From Bonnie Hamre,
Your Guide to South America Travel.
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On the twenty-first of May, Chile celebrates a major holiday, the Glorias Navales, with festivities, celebrations, military parades, speeches, and commemoration services in honor of the Battle of Iquique on May 21, 1879, during the War of the Pacific.

There are many sporting events named Glorias Navales: yacht races, bicycle racing, marathons, and others.

But what does this holiday celebrate? What are the Glorias Navales? To understand this, we need a little backstory.

Following independence from Spain earlier in the century, the country of Chile was much smaller than it is today. Compactly centered around the capital of Santiago, at one time it included what is now the Cuyo area of Argentina, but not the northern desert nor the far southern areas which belonged to the Mapuche nation.

In the north, the borders with Peru, Bolivia and Argentina were somewhat nebulous, since the arid, inhospitable Atacama desert wasn't thought to be worth much, but Bolivia owned the swath of land from current day borders to the Pacific.

The discovery of nitrate and guano deposits changed all that. Bolivia lacked the resources to develop the area, and contracted with Chile to do so. In the early 1840's, Chileans moved into the port of Antofagasta, set up mining and development projects and minerias, settlements, in the interior. There were continuing negotiations and business leases and all went fairly well until Bolivia levied a tax on the minerals. They wanted to make it retroactive for the past twenty-five years.

The Chileans refused to pay. Discussions became heated. Bolivia warned that if the taxes weren't paid by February 14, 1879, Bolivia would confiscate all Chilean-developed property. During negotiations between the governments, violence erupted in the desert. Chile broke off diplomatic relations two days before the deadline and sent several naval warships to Antofagasta.

Greeted warmly by the Chilean residents, the ships were seen as aggression by the Bolivians who declared war on March 10. Following the revelation that Bolivia had secret treaties with Peru and Argentina about the northern desert area, Chile declared war on Peru and Bolivia on April 5. Argentina had not ratified the treaty created in 1873 and thus was not involved in the present dispute.

At the beginning of the War of the Pacific, the Chilean navy had eight ships, ranging in age, armament and battle-readiness. The wooden corvette Esmeralda was the oldest with twenty-five years in service. The navy was based in Valparaiso, and supplies for the Chilean navy posed a problem.

Peru had six ships, including the iron monitor Huáscar, built in 1862 and commanded by Miguel Grau Seminario. The Peruvian navy had an easier supply job, based in the nearer ports of Arica, Ilo, Islay and the main base at Callao, however, much of their fleet was in the repair yard.

Command of the seas was an imperative for the Chilean navy. Until they could get their ships back to sea, the Peruvian forces struck where they could and avoided a major offensive. The Chilean navy blockaded the Peruvian port of Iquique with the expectation that this would bring the Peruvian fleet. When this did not happen, Chilean admiral Juan Williams Rebolledo divided his fleet into three. He sent the Blanco, Chacabuco and O'Higgins to attack Huanillos, Cochrane and Magallanes to attack Mollendo, leaving behind the wooden corvette Esmeralda, under the command of Arturo Prat Chacón, and the Virgen de Covadonga under the command of Carlos Condell de la Haza, and the transport ship Lamar behind to block the port of Iquique.

The President of Peru, General Manuel Ignacio Prado, had meanwhile ordered the relief of Iquique and sent part of the Peruvian navy to sink the Chilean ships. The two navies passed each en route without sighting the other.