Dutch expedition to Valdivia

On 23 December 1598, native Mapuche warriors led by Pelantaro ambushed and wiped out a Spanish column at the Battle of Curalaba. Following this, a general uprising developed among the Mapuche and Huilliche people of southern Chile. The subsequent Arauco War was to smolder for over 250 years but its immediate effect was the so-called "Destruction of the Seven Cities": the Spanish settlements of Angol, La Imperial, Osorno, Santa Cruz de Oñez, Valdivia and Villarrica were either destroyed or abandoned. Only Chillán and Concepción resisted the Mapuche sieges and attacks. With the exception of the Chiloé Archipelago, all the Chilean territory south of Bío Bío River became free of Spanish rule. In 1600, local Huilliches joined the Dutch corsair Baltazar de Cordes in attacking the Spanish settlement of Castro in Chiloé. While this was an opportunistic assault, the Spanish correctly believed the Dutch could attempt to ally with the Mapuches and establish a stronghold in southern Chile. Over time, the Spanish became aware of actual Dutch plans to establish themselves at the ruins of Valdivia and so attempted to re-establish Spanish rule there before the arrival of the Dutch. These efforts were thwarted in the 1630s by the impossibility of establishing an overland route through the territory of the hostile Mapuches. The ruins of Valdivia, at the head of its splendid natural harbour, remained a tempting target for Spain's enemies. However, they tried to promote uprisings among the Criollos and natives of the American coasts, which although unsuccessful, generated alarm among the Spanish. In the context of the Arauco war, the Spanish authorities of the Captaincy General of Chile had established a peace treaty with the Mapuche warlords in 1641, to concentrate Spanish resources on the most important European affairs. ==Expedition==

In 1642, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) joined with the Dutch West Indies Company (GWC) in organising an expedition under Hendrik Brouwer to Chile to establish a trading base at Valdivia, long abandoned. Brouwer, a veteran navigator and member of the GWC, who decided to command the expedition despite his advanced age, was the main promoter of this project. The expedition was issued formal instructions to capture the gold mines believed to be abundant in the area, capture Valdivia, make alliances with indigenous peoples, the Mapuches and the Huilliches, and to explore Santa María Island. Except for Brouwer and other leaders, the true objectives were not known to the participants of the expedition; they were led to believe that it was a raiding and trading voyage. Brouwer and a small fleet of an unknown number of vessels left the Netherlands on 6 November 1642 with 250 men. Northerly winds pushed the expedition as far south as 61°59 S where icebergs were abundant before a southerly wind that begun on 7 April allowed the fleet to advance west. The Spanish at the small fortified settlement of Carelmapu spotted the Dutch on 20 May and sent infantry and cavalry to prevent them from landing. In the face of this threat, the Dutch had to land further away from Carelmapu at Punta de la Arena. Carelmapu was subsequently sacked and its Catholic church vandalised. However, in Carelmapu the Dutch learned that their arrival had been expected as they recovered a letter sent to the settlement's corregidor from Pedro de Toledo, the Spanish viceroy in Peru, warning of a Dutch expedition and ordering the use of a scorched earth strategy against them. Sánchez Jinés was particularly useful as he spoke indigenous Mapudungun. He moved quickly through the forested paths that led south from Carelmapu and reached Castro before the Dutch did so. Because the inhabitants of Chiloé Archipelago had hidden, the Dutch met few people after leaving Castro. To avoid interception by the Dutch envoys had to sail round Chiloé Island from the south through the Gulf of Corcovado. At Tornagaleones River one ship ran aground on a rocky shallow. On 29 August the Dutch had met with local tribal leader Manquipillan and his host. A major setback to the Dutch was that they had also failed to find the anticipated gold mines. The Mapuches began to realise the Dutch had no plans of leaving and their search for gold caused suspicion, leading the locals to halt their deliveries of food. Manqueante told the Dutch of his people's negative experiences of Spanish gold mining. On 26 October more deserters and accomplices were tried, resulting in various executions. ==Spanish response==

, one of the many forts the Spanish established around Corral Bay following the Dutch occupation of Valdivia , showing the location of the finished coastal defences. The four largest forts are marked with red. Francisco López de Zúñiga, the Governor of Chile, dispatched Juan de Acevedo in charge of a ship to Valdivia to gather information on 30 April 1644. De Acevedo reached Corral Bay by May noticing that the Dutch were nowhere to be found. Having heard from Juan Manqueante that the Dutch planned to return, Pedro de Toledo conceived an occupation of Valdivia by a synchronous advance by the Spanish army in Chile by land and by a fleet sent from Peru. Reaching so far south was a feat in itself since the Spanish had not been around these places in the last 50 years. Manqueante is said to have remained aligned with the Spanish from the Dutch departure in 1643 to the Mapuche uprising of 1655. == Notes ==