TheFort System of Valdivia (Spanish:Sistema de fuertes de Valdivia) is a series ofSpanish colonial fortifications atCorral Bay,Valdivia andCruces River established to protect the city ofValdivia, in southernChile. During theperiod of Spanish rule (1645–1820), it was one of the biggest systems of fortification inthe Americas.[1] It was also a major supply source for Spanish ships that crossed theStrait of Magellan.
Building of the fort system began in 1645 and was overhauled after theSeven Years' War (1756–1763) by themilitary engineersJuan Garland andManuel Olaguer Feliú. Having been a first-rate fort system in Spanish America, in the 18th century it was overshadowed by the forts ofCartagena de Indias,Havana andPuerto Rico.[2] The Valdivian Fort System was however still the main coastal fortification on Spanish America's Pacific coast.[2]
During its existence the fort system has seen hostilities twice; first in 1670 when it dealt with asuspicious English expedition led byJohn Narborough and finally in 1820 when Chilean patriots led byThomas Cochrane successfullycaptured it.[3]
The first European to visitValdivia River's estuary was theGenoese captainJuan Bautista Pastene, who took possession of it in 1544 in the name of the Spanish king,Carlos I. He named the river after the Governor of ChilePedro de Valdivia.[4] Pedro de Valdivia later traveled by land to the river described by Pastene, and founded the city of Valdivia in 1552 asSanta María la Blanca de Valdivia.[4]
On 23 December nativeMapuche warriors led byPelantaro ambushed and wiped out a Spanish column at theBattle of Curalaba. In 1598 a general uprising developed among the Mapuche andHuilliche people of southern Chile. The subsequentArauco War was to smolder for over 250 years but its immediate effect was the so-called "Destruction of the Seven Cities": the Spanish cities ofAngol,La Imperial,Osorno,Santa Cruz de Oñez,Valdivia andVillarrica were either destroyed or abandoned.[5] OnlyChillán andConcepción resisted the Mapuche sieges and attacks.[6] With the exception of theChiloé Archipelago all the Chilean territory south of Bío Bío River became free of Spanish rule.[5] The abandoned city of Valdivia turned into an attractive site for Spain's enemies to control since it would allow them to establish a base amidst Spain's Chilean possessions.[7]
In 1600 localHuilliches joined the DutchcorsairBaltazar de Cordes in attacking the Spanish settlement ofCastro in Chiloé.[8][9] While this was an opportunistic assault, the Spanish correctly believed the Dutch could attempt to ally with the Mapuches and establish a stronghold in southern Chile.[10] Over time the Spanish became aware of actual Dutch plans to establish themselves at the ruins of Valdivia and so attempted to re-establish Spanish rule there before the arrival of the Dutch.[11] These efforts were thwarted in the 1630s by the impossibility of establishing an overland route through the territory of the hostile Mapuches. The ruins of Valdivia, at the head of its splendid natural harbour, remained a tempting target for Spain's enemies.[11]
In 1643 the Dutch arrived at the ruins and settled in the zone, planning to use Valdivia as a base for attacks on theSpanish Empire. After some conflicts with theMapuche Indians of the zone, the Dutch had to leave Valdivia.
