Nangoniel
Encyclopedia
Nangoniel was the Mapuche
Toqui
in 1585, and son of the previous toqui Cayancaru
. He was the first Toqui to use cavalry with the Mapuche army.
Following the failure of his siege of Arauco
, Cayancura, retired, leaving the command of the army to his son Nangoniel. He collected some infantry, and a hundred and fifty horse, which from then on began to be part of Mapuche armies. Nangoniel returned to invest the Arauco fortress again, and with his cavalry it became so closely invested, that the Spaniards were unable to supply it and were forced to evacuate it. Following this success he moved against the fort of Santísima Trinidad
which protected the passage of Spnish supplies via the Bio-bio River
but clashed with a division of Spanish troops, under Francisco Hernandez, were he lost an arm and had other dangerous wounds. He retreated to a neighbouring mountain, where he was ambushed by a force under the Spanish Sargento Mayor
and slain with fifty of his soldiers. The same day Cadeguala
was proclaimed Toqui by the Mapuche army.
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
Toqui
Toqui
Toqui is a title conferred by the Mapuche to those who are chosen as their leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parliament of the chieftains of the various clans or confederation of clans , allied during the war in question...
in 1585, and son of the previous toqui Cayancaru
Cayancaru
Cayancura or Cayeucura, a Mapuche native to the region of Marigüenu, chosen as toqui in 1584, to replace the captured Paineñamcu. His one great operation was an attempted siege of the fort at Arauco that failed, leading to his abdication of his office in favor of his son Nangoniel in 1585.-...
. He was the first Toqui to use cavalry with the Mapuche army.
Following the failure of his siege of Arauco
Arauco, Chile
Arauco is a city and commune in Chile, located in Arauco Province in the Biobio Region. The meaning of Arauco means Chalky Water in Mapudungun. The region was a Moluche aillarehue...
, Cayancura, retired, leaving the command of the army to his son Nangoniel. He collected some infantry, and a hundred and fifty horse, which from then on began to be part of Mapuche armies. Nangoniel returned to invest the Arauco fortress again, and with his cavalry it became so closely invested, that the Spaniards were unable to supply it and were forced to evacuate it. Following this success he moved against the fort of Santísima Trinidad
Santísima Trinidad (fort)
Santísima Trinidad or Most Holy Trinity was a fortress in the Kingdom of Chile that existed on the north shore of the Bio-Bio River in what is now the Biobío Province. It was built directly across the river from Fort Espíritu Santo by the Royal Governor of Chile Alonso de Sotomayor in 1585...
which protected the passage of Spnish supplies via the Bio-bio River
Bío-Bío River
The Biobío River is the second largest river in Chile. It originates from Icalma and Galletué lakes in the Andes and flows 380 km to the Gulf of Arauco on the Pacific Ocean....
but clashed with a division of Spanish troops, under Francisco Hernandez, were he lost an arm and had other dangerous wounds. He retreated to a neighbouring mountain, where he was ambushed by a force under the Spanish Sargento Mayor
Sargento Mayor
Sargento Mayor was a rank immediately below that of Maestro de Campo in the Spanish tercios of the 16th and 17th centuries. Initially second in rank to a Coronel in a Colunella, the Sargento Mayor became second in rank to the Maestre de Campo after the creation of the tercios in 1534...
and slain with fifty of his soldiers. The same day Cadeguala
Cadeguala
Cadeguala or Cadiguala was a Mapuche toqui elected in 1585 following the death in battle of the previous toqui Nangoniel. Cadeguala was a noted warrior and the first Mapuche toqui known to have used cavalry successfully in battle...
was proclaimed Toqui by the Mapuche army.
Source
- The Geographical, Natural, and Civil History of Chili By Don Juan Ignatius Molina, Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster-Row, London, 1809 pg 234-35
- José Ignacio Víctor Eyzaguirre, Historia eclesiastica: Politica y literaria de Chile, IMPRENTA DEL COMERCIO, VALPARAISO, June 1830 List of Toquis, pg. 162-163.