General Buendia, commander of the allied forces, retreated to the village of Tarapacá, which was a collection of mud huts. It is situated in a narrow but fertile valley not to exceed six hundred yards in width, and he there awaited the attack which he knew was soon to follow. With practically no cavalry and a dozen antiquated field-guns the prospect was not alluring. The odds seemed hopeless. He was not kept long in suspense. A force under Colonel Arteaga consisting of picked men, cavalry and artillery soon appeared. The aim was the complete destruction of the allied army. For this purpose the force had been divided into three divisions. A mist hung over the little valley while the Peruvian army rested with stacked arms. Suddenly a muleteer galloped up to the commander and reported the enemy approaching. Then two others reported the other divisions. It looked as though they were being surrounded and caught in a trap. Then came the call to arms. The men responded and advanced up the bluffs against a withering fire. The stoical Indians saw their leaders fall, but they set their teeth and continued the advance. The Chileans at last found their equals. The allied forces were embarrassed by a lack of artillery, but fought desperately. Many were the deeds of heroism of that day. After a few hours of fighting they captured some guns from the enemy and used them to good advantage. The result of the battle was a decided victory for the allies, their only real victory of the war on land. San Francisco was atoned for, and the loss of the _Huascar_ avenged. The total loss was twelve hundred men, about equally divided. The allies nevertheless retreated across the desert to Tacna, as it was impossible to maintain an army in the interior and they were not strong enough to recapture Iquique. In this way General Buendia saved the flower of his army. In several battles of this campaign several thousand troops were lost on each side, but, as a result, the Chileans came into control of all of the nitrate country. Several months later Tacna was captured, and, with the battle of Arica, which has heretofore been described, all of present-day Chile was in control of the victors.