The article examines, from the perspective of the cultural history of the war, the role played by Chilean women in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) and the social recognition of their actions. The paper examines the impact of women on the nationalist imaginary of the war and their incorporation into the cult of heroes in the postwar years. The study of these problems allows us to understand the limits to the gender roles associated with female activity in wartime during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.