THE OVERTHROW OF SPANISH AUTHORITY
[Illustration: STATUE OF BOLIVAR, LIMA.]
Peru, the centre and stronghold of Spanish colonial power and prestige
in South America for three centuries, was governed by conditions that
did not prevail in the other provinces. The elements out of which the
population was formed were unique in character. The Conquest brought
under the dominion of the viceroyalty a people of such ancient culture
that no period could be fixed as to its genesis, and of an origin so
enveloped in mystery that no certain knowledge existed regarding its
derivation,—a people who had lived for centuries under absolute
despotism and yet had developed a gentle obedience and submission such
as could only exist where the tasks were performed by willing servants
of a beloved master. The crime of the Conquest, so deeply resented by
the princes of royal Inca blood, could not be appreciated in its full
significance by the millions, who were deprived of no rights, since they
possessed none, but were simply taken from the welcome task of tilling
the farms of their “deity-king” and put to the unaccustomed labor of the
mines, under a new master, pitiless in his tyranny and ruthless in
destroying their sacred idols. The saddest effects of the Conquest on
these people appeared when their obedience and submission lost its
refined quality, under cruelty and neglect, and degenerated into
servility and apathy. The Indian’s idea of supreme authority was in
accordance with what he had been taught under a theocratic government
and, therefore, had its fountain-head in religious worship. The Catholic
Church performed its mission in Peru, not only by winning the natives to
the new faith, but by protecting them from unscrupulous _corregidores_,
who abused the law of _repartimiento_—which gave these officials the
privilege of furnishing stores to the natives at a fair price—and forced
the Indians to pay for articles they could never use; many an
insurrection arising from these abuses was stifled through the influence
of the priests, who were the highest authority recognized by the
Indians. It is certain, however, that the former sun-worshippers never
quite comprehended the Christian doctrine, merely adapting their beliefs
to its demands; the Indian of the sierra still salutes the rising sun,
and kneels to pray, as, on his way to Cuzco, he first obtains a view of
the sacred city, or when, leaving it, he sees its sunlit temples for the
last time from the neighboring heights.
While the native element of the population at the time of the Conquest
was represented by a race apparently very old and lacking resistant
vitality, the conquerors and their followers, who constituted the
Spanish element, represented a strong and independent people, who were
still enjoying the noontide of their vigor, having recently won
supremacy against the most powerful enemies by the might of their swords
and in defence of the sovereignty of their faith; the Spanish monarch of
those times received the homage of his people chiefly because he
represented in his person the majesty and glory of the national
religion. The Spaniards were more fervid in the faith than their rulers
themselves; and in the controversies that arose between the
ecclesiastical and secular authorities during the period of the
viceroyalty, the Church could always count on the sympathy of the
masses. As the number of American-born priests increased in the colonial
dioceses, the character of their teaching fostered a sentiment in favor
of the land of their birth, and encouraged the development of a new
nationality, the population of which was composed not only of the Indian
and the Spaniard but of the _mestizo_, of mixed Spanish and Indian
blood, who possessed the predominating characteristics of both parents,
and had a double right to the title of patriot. In the war of
Independence, the _mestizo_ did noble service; and if the _Criollos_, as
the Peruvians of pure Spanish descent are called, proved themselves
splendid generals, there were no better fighters in the ranks than the
_mestizos_, many of whom became distinguished in the history of the
revolution for their courage and endurance, while a few rose to glorious
heights of soldierly valor and left their names engraved on the heart of
a grateful nation. Of the minor elements, the negroes and the _zambos_
(the latter of mixed Indian and negro origin) were the most important,
though it is said the number of negroes brought into Peru did not exceed
fifty thousand altogether.
The only common ground on which conqueror and conquered in Peru could
meet was a reverence for religion and a recognition of the sanctity of
caste. From time immemorial the Indians had lived under this spell, and
the Castilian knew no law above the will of the Church and the
aristocracy, which, in Spain, were long synonymous. It has been said
that caste, more than anything else was responsible for the wonderful
hold Spain had on her colonies. Caste ruled in everything—in religion,
the army, and society—and the masses bowed in willing submission to an
aristocracy, which, if it did not claim celestial origin, at least
became the interpreter of the divine will to a listening nation. It was
this spirit of reverence which made Peru send its shiploads of gold to
Spain, though receiving nothing in return.
[Illustration: PLAZA OF THE INQUISITION, LIMA.]
