]
Even after several defeats of the Spanish troops during the Chilean Independence War, Valdivia and Chilo� remained loyal to the Spanish King. By 1820 the newly created Chilean Navy, commanded by Lord Thomas Cochrane, captured Valdivia, but failed to liberate Chilo�. Cochrane's land-based attack took the Spanish by surprise, avoiding a direct confrontation with the highly-defended forts at the entrance to the Valdivia River. When loyal troops in Valdivia heard the news about the fall of Corral they sacked the city and fled south to reinforce Chilo�, passing by Osorno.[]
Chilean Supreme Director, and Libertador, Bernardo O'Higgins founded the city of La Uni�n south of Valdivia in 1821, to secure the way to Osorno, a city that had been repopulated in 1796 by his father Ambrosio O'Higgins. Valdivia had been a province of the General Captaincy of Chile and was in 1826 incorporated as one of the eight provinces of Chile.[]
On February 20, 1835, Valdivia was affected by the worst earthquake in the area in several decades, an event witnessed by Charles Darwin.[] He also stated that "there is not much cleared land near Valdivia"[] which contrasted with the description made by early Spaniards of large fields and extensive croplands.
The expansion and economic development of the city were limited in the early 19th century. To jump-start economic development, the Chilean government initiated a highly focussed immigration program under Bernhard Eunom Philippi and later Vicente P�rez Rosales as government agents. Through this program, thousands of Germans settled in the area, incorporating then-modern technology and know-how to develop agriculture and industry. While immigrants that arrived to the Llanquihue area where often poor farmers, Valdivia received more educated immigrants, including political exiles and merchants. Some of the immigrants that arrived in Valdivia established workshops and built new industries. One of the most famous
