Battle of Tacna | |||||||
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Part of the War of the Pacific | |||||||
![]() Battle of Tacna according to Diego Barros Arana's "Guerra del Pacifico" | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
11,779[1]-14,147[2] 37 guns 4 Gatling guns[3] |
8,930[4]-12,000[5] 16 guns 7 Gatling guns | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,932 casualties | 3,500-5,000 casualties |
The Battle of Tacna, also known as the Battle of the Peak of the Alliance (Spanish: Batalla del Alto de la Alianza), effectively destroyed the Peru-Bolivian alliance against Chile, forged by a secret treaty signed in 1873. On 26 May 1880, the Chilean Northern Operations Army led by General Manuel Baquedano González, conclusively defeated the combined armies of Peru and Bolivia commanded by Bolivian President, General Narciso Campero. The battle took place at the Inti Urqu (Intiorko) hill plateau, a few miles north of the Peruvian city of Tacna. As a result, Bolivia was knocked out of the war, leaving Peru to fight the rest of the war alone. Also, this victory consolidated the Chilean domain over the Tarapacá Department. The territory was definitively annexed to Chile after the signing of the Tratado de Ancón, in 1884, which ended the war. Tacna itself remained under Chilean control until 1929.