The great distance that lay between Spain and America rendered it
impossible for the mother country to be closely in touch with the
colonies of the Pacific Coast; and, as time went on, the traditions of
their ancestors became dimmed in the minds of succeeding generations of
Spanish-Americans. Gradually the influence of the clergy and nobility of
Peruvian birth began to be exerted in patriotic measures. In 1750,
schools were placed in charge of the secular clergy, who were nearly all
native Peruvians, with a natural sympathy for the welfare of their
country. The enormous prestige of the home government suffered
successive shocks in consequence of scandals that rang from one end of
the colony to the other, reporting evils practised by the highest
colonial officials, both of the Church and State. The Inquisition, the
banishment of the Jesuits and the declining influence of Spain among the
European powers, all tended toward a weakening of the royal authority;
and though the effects were more perceptible in the provinces remote
from the centre of Spanish power, yet even in Lima, under the very
shadow of the viceroy’s palace, the patriotic spirit found expression.
In the _tertulias_ of the Spanish-American nobility, as well as in the
private councils of educators—who were forbidden to bring into the
country any scientific books, or even the necessary apparatus for
teaching physics, astronomy, and mechanics—the question of national
independence began to be discussed, as early as the period of the French
Revolution. Dr. Toribio Rodriguez de Mendoza, rector of the college of
San Carlos, and Bishop Pedro José Chavez, of Arequipa, were powerful
advocates of reform; and the bishop’s disciples, Luna Pizarro, afterward
Archbishop of Lima, and Gonzalez Vigil, exercised great influence in
favor of national liberty. Dr. Unánue, president of the School of
Medicine, Don José Gregorio Paredes, Don Gavino Chacaltana of Ica and
Don José Pezet, editor of _La Gaceta de Lima_, were among the leading
men of science and letters who declared themselves in favor of
independence, though their reunions had to be suspended in consequence
of the viceroy’s opposition. Two young lawyers, named Pardo and Silva,
were arrested for holding patriotic meetings, the former being banished
and the latter imprisoned for ten years. Secret societies were formed
under the protection of the colonial nobility, and even in the
drawing-rooms of noble dames the forbidden topic was discussed. The
cause had its innocent victims, as all great reforms have
had,—visionaries, whose aspirations were their only crime. José Gabriel
Aguilar, of Huánuco, and Manuel Ubalde, of Cuzco, were put to death in
the plaza of Cuzco, in 1805, for having interpreted a dream to signify
that America would rise up against Spain and that they would be the
chiefs of the insurrection.
The emancipation of the Spanish-Americans, especially in the viceroyalty
of Peru, was not the result of a development out of a condition of
dependence; it came about rather in consequence of a disillusion, which
turned them from the unquestioning allegiance they had always shown
their sovereigns, and led them to demand a recognition to which they had
long been entitled. With the enormous wealth which they had held in
their possession from the time of the Conquest, the heirs to the Inca’s
treasures could have established their independence centuries earlier;
but the same sentiment that made Gonzalo Pizarro’s followers flock to
the standard of Pedro de la Gasca, when he arrived in the simple garb of
a priest, with the king’s pardon in his hand, kept them blindly obedient
to the monarchy for three centuries, until the march of civilization
drew them away from the worship of aristocratic ideals and their
attention became directed to the existence of new conditions which were
already shaping the destiny of modern empires.
Since the accession of the Bourbons to the Spanish throne, when there
were “no longer any Pyrenees between France and Spain,” the influence of
less conservative neighbors had increased within the hitherto exclusive
circles of the proudest aristocracy of Europe. The ideas of the French
liberals had penetrated even into its universities, in spite of the
Inquisition, and had crossed the seas to the colonies of America. There
was something in the atmosphere of the New World which fostered the
growth of liberal sentiments. News of the independence of the North
American colonies, as well as echoes of the French revolution, stirred
the imagination of patriotic Spanish-Americans, and aroused in the
hearts of a few determined souls an unquenchable desire to lead their
compatriots out of the bondage of monarchical rule, that their country
might enjoy the blessings of national independence. For years before
their purpose became generally known, it was nourished in secret, and
when the opportunity arose to proclaim it, the plans of campaign were
quickly matured and put in operation in Alto Peru and Quito, throughout
the viceroyalties of Santa Fé and Buenos Aires, and in Chile, the
patriotic armies finally concentrating their forces in Peru itself, the
first and last stronghold of viceregal authority in South America.
