| Battle of Callao | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theChincha Islands War | |||||||
 Spanish ships exchange fire with Peruvian coastal defenses at the Battle of Callao. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Spain |  Peru | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Casto Méndez Núñez | Mariano I. Prado | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1ironclad 5frigates 1corvette | 2 small ironclads 3gunboats 52 shore-based guns 3,000 infantry and cavalry | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 43 killed; 83 wounded; 68 lightly wounded;[1][2][3] | Sources vary: 180–200 killed and wounded[4][5] 83[6]– 90 killed; 260 wounded[7] +350 killed[8] 2,000 killed and wounded[9] | ||||||
  Battle of Callao (Peru) Show map of Peru Battle of Callao (South America) Show map of South America | |||||||
TheBattle of Callao (Spanish:Combate del Dos de Mayo, as it is known in South America) occurred on May 2, 1866, between aSpanish fleet under the command ofAdmiralCasto Méndez Núñez and the fortified battery emplacements of thePeruvian port city ofCallao during theChincha Islands War. The Spanish fleet bombarded the port of Callao (or El Callao), and eventually withdrew without any notable damage to the city structures, according to the Peruvian and American sources; or after having silenced almost all the guns of the coastal defenses, according to the Spanish accounts and French observers. This proved to be the final battle of the war between Spanish and Peruvian forces.
PresidentJuan Antonio Pezet assumed the presidency of Peru in April 1863, at a time when Spain was making efforts to recover some prestige by recovering its lost colonies in America. Spain began its campaign by seizing theChincha Islands, which were rich inguano, and demandingindemnity as recompense for the murder of two Spanish citizens inLambayeque.[10][page needed]
Vacillating, President Pezet began removing vast quantities of Peru's guano deposits to give to Spain when Spanish ships threatened Callao and the neighboring coastline. Pezet believed that Peru's naval forces were much too weak to challenge the Spanish fleet.[citation needed] In November 1865, in a moment of nationalism, ColonelMariano Ignacio Prado seized power from Pezet after a coup, and organized an effective defense against Spanish aggression that culminated with the Battle of Callao.[citation needed]
After the indecisiveBattle of Abtao in February 1866, Spanish AdmiralCasto Méndez Núñez decided to take punitive action against South American ports, his first target being the undefended Chilean port ofValparaíso. The neutral British and American naval commanders in Chilean waters were unable to prevent this action, and the Spanish bombarded the town and destroyed the Chilean merchant fleet.[11]
Núñez continued afterward for Spain by attacking a strong port and went with his fleet towards the well-defended Peruvian port of Callao.[citation needed] The battle, starting on May 2, was characterized by arduous, long-range combat withironclads utilized by both sides. Observing the combat wereAmerican,British andFrench ships.[citation needed]
The Spaniards arrived at Callao, on April 25, with seven warships and seven auxiliary ships carrying 252 guns, most of them (126 pieces) 68-pounder cannons.[12] The Spanish ships included the ironcladNumancia and the steam frigatesReina Blanca,Resolución,Berenguela,Villa de Madrid,Almansa and the armored corvetteVencedora. A V-shaped formation characterized the Spanish fleet, with the smaller ships on the back. This was one of the most formidable fleets that had assembled up to that point in the waters of the American Pacific Ocean.[13]
Prior to the battle, Peruvian presidentMariano Ignacio Prado rallied and mobilized the military and the townspeople against Spain. The strong forts and batteries of the stronghold at Callao, which had once repelledSir Francis Drake andJohn Hawkins, were reinforced with five heavy British-made 22-tonBlakely rifles. Moreover, fourArmstrong guns were placed in two armoured turrets,Junín andLa Merced, both protected with a 10-centimetre (3.9 in) thick iron belt. The Armstrong and the Blakely guns were the most potent cannons of the time, and they were a national pride for Peru.[14][page needed] In total, the Peruvians had 52 guns and 13 additional guns mounted on the warshipsColon,Tumbes, andSachaca. Also, Peru had two locally built ironclads: The Confederate-style casemated ram ironcladLoa and the monitorVictoria, as well as infantry and cavalry.[15]
The Spanish fleet, forming a V-shaped line of attack, entered into the bay at 10:00 hours, and formed two lines of battle: In the north, the ironcladNumancia and the frigatesAlmansa andResolución, while the frigatesVilla de Madrid,Berenguela andReina Blanca moved south. The rest of the fleet, including the corvetteVencedora, remained back near theisland of San Lorenzo. TheNumancia, one of the largest ships at the time, went forward in order to begin the attack.[16][unreliable source?]
At 11:50 hours, the ironcladNumancia opened fire on the defenses. The Peruvian fortSanta Rosa fired back soon after. No shot hit the Spanish warships, so the guns had to be recalibrated; a loss of time that could have been avoided if the Peruvian artillery had begun firing over the Spanish ships while they were taking up positions. When the batteries resumed their fire, a shot hitNumancia, injuring Nuñez.[17] The ship, however, suffered no damage thanks to its armor.[17][18] TheCañón del Pueblo, a 500-pound Blakely gun, became unusable as the heavy recoil derailed it.
