Arauco War - Second Great Mapuche Rebellion (1561) - Campaigns of Pedro de Villagra

Campaigns of Pedro De Villagra

Because he believed he had too few men to hold all the posts in Mapuche territory and still have a field army the new governor Pedro de Villagra ordered the abandonment of Arauco in July 1563, taking off its artillery and noncombatants by sea while garrison under Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado marched over the rain soaked mountains and flooded rivers to Angol. The Mapuche destroyed the fort shortly after the garrison left and harassed their march. Regarding the abandonment of Arauco as a victory, it inspired the Mapuche north of the Bio-bio River to revolt.

In 1564, Pedro de Villagra, took measures to protect all the towns and forts he still held and gathered a field army in Concepcion drawn from all these posts. He knew that one of the Mapuche objectives was to surround Concepcion and preparations were made to support a long siege. After a brief fight Loble defeated the troops of captain Francisco de Vaca in the Itata River valley who were coming with reinforcements from Santiago. In addition, Millalelmo ambushed Spanish reinforcements coming from Angol to the south under captain, Juan Perez de Zurita, at a crossing of the Andalién River. Both defeats cut off the city and garrison of Concepcion from outside aid by land. The defeated survivors had to retreat to Santiago and were in no condition to break through the investment around Concepcion. On the other hand, encouraged by these victories in the north, Illangulién resolved to destroy Los Infantes before marching to Concepcion.

At Los Infantes the Mapuche blockade grew tighter as they moved closer and closer to the city protected in their well-sited pucaras. Its commander Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado judged them too well defended to attack until they started to build their third pucara close to the city. Then in the Battle of Angol Lorenzo Bernal drove the Mapuche army out of their pucara and pursued them down to the river and pushed them back into it killing Illangulién and a thousand of his men with many others wounded or captured and the rest of the army dispersed. Afterward Paillataru was elected as Toqui.

Meanwhile the caciques Millalelmu and Loble with 20,000 warriors from the area between the Itata and Bio-Bio rivers, settled down to the Siege of Concepcion in February 1564. The Mapuche entered the city, sacking and burning it, crowding all its population within the walls of its fortress with its garrison under Pedro de Villagra. The siege lasted around two months until at the end of March two ships arrived bringing food that would permit the siege to continue for a much longer time. On the other side the Mapuche had used up local sources of food and were finding it difficult to maintain their large force. With the harvest season coming and with the news of their defeat in the Battle of Angol they were nervous that their families might starve or their undefended homes might be attacked from Angol or Santiago. They raised their siege on April 1, and dispersed to their homes for the winter.

After the siege was raised Villagra became aware of an effort to replace him as governor by Martin Ruiz de Gamboa, son-in-law of Rodrigo de Quiroga. Villagra tried to arrest Gamboa who fled overland to Santiago but Villagra sailed to Valparaíso in a few days with some of his men and arrested him in Santiago when he arrived. Villagra then tried to reorganize the surviving disheartened troops of Vaca and Zurita in Santiago and take them south in October 1564. But he was delayed much longer, spending heavily from the impoverished provincial treasury and contributions exacted from the cities of Chile with difficulty, he slowly refitted and enlarged his army over the winter and spring.

Villagra left the city in mid-January 1565, with 110 Spaniards and gathered 800 Indian auxiliaries from their repartimientos as he marched south to the Maule River. There he linked up with 30 Spaniards under Pedro Hernandez de Cordova who were observing the frontier with the Mapuche after the Mapuche had blocked their prior attempt to reinforce Concepcion. During the seven months Villagra was in Santiago, the Mapuche north of the Bio-Bio had built a strong pucara on the Perquilauquén River, blocking the road south to Concepcion and in the Second Battle of Reinohuelén Villagra rapidly took it and destroyed the Mapuche army holding it. Soon afterward Villagra ambushed Loble as he was bringing reinforcements and unaware of the defeat he was surprised defeated and captured. Subsequently Villagra established fort San Ildefonso in the region and was able to suppress the Mapuche revolt north of the Bio-Bio.