Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 6, 1875, Volume II

No. 473.
Mr. Thomas to Mr. Fish.

United States Legation,
Lima, Peru, December 13, 1874. (Received December 31.)

No. 145.]

Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State, an extract from the South Pacific Times, which furnishes, I believe, the most reliable information as to the operations of the army in the vicinity of Moquegua.

I am, &c.,

FRANCIS THOMAS.

[Inclosure in No. 145.]

conclusion of the revolution.

[From the “South Pacific Times,” December 12, 1874.]

The Peruvian corvette Union, Commander Portal, anchored in this bay on the morning of the 11th, bringing intelligence of the defeat and dispersion of the forces of Señor Pierola.

The Union bad left for Arica with the Tenth and Eleventh Guards of Lima, but on arrival at that port she received the intelligence, which the Talisman had already brought here, that Prefect Zapata had already quelled the disturbance. Commander Portal then returned to Pacochas, and the troops left for the front, but before they had proceeded half-way they were met by a messenger from the President, ordering the departure of the Union for Callao, touching at Arica, in order to carry dispatches announcing that on the 6th instant Colonel Rivarola made a decisive attack on the entrenchments of the enemy at Torata, and that a heavy fire was kept up throughout the day. At nightfall the rebels ceased firing entirely, and the outposts of the government, soon discovered they had vacated their positions. Government troops then sealed the heights, and continued their march in the direction the enemy was supposed to have taken. At daylight they fell in with Montero’s division, which had been warmly engaged with the flying rebels, and which had captured a very large number of them.

Señor Pierola and his staff are said to have left the scene of battle long before its conclusion, and he was being pursued by Colonel Latorre with the cavalry, with which he has been doing good service since his incorporation in the division of Colonel Rivarola.

It is rumored that General Segura and Colonel Escobar have been killed, hut there is nothing official to warrant this assertion.

The number of killed and wounded was not known at the time of the sailing of the Union, and very few particulars are as yet to hand, as she was dispatched directly the result of the battle became known. She was only delayed long enough to receive the Eleventh Guards, which corps returned by her.

The Pacific Steam Navigation Company’s steamer Valdivia left for the south last night, to serve as an additional transport for the returning soldiers. It is said the Talisman is also being prepared for the same purpose, so that very shortly the whole of the national guards will have returned to their homes.