Liberating Expedition of Peru


The Expedición Libertadora del Perú was a force organized in 1820 by Chilean government, with elements belonging to the Liberating Army of the Andes and to recently restored Army of Chile. On 5 February 1819, a treaty was signed between Chile and the United Provinces to finance and organize the expedition to Peru, but in fact, it is Chile who made the effort to do it, since the United Provinces are distracted by internal conflicts and the direct threat of invasion from Spain. The expedition was the continuation of the plan of liberation that General José de San Martín conceived for the Spanish colonies in the Pacific of South America, with the support of General Bernardo O'Higgins in Chile. While the Chilean government headed by Bernardo O'Higgins played a pivotal role in organizing the expedition, the control of the Chilean Squadron was given to the British sailor Thomas Cochrane and the control of the Army was given to the Argentine General José de San Martín. The expedition liberated parts of Peru from Spanish Crown control. The complete liberation of Peru was achieved in 1824 with the intervention of Simón Bolívar.

Maitland Plan

According to Argentine historians like Felipe Pigna and Rodolfo Terragno, José de San Martín, was introduced to the plan during his stay in London in 1811 by members of the Logia Lautaro: a Freemasonic Lodge founded by Francisco de Miranda and Scottish Lord MacDuff. San Martín was allegedly part of the lodge, and he took the Maitland Plan as a blueprint for the movements necessary to defeat the Spanish army in Chile and Peru; he carried on successfully with the last five points of the plan, and thus liberated the southern part of the continent.

Precedents

Between 1812 and 1814 the General Captaincy of Chile was reconquered by Fernando de Abascal, Viceroy of Perú, end in the Disaster of Rancagua, putting an end to the period named Patria Vieja, in which the Chilean patriots had governed the destinations of the colony and conceived notable reforms to the colonial Spanish diet. After the above-mentioned event, the Chilean troops, along with the representatives of the government, fled to Mendoza, where they were received by the governor of the province of Cuyo General José de San Martín, the one who conceived in that moment a plan of liberation of the South American colonies of the Spanish Empire. This plan would consist of invading Chile with an army shaped by the remains of the Army of Chile, defeated in Rancagua, and Argentine troops. After the invasion and liberation of Chile, for the allied army, this one would embark by sea to Peru to extinguish the Spanish presence in that region, since it was considered a big threat for the independence of other Latin Americans countries.
The emancipation of Perú was to have been a common enterprise by Chile and Argentina. Argentina, then a loose alliance of provinces, distracted by internal strife and another threat of invasion from Spain, was unable to contribute for the expedition and ordered José de San Martín back to Argentina. San Martín choose to disobey and O'Higgins decided that Chile would assume the costs of the Freedom Expedition of Perú.

The Squadron

On 20 August 1820 the expedition sailed from Valparaíso for Paracas, near Pisco in Perú. The escort was provided by the squadron and comprised the flagship O'Higgins, frigate San Martín, frigate Lautaro, the corvette Independencia, the brigs Galvarino, Araucano, and Pueyrredón and the schooner Moctezuma.
Every expeditionary ship got a painted number so that it could be identified at a distance. There are discrepancies between authors about the names and number and some names of the transports.
Ship nameShip numbertonsOther namestroopspersonnel or cargo
Potrillo2018001400 boxes of munitions for infantry and artillery, 190 boxes munitions for flamethrowerfor and 8 barrels powder
Consecuencia11550Argentina561
Gaditana102502366 guns
Emprendedora12325Empresa3191280 boxes musket balls, 1500 boxes supplies of tools and repair shop
Golondrina191200100 boxes munition, 190 boxes clothes, 460 sack kekse, 670 bunches jerked beef
Peruana1825053hospital, physicians and 200 boxes
Jerezana15350461
Minerva8325630
Águila14800not Brigantine
Pueyrredón		7527 guns
Dolores9400395
Mackenna?5000960 boxes with weapons, armors and leather goods for infantry and cavalry. 180 quintal iron pieces
Perla163501406 guns
Santa Rosa13240Santa Rosa de Chacabuco
or Chacabuco		3726 guns
Nancy21200080 horses and fodder

On 8 September 1820 the liberating army disembarked 100 miles southeast of Lima: of the 4118 soldiers, 4000 of them were Chileans.
On the night of 5 November, Cochrane personally and 240 volunteers wearing white with blue armbands captured the Spanish frigate Esmeralda within the port of Callao. She was renamed Valdivia and commissioned into the Chilean Navy.