Irene Morales, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Irene Morales

Chilean soldier

Date of Birth: 22-Oct-1848

Place of Birth: La Chimba, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile

Date of Death: 25-Aug-1890

Profession: soldier, vivandière

Nationality: Chile

Zodiac Sign: Libra

Irene Morales Infante (1 April 1865 – 25 August 1890) was a Chilean soldier who served in the War of the Pacific.
She was born in a barrio of Santiago, and lived in poverty throughout her life, working as a seamstress from an early age.
At the time the War of the Pacific began she was only 13 years old, and had been orphaned and twice widowed.
Her second husband was executed by the Bolivian military for killing a soldier.
She tried to pass herself as a man and enlist as a soldier in the Chilean Army.
This failed, but she was given a position as an unofficial cantinière and military nurse, marching alongside the infantrymen to sell food and drink, and caring for the wounded after battles. Despite being given a noncombatant role, she fought alongside the men of her unit in the battles of the Tarapacá Campaign in late 1879, at Pisagua and San Francisco.
Her valor in these battles and her care for wounded men drew the attention of Chilean commander-in-chief Manuel Baquedano, who provided her with official recognition and the rank of a sergeant.
She continued to serve in the army for the duration of the war and was famously courageous at the Battle of Tacna in 1880.
After the war, she returned to civilian life and died in obscurity, aged only 25.
Now considered one of Chile's greatest heroes of the war, her service only became widely known after her death.