The Anonymous letter of Atacama’s battalion trooper in the War of the Pacific (1880)

Abstract

 The personal document trascribed presents a anonymous trooper´s testimony from the Atacama Batallion in the War of the Pacific, which was published by the Copiapo´s newspaper El Constituyente in April 1880 during the Chilean campaign in Tacna and Arica. The letter, initially sent to his family, gained publicity when it was reproduced in a media and show pubic interest relevant facts regarding a phenomenon such as the 1879’s conflict, narrating in the present tense and lending credibility to the eyewitness war statements. The letter narrates the journey and point of view of the anonymous soldier regarding the Chilean Army´s march through the Moquegua´s desert and Valley, as well as its role in the battle of the Los Angeles hill.