Battle of San Francisco

Battle of San Francisco
Part of the War of the Pacific
Date 19 November 1879 Location South America Result Chilean victory
Belligerents
Chile	Peru  Bolivia
Commanders and leaders
Emilio S. Baeza	Juan Buendía
Units involved
3 regiments 4 battalions 2 artillery batteries	17 battalions 1 artillery battery 2 cavalry squadrons
Strength
6,500 soldiers 34 guns	9,063 soldiers[1] 18 guns
Casualties and losses
60 killed 148 wounded	220 killed 76 wounded 3,200 missing 18 smoothbore guns lost

The Battle of San Francisco, also known as the Battle of Dolores (not to be confused with the Battle of Dolores River (1904) during the Philippine–American War), was a major battle in the Tarapacá Campaign of the War of the Pacific, fought on November 19, 1879, in the Peruvian department of Tarapacá. A Chilean army under Colonel Emilio Sotomayor had moved via Dolores rail road deep into the desert and was encamped at San Francisco Saltpeter Office, about 30 kilometers south east of the port of Pisagua. Allied forces under General Juan Buendía launched an attack on Sotomayor's army. At the beginning, Bolivian General Carlos de Villegas pressed the attack over a poorly defended battery right in the Chilean centre and almost succeeded. Only the arrival of infantry support allowed Colonel José Domingo Amunátegui to hold the position.

The Allies also struck with the intention of driving the Chilean defenders away from Dolores well. Buendía hoped to defeat Sotomayor's army before the anticipated arrival of Gen. Erasmo Escala with reinforcements from Hospicio. The allied columns became confused during the fierce fighting, and Sotomayor's men rejected the attacks over its flanks and centre. Colonel Ladislao Espinar was mortally wounded at San Francisco, while Villegas was wounded and captured, among other allied officers.

The Allies were forced to retreat from the battlefield, ending their hopes of sending the Chileans back to the sea. Also, Buendía lost a huge amount of war materiel such as cannons, ammunition and weapons.

The catastrophe for the Allies was the result of poor logistics, inefficient leadership and the unexpected desertion of the Bolivian Army under the half-hearted command of President Hilarión Daza, known as the Camarones betrayal.