Battle of Río Bueno (1654)

 

 

La Serena

 

Mendoza

 

Santiago

 

Chillán

 

Concepción

 

Arauco

 

Nacimiento

 

Boroa

 

Valdivia

 

Cuncos

 

Battle of Río Bueno

 

Carelmapu

 

Castro

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The location of Spanish settlements and forts within the modern boundaries of Chile and Argentina. In red is the land of Cuncos.

Governor of Chile Antonio de Acuña Cabrera arranged the Parliament of Boroa in January 1651.^[3] With this parliament, peace was established between the Spanish and the northern Mapuches.^[4] On 21 March 1651, the Spanish ship San José was sailing to the newly re-established Spanish city of Valdivia^[A] when it was pushed by storms onto coasts inhabited by the Cuncos, a southern Mapuche tribe.^[6] There, the ship ran aground and while most of the crew managed to survive the wreck, nearby Cuncos killed them and took possession of the valuable cargo.^[6][7] The Spanish made fruitless efforts to recover anything left in the wreck.^[7][8] Governor Acuña Cabrera was temporarily dissuaded to send a punitive expedition from Boroa by Jesuits fathers Diego de Rosales and Juan de Moscoso who argued that the murders were committed by a few Indians and warned the governor that renewing warfare would evaporate gains obtained at Boroa.^[7] Punitive expeditions were finally sent against the Cunco, one from Valdivia and one from Carelmapu.^[8][9] Governor of Valdivia Diego González Montero advanced south with his forces but soon found that tribes he expected to join him as allies were indifferent and even misled him with false rumors. His troops ran out of supplies and had to return to Valdivia.^[8] While González Montero was away coastal Huilliches killed twelve Spanish and sending their heads to other Mapuche groups of southern Chile "as if they wanted to create a grand uprising" according to historian Diego Barros Arana.^[8][9] Both Spanish expeditions were meant to meet each other at the Bueno River but the failure of the expedition from Valdivia prevented this.^[8] The expedition from Carelmapu led by Captain Ignacio Carrera Yturgoyen penetrated north to the vicinity of the ruins of Osorno where they were approached by Huilliches who handed over three "caciques", allegedly responsible for the murders.^[8] The Spanish and local Huilliches exchanged words telling each other of the benefits of peace.^[8] Then, the Spanish of Carelmapu executed the three, hanged them in hooks as a warning, and returned south. Spanish soldiers in Concepción, the "military capital"^[10] of Chile, were dissatisfied with the results.^[8][9] Barros Arana considers that some may have pushed for war for personal benefit.^[9]

Acuña Cabrera and his brother-in-law^[2] maestre de campo Juan de Salazar began to plan an expedition to the lands of the Cuncos in the spring of 1653.^[11] It was thought to be a lucrative slave raiding expedition.^[11] Despite a general ban on the slavery of indigenous people by the Spanish Crown, the 1598–1604 Mapuche uprising that ended with the Destruction of the Seven Cities made the King of Spain in 1608 declare slavery legal for those Mapuches caught in war.^[12] Mapuches "rebels" were considered Christian apostates and could therefore be enslaved according to the church teachings of the day.^[13] In reality these legal changes only formalized Mapuche slavery that was already occurring at the time, with captured Mapuches being treated as property in the way that they were bought and sold among the Spanish.^[B] Legalisation made Spanish slave raiding increasingly common in the Arauco War.^[12] Mapuche slaves were exported north to places such as La Serena and Lima.^[15]

To reinforce the expeditionary army, Acuña Cabrera attempted first to revive a practice of military service for local encomenderos; however, the encomenderos refused to obey the order.^[11] Acuña Cabrera ignored this insubordination and proceeded instead to boost the expedition with the purchase of 400 horses in Santiago.^[11]

The Spanish expedition started from the fort of Nacimento in La Frontera with a force of 900 soldiers and 1500 Indian auxiliaries.^[1][11]

 

The Spanish reached the northern shores of east-to-west flowing Bueno River on 11 January 1654.^[11] To cross the river, Salazar ordered the construction of a pontoon bridge.^[2] Local Mapuche-Huilliches had been warned in advance of the Spanish advance south, so they concentrated in large numbers on the opposite shore of the river.^[2] The Mapuche-Huilliche had brought women and children with them, but they remained hidden in the forest, as did also most of the men, only the ones on horseback revealing themselves to the Spanish.^[2] In total, Mapuche-Huilliche forces numbered about 3000 men armed primarily with lances.^[1][2]

Some veteran officers expressed their doubts about Salazar's plans, including the stability of the bridge.^[2] As the pontoon bridge stood ready, Juan de Salazar sent a first force across.^[2] About 200^[1] soldiers that had crossed were quickly surrounded and were being routed, so Salazar ordered the other soldiers to speed up their march across the bridge.^[2] However, the bridge was not stable enough and at this point broke apart with disastrous consequences for the Spanish.^[2] Altogether, the Spanish lost a hundred professional soldiers and two hundred auxiliaries in a battle where the actual fighting was very limited.^[2] Despite these losses, the surviving Spanish managed to get back north to their bases without harassment from the Mapuche.^[2]

When learning about the defeat, governor Acuña Cabrera ordered an investigation into any military misconduct during the campaign.^[2] However, Salazar's sister Juana de Salazar, who was the wife of the governor, arranged for witnesses to justify her brother's actions.^[16] The investigation concluded by recommending that Juan de Salazar be granted the command of a larger army to chastise the Cuncos and allow Salazar to "recover his honour".^[16]

The planning of a second expedition in the summer of 1655 contributed to unleash a large Mapuche uprising that year.^[16][17]

• Barros Arana, Diego. "Capítulo XIV". Historia general de Chile (in Spanish). Vol. Tomo cuarto (Digital edition based on the second edition of 2000 ed.). Alicante: Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
• Montt Pinto, Isabel (1971). Breve Historia de Valdivia (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Editorial Francisco de Aguirre. OCLC 1397610. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
• Pinochet Ugarte, Augusto; Villaroel Carmona, Rafael; Lepe Orellana, Jaime; Fuente-Alba Poblete, J. Miguel; Fuenzalida Helms, Eduardo (1997). Historia militar de Chile (in Spanish) (3rd ed.). Biblioteca Militar.
• Valenzuela Márquez, Jaime (2009). "Esclavos mapuches. Para una historia del secuestro y deportación de indígenas en la colonia". In Gaune, Rafael; Lara, Martín (eds.). Historias de racismo y discriminación en Chile (in Spanish).