Luis Germán Astete

Captain Luis Germán Astete (28 May 1832 – 10 July 1883) was a Peruvian Navy officer and politician who served in the Chincha Islands War and War of the Pacific. He was killed in action at the Battle of Huamachuco.

Biography

He was the son of Pedro de Astete Núñez and María Manuela Fernández de Paredes y Noriega (granddaughter of the Marquises of Salinas). Baptized in the Government Palace, his godfather was Marshal Gamarra, president of the Republic. He studied at the Real Convictorio de San Carlos in Lima. Then he entered as a midshipman at the Military School in 1850, and that same year he embarked on the frigate Algerie and later on the Serieuse, on which he was sent to France. niece of the Count of Álvarez Calderón. The couple had six children.

He ascended to second lieutenant in March 1855, and served on the ships Liberty and Guise, being discharged again in January 1857 due to his support for General Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco during the Peruvian Civil War of 1856–1858. Elected deputy for Huaraz in the legislature of 1860–1864, he resigned his promotion to corvette captain, considering it incompatible with his political function. On board the steamship Sachaca, he participated in the Battle of Callao on 2 May 1866 against the Spanish Squadron of the Pacific.

Once the constitutional government was restored in 1868, he was promoted to frigate captain. In 1871 he obtained his indefinite license, and in that state, he had active participation in the uprising in favor of Nicolás de Piérola against President Mariano Ignacio Prado. Then he took command of the ironclad Huáscar, on board which he was appointed commander of the National Regenerative Squadron. In that position, he faced the Royal Navy warships and in the Battle of Pacocha on 29 May 1877. After this battle, which ended inconclusively, the rebels surrendered in Iquique to the forces loyal to Prado.

At the outbreak of the War of the Pacific, and already with the rank of captain, he was commissioned to acquire weapons and a ship in the United States, a task that was interrupted due to political swings. Back to Peru, he was named prefect of Callao and commander of the batteries during the defense of the port before the blockade of the Chilean squadron. He fought in the battles of San Juan and Chorrillos and Miraflores, and in January 1881 ordered the scuttling of several warships as well as Peru's first submarine, Toro Submarino, to prevent them from falling into Chilean hands.

After Lima was occupied by Chilean forces, he marched to the Sierra and was elected deputy from Alto Amazonas to the National Assembly meeting in Ayacucho, but he did not join it and preferred to take up arms, joining the Breña campaign led by Andrés Avelino Cáceres. He participated in the battles of Marcavalle and La Concepción. At the Battle of Huamachuco he had under his command the 4th Army Division of the Center and died as a result of a shot that pierced his forehead.