Battle of El Roble

Date	October 17, 1813
Location	El Roble, on the Itala river
Result	Patriot victory

Belligerents

Chilean patriots

Royalists

Commanders and leaders

José Miguel Carrera

Clemente Lantaño and de Luis Urrejola

Strength

800 men, 5 guns

1200 men

Casualties and losses

30 dead

80 dead

The Battle of El Roble was fought on the Itata river, 17 October 1813, between the Chilean patriot general José Miguel Carrera and Spanish royalist forces under the command of Clemente Lantaño and de Luis Urrejola. The surprise patriot victory at El Roble as a result of Bernardo O'Higgins' actions at the end of the day was to result in a change of patriot commander, and a severe split within the patriot movement.

General José Miguel Carrera planned to seize the city of Chillán from royalist hands, and had divided his army into two parts. One part, under the command of his brother Juan Jose was sent two kilometres beyond the confluence of the Itala and Ñuble rivers. The other part, under Carrera's own command, went three leagues further east to cross at the paso el Roble.

Having discovered Carrera's plans, Juan Francisco Sanchez, the royalist commander in Chillán, decided to destroy the patriot army in a surprise attack. He ordered his officers to send a force across the Itata river at night, moving it into position on the south bank of the river, to the east of the patriot forces. To the north, the royalist placed a force of 400 men under the control of Juan Antonio Olate, with the task of preventing the patriots from crossing the river.

At dawn on the 17 October, the royalist forces launched their surprise attack on Carrera's forces, creating panic in their ranks. Carrera, believing his army defeated, drove his horse into the Itata river and retreated from the battle to avoid capture. Meanwhile, then Colonel Bernardo O'Higgins had kept his composure from the start of the shooting and, gathering about two hundred men around him, ran to protect the artillery and organise the resistance. He was joined by captains Jose Joaquin and Diego Jose Benavente forming a respectable little force. After about an hour or more of fighting, O'Higgins became impatient. Taking a gun from a fallen soldier and brandishing it, he shouted:

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