During the government of the Viceroy Abascal, whose administration
lasted from 1806 to 1816, events occurred in Spain which precipitated
the revolution in South America, though under all circumstances it could
not have been long delayed. Napoleon had taken advantage of the debility
and corruption of the Spanish monarchy under Charles IV. to invade
Spain, hoping that the flight of the Braganzas to America would be
followed by that of the Bourbons, and that the sceptres of both Spain
and Portugal would thus easily be placed within his grasp. Charles,
however, abdicated, in 1808, in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII.; and,
in order to carry out his ambitious designs, Napoleon was obliged to
resort to perfidy. After attracting the monarch and his father to
Bayonne with specious promises, he sent General Murat to occupy Madrid
at the point of the sword. All Spain was roused to rebellion against the
invader, but the arrival of Napoleon himself with his veterans secured a
final victory for the French, and Joseph Bonaparte was crowned king,
orders being sent out from Bayonne that the Spanish-American colonists
should transfer their allegiance to the new ruler.
By a decree of Charles V., in 1530, confirmed by his successor in 1563,
the American colonies were authorized, in cases of emergency, to convoke
general _Juntas_ or political assemblies; and in the present crisis,
when the imprisonment of their rightful sovereign had caused the
authority of the Crown to be suspended, this right was exercised, in
order to save the colonies from the yoke of a usurping power. The
leaders of the revolution saw beyond this purpose the greater one, which
was to achieve the final independence of the colonies. But the masses
could not be led into any radical measures against their sovereign. The
influence of the monarchy, which had excited strong religious as well as
political claims to their allegiance for three centuries, was
all-powerful on the minds of a naturally conservative and loyal people;
and it was only through fidelity to their king that the
Spanish-Americans were first induced to take up arms against the
constituted authorities of their country.
The result of the convocation of government Juntas in the various
colonial capitals was a general declaration of loyalty to the banished
King Ferdinand, and a refusal to recognize the authority of Spain so
long as its government remained in the power of the usurper. In Peru,
all the vigilance of the viceroy was employed in stifling the efforts of
the patriots, which became ever more persistent. In 1810, a young
nobleman of Lima, Don José de la Riva-Agüero, the leader of one of the
secret societies formed for the purpose of promoting the revolutionary
cause, was taken prisoner and banished to the interior. Another colonial
grandee, Don José Baquijano, Count de Vista Florida, a poet and
historian, the son of rich parents, joined the patriots and used his
talents in behalf of the cause of freedom, his influence contributing to
increase its popularity among the aristocracy. The Spanish government
having proclaimed liberty of the press in 1810, a patriotic newspaper
was started, called _El Peruano_, but it was immediately suppressed by
the Viceroy Abascal. When the order arrived for the abolition of the
Inquisition, the people went _en masse_ to the building in which the
court had been held, and ransacked its rooms, breaking to pieces the
instruments of torture and destroying the archives.
Royalist troops had to be sent to Quito in 1809 to oppose the patriots,
who had driven out the chief authority and had assumed the national
government; and an army was also despatched, under command of General
Goyeneche, to Alto Peru, where the revolutionists had imprisoned the
president of the Audiencia. In both campaigns the struggle was so
unequal that notwithstanding the heroism and determination of the
colonists they were finally overcome. News of the defeat of the patriots
at Guaqui, on the border of Lake Titicaca, reached Tacna when the army
organized by the Limeño, Don Francisco Antonio Zela, was about to set
out for Alto Peru; and, a detachment of royalist troops arriving soon
afterward, Zela was captured by them and delivered to the authorities,
who condemned him to exile in 1811. The following year, on the 13th of
February, the Independence was proclaimed in Huánuco, but the ardent
patriots who led the movement, Castilla, Araos, and Rodriguez, were
supported only by raw recruits from the sierra and their campaign met
with disaster, the chiefs being put to death.
Cuzco made its proclamation of independence in 1814. The leader of the
patriots was one of the Caciques who had joined the Bishop of Cuzco in
repelling the forces of Tupac Amaru thirty years earlier. He was known
as Mateo Garcia Pumacagua, a brave warrior and an honest patriot. With
him were Mariano, Vicente and José Angulo, Gabriel Bejar, Hurtado de
Mendoza, Padre Muñecas, Luis Astete, Pinelo, and others. Their armies
were despatched in three divisions, one of which, under command of
Pinelo and Muñecas, marched to La Paz, besieged it and took possession.
