He is known for his actions in the Occupation of Araucanía, between 1862 and 1883, actively participating during the sustained process to incorporate that historical region to Chile as well as its inhabitants, the Mapuche.

With the outbreak of the revolution of 1859, his first military conflict, he joined with his battalion already mentioned to the forces of Manuel Montt's government to confront the liberal rebels.

On September 18 he was among the loyal forces sent to quell the revolutionary mutiny in Valparaíso, being the last military action of the war, with which hostilities ceased within the country.

[2] In 1862 he joined the Assembly Corps and was assigned to the army that began the occupation of the Araucanía, making several entries into the interior of that region and participating in several armed actions.

During these years, under the orders of the commander of the Lower Frontier Cornelio Saavedra, he participated directly in the formation of the towns of Lebu, Cañete, Purén, Lumaco and Toltén, and the forts of Contulmo, Pangueco, Quidico and Quele.

He also assumed command of the Regimiento Zapadores, a military corps that had recently been created and with which he would carry out work during the advance, such as opening roads, constructing buildings, laying telegraph lines, among others.

During the advance, he tried to deal well with the Mapuche people, obtaining the sympathy of the neighboring groups of the towns he had established, avoided offending them and punished some excesses committed by officers or soldiers.

[6][7] With Chile's declaration of war on Peru and Bolivia on April 5, 1879, he stopped his work on the Traiguén line and moved north to join the army of operations in the area, which was commanded successively by Generals Erasmo Escala and Manuel Baquedano.

He accompanied the Minister of War Rafael Sotomayor in his work as military advisor until a few days before his death in May 1880.5 During the campaign of Tacna and Arica, he attended in a highly satisfactory way the logistic rearguard services in the battle of Alto de la Alianza and the battle of Arica, on May 26 and June 7 respectively, in spite of having scarce transport elements and reduced personnel of employees.

On November 8, during the Lima campaign, he was appointed chief of staff of the I Division of the army of operations, under the command of Patricio Lynch.

During the occupation of Lima, he carried out his last functions in the war, collaborating with the organization of public services, the installation of customs and the operation of warehouses and dependencies in general.

[1][8] At the beginning of 1881, a new Mapuche uprising against the Chilean occupation began to develop in the Araucanía, so President Aníbal Pinto again requested his services in the area due to his previous experience.

Upon arriving in Traiguén, he was informed of the situation in the area and began to take various measures, such as supplying the barracks and establishing guidelines for dealing with the Mapuches.

[2][10] Once the occupation of Araucanía was over, he was appointed on October 26 as commander in chief of the Tacna and Arica division,[11] and on June 5 of the following year he was named inspector general of the Southern Army.

In 1891 he joined the congressional alliance that sought to overthrow President José Manuel Balmaceda, forming part of the Government Board of Iquique that was led by Jorge Montt.

He was appointed advisor to the congressional army and directed the first military actions of the civil war of that year in the northern theater of the country.