Battle of Cancha Rayada
1818 CE · Cancha Rayada, Chile
The Battle of Cancha Rayada was fought in 1818 CE in Cancha Rayada, Chile between Spanish royalists vs the Army of the Andes; royalist victory in a surprise night attack; San Martín rallied and won at Maipú weeks later.
Battle of Cancha Rayada: quick facts
- Date
- 1818 CE
- Location
- Cancha Rayada, Chile
- Belligerents
- Spanish royalists vs the Army of the Andes
- Commanders
- Mariano Osorio vs José de San Martín and Bernardo O'Higgins
- Result
- royalist victory in a surprise night attack; San Martín rallied and won at Maipú weeks later.
- Era
- 🌎 Latin American Wars
- Quiz difficulty
- hard
What happened at the Battle of Cancha Rayada?
Spanish royalist forces launched a devastating night attack on San Martin's patriot army at Cancha Rayada. The surprise assault caused widespread panic and the patriots suffered significant losses. However, San Martin and his officers quickly rallied their forces, and just 12 days later won the decisive Battle of Maipu that secured Chilean independence.
Did you know?
The defeat at Cancha Rayada was so complete that San Martin's army initially appeared destroyed. But within days he had rallied 5,000 men for the Battle of Maipu, one of the great military comebacks in history.
Sources and further reading
- Battle of Cancha Rayada on Wikipedia for the full account, historiography and primary sources.
- How BattleGuess compiles and checks battle facts: see the About page.
Entry last reviewed 26 September 2026.