Unaware of the Dutch departureGovernor of ChileFrancisco López de Zúñiga dispatched Juan de Acevedo in charge of a ship to Valdivia to gather information on April 30, 1644. De Acevedo reachedCorral Bay by May noticing that the Dutch were nowhere to be found.[12][13] Having heard from the now pro-Spanish Mapuche chiefJuan Manqueante that the Dutch planned to return, Pedro de Toledo conceived an occupation of Valdivia by a synchronous advance by the Spanish army in Chile by land and by a fleet sent from Peru.[14] De Toledo ordered 2,000 men to march over land from Central Chile to resettle Valdivia and fortify it. These troops penetrated Mapuche territory following the coast south and reachedToltén River on February 9, 1645.[14] Reaching so far south was a feat in itself since the Spanish had not been around these places in the last 50 years.[14] At this point the army had met considerable harassment from the Mapuches.[14] The killing of scouting auxiliaries in conjunction with uncertainty regarding the arrival by sea of the Spanish from Peru made López de Zúñiga retreat back north.[14][A] De Toledo's naval expedition was made up of twenty ships and 1,000 men fromEl Callao in Peru. The large fleet, which gained a further two ships in Chile, was unprecedented in the region and astounded contemporary observers. It arrived at Valdivia in February 1645 without incident and disembarked the soldiers with their equipment and supplies. The Spanish disinterred andburned Brouwer's body.[15][16]
The soldiers of the new garrison and the artisans dispatched with them commenced construction of a system of defensive fortifications. These would become the Valdivian Fort System, the most important defensive complex of the American South Pacific coast. It is an exceptional example of the Hispanic-American school of fortification.[15] Spanish authorities had convicts from all-over theViceroyalty of Peru sent to build the fort system, with the Spanish settlements in Corral Bay effectively becomingpenal colonies.[17] To avoid prisoner escapes the Spanish reached agreements with local Mapuches paying them for the recovery of fugitives.[17] The convicts, many of whom wereAfro-Peruvians, became later soldier-settlers once they had served their sentence.[17] A 1749 census in Valdivia shows that Afro-descendants had a strong presence in the area.[17] In the 17th century Spanish soldiers lived together with localMapuche in the fort, some of whom wereslaves.[3] Close contacts with the Mapuches made that many soldiers and prisoners had a certain command ofMapuche language.[3]
The building and maintenance of the fortifications was a heavy burden for the Spanish colonial finances but this was felt necessary in order to defend the southern approaches to Peru, the colony which, along with Mexico, constituted the main source of wealth for the Spanish Crown.[15] Investments in the defense of Corral Bay were validated in 1670 when a fully armed ship commanded byJohn Narborough arrived to the bay rising suspicions of an imminent English attack.[3]
AsFutahuillimapu and the whole area between Valdivia and the settlements ofCalbuco andCarelmapu remained independent indigenous territory closed to the Spanish, the Spanish had to rely on hearsay for information. This lack of concrete knowledge of the territory fueled substantial speculations about themythicalCity of the Caesars among Valdivians.[3]
In the second half of the 18th century, a thorough plan was carried forward for restoring and improving the fortresses. The engineers José Birt andJuan Garland were commissioned for the task. The defensive complex of Valdivia reached the point of having 17 bastions, with surveillance installations, castles, fortresses and batteries. This complex would exert during the Colony a thoroughly efficacious deterrent effect, since, in fact, it frustrated the raids of the rival powers.
With Spain and Great Britain at war again in the 1770s due to theAmerican Revolutionary War local Spanish authorities in Chile received in 1779 the warning that a British fleet commanded byEdward Hughes was heading to Chilean coasts for an imminent attack. As consequence, theViceroyalty of Peru send economic aid to the garrisons atValparaíso andValdivia. The suspected attack did however never happen.[18]
A varied list of 18th-century and early 19th-century authors in Chile, Spain and the rest of Europe concurred on the strategic importance of Valdivia and its harbour.[19][20][21] A notable dissident was the Governor of OsornoJuan Mackenna who argued in a 1810 report for diminishing the size of the garrison protecting Valdivia and distribute resources aimed at it elsewhere.[22] This report was rebuked byManuel Olaguer Feliú, the chief military engineer involved in the designs of the defences of Valdivia.[22] Mackenna's thesis that controlling fortified positions was unnecessary to conquer a territory was contradicted both by the experiences of thePeninsular War and by Cochrane's decision to attack the Valdivia Fort System itself in 1820.[22] According to historianGabriel Guarda Mackenna was more concerned about controlling resources than of providing valid arguments.[22]
The report of which Mackenna was the author was also signed byJuan Egaña andJosé Samaniego. It came to be strongly disliked by the soldiers of Valdivia once it was known and it contributed to usher a counterrevolutionary coup on March 26, 1812 that took control of the city and created a War Council.[22][4] The War Council broke trade relations with the rest of Chile and confirmed Valdivia's loyalty to the Spanish government.[4][22]
Military engineerManuel Olaguer Feliú thought that the fort of Aguada del Inglés, the same place whereJohn Narborough had approached the coast, would be the landing place for an enemy attack on the fort system.[23][24] For this purpose in Olaguer Feliú's plans this fort had to concentrate most of the troops in case of war.[23]
Lord Cochrane's landing on Aguada del Inglés in 1820 validated the plan of Olaguer Feliú[23][24]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(May 2021) |
The four largest forts in this system were the forts inCorral Bay that controlled the entry toValdivia River, thus Valdivia. Other fortifications were built to defend the city from land attacks (mostly from indigenousHuilliches).
It was located 8 kilometers from the Port of Corral outside the bay. It is the exact fort were the Taking of Valdivia began by lordThomas Alexander Cochrane.