Tarapacá campaing

As the Tarapacá campaign is known the stage of the War of the Pacific after the Chilean naval victory at Angamos which secured the sea. During this campaign the Chilean army accomplished the invasion and conquest of the Peruvian Tarapacá department, rich in nitrates and whose exploitation quarrel began the war.

Background
When the conflict started on 1879, both Chile and the Allies focused on securing sea domination since the extremely arid Atacama desert was a formidable impediment for a terrestrial campaign from Santiago to Lima and vice versa. Therefore, the war developed in a naval confrontation where the poor planning of the Chilean navy officers allowed the Peruvian fleet to take the initiative. The useless Callao blockade did nothing but to wear down the vessels and the morale of the Chileans. However, the simultaneous encounter at Punta Gruesa and Iquique on May 21 proved decisive as the Peruvians lost the ironclad Independencia to an old wooden corvette, the Covadonga; and the heroic death of Captain Arturo Prat and the loss of his vessel, the Esmeralda lifted the troops morale and ignited a nationalism among the Chilean people which led a massive civilian enrolement.

The Peruvian highest naval figure, Captain Miguel Grau brilliantly conducted a challenge strategy against the Chilean fleet -including the capture of an entire cavalry regiment-. The eight month chase ended with the decisive clash at Angamos on October 8, where Grau died and his ship, the Huáscar, was captured and put into Chilean service. With this success, the Pacific shores where open to a landing operation anywhere the Chilean high command considered necessary.