Battle of Callao

Spanish ships exchange fire with Peruvian coastal defenses at the Battle of Callao .

Date	May 2, 1866
Location	Callao, Peru
Result	Spain withdraws from South America

Belligerents

Spain

Peru

Commanders and leaders

Casto Méndez Núñez

Mariano Ignacio Prado

Strength

1 ironclad
5 frigates
1 corvette

2 small ironclads
3 gunboats
52 shore-based guns
3,000 infantry and cavalry

Casualties and losses

43 killed;
83 wounded;
68 lightly wounded;

Sources vary:
180–200 killed and wounded
83 – 90 killed; 260 wounded
+350 killed
2,000 killed and wounded

The Battle of Callao (in Spanish, called Combate del Dos de Mayo mainly in South America ) occurred on May 2, 1866 between a Spanish fleet under the command of Admiral Casto Méndez Núñez and the fortified battery emplacements of the Peruvian port city of Callao during the Chincha Islands War. The Spanish fleet bombarded the port of Callao (or El Callao), and eventually withdrew without any notable damage to the city structures, according to the Peruvian and American sources; or after having silenced almost all the guns of the coastal defenses, according to the Spanish accounts and French observers. This proved to be the final battle of the war between Spanish and Peruvian forces.

President Juan Antonio Pezet assumed the presidency of Peru in April 1863, at a time when Spain was making efforts to recover some prestige by recovering (or humiliating) its lost colonies in America. Spain began its campaign by seizing the Chincha Islands, which were rich in guano, and demanding indemnity as recompense for the murder of two Spanish citizens in Lambayeque.

Vacillating, President Pezet began removing vast quantities of Peru's guano deposits to give to Spain when Spanish ships threatened Callao and the neighboring coastline. Pezet believed that Peru’s naval forces were much too weak to challenge the Spanish fleet. In November 1865, at a moment of nationalism, Colonel Mariano Ignacio Prado seized power from Pezet after a coup, and organized an effective defense against Spanish aggression that culminated with the Battle of Callao.

After the indecisive Battle of Abtao in February 1866, Méndez Núñez decided to take punitive action against South American ports, his first target being the undefended Chilean port of Valparaíso. The neutral British and American naval commanders in Chilean waters were unable to prevent this action, and the Spanish bombarded the town and destroyed the Chilean merchant fleet.

Méndez Núñez continued afterward for Spain by attacking a strong port and went with his fleet towards the well-defended Peruvian port of Callao. The battle, starting on May 2, was characterized by arduous, long-range combat with ironclads utilized by both sides. Observing the combat were American, British and French ships.

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