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Patricio Lynch

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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PATRICIO LYNCH (1825-1886) Chilean naval officer, was born in Valparaiso on the 18th of December 1825, his father being a wealthy Irish merchant resident in Chile, and his mother, Carmen Solo de Saldiva, a descendant of one of the best-known families in the country. Entering the navy in 1837, he took part in the operations which led to the fall of the dictator, Santa Cruz. Next, he sought a wider field, and saw active service in the China War on board the British frigate "Calliope." He was mentioned in despatches for bravery, and received the grade of midshipman in the British service. Returning to Chile in 1847 he became lieutenant, and seven years later he received the command of a frigate, but was deprived of his command for refusing to receive on board his ship political suspects under arrest. The Spanish War saw him again employed, and he was successively maritime prefect of Valparaiso, colonel of National Guards, and, finally, captain and minister of marine in 1872. In the Chile-Peruvian War a brilliant and destructive naval raid, led by him, was followed by the final campaign of Chorrillos and Miraflores (1880), in which he led at first a brigade (as colonel) and afterwards a division under Baquedano. His services at the battle of Chorrillos led to his appointment to command the Army of Occupation in Peru. This difficult post he filled with success, but his action in putting the Peruvian president, Garcia Calderon, under arrest excited considerable comment. His last act was to invest Iglesias with supreme power in Peru, and he returned to his own country in 1883. Promoted rear-admiral, he served as Chilean Minister at Madrid for two years, and died at sea in 1886. Lynch is remembered as one of the foremost of Chile's naval heroes.