Mariano Santos Mateo

Battle of Tarapacá

On 27 November 1879, Tarapacá was attacked by the of the Chilean Army. During the combat, which took place in the streets of the town, Santos, with a bayonet in hand, managed to seize the war ensign of the Chilean regiment after a bloody fight in which the entire escort perished.

For this action, Mariano Santos was called the Brave Man of Tarapacá , with Colonel Bolognesi highlighting the event and the soldier himself in his later writings detailing the battle.

After the victory, the Peruvian Army continued its march to the port of Arica. In a solemn ceremony held on 31 January 1880 at the door of the Cathedral of San Marcos, Rear Admiral Lizardo Montero decorated and promoted Santos Mateo to Inspector de Guardias, a Civil Guard rank equivalent to that of Army Lieutenant at that time. The captured trophy remained in the church of that city, from where it was later transferred to that of Tacna, where it would later be found by Chilean troops some time later and returned to its regiment before the Lima campaign.

Mariano Santos would later fight in the Battle of Tacna where he would be seriously injured. When he arrived in Arequipa with the remnants of the Southern Army, after recovering from the wound he suffered, he was honored by the city's authorities by awarding him a gold medal. He was given a new uniform by the city in order to replace the torn and blood-soaked one in which he had returned from the campaign, the same one he wore at the banquet held in his honor on 24 September 1880.

Later life After the end of the war he returned to Cuzco, where he married Julia Herrera, with whom he had children, living a peaceful life cultivating his family's land. He died in the city of Cuzco on 7 October 1900. His remains were buried in the Oropesa cemetery in Quispicanchi.