CHAPTER XVI.
ARGENTINE-CHILENO ALLIANCE.
1817.
The alliance between Argentina and Chile, sealed with the blood of her soldiers in the assault on Talcahuano, is the most important factor of this epoch in the struggle for the emancipation of America, whether the objects of the alliance be spoken of or whether its results be summed up. This alliance, the first celebrated in the New World between independent nations, was no artificial combination; it arose from the natural tendencies, and from the reciprocal interests of two peoples, and its effects were felt from Cape Horn to the Equator. Never did two allied nations work more cordially together for one end, never were greater deeds accomplished with such feeble resources. Without this alliance the struggle for independence would either have failed or would have been indefinitely retarded. It originated in the help given by each country to the other in the first years of the struggle, from 1811 to 1814. The fall of Chile in the latter year only strengthened the bond; it was then seen to be an absolute necessity to both. Chile alone could not free herself from her oppressors, and Argentina without her had no military road by which she could reach her enemy, while she herself lay open to assault.
The Argentine Republic undertook the conquest of Chile for three reasons: first, as a measure of self-defence;
