Abstract
There is a monument in Valparaiso called the Arco Británico, or British Arch, which was erected in 1911 to celebrate one hundred years of Chilean independence. It is the work of the Chilean architect Alfredo Azancot. The monument is faced in white marble and carries at the top the figure of the Victorian British Lion, and on its sides the effigies of Cochrane, O’Higgins, Simpson, and O’Brien— all heroes in the War of Independence. This O’Higgins is Bernardo, whose name is most closely connected with the victories of the patriot army in Chile. He was the Chilean-born son of an Irishman, Ambrose O’Higgins. The other three names relate to the naval war—Thomas Cochrane, a Scotsman; Robert Simpson, an Englishman; and George O’Brien, an Irishman.
I do not hesitate in asserting, that but for his assiduity and unremitting attention, his military knowledge, and determined valour, the western shores of America would have still been in the possession of Spain; her fleet would have now commanded the Pacific, and “British Commerce” would have been excluded from the extensive market which it enjoys.
—W. B. Stevenson, Lord Thomas Cochrane’s secretary, 1825
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© 2009 William Edmundson
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Edmundson, W. (2009). Chile’s Wars. In: A History of the British Presence in Chile. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230101210_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230101210_5
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