CHACABUCO, BATTLE OF

(Feb. 12, 1817), in the Latin-American wars of independence, a victory won by South American patriots over Spanish royalists near Santiago, Chile. It began the expulsion of the Spaniards from Chile, completed the next year at the Battle of Maip. After Argentine independence from Spain had been declared in 1816, Jos de San Martn, leader of the independence movement in southern South America, embarked on the liberation of Chile (January 1817). Beginning in 1810, the independence movement there had been plagued by bitter rivalry between the brothers Jos Miguel and Juan Jos Carrera on the one hand and Bernardo O'Higgins on the other. Joined by O'Higgins, San Martn led about 5,000 troops on a difficult 20-day march over the high Andes; he lost about 2,000 men in the cold and high altitudes but managed to surprise the Spaniards. The Spanish general Rafael Maroto mustered only about 1,500 troops to meet the advancing enemy force at Chacabuco. Initially, the Spanish infantry drove back O'Higgins' contingent, but a successful grenadier charge led by San Martn against the Spanish cavalry gave O'Higgins' forces time to recover and attack the Spanish flank; the Spaniards were driven into rout. The people of Santiago honoured San Martn as the liberator of Chile and elected him governor, which office he refused in favour of O'Higgins. Before the final victory at Maip, San Martn's army sustained a serious defeat at Cancha-Rayada in March 1818.