Battle of Chinchilla

At the beginning of August 1873, Antonio Gálvez [es] and General Juan Contreras y Román [es] led a third land expedition in the direction of Chinchilla made up of 3,000 men distributed in three trains. The purpose of this expedition was to cut off the railway communication with Madrid of the army of General Arsenio Martínez Campos, who had surrounded Valencia, capital of the Valencian Canton. The first combats took place at the Chinchilla railway station, where the cantonalists managed to oust the troops sent by Martínez Campos upon learning their plans. But when the cantonalists received news that the Valencian Canton had fallen, they started withdrawing. The government forces took advantage of the cantonalists retreat and counterattacked supported by the artillery, causing panic and the disbandment of their enemies' forces. Finally Gálvez and Contreras managed to reorganize their forces, receiving the help of the reserve column that had remained in Hellín. Thus they were able to return to Murcia, arriving there on August 10, at night. The battle of Chinchilla was a disaster for the cantonalists who lost nearly 500 men, including 28 chiefs and officers, as well as 51 wagons, four cannons and 250 rifles, and above all because it left Martínez Campos with an open path to occupy Murcia.^[1]