Battle of Curalaba

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Battle of Curalaba
Part of Arauco War
Date December 23, 1598 Location Curalaba, on the banks of the Lumaco River, 25 kilometers from Angol 37°55′S 72°53′W / 37.917°S 72.883°W / -37.917; -72.883 Result Decisive Mapuche victory
Belligerents
Spanish Empire	Mapuche
Commanders and leaders
Martín García Oñez de Loyola †	Vice toqui Pelantaru
Strength
50 Spanish and 300 Indian auxiliaries	600 warriors [1]
Casualties and losses
All but two Spaniards were killed,[2] as were most of the Indian auxiliaries.	?

The Battle of Curalaba (Spanish: Batalla de Curalaba pronounced [baˈtaʝa ðe kuɾaˈlaβa]) is a 1598 battle and ambush where Mapuche people led by Pelantaru soundly defeated Spanish conquerors led by Martín García Óñez de Loyola at Curalaba, southern Chile. In Chilean historiography, where the event is often called the Disaster of Curalaba (Spanish: Desastre de Curalaba), the battle marks the end of the Conquest of Chile (la conquista) period in Chile's history, although the fast Spanish expansion in the south had already been halted in the 1550s. The battle contributed to unleash a general Mapuche uprising that resulted in the Destruction of the Seven Cities. This severe crisis reshaped Colonial Chile and forced the Spanish to reassess their mode of warfare.