Benavides was notified of his appointment as Captain General of Chile in May 1780, and immediately started the long trip overland. He had to stop and winter in the city of
Mendoza but finally managed to arrive in
Santiago on December 11, assuming his position the next day. Nonetheless, the long and arduous journey took a heavy toll on his health from which he never really recovered.
Conspiracy of the three Antonios Soon after Benavides assumed his post, he was faced with handling the "
conspiracy of the three Antonios", an incident in which two Frenchmen,
Antonio Gramusset and
Antonio Berney, and a
criollo,
José Antonio de Rojas, inspired by
Enlightenment ideals, had formulated a plan to establish Chile as an independent republic. All three conspirators were secretly arrested on January 1, 1781, putting an end to any possible civil unrest before it started.
Flood of 1783 The fall of 1783 was one of the harshest on record for Chile. On April 13, a strong earthquake affected Santiago and on June 16, the
Mapocho River, after nine days of uninterrupted rain, flooded the city. The river first overran its course to the east of the city, and came down the
Alameda (which itself is a former river branch). Soon it also overran its dikes, flooding all the north side (La Cañadilla) of the city. The whole downtown area became an island surrounded by water on all sides. Many nuns, including the
Carmelitas de San Rafael had to be rescued on horseback from their isolated monasteries. Finally the storm abated on April 17 with no casualties but with great economic losses.
Bourbon reforms King
Charles III determined to reform the political administration of the empire: among other reforms he subdivided the General Captaincies into
Intendencias. Two were created in Chile in 1786: Santiago, covering the area from
Copiapó to the
Maule river, and
Concepción, from the Maule river to the
Valdivia River. Benavides, while remaining governor of Chile, was appointed the intendant of Santiago, and brigadier
Ambrosio O'Higgins became intendant of Concepción. Benavides named
Alonso de Guzmán y Peralta as his assistant, while O'Higgins named
Juan Martínez de Rozas, both lawyers. Another consequence of the reforms was that the King reserved for himself the appointment of the military governors of
Valparaíso and
Valdivia, and while continental Chile remained as a Captaincy-General within the viceroyalty,
Chiloé Island was detached and made a direct dependency of the
Viceroyalty of Perú.
Public works During his period, the Italian architect
Joaquín Toesca arrived in Chile. He was charged with the construction of the new Cathedral, the
La Moneda Palace, the new building for the
Cabildo, and the new public jail. He paid much attention to the construction of the Maipo channel, and the reconstruction of Santiago after the floods of 1783, including moving La Moneda from its original location by the river to the current one. ==Death==