Manuel José Cuadros, patriotism and talent

Manuel José Cuadros, then Minister of War and Navy, died on September 21, 1898 in his house in Chorrillos, a spa where he was mayor on several occasions. He was born in Lima on December 7, 1848, the only son of Judge Manuel Asencio Cuadros and Doña Rosa Viñas. Like Pedro Ruiz Gallo, Manuel J. Cuadros had a special talent, a prodigious ability to design and build all kinds of machines, preferably those of a warlike nature. He studied in Santo Toribio and at the Guadalupe school. He was 18 years old when he took up arms in combat on May 2, 1866.

Later Manuel J. Cuadros alternated work with sports, being one of the founders of the first target shooting club that existed in Lima. In 1875, this notable self-taught mechanic invented a device that allowed better aiming of naval cannons, which he managed to patent and sell in the United States and several European countries. The zenithal moment of Cuadros’s life comes during the war with Chile. Our Navy and the Army of the South had suffered serious contrasts. The enemy, owner of the sea after October 8, 1879, traveled the coasts looking for apparent places to launch his offensive against the capital.

Manuel J. Cuadros, putting his life in grave danger, prepared the explosive devices that allowed the destruction of the Chilean ships Loa, off Callao, on July 3, 1880, and Covadonga, in Chancay, on September 13 of the same year. . The Supreme Chief, Nicolás de Piérola, awarded Cuadros the Cross of Military Merit. After the misfortunes of January 13 and 15, 1881, the capital already being occupied, Manuel J. Cuadros, his wife María Pflücker and his children had to escape hastily to the interior of the country. The Chileans had put a price on Cuadros’s head and all the enemy contingents had orders to capture him dead or alive. Happily Cuadros was able to take refuge in Huánuco and soon after he joined the resistance under the orders of General Andrés A. Cáceres.

It is also worth mentioning that because of the war Manuel J. Cuadros lost valuable properties in Iquique and Lima. After the Treaty of Ancón he was able to return to the capital and put all his efforts into starting the reconstruction of Chorrillos, a resort devastated by fire and looting. When General Cáceres assumed the head of state, he arranged for Cuadros to go to Europe with the purpose of buying weapons. The same mission was later entrusted to him by President Colonel Remigio Morales Bermúdez. Both leaders fully trusted his knowledge of war material and his refined honesty. During the constitutional regime of Nicolás de Piérola, which began in 1895, Manuel José Cuadros was also called to hold high public office. He was first appointed administrator of the Callao Customs, the most important in the country and the main source of income, and later he was appointed Minister of Development. A great connoisseur of our territory, Cuadros promoted explorations in the jungle, beginning the layout of penetration routes to expand the cultivation areas in the eastern region. He was already affected by cancer, which ultimately took his life, when he went on to occupy the portfolio of War and Navy. There he also left lasting work, such as the Regulations for Army Clothing, the modernization of young gunsmiths who were sent to Belgium to learn about the most advanced in this matter. Cuadros is also responsible for the compulsory military service bill and introduced the international code of signals used in Great Britain in the Navy.

Unfortunately, useless were the efforts made to prevent the advance of the cancer that took his life when he was only 50 years old. He worked until his strength left him. The trajectory of this admirable man should be known by our compatriots as an enduring example of civic virtues in times of peace and war. Manuel J. Cuadros never backed down from danger or succumbed to discouragement. He creatively supplied the most varied limitations. He never asked for anything for his services to Peru. The satisfaction of the duty fulfilled was the only compensation, the only good that he treasured in the depths of his upright spirit, always eager for the progress and greatness of his homeland.