Seeking the real "Master and Commander" in Chile

By Angus MacSwan

VALPARAISO, Chile (Reuters Life!) - "Lord of the Sea, we call you, singing, to battle. Spanish chains deny us the seas."

So wrote Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in homage to Lord Thomas Cochrane, a Scottish sailor who is revered in Chile for his role in the independence war against Spain.

Cochrane's exploits were also the inspiration for Patrick O'Brian's popular Jack Aubrey novels -- given the Hollywood treatment in the film "Master and Commander" starring Russell Crowe -- and C.S. Forester's Hornblower stories.

Fans of those yarns will find the port of Valparaiso a trove of Cochrane lore. Streets throughout Chile are named after him, as well as a naval frigate and a town.

"There is no doubt he is an absolute hero to Chileans. He played a vital role in the struggle for independence. He is one the three great liberators, along with San Martin and O'Higgins," writer David Cordingly, whose biography "Cochrane the Dauntless" has just been published in Britain and the United States, said in a telephone interview.

Born in Scotland in 1775 to an aristocratic family that had fallen on hard times, he joined the British Royal Navy as a midshipman. He made a name for himself as a daring frigate commander and innovative tactician, raiding the French and Spanish coasts in the Napoleonic Wars.

His capture of the Spanish warship El Gamo in his outgunned sloop HMS Speedy in 1801 made him a national hero and he earned more fame leading a fire ship attack on the French fleet at Basque Roads in 1809. Napoleon dubbed him "The Sea Wolf".

But he often argued with his superiors and made powerful enemies. He fell from grace in Britain when he was convicted in a London stock exchange fraud in 1814, booted out of the navy, jailed and stripped of his honors.

With Spain's colonies in revolt, he was hired by agents of patriot forces led by Bernardo O'Higgins and in 1818 he left Britain to lead the fledgling Chilean navy as a mercenary.

Control of the Pacific was vital and Cochrane hit the Spanish in Chile and Peru with his usual dash -- also driven by the goal of earning a new fortune and clearing his name.

His great successes were the capture of the Spanish warship the Esmeralda and the 1820 attack on Valdivia, Spain's most important base in Chile, which broke the Spanish army.

"The attack on Valdivia was brilliantly executed," Cordingly said. "And by destroying Spanish control of the seas, he allowed the land armies to move in for mopping up."

VALPARAISO SITES

Cochrane based himself in Valparaiso, a city with houses perched on steep hills sloping down to the waterfront. A statue of him and an obelisk stands on Avenida Brasil.

His hillside house can be reached by taking a funicular lift up Cordillera Hill. The terrace, complete with cannons, has a fine view of the bay and the colonial-style house, built round a patio, is currently used as an art gallery.