Itata Incident

The Itata Incident was a diplomatic affair and military incident involving the United States and Chile in 1891. The incident concerned an attempted arms shipment by the ship "Itata" from the U.S. to Chile, to assist Congressional forces in the Chilean Civil War. The Itata Incident was the direct cause of the Baltimore Crisis and is one of the reasons that Benjamin Harrison was not reelected to a second term as the President of the United States.

Background

In 1891, after a series of struggles with multinational nitrate interests, Chilean President José Manuel Balmaceda refused to sign the national budget passed by the Chilean National Congress. Balmaceda then dissolved Congress. The dissolution split both the Chilean Army and Navy, with some forces remaining loyal to Congress and others to the President. An armed conflict ensued. Supporters of those forces loyal to Congress, including members of the dissolved parliament and their backers among multinational nitrate interests, purchased weaponry from Europe and from the U.S.. Better equipped than the forces loyal to the president, these forces rapidly captured Chile's northern provinces, many of which had recently been conquered from Bolivia during the War of the Pacific.

Washington

The Chilean foreign minister Prudencio Lazcano approached United States Secretary of State James Blaine for assistance. Blaine initially rebuffed Lazcano but later, with the support of his soon-to-be successor John W. Foster and against the advice of Third Under Secretary of State John Basset Moore, agreed to aid the Balameda administration. Moore resigned in protest at Blaine's decision.

The U.S. arms shipment

Meanwhile Ricardo Trumbull, an agent of the Chilean Congressional insurgents, was dispatched to New York. With the advice of William Russell Grace, whose nitrate company had relocated from Peru to New York in the 1860s and who had twice served as New York City mayor, Trumbull purchased for the Congressionalists some of the latest in American arms technology, including Remington rifles. He had the weaponry rail freighted to the Port of Los Angeles, where the schooner "Robert and Minnie" transferred it to to the Chilean steamer "Itata" while sailing near San Clemente Island.

an Diego

Before the "Itata" could rendezvous with the "Robert and Minnie" she was detained on May 6 at San Diego harbor on the orders of John W. Foster. Marshal George Gard took charge of the ship, but Gard allowed the "Itata" to remain under steam and in mid-stream, ready to sail, during her detention. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9806EFDA163AE533A25754C0A9639C94609ED7CF "Seizure of the Itata; the Robert and Minnie not caught"] , New York Times, May 7 1891, retrieved 10 August 2008] . At 5:30 pm on May 7 the Itata lifted anchor and left San Diego against US orders, while Gard was out in the harbor searching for the "Robert and Minnie", which had been sighted the previous day in nearby Mexican waters. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F01EEDA163AE533A2575BC0A9639C94609ED7CF "Away steamed the Itata"] , New York Times, May 8 1891, retrieved 10 August 2008] US national newspapers subsequently reported a claim by Deputy Marshal Spencer, who had been aboard the "Itata" when she sailed and was put ashore by its crew the same evening at Ballast point, that the ship was loaded with Chilean soldiers.

Iquique

The United States navy dispatched several ships, under two admirals, to chase the "Itata", which press reports claimed was expected to meet and supply the Chilean warship "Esmeralda" with arms and munitions. But both the "Esmeralda" and the Charleston, a US warship sent out after the "Itata" from San Francisco, reached the Mexican harbor at Acapulco by May 16, neither having intercepted the "Itata". [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9806E2D8163AE533A25754C1A9639C94609ED7CF "Waiting for the Itata"] , New York Times, May 17 1891, retrieved August 10 2008] .

The "Charleston" left Acapulco to join with other US ships, including the "San Francisco" and the "Baltimore", and an international contingent including warships of the Royal Navy and the Imperial German Kaiserliche Marine to await the "Itata" at the Chilean harbor of Iquique. There, on June 4, U.S. Navy Rear Admirals W.P. McCann and George Brown convinced the Chilean Congressional rebels to give up the "Itata" and its cargo of around 5,000 rifles. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9804E7DC173AE533A25756C0A9609C94609ED7CF "The Itata Surrendered"] , New York Times, June 5 1891, retrieved August 10 2008] Ironically another arms shipment from the vessel "Maipo" with a load of German-made Krupp arms and munitions arrived at Iquique on July 3, making the "Itata"'s cargo unnecessary to the Congress loyalists' cause.

Baltimore Crisis

After the "Itata" left Iquique to return to the U.S., the crew of the "Baltimore" took shore leave at Valparaiso. During the American sailors' shore leave on October 16, 1891, a mob of enraged Chileans angry about the "Itata"'s capture (among other possible motivesFact|date=August 2008), attacked the sailors from the "Baltimore". Two sailors were killed and several were wounded seriously. That Valparaiso riot prompted saber-rattling from enraged American officials, threatening war against Chile, which by now was controlled by victorious Congressional forces. War between the U.S. and Chile was ultimately averted when the Chilean government, while maintaining that the seamen were to blame for the riot, offered to pay an indemnity of $75,000 to victims' families.

The "Itata's" return to the U.S.

After its surrender, the "Itata" was brought back to San Diego with its crew. The Harrison Administration appointed William Howard Taft, the US Solicitor General (and later U.S. President), and Los Angeles-based federal prosecutor Henry Gage (later Governor of California), to investigate the "Itata" and prosecute its crew and suppliers.

Following his investigation Gage declined to prosecute the crew, stating his belief that the federal government had made an error regarding the matter. He also believed that the arms shipment constituted private property, and was outside of the federal government's direct jurisdiction.

Taft did prosecute the cases against the arms and against the ship; however, the U.S. government lost in each instance in the courts.

Ultimately the Chilean congressionalists succeeded in their ouster of the Balamaceda administration and, in 1901, the Chilean steamship company which had charted the "Itata" to the congressionalist authorities brought a case against the United States for the ship's detention, claiming the ship had acted on behalf of the legitimate provisional government. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9406E1DB1030E132A2575BC1A9639C946097D6CF "To decide the Itata case"] , New York Times, May 18 1901, retrieved August 10 2008] The United States and Chilean Claims Commission ruled that the seizure had been justifiable, and that US authorities had had probable cause in holding the "Itata" at San Diego. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9C03E7D71F38E733A2575BC1A9609C946097D6CF "Itata seizure upheld"] , New York Times, June 18 1901, retrieved August 10 2008]

References

ources

*Foreign Relations of the United States of America for the Year 1891. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1892.
*Foreign Relations of the United States of America for the Year 1892. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1893.
*"The Itata Incident" Osgood Hardy, in the Hispanic American Historical Review, vol V (1922) pp 195-226.
*The Federal Reporter. vv 47-9, 56
*John W. Foster. Michael Devine, London: The Ohio University Press, 1981.