Manuel Bonilla, the 13-year-old boy hero who gave his life for Peru in the Battle of Miraflores

After the end of the Battle of San Juan and the defeat of the Peruvian army, Chile and Peru prepared to initiate a truce while mobilizing. However, this has not already happened at midnight on January 15, 1881, as part of the Pacific War, within the Campaign of Lima undertaken by Chile, the Battle of Miraflores was fought. Within the Peruvian battalion there were old people, young people, teenagers and even children, like Manuel Fernando Bonilla Elhart.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians of all ages and walks of life gave their lives to defend their homeland in the ill-fated War of the Pacific, also known as the “Guano and Saltpetre War”. Everyone was informed of the arrival of the Chileans in Lima and the will of the Peruvians was to defend their homeland. College students also got involved and began enlisting in the Army Reserve.

However, access to the army was not for everyone, the limit was 16 years minimum. the students of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Peru’s first national school, and La Inmaculada de los Jesuits, were the first to enroll. Then several students followed suit. Among the ‘guadalupanos’ was a 13-year-old boy: Manuel Bonilla. He was rejected for his young age at first instance.

Manuel did not remain calm and repeatedly insisted until he was allowed to enter the No. 6 Battalionwho was part of the group formed on the left of the Army (3800 men) commanded by the colonel caceres. Bonilla had certain restrictions, the main one being that she could not have weapons. Due to his young age, he was only going to help by handing out bullets to the Peruvian fighters.

Under the command of Narciso de la Colina, a civilian in uniform who was a lawyer and former diplomat, there were 280 soldiers, including Manuel Bonilla. Their mission was to defend Redoubt n°3 located in the farm “La Palma”. It was one of the seven redoubts that made up the second defensive line located miraflores.

In all of this, those involved were clear that Chile was clearly superior to Peru: they had around 11,000 troops, plus the ships Blanco Encalada, Huáscar and Cochrane. In contrast, the Peruvian army had only 3,000 soldiers and the rest, between 6,000 and 8,000, constituted part of the reserve. Trenches 7 meters wide by 2.5 meters deep, approximately, were dug in the direction of the enemy with a distance of 1,000 meters between each one.

Army instructors trained the youngsters in the use of firearms, but Bonilla was given the task of distributing the bullets to his companions and that was how he got involved in the beginning of the battle of Miraflores, one of the bloodiest, fiercest and tenacious of the war, despite having faced very unequal forces:

in the midst of battle, Daffodil of the Hill He started encouraging his forces to defeat the enemy, but during one of his attacks an enemy bullet fell on him, killing him instantly. Bonilla was very close to the event and was shocked, but had the courage to overcome and He ran to take the rifle from one of the fallen soldiers. A weapon in his arms, he advanced with extreme courage and audacity. He was injured, but continued to advance. However, the explosion of a Schapnell grenade completely destroyed his body.

For the Peruvians, it was only possible to eliminate the first ditch for the invading army since, practically out of ammunition, they had to give up the fight. Even so, the Peruvian troops were eliminated, freeing the passage to Chile, which quickly burned the city of Miraflores, slaughtered soldiers and eliminated any possibility of defense that would make it difficult to enter the Peruvian capital. On January 17, 1881, Chilean troops under the leadership of General Manuel Baquedano occupied the city of Lima.

In memory of this brave boy, it was built in Miraflores the Manuel Bonilla Hero children’s sports complex, on Av. Del Ejército, one of the main avenues in this neighborhood. On the other hand, in the emblematic Sala Luis Miró Quesada Garland, in block 4 of José Larco Avenue, the “Miraflores Heroic City” exhibition is presented, where you can see Peruvian military clothing, weapons and a large collection of the Battle of Miraflores.