TheÃÂ Thomas Cochrane campaignÃÂ was a series of mainly naval war actions carried out by the admiral hired by the Chilean government,ÃÂ ThomasÃÂ Cochrane, who was also given Chilean nationality. Cochrane had been assigned the objective of the Chilean government to end Spanish naval power in the Pacific, mainly theÃÂ port of CallaoÃÂ and achieve control of the Pacific Ocean. He carried out several actions to achieve his goal, in addition to participating in the attack of objectives on land such as the capture ofÃÂ ValdiviaÃÂ orÃÂ Pisco.
The campaign was developed from September 12, 1819 with the departure of the Chilean squadron fromÃÂ ValparaÃÂsoÃÂ to Callao to begin the so-called first blockade of Callao and ended in 1822, coinciding with the surrender of the Spanish frigates "Prueba" and "Venganza", and the corvette "Emperador Alejandro" to the government of theÃÂ Free Province of Guayaquil, in February 1822, due to the absence of ports and supplies, a product of the territorial conquests of the independent states.
The campaign had the added difficulty that the Spanish squadron could take refuge in Callao, which had around 350 siege cannons and a real floating trench, the product of the ingenuity of BrigadierÃÂ Antonio Vacaro, made up of logs joined by chains that barely left a narrow entrance and prevented an effective attack to finish off the Spanish. Cochrane had used various methods to capture or destroy the Spanish squadron stationed in the port, of which we can highlight the use ofÃÂ Congreve rockets,ÃÂ which had a disappointing result.
After two expeditions to Peru, where Cochrane had twice blockaded the port of Callao and attacked its surroundings, he headed towards the southern coast ofàChileàwith the aim of capturing the second most important royalist enclave, which was in Valdivia. After convincing himself that theàSan Telmo shipà, the flagship of the South Sea Division, with 74 cannons and 650 crew members, was not waiting for him, he ordered an invasion, managing toàcapture the town of Valdiviaàafter a daring attack on 3 and 4 February 1820. Encouraged by this success, he wanted to imitate the same attack on the island ofàChiloé, which remained loyal to the Spanish monarchy until 1826, attacking on 18 February 1820 theàCastillo San Miguel de Agüi,àwhich was the strongest point on the island. When the attack failed, Cochrane ordered the attempt to be abandoned.
The rest of the ships that were not captured or destroyed and therefore not mentioned in the list are due to the fact that during the campaign some Spanish ships retreated to theÃÂ PeninsulaÃÂ or theÃÂ Philippines.
The list does not include all the ships that were captured or destroyed by the Chilean squadron under the command of Admiral Thomas Cochrane because there is no exact list of all the prizes from this campaign.