Valdivia and Agüi: Lord Cochrane and the Judgement of Command

Valdivia and Agüi: Lord Cochrane and the Judgement of Command

03 Sep 26
Posted by: Alejandro Rivas Garay
15 minutes, 41 seconds read
Message from the Editor

It will come as no surprise to the NR’s readership that Lord Cochrane, when he was faced with an amphibious problem, intended to attack with dogged determination. The author, Master in International Studies at the University of Santiago, Chile, examines two of Cochrane’s amphibious operations during the Chilean campaign of 1820, revealing the diametric results of Cochrane’s method. A 15 minute read.

In February 1820 Lord Thomas Cochrane captured the formidable Spanish defences of Valdivia with a small Chilean force. Within a fortnight he struck again at Chiloé, where the assault on Fort Agüi ended in failure. The proximity of these operations offers an unusual opportunity to examine the same commander, several of the same officers and similar littoral problems producing opposite results. At Valdivia, reconnaissance, deception, surprise and rapid exploitation made audacity rational. At Agüi, an alerted enemy, difficult terrain and a failed night approach progressively removed those advanta…

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