After the victory of Guaqui, General Goyeneche had retired to Europe, to
enjoy the honors conferred on him as Count de Guaqui and a grandee of
Spain. General Pezuela and General Ramirez were sent to succeed him,
with troops to prevent the Argentine forces from advancing into Alto
Peru; and General Ramirez, who was in Oruro when the patriots entered La
Paz, led twelve hundred men against them, forcing them to retire. He
then passed on to Puno and advanced on Arequipa in time to reinforce the
royalist troops which had been defeated and scattered by another
division of the Cuzco army, under command of the Cacique Pumacagua and
Vicente Angulo, at that moment occupying Arequipa, amid the rejoicings
of the patriotic citizens. The trained hosts of Ramirez were more than a
match for the Cuzco troops, who were forced to retreat, while the
victors entered the city in triumph. Pumacagua and Vicente Angulo made a
desperate effort to recover their position, but when, after months of
marching and counter-marching, the armies met at Umachiri, the patriots
with badly organized troops, many of them undrilled Indians, while
Ramirez had a force of thirteen hundred, well armed and disciplined, the
result of the battle was a total overthrow of the Cuzco troops, who were
pursued and again defeated in an encounter at Azángaro, the captives
being scourged and then set free—after having their ears cut off as a
menace to their sympathizers. The royalist troops found many of these
mutilated heroes among the insurgents whom they overcame in a final
engagement at Asillo soon afterward.
[Illustration: THE SENATE CHAMBER, LIMA.]
The third division of the Cuzco army, commanded by Mariano Angulo,
Mendoza, and Bejar, marched on Huamanga, their progress as far as
Andahuaylas being greeted by the people along the route with
demonstrations of great joy, and the prospect appearing favorable for
the capture of Jauja and Tarma. In Huancavelica they were also well
received, by this time occupying all central Peru and cutting off the
capital from communication with the royalist forces of Pezuela and
Ramirez. The viceroy sent Colonel Vicente Gonzalez to meet them, and a
battle took place at Huanta, the royalists gaining the day after seven
hours’ fighting, during which the streets and suburbs of Huanta were
filled with the dead and wounded. Bejar, Angulo, and Mendoza returned to
Andahuaylas for reinforcements,—which were supplied by the patriots of
Abancay and other towns,—and then prepared to march on Huamanga.
Meantime, word was received of the victories of General Ramirez over the
two other divisions of the Cuzco army and of the advance of his men on
Abancay. Through treachery, Mariano Angulo and Bejar fell into the hands
of the enemy and Mendoza was killed. The triumph of the royalists, who
thus succeeded in putting down a revolution that had extended from one
end of Peru to the other, threatening the very gates of the capital, was
celebrated by condemning to death all the leaders, Pumacagua being
hanged and his companions shot. In this courageous campaign, initiated
by patriots representing every social class—an Indian, _mestizos_, and a
_criollo_ priest—the noble mission had levelled all ranks; the spirit of
democracy had triumphed over caste; the proudest families of Peru
mourned the loss of their sons, sacrificed for the cause of their
country. A brilliant young poet of Arequipa, Mariano Melgar, was shot on
the battlefield, and more than a hundred captives were cruelly murdered
in Puno, among them, Miguel Paschal San Roman, the father of a future
president of Peru.
While the troops of the viceroy were occupied in all parts of the
colonial dominion, the patriots of the capital, led by Francisco de
Paula Quiroz, a graduate of the University of Huamanga, took advantage
of the momentary weakness of the garrison in Lima to prepare an attack,
which, however, was frustrated by the arrival at Callao of the
peninsular regiment of Talavera. The plot was discovered, and Count de
la Vega, who commanded the garrison, was arrested on suspicion of
complicity with the patriots, and imprisoned. Quiroz died in a duel. The
government forces were victorious in all parts of the viceroyalty, news
being received from Chile in 1814 that the patriots had been overthrown
by the army of General Osorio, sent by Abascal to the relief of the
royalists. But that which appeared to be a final triumph of the
monarchy, was but a check in the advance of the patriotic cause, during
which its leaders were able to reorganize their forces and, profiting by
the experience they had gained, to make a better fight than ever,
snatching victory from defeat in one of the most glorious campaigns that
illustrate the annals of modern history.
When the Viceroy Abascal retired to Spain, leaving the government to his
successor, Don José Joaquin de la Pezuela, in 1816, Buenos Aires was the
only stronghold of the patriot party. General La Serna was given command
of the army in Alto Peru, and General Ramirez was made president of
Quito. General Pezuela was the last of the viceroys. Though he arrived
at a moment when nearly all Spanish-America acknowledged the authority
of the Crown, which had been restored to King Ferdinand VII., yet the
astute warrior was in nowise deceived as to the actual condition of
affairs and the strength of the revolution which seemed to have been
dominated by the king’s armies. It was true that the Argentine patriots
had retired from Alto Peru, leaving that country to fight its own
battles under the _guerrilleros_; Chile’s patriotic army had withdrawn
across the Andes; Quito had been subjugated; New Granada had succumbed
to the superior strength of the royalist armies; the cause of
independence had been apparently suffocated in Venezuela, its remaining
defenders having taken refuge in flight; but, though all these facts
apparently signified absolute victory for the government, they really
indicated only the ominous calm preceding the tempest, and it was not
long before the darkness of gathering clouds enveloped the monarchy,
bringing confusion to its ranks, that were to be utterly overwhelmed by
the full force of the storm as it broke over them on the field of
Ayacucho a few years later.
