During all off the Chilean Independence War Chiloé Archipelago had remained under control of the royalist which enjoyed a wide support in the archipelago. In 1820 Lord Cochrane, with the newly created Chilean Navy, had disembarked William Miller in Chiloé to capture the island for Chile. Cochrane's hoped to repeat the success at Valdivia where he with only 350 men had captured the largest Spanish defensive complex in Chile. William Miller's 60-men strong expedition suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Agüi and had to retreat back to the ships. When Ramón Freire came to power as supreme director of Chile in 1823, one of his first actions was to plan the capture of Chiloé. Freire's invasion army crossed Chacao Channel in March 1824. The troops occupied without resistance the village of