Luis Uribe

Who was Luis Uribe?

Luis Uribe Orrego was a Vice-Admiral of the Chilean Navy and a hero of the War of the Pacific.

Luis Uribe was born in Copiapó, the son of Juan José Uribe and of Rosario Orrego. He joined the navy on August 20, 1858, at the age of 9 years old, and graduated from the naval academy on July 16, 1861 as an midshipman. His first post was on the "Esmeralda", where he travelled to the extreme south of Chile, to the Juan Fernández Islands and to Peru. Uribe was promoted to ensign on 1869, and the next year participated on a scientific expedition to Easter Island, where they prepared a topographic study.

On 1872, he was sent as part of a naval mission to England, under command of Admiral José Anacleto Goñi, who was in charge of contracting the construction of 3 new ships. While there he met a Mrs. Newlove, a widow, of whom he fell in love. Admiral Goñi denied him permission to marry her, but he ignored the command and still went ahead with the wedding in 1874. As a result he was relieved of his duties and court-martialled. He was finally clear of all charges after being defended by his classmate and lawyer Arturo Prat.