In Peru, he is considered a national hero for leading the resistance to Chilean occupation during the War of the Pacific (1879–1883), in which he fought as a general in the Peruvian Army.

As part of this unit, he participated in the rebellion led by General Ramón Castilla against President José Rufino Echenique, which ended with the victory of the former at the Battle of La Palma (5 January 1855).

After the conflict ended in 1860, Castilla appointed Cáceres to serve as military attaché of the Peruvian delegation to France and he traveled there.

During this period, he became known for his outspoken opposition to President Juan Antonio Pezet, who had allowed the Spanish occupation of the Chincha Islands in the Vivanco-Pareja Treaty of 1865.

Pardo was the first civilian President of Peru and founder of the influential Civilista Party which played an important role in Peruvian political history.

However, the political instability created after Nicolás de Piérola successfully overthrew Mariano Ignacio Prado hampered the actions of the Allied Army against the Chileans.

Even though he tried to regroup, a Peruvian government headed by Miguel Iglesias signed the Treaty of Ancón (10 October 1883), recognizing defeat and bringing an end to the war.

The Grace Contract caused widespread controversy, the Cáceres administration was accused of having sold the country's main assets at a very low price among other things.

In any case, the agreement allowed the government to solve its external debt problem and assured the expansion of Peruvian railways at a time when there were no public resources whatsoever for either task.

Other initiatives undertaken during this period included the end of the use of banknotes as legal tender the separation of State incomes between those of the central government and those of the departments, and a partial consolidation of the internal debt.

After the victory of Remigio Morales, the official candidate in the presidential elections of 13 April 1890, Cáceres transferred power to his successor on August 10 of the same year.

Rebel forces attacked Lima on 17 March 1895, the ensuing fight was stopped two days later by an armistice signed under the auspices of the diplomatic corps.

He returned to Perú but left again, this time for Europe where he served as Peruvian ambassador in the Kingdom of Italy (1905–1911) and the German Empire and Austria–Hungary (1911–1914).

In recent years, in acknowledgement of this symbolism, a group of Peruvian military veterans have organized and adopted the name etnocacerista after Cáceres.

An interesting legacy is found in the person of Zoila Aurora Cáceres, one of his daughters, who left behind a rich oeuvre of writing.