Work and social relationship

After his departure from the army, and with the aim of seeking a new life project, he associated with his brother Karl, who had also been in the army and had participated in the Franco-Prussian War.^[1][8] Both, informed of the good working conditions and the prosperity of Chile through the German consul in Hamburg, Mr. Schutte, decided to immigrate to that country.^[8] They arrived in Valparaíso in August 1876, via Cape Horn, on the sailboat Adolphus.^[9]

Already in Chile, Otto and his brother joined the German residents, also made up of Danish.^[1] Soon he and his brother found a modest job in a sugar refinery of Viña del Mar, which belonged to the German businessman and resident Julio Bernstein.^[9] Otto lived for three years in Santiago, and in his free time he cultivated his social relationships with the affability and simplicity that endeared him to those who knew him. He dedicated himself in this free time to dancing, which was his great passion.^[9]

War of the Pacific and death

When hostilities began against Peru and Bolivia in early 1879, Otto obtained a leave of absence from his work to volunteer in the Chilean Army in the face of impending war. His brother Karl, meanwhile, took his place at the sugar refinery. Chilean Colonel Eckers assigned Otto the rank of second lieutenant in the Regiment Artillería de Marina.^[9][10]

With his regiment he was in the occupation of Antofagasta and the rest of the ports of the Bolivian coast. Later, he was assigned to garrison with a company of his regiment a nitrate establishment in the area called "Toco". There he suffered an unfortunate accident, the result of an accidental shot from a revolver that pierced his liver from band to band.^[9] Due to the severity of the wound, he was transferred to Valparaíso to be treated by a doctor named von Shroeders, who managed to cure him.^[10]

Having recovered from his wound, he returned to the north to participate in the war. Otto embarked on the auxiliary cruiser Amazonas as commander of the military garrison on board.^[10] In October, during the naval campaign, he had the advantage of being one of the legal participants in the price of the capture of the Peruvian ironclad Húascar.^[10] Later, Otto was reinstated to the Regiment Artillería de Marina with the rank of lieutenant.^[10] He participated in the Battle of Pisagua and the Battle of Tarapacá, both in November, during the Campaign of Tarapacá, and the Battle of Tacna in May 1880, during the Campaign of Tacna–Arica.^[3] During the course of the latter, his regiment was one of the military units that decided the Chilean victory in the center of the battle line.^[9]

Having observed his good performance in the land campaign, Colonel Domingo Toro Herrera, commander of the Regiment Chacabuco, requested that Moltke be transferred to his command and appointed him as his aide-de-camp with the rank of captain in his regiment.^[11] With his new regiment, he prepared to fight in the Campaign of Lima. On 11 December, while in Pisco, he wrote a letter to his brother Karl about his good luck in the war and his impressions on the upcoming campaign for the Peruvian capital.^[12]

Watercolour made by the British naval officer Rudolph de Lisle in 1881, showing a part of the 1st Peruvian defence line where the battle of San Juan and Chorrillos was fought. In the background you can see the Morro Solar, a place where the Chilean attack was more difficult and bloody, and where Otto von Moltke was killed

Subsequently, on 26 December, after the Chilean landing in Curayaco, south of Lima, Otto, while on board the auxiliary cruiser Angamos, wrote his last letter to his brother Karl, in which he said the following:^[12]

My dear brother Karl, at this moment we have just anchored in the bay (of Curayaco); the rest of the army is already in Lurín, a point that, according to estimates, will be attacked by the Peruvians. As we are already in the vicinity of Lima, the great decisive battle will take place in the next few days. If I die, you will notify our father in the least painful way possible. My documents are deposited in the Regiment Chacabuco. Do not forget that he left you my share of the capture of the Húascar, as well as everything he left will be yours. I hope that after the battle I can bring you good news. Health!...

On 13 January 1881, Otto participated in the Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos, commanding the 4th Company of the 1st Battalion of the Regiment Chacabuco,^[12] which was part of the Amunátegui Brigade of the 1st Army Division in the battle, under Patricio Lynch. During the second phase of the battle, after Chilean forces captured the San Juan line, his regiment and the Regiment 4º de Línea were ordered to attack the strong Peruvian defences on the Morro Solar promontory. Otto did the same at the head of the company he commanded. In that place the Chilean forces were repelled with several casualties by the intense fire, having to retreat and abandon some trenches that they had managed to occupy in the face of the Peruvian counterattack.^[13] It was during this part of the battle that he was mortally wounded by a gunshot to the chest, and then his body was cruelly torn to pieces on the ground by Peruvian soldiers with rifle butts and knives.^{[Note 3]}

In the aftermath of the battle, Morro Solar was occupied by Chilean troops, who recovered Moltke's remnants. His body was repatriated to Valparaíso under the special concern of the Bernstein family, and was later buried on 4 April in the port's dissidents cemetery. His funeral was carried out with an impressive night torch ceremony and a large attendance of authorities and institutions of the port.^[10] His father received a letter of condolence from the Chilean government.^[14]

It is said that Moltke possessed a limited command of the Spanish language, always referring to his military orderly as "the pogopi."^[10]