Page:A history of Chile.djvu/332

300 A HISTORY OF CHILE mand of the Bolivians being Camacho, while Admiral Montero still commanded the Peruvians. Previously, the Chileans had thoroughly reconnoitered the coun- try and advanced several bodies of troops in the direc- tion of Tacna. Colonel Albarracain surprised a body of twenty-five Chilean cavalry at Locumba and cut them all down but four. On the 17th, Colonel Ver- gara engaged Albarracain at Sama and killed one hun- dred and fifty of his men. This cavalry then pushed on close to Tacna, and on the i8th, the fourth division of the Chilean army, which had remained at Pacocha, moved forward. On the 27th, General Baquedano broke camp at Hospicio near Moquegua and accompanied by the war minister, Don Rafael Sotomayor (who died of apoplexy on the way), began his march over the desert toward Tacna, his troops marching in three di- visions. On the 20th of May, the army encamped near Buena Vista on the Sama river, sixteen miles north- west of Tacna, the base of supplies being the port of Ite, twenty-five miles distant. Five days afterward the Chilean army moved forward to within six miles of Tacna, and on the day following advanced to within a short distance of the enemy's intrenched position on a line of sand-hills to the northwest of the city, the flanks defended by deep ravines, the front by a steep glacis strongly fortified and commanding a plain over which the Chileans must pass. Admiral Montero com- manded the right wing. General Camacho the left; the center was led by Colonel Castro Pinto, President Cam- pero himself being chief in command. On the morning of the 26th of May, General Baque- dano took up a position just beyond the range of the enemy's artillery, and there stationed a reserve under Munoz. At 9.50 a. m., his Krupp guns opened upon the Peruvians at a distance of four thousand yards and