The Spanish frigateVilla de Madrid, meantime, was hit by a Blakely 450-pound projectile, which inflicted 35 casualties and destroyed her boilers.[19] The ship had to be towed out of the battle by the corvetteVencedora, while she fired over 200 shots on the Peruvian forts during the maneuver.[19][20]Berenguela, pierced side-to-side at the waterline by an Armstrong 300-pound projectile, was also forced to retreat. She had silenced all the Armstrong guns fromJunín's armoured turret.[21] Also, the frigateAlmansa was hit by another shot at 14:30, resulting in the deaths of 13 crewman and causing an explosion of her powder room, thus forcing her to retreat.[17] Half an hour later, having made the necessary repairs, she returned to her position and resumed the action against the Peruvians.[20][21]
By this time, there was heavy fire from both sides. A Spanish shot fromBlanca hit the armored turretLa Merced, destroying it and killing or injuring 93 men, including PeruvianMinister of War and NavyJosé Gálvez Egúsquiza and colonels Cornelio Borda and Enrique Montes.[22]Chacabuco battery was also affected, losing several cannons and a great number of its volunteer crew, as well asSanta Rosa andPinchicha forts.[22] In the first one was wounded Ship's captain Muñón, and the second one lost two cannons.[22] In addition,Maipú andIndependencia batteries had been completely silenced.[22] The Peruvian sustained then heavy casualties, as many of the 3,000 infantry and cavalry troops present during the battle had been entrenched outside the forts to prevent an alleged Spanish attempt of landing, suffering the gunfire ofNumancia,Almansa,Resolución andVencedora.[23][24]
At 16:00, having been repelled the small Peruvian fleet under Lizardo Montero, which approached the Spanish twice, only 12 or 14 of Santa Rosa fort guns responded yet to the Spanish fire.[25] One of their shots hitBlanca, killing eight men and injuringCaptain Topete.[25] At 17:00, nevertheless,Santa Rosa's guns had been reduced to three.[25][26] The badly wounded Núñez then ordered the fleet to suspend the fire.[23] The Spanish crews, having sustained heavy damage and it being impossible for them to fight any longer, retreated from the battlefield. The battle was finished. The badly battered Spanish ships remained for several days on San Lorenzo island, taking care of their wounded and their repairs.
On the Spanish side the bombardment was seen as a victory. According to Admiral Méndez Nuñez, almost all of the coastal batteries were silenced during the engagement and only three guns of Santa Rosa's fort were still making fire when the Spanish fleet left the battlefield. He also reported that those last shots were fired without ammunition,[27] which was confirmed by the Captain of theFrench corvetteVenus, who was present during the battle.[27] Shortly after, the French newspaperLa Presse published a new portraying the bombardment as a Spanish victory:
The news from Callao, May 9, give the following details about the bombing of this place. On May 2 the Spanish fleet attacked Callao and its formidable batteries armed with 90 guns, among them Armstrong[type]. At the time that the shelling ceased with the day only three Peruvian guns continued their fire. All the armored batteries had been placed out of action. The victorious fleet then ceased its fire, shouting "Long life to the Queen!"
— La Presse, Paris, June 14, 1866.[28]
On early June the news of the victory were celebrated in Spain with great festivities, whose benefits went to the widows and orphans of those who were killed in combat. Méndez Núñez was awarded with theGrand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Order of Carlos III and was promoted toLieutenant General. The commanding officers of the ships involved on the combat were also promoted and their crews received double pay. In honor to them, on 20 July 1866, before theBattle of Lissa, theAustrian AdmiralWilhelm von Tegetthoff harangued his crews shouting"Let's imitate the Spanish at Callao!"[29][30]
On the other hand, the Peruvians celebrated the battle as a victory, claiming that they had stopped the Spanish from trying to re-colonize South America.[31] In a private letter dated on May 3, 1866; an American eyewitness, T.H. Nelson, wrote:
"The damages caused to Callao are barely noticeable. The [Peruvian] batteries occupied the [Spanish] squad so much that there was no time to bombard the city." In fact, after the battle, the hyped up and surprising situation was so big that American and British troops witnessing the battle joined the cheers of "Viva el Perú!"[This quote needs a citation]
In 1870, former U.S. generalAlvin Peterson Hovey, member of the United States legation to Perú, described the battle as inconclusive but glorious for both countries in a letter to theU.S. Secretary of StateHamilton Fish:
But the battle came on, on the glorious "Dos de Mayo," for so both Spain and Peru call it, and the fleet bore bravely up toward the forts, reaching within three-quarters of a mile. Then, as they were gallantly exchanging shots, two torpedoes exploded and threw columns of water at least 150 feet in the air. The whole Spanish fleet retired and fought at long range for the remainder of the day. Such was the cause of the success or defeat that followed this action, so glorious both to Peru and Spain. On the part of Peru it will be a feast day forever, and on the part of Spain the Duke of Callao claimed his title for this victory!
— Mr. Alvin P. Hovey to Mr. Fish. Lima, Perú, August 22, 1870.[32]
A couple of months after the battle, the famed ironclad ships of theWar of the Pacific,Huáscar andIndependencia, were added to the Peruvian fleet. While the war still remained without a peace settlement, the Peruvians contemplated the idea of invading thePhilippines to ward off the Spanish ships that were in the area. The Peruvian Government hired CommodoreJohn Randolph Tucker, who had outshone himself in theAmerican Civil War fighting for theConfederate States of America. Nonetheless, several Peruvian officers, led by CaptainLizardo Montero, includingMiguel Grau Seminario,Aurelio García y García and others felt insulted at such a decision since they felt that they had shown they were just as capable as any other officers to lead and win a naval battle and resigned to their command commissions. At the end, the idea was abandoned, but Tucker found another important job in the exploring and mapping the Peruvian Amazon.[33] This event, along with the fear of a Spanish attack from the Atlantic due to the presence in South American waters of the Spanish frigatesBlanca,Resolución,Villa de Madrid,Almansa,Concepción, andNavas de Tolosa along with the capture on August 22 of the unassigned Chilean corvetteTornado by the Spanish frigateGerona prevented the expedition against the Philippines.[34] The Spanish expedition in the Pacific officially ended in 1868,[35] but the peace was not signed until 1879.
TheCallao Square in Madrid and, subsequently, theCallao Metro Madrid station are named after this battle.
