for the fort, arriving in its vicinity with silence reigning. He found it completely destroyed. Neither Gómez de Almagro nor Bobadilla was anywhere to be found. He decided to make camp amidst the damp ruins of the fort, but the contingent had hardly begun to make preparations when there were shouts from the surrounding forest. Without advance warning, a mass of Mapuche warriors charged out towards the Spanish enclave.
A veteran soldier, Valdivia had time to form and arm his defensive line and repulsed the first attack. The cavalry charged upon the rearguard of the retreating Mapuche force, but the Indians were prepared for this action and reversed the charge withlances. However, with much valor and resolution the Spaniards managed to drive back the resulting Mapuche surge into the forest. The Spaniards savored their temporary victory.
There was still more to come, however. A second squadron of Mapuches attacked, this time armed withmaces and ropes as well as lances, with which they succeeded in dismounting the unfortunate Spanishcaballeros, whom they quickly dragged out of the battlefield once they were on the ground. The Spanish managed to drive them back, but not without leaving many fallen. Then a third group of Mapuches appeared, this time with Lautaro behind it.
Valdivia, aware of the desperate situation due to the Spanish losses and fatigue, gathered together his available men and threw himself into the bitter fight. Already half of the Spanish forces were casualties and the Indian auxiliaries were steadily being reduced. Valdivia, seeing that the fight was lost, ordered the retreat, but Lautaro himself came around the flank and sealed the Spanish fate. The Indians felled every one of the Spaniards, and only Valdivia and the cleric Pozo, who rode the best horses, were able to escape. However, when crossing the swamps the men became bogged down and the Mapuches eventually captured them.
According toJerónimo de Vivar, thetoquiCaupolicán personally ordered the execution of Valdivia, who was killed with a lance and his head, along with those of the two other bravest Spaniards, were put on display.[4]Alonso de Góngora Marmolejo writes Valdivia offered as a ransom for his life that he would evacuate the Spanish settlements in their lands and give them large herds of animals, but this was rejected and the Mapuche cut off his forearms, roasted and ate them in front of him before killing him and the priest.[5]Pedro Mariño de Lobera wrote that Valdivia offered to evacuate the lands of the Mapuche but says he was shortly after killed by a vengeful warrior named Pilmaiquen with a large club, saying Valdivia could not be trusted to keep his word once freed.[6] Lobera also mentioned that a common story in Chile at the time was that Valdivia was killed by giving him the gold that the Spaniards so desired; however, the gold was molten and was poured down Valdivia's throat.[6] According to a later legend, Lautaro took Valdivia to the Mapuche camp and put him to death after three days of torture, extracting his beating heart and eating it with the Mapuche leaders.[citation needed]
Following the battleCaupolicán went on to blockade thecity of Valdivia and the few remaining Spanish settlements in the south of Chile. Lautaro watched the Spanish forces inConcepción, the center of the Spanish power in southern Chile. The Spanish turned into disarray as the succession of the governorship was for a while in dispute between three men.
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Jerónimo de Vivar, Pedro Mariño de Lobera and Alonso de Góngora Marmolejo all were in Chile at the time of this battle and wrote about it from other participants accounts.