A New Yorker's View of the War

In the July 21, 1879 New York Times, Jacob Wrey Mould, a prominent New York architect, expressed his opinion of the war. Jacob Wrey Mould was born in England but now lived in New York. He worked with Frederick Law Olmstead in designing many of the edifices in New York's Central Park. In Lima Peru, Mould was building a mansion of freestone and Philadelphia brick for Mr. E.C. Dubois, subcontractor of Henry Meiggs and brother-in-law of Auguste Dreyfus, the Paris banker. Mr. Mould recently returned from South America and provided New Yorkers with his own assessment of the situation there.

In Mould's opinion, the Peruvian soldiers were brave, amenable to discipline and good workers, but the Peruvian officers were notoriously incapable and corrupt, fit only to wage a war of words and profit without exposing themselves to danger. Mr. Mould reportedly called the murdered Pardo "an egotist as well as a knave", that corruption pervaded all sectors of the government. He explained that the Roman Catholic party controlled two-thirds of the wealth and supported Nicolás de Piérola. Viewed by some as reactionary and nonprogressive, Piérola was, in his opinion, the most liberal and progressive statesman in Peru, a believer in popular education, native industries and internal improvements and a strong supporter of foreign investment and the development of natural resources.

Cerro de Pasco Mines

Henry Meiggs viewed the completion of the Oroya Railroad and the future of the Cerro de Pasco mines as strongly interconnected. The Cerro de Pasco mines were located high in the Andes and the railroad would provide the means to transport the minerals (such as silver, gold, copper or zinc) down to Lima and even the port of Callao.

Meiggs proposed completion of the railway to Cerro de Pasco, using his own funds. In exchange he sought a grant to all the mineral lands in the area not currently exploited. An agreement was reached with the government on February 3, 1877.

Meiggs assigned William H. Cilley, formerly in charge of railway construction for the Oroya line, to begin the development of the mines. Work on both the railroad and the mines came to a standstill on the outbreak of war between Chile and Peru.

Resources:
Stewart, Watt. 1946. Henry Meiggs: Yankee Pizarro. Durham, N.C.: Duke University. 370 pp.

Henry Meiggs, Railroad Builder

North American interests became tied in several ways to Peru during this period. In 1867 President Balta came to power in Peru. It is conjectured that protection of the polls was financed by Mr. Henry Meiggs, an engineer born in Catskill, New York, who later received valuable railroad-building contracts.

Known as a lover of music, Henry Meiggs followed the gold fever to California, and became a lumber dealer at a time when plank roads were being built. He left abruptly in 1854, sailing with his family to South America and leaving behind a million dollars in bad debts. Meiggs had previously been engaged by the country of Chile, and built the railroad from Valparaiso to Santiago. He built a large fortune, and an elegant residence, the whole of which reportedly was built in the United States and shipped to Chile. (Trigg, 2002)

In January of 1868 Henry Meiggs undertook the contract to build a railroad from Lima to Huancayo, made surveys for additional routes, and bid on the contracts to undertake construction of these routes. One of the Peruvian engineers, Federico Blume, who served on the commission to review these proposals said this of Meiggs:

"...Don Enrique Meiggs, who to loyalty in the fulfillment of his contractual obligations, unites familiarity with the management of great undertakings and commands an army of engineers, mechanics, special men for each kind of work, and countless laborers,who, at the raising of his finger, come running by thousands, when other contractors make vain efforts to secure a few hundreds."
(Stewart, 1946, p. 90)

Don Enrique rose early, tired rarely. He responded to questions promptly, clearly, and with a depth of knowledge. Nothing surprised or astonished him. He rarely drank alcohol and enjoyed the building projects he had acquired. He dwelt among "drafts and strips of paper" and spent his time perusing large "rolls of paper, covered with figures, signs, and lines." Notebooks littered his office and bedroom. For relaxation, he listened as members of his family played the piano. (Stewart, 1946, pg. 261)

Beginning in 1868 and for four years after that, Henry Meiggs advertised in the Chilean papers asking for laborers to help with the construction of railroads in Peru. An estimated twenty to thirty thousand Chileans took passage to Peru to work on the railroads. (Stewart, 1946, pg. 88)

He eventually acquired contracts to build railroads throughout Peru, contracts totaling $126,000,000. The funds for this enormous endeavor came from foreign loans. Many of the materials needed to build the railroads came from overseas, the rails from England and the ties from the United States. (Squier, 1877) In fact, Meiggs imported virtually everything that he used in constructing his railroads: blasting powder, medicines, clothing, rolling stock, tools, and lumber, mostly from the United States.

Meiggs made many alllies by giving everybody something to do. He employed potential revolutionaries,and sent one of them to the Grace Brothers to purchase a sailing ship, naming it the Don Enrique. (Flint, 1923).

In 1872, Henry Meiggs hosted the great naturalist, Louis Agassiz, on his travels in Peru. Meiggs took his guest on an excursion up the Rimac Valley on the Central Railroad on the occasion of the professor's birthday. The guest list included Major Williamson, the United States Consul to Peru, Commander Johnson and some of his staff of the U.S. surveying ship Hassler, a Dr. Jones of the U.S. Flagship Pensacola, and Commander Kennedy and his officers of the H.M.S. Reindeer. Professor Agassiz graciously told his host that because he had seen Henry Meiggs, "he had seen Peru." (Stewart, 1946, pg. 258)

By 1874, Peru was on the verge of bankruptcy. Revolutions and disturbances erupted due to the bad state of finances, and the ambitions of political caudillos and military chiefs. Payment on interest on bonds had ceased due to the bankruptcy of the government at the economic situation in Peru had become chaotic. Henry Meigg’s financial status began to disintegrate along with the economy of Peru.

A treaty between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia was to permit the export of nitrate from Antafogasta free of duty, but Bolivia and Peru made a secret alliance. With this secret alliance, the nitrate territory of Bolivia was ceded to Peru and was handed over to Henry Meiggs.

In July of 1877 Henry Meiggs attempted to get Peru to issue $15,000 in paper money in payment of the bonds held by him, so that he could continue to open the Cerro de Pasco mines, mines discovered by the Jesuits around 1635 and considered to be the richest and most extensive silver deposits in the world.

The Grace Brothers decision to limit credit to Meiggs strained their relationship. On September 30, 1877, Henry Meiggs died.

Resources:
Flint, Charles R. 1923. Memories of an active life: men and ships and sealing wax. Putnam. 349 pp.

Squier, Ephraim George. 1877. Peru: incidents of travel and exploration in the land of the Incas. (Reprint of the 1877 ed. New York: AMS Press. 1973) 599 pp.

Stewart, Watt. 1946. Henry Meiggs: Yankee Pizarro. Durham, N.C.: Duke University. 370 pp.

Trigg, Angela. 2002. The Life of Daniel Trigg C.S.N. http://cssvirginia.org/vacsn4/original/td1909.htm