Battle of Curalaba

The Battle of Curalaba (Batalla de Curalaba ) was a battle and an ambush in 1598 when Mapuche people led by Pelantaru defeated Spanish conquerors led by Martín García Óñez de Loyola at Curalaba, southern Chile. In Chilean historiography, where the event is often called the Disaster of Curalaba (Desastre de Curalaba), the battle marks the end of the conquest (la conquista) period in Chile's history, although the fast Spanish expansion in the south had already been halted in the 1550s. The battle led to a general Mapuche uprising that resulted in Destruction of the Seven Cities. This severe crisis reshaped Colonial Chile and forced the Spanish to reassess their mode of warfare.

History
On December 21, 1598, governor Martín García Oñez de Loyola traveled to Purén at the head of 50 soldiers and companions. At the end of the second day they camped overnight in Curalaba, failing to take protective measures. The Mapuche were aware of their presence and Pelantaru and his lieutenants Anganamón and Guaiquimilla, leading three hundred men on horseback, shadowed the group's movements and mounted a surprise night raid. Taken by surprise, the governor and almost all of his party were killed.

This event was called the Disaster of Curalaba by the Spaniards. It not only involved the death of the Spanish governor, but the news rapidly spread among the Mapuche and triggered a general revolt, long-prepared by the toqui Paillamachu, that destroyed Spanish camps and towns south of the Bío-Bío River over the next few years.