Francisco Bolognesi
Francisco Bolognesi Cervantes was a
Peruvian military hero.
Francisco Bolognesi was born in
Lima on
November 4,
1816; his father was of
Italian origin. He attended the Seminary of
Arequipa until he was 16 and then enterted into a career in commerce. He was involved with the military in July, 1844, in an action at Carmen High. While offered a position in the military, he elected to remain in civilian life.
However, in 1853, he enlisted and was selected as second in command of a cavalry regiment during a period of tension between Peru and
Bolivia. While no armed conflict with Bolivia ensued, Bolognesi elected to remain in the military and took part in the revolution against then-President Echeñique. After the revolution, Bolognesi was a Lieutenant Colonel on the General Staff.
In 1856, Bolognesi commanded the artillery involved in suppressing the revolt of General
Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco, centered in the city of Arequipa and was promoted to Colonel.
After several missions to
Europe to help acquire weapons for Peru (especially
artillery), Bolognesi returned to Peru in May of 1866. He fell afoul of President Don
Mariano Ignacio Prado and was imprisoned briefly in 1867. After the fall of Prado, Bolognesi returned to military service, commanding various artillery units of the Peruvian army, retiring in 1871 as Commander-in-Chief of the Artillery.
When the
War of the Pacific began in 1878 (Peru and Bolivia fighting Chile), Bolognesi, now 62, rejoined the Peruvian Army and was active in actions against the Chilean forces, including the
Battles of Dolores and Tarapacá in November, 1879. In April, 1880, he was placed in command of
Arica.
He commanded the Peruvian forces surrounded in Arica by Chilean troops following the Chilean victory at
Tacna. He organized and led a spirited defense of the port city by about 1,600 men against over 5,300 Chilean troops with extensive naval support.
When
Chilean messengers demanded surrender of
Arica because of their 3 to 1 numerical superiority, he replied, "tengo deberes sagrados que cumplir y los cumplire hasta quemar el ultimo cartucho" ("I have a sacred duty to fulfill, and I will fulfill it until I burn the last round"). The expression
"hasta quemar el ultimo cartucho" has passed into the
Spanish language.
On June 7, 1880, a Chilean assault took Arica at a cost of 474 troops. Almost 1,000 of the Peruvian defenders, including Colonel Bolognesi, were killed in defense of the town or in subsequent actions against the Peruvian prisoners.
Bolognesi's sons Enrique and Augusto also fought in the War of the Pacific, and died later, during the Battle of San Juan and the Battle of Miraflores in
Lima.
*
War of the Pacific*
Roque Saenz Peña*
Alfonso Ugarte*
Biography of Francisco Bolognesi (in Spanish)
