President Sebastian Piñera He headed this Saturday a new commemoration of the Glories of the Chilean Army, in a context of pandemic, reduced to a small celebration at the Military School, without the traditional Parade in the ellipse of O’Higgins Park.
It was thus, that in the middle of his speech, the President made a “historical” mistake.
“Today’s soldiers will probably not have the same opportunities to show their heroism by giving their own lives, as Colonel Pedro Lagos did, for example, in the capture of Morro de Arica or Captain Ignacio Carrera Pinto, in the heroic deed of the battle of La Concepción ”, said Piñera in his speech before the uniformed present.
However, the phrase carries a fundamental error. Colonel Pedro Lagos effectively led the taking of Morro de Arica on June 7, 1880, but he died 3 years, 7 months, and 11 days later, due to liver disease, on January 18, 1884 in Concepción… Chile.
Captain Ignacio Carrera Pinto, meanwhile, did die in combat, in July 1882, in the aforementioned Battle of La Concepción, a Peruvian town.
The colonel who did lose his life in Morro de Arica was Francisco Bolognesi, a Peruvian national hero.
