Mr. Egan to Mr. Blaine.
Santiago, August 24, 1891. (Received November 13.)
Sir: On the morning of the 20th instant the opposition forces from the north effected a landing at the port of Quinteros and three other points a short distance north of Valparaiso with a force of about 10,000 men of all arms under the command of Col. Canto. The Government rapidly pushed down all the forces they could spare from here to reënforce the Valparaiso division under Gen. Alcerréca, and he, with about 9,000 men, encountered the opposition army at Concon, on the [Page 154] Aconcagua River, near Viña del Mar, on the morning of the 21st instant, when a desperate battle ensued, resulting in the complete rout of the Government forces with a loss of some 4,000 in killed and wounded, while the losses of the opposition are said to be under 2,000 men.
All mail and telegraphic communication between Valparaiso and here is stopped, but when, on 22d instant, the news of the defeat of the Government forces began to reach here there was the wildest excitement, and it was expected that on that night the victorious troops from the north would arrive. At about 2 o’clock on that day President Balmaceda left the city for Quilcue, where a portion of his forces had taken up a position, and for a time the authorities here seemed to be paralyzed. It seemed as if there was considerable danger of a sack of the city, either from the army of the north, which was supposed to be approaching, or from the city mobs, which might at any time break loose.
In this emergency, after consultation with some leading citizens—Don Anibal Zañartu, Don José Toeornal, Don José Bunster, and Don Felice Blanco—and also with the members of the revolutionary committee, I waited upon Gen. Baquedano, accompanied by the four gentlemen named, and suggested, as a means of averting the impending bloodshed and sack, that, in the event of the complete defeat of the Government and with the consent of the authorized representatives of the Government, he should take the command of the forces now in the city, about 2,000 men, and with them preserve the peace of the city until the possession could be duly transferred to the victors. In this way the capture of the city at the point of the bayonet could be avoided and the consequent demoralization and rapine, both before and after the capture. Gen. Baquedano at once accepted the idea. I then communicated my views to Don Manuel Aristides Zañartu, the minister in charge of the Moneda in the absence of the President, and he, too, accepted the idea in the event of the entire defeat of the Government. Since then the situation seems to have improved somewhat for the Government. Their forces have taken up a strong position at Vin a del Mar and are being rapidly reënforeed by the troops from Concepcion and other points of the south, but they are greatly demoralized after the last defeat, and even the most sanguine of the Government supporters have now but little hope of victory.
Many persons, both Government supporters and oppositionists, have come into this legation for asylum, fearing an outbreak of the city mobs, and among those who have asked for, but not yet availed of, its asylum are the wife and children of the President.
President Balmaceda is now with the army, and it seems almost certain that another and a terrible battle may take place at any moment.
I have, etc.,