Colonel Lynch Releases Chinese Farm Workers

On September 14th, the Huascar headed to Valparaiso for repairs. The Blanco Encalada and Almirante Cochrane remained in front of Callao, surrounded by transports and torpedo launches. The blockade had been going on for five months now. Communication from Lima to the outside was difficult and mules carried the mail from Lima to a distant port. U.S. ships at Callao were the S. S. Lackawanna and the Wachusetts. The Adams left for Iquique (Panama Daily Star and Herald Sept 28, 1880).

Patricio Lynch arrived in Paita on the 19th of September. Mud and cane houses clustered along the narrow sandy beach at the edge of a pale gray ledge of rock. The harbor sheltered a variety of vessels, both European and native. Colonel Lynch disembarked his horse troops. He demanded a payment of 10,000 soles. When this was not paid, he ordered the destruction of the custom house, the train and the public buildings. They set fire to the custom house and train station, blew up a locomotive with dynamite, and cut the telegraph line. Lynch wanted to destroy the ability of Peru to raise funds for the war effort, and diminish the desire of the Peruvians to continue the war.

He continued his forays along the northern coast of Peru, attacking sugar cane and cotton plantations, several of them under foreign ownership, seriously threatening Peru's leading exports and livelihood at that time. Some Peruvian landowners transferred their property to foreign ownership to try to avoid the destruction of their investments. (Bonilla, 1978)

Lynch met little opposition. The civilian authorities frequently abandoned their posts on his approach, fleeing to the mountains.

When Colonel Lynch's troops ransacked the plantations, they freed 300 indentured Chinese farm workers from their quarters, reportedly living under wretched conditions. It is claimed that when Commander Lynch spoke to them in Cantonese, the Chinese workers passed from stupor to euphoria. To them, this officer in his red uniform was a liberator, and called him the "red prince". Allegedly, the Chinese shouted "Viva Chili", and helped burn the buildings before running off to continue the plunder begun by the invaders. The Chinese broke into the stores in town and showed the Chilean troops where equipment was hidden. (Bonilla, 1978)

To a Colonel Salmon, Colonel Lynch was claimed to have said (when demanding 140,000 in war reparations), "I must make you aware that following my Division are a phalange of more than 1,000 Chinese, that I cannot control and will sack any place after I leave."

Chorrillos was bombed on September 22 . On the 23rd the Blanco Encalado bombarded Chancay and Ancon. (Mason, 1885)

Resources:
Bonilla, Heraclillo. 1978. The War of the Pacific and the national and colonial problem in Peru. Past and Present.1978; 81: 92-118

Mason, Theodorus B. M. 1885. The War of the Pacific Coast of South America Between Chile and the Allied Republics of Peru and Bolivia. 1879-'81. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

Chinese Laborers in Peru

The system of mining guano at that time required a large amount of hand labor. The labords on the guano islands dug the guano, transported it in wheelbarrows to the trucks to the cliffs. Subsequently, the labors took two days to load a ship, passing the bags by canvas shoots into the hold. In the 1850s, the labor force needed to be doubled. Vessels waited in line up to two to three months to be loaded. (Mathew, 1981, p. 116-117)

A number of Chinese resided in Lima as early as 1613 and had become successful business owners. In 1849 the passage of the "Chinese law" encouraged traders to embark on an aggressive effort to bring Chinese laborers to Peru. Domingo Elias, a wealthy politician and guano entrepreneur brought over 79 Chinese laborers, and was subsidized 30 pesos for each of them by the government. Jose Canevaro, another guano merchant, brought over at least 3,650 Chinese.

Over the next 25 years, more than 100,000 Chinese were brought to Peru and of those who left China for Peru, 25 to 30 percent perished during the journey (Clayton, 1985, pg 29-30). The arrival of large numbers of Chinese as laborers caused concern over time in Peru, and became an issue in the coming conflict.

China stopped the coolie trade in 1875, so traders switched their attention to the shores of the western United States. There they arranged work contracts of three to five years. This contract was a 10 hour day, with Sunday off and 16 soles in silver. (Dobyns, 1976, pg 173)

Plantations along the coast, the railroad builders and the guano miners sought these Chinese laborers. The cheap labor of blacks and the Chinese helped generate the profits for foreign companies that had contracts in Peru, and allowed the creation of luxurious estates and frequent trips to Europe by the Peruvian elite. This helped build the business network with Europe and America, while stimulating a desire for technological advances.

Resources:
Clayton, Lawrence. 1985. Grace: W.R. Grace & Co. The formative years 1850-1930. Ottawa, Illinois: Jameson. 403 pp.

Dobyns, Henry F. and Paul L. Doughty. 1976. Peru: a cultural history. New York, Oxford University Press, 1976. 336 pp.

Mathew, W.M. 1981. The House of Gibbs and the Peruvian guano monopoly. London: Royal Historical Society. 281 pp.