Nicolás de Piérola's Attempts at Revolution

In 1874 Nicolás de Piérola, no longer a member of the government, raised 1,000 men and attempted a revolution. He took command of the Talisman, a small steam-powered transport, purchased, armed and equipped in Great Britain by Guillermo Bogardus. The Talisman was captured by the Peruvian ironclad Hussead. Piérola took possession of the railroad, occupying the town of Moquegua. This was retaken by government forces and Piérola retreated to Torata.

With the intention of capturing Piérola, President Pardo went south on November 20 to Arequipa. He took command of the Army with 3,000 men in the field. Montoneros attacked the Oroya railroad, damaging the track and the telegraph. They attacked the Lima and Callao railroad, tore up the track, but failed to capture the train itself. Lima and Callao were under the watchful eye of volunteers, chiefly foreigners. The Peruvian press blamed the Chilean government for the action of the Talisman, saying that Chile provided her with the coal and provisions.

By December 6, Piérola's men ran short of provisions and deserted in large numbers. In Callao a party of twenty men, allegedly ex-army and navy officers, attempted to storm the building where other ex-army officers (bitter enemies of Pardo) were held prisoner. However the attackers captured neither the town nor the forts and armaments.

By December 11, the town of Torata was captured. In January Piérola reconstituted his men and they made an attempt to capture Arequipa.

The New York Times, August 11, 1875 reported that on the fourth of July, Arevalo, one of Piérola's officers during the Talisman expedition, headed an attack against the town of Islay. They robbed the custom-house, informed the populace that Piérola was in Arequipa. They then marched to Mollendo and captured the town. He and his troops then boarded the train to Arequipa. Reportedly Piérola was not there, but in Chile. When Arevalo arrived, a small force was waiting for them. They routed the revolutionaries, wounded Arevalo and took him captive. He soon died of his wounds.

Mariano Ignacio Prado was elected President in 1876. Prado was reported to be a fine-looking courteous man in his early 40’s, tall, well-built, with black hair and whiskers, with a kindly expression. He continued to embrace the railroads as the “mission of civilization” (Clayton, 1999)
Piérola and his followers invaded Peru from Chile and attempted to take back the government by revolutionary methods. In late 1876 October or November, Piérola was still at battle in the mountains.

In May of 1877, Piérola’s men seized the ironclad turret ship, the Huascar, in the harbor of Callao. The Huascar, built in 1864 and 15 years old, was an armor-plated monitor 200 feet in length, weighing 1130 tons with 300 horsepower. It carried two Armstrong cannons in a rotating tower. The tower was of iron, 30 feet in diameter and 5 inches thick. Piérola joined her at her next port of call.

Apparently the British merchants in Lima asked that the British navy go after the Huascar, because it was allegedly stopping the royal mail steamers and taking possession of the coal. However this fact was in dispute, as it is claimed that the coal was fairly purchased in a port that was under control of the rebels.

Confronting the Huascar, the British demanded that Piérola and his men haul down the Peruvian flag and surrender. Piérola told the British officer that the Huascar was a national man-of-war and the emblem would not be taken down while there was gun on board to defend it. The English fired on the ship, destroying the rigging, the boats and the steering gear. A three-hour battle followed. The Huascar limped toward shore, asking the Captain of the Port for ammunition. This was refused, so the Huascar continued to Iquique where Piérola surrendered his vessel to the Independencia.

The government released the Huascar "rebels" in early July, 1877.

Resources:

Clayton, Lawrence A. 1999. Peru and the United States: the Condor and the Eagle. Athens: University of Georgia Press. 1999.

New York Times. Dec 15. 1874. p. 2