[Illustration: CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, LIMA.]
When the Viceroy Pezuela took command of the government, he found an
empty treasury and general disorder in the various departments of
colonial affairs. The king was disposed to establish rigorous absolutism
in the monarchy, and ordered the severest punishment for the patriots
who had given evidence of liberal intentions; their refusal to swear
loyalty to the usurping Bonapartes was not regarded as entitling them to
any consideration, unless they immediately declared their allegiance to
the Crown, unreservedly. He counted on the support of the Holy Alliance,
and felt sure that the encyclical sent out by Pope Pius VII. on January
30, 1816, to the archbishops, bishops, and clergy of America, obliging
them to promote, by all means, the obedience and fidelity of the
colonists to His Catholic Majesty, would have a speedy effect; the news
of the victories won by his armies against the patriots was especially
favorable to the triumph of absolute authority. But, without funds in
the exchequer and with insufficient means of defence at his command, the
Viceroy Pezuela found himself confronted by a sudden resurrection of the
enemy, stronger and more determined than ever, better organized and
disciplined, and advancing in two powerful hosts, the one from the
north, the other from the south, under the command of experienced and
accomplished generals, whose fame rang throughout all Spanish-America.
The glory of the viceroyalty, which had dazzled Peru for three
centuries, dwindled before the splendor of their deeds of valor and
patriotism.
From the South came the great Ejercito Libertador, or Liberating Army,
which had been organized by General San Martin in Mendoza and had
effected the complete overthrow of the royalist forces in Chile in 1817.
The invading troops were composed of two thousand five hundred men and
twelve guns, protected by the naval forces of the newly inaugurated
republic of Chile, under Admiral Cochrane. Landing near the port of
Pisco, in what is now called Independence Bay, on the 7th of September,
1820, General San Martin issued a proclamation the following day, in
which he declared that the purpose of his army was not to make
conquests, but to liberate a people who had trembled for three centuries
under the barbarous rights of conquest. His orders to the soldiers were
an evidence of good faith and a proof of his soldierly principles: all
robbery was prohibited; all bloodshed, except on the battlefield, was to
be punished by hard labor; any insult offered to the citizens of the
country, whether Europeans or Americans, was a grave offence and might
be paid for at the cost of life itself, according to the circumstances.
In concluding his proclamation the Liberator paid a high tribute to the
courage and humanity of his troops, stimulating their enthusiasm by an
attractive picture of the glories awaiting them as the heroic saviors of
their oppressed fellowmen. This interesting document bore the date of
issue, September 8th, 1820, with the significant words “First day of the
liberty of Peru,” and the signature “San Martin.”
The viceroy hastened to make proposals of peace to General San Martin,
inviting him to a conference for the purpose of agreeing on a basis of
mutual understanding. The invitation was accepted, as San Martin saw in
it his opportunity to gain time, to get into communication with the
patriots of Lima, to learn the state of public opinion, the situation
and strength of the viceroy’s army, and other important matters. The
patriots of Lima had not been idle, though the vigilance of the colonial
authorities prevented them from securing possession of the enemy’s
stronghold; three daring leaders, among them Colonel Gomez, planned an
attack on the fortress of Callao but they were captured and punished.
Riva-Agüero, Francisco Javier Mariátegui, Pezet and Don Eduardo
Carrasco, maintained correspondence with the emissaries of San Martin
and gave valuable information. The conference between the envoys of
Pezuela—who were Count de Villar and Don Hipólito Unánue—and San
Martin’s representatives, Colonel Tomás Guido and Don Juan Garcia del
Rio, took place at Miraflores, a suburb of Lima, and resulted in a short
armistice, but in no agreement of peace; the viceroy proposed the
submission of the patriots to a liberal government under the monarchy,
while the patriots demanded the recognition of their independence.
Before leaving Pisco, San Martin sent General Arenales at the head of a
thousand men in the direction of Huamanga; they were received at Ica and
Huamanga with enthusiastic support, and continued their march to
Huancavelica, Huancayo, and Tarma. The viceroy sent troops to stop
Arenales’s progress, and the opposing forces met near Cerro de Pasco,
the patriots gaining the battle, in which the royalist general O’Reilly
and Colonel Santa Cruz were captured, as well as four hundred soldiers,
who were added to the patriots’ ranks. General O’Reilly received
permission from San Martin to return to Spain, but committed suicide by
jumping into the sea, rather than live under the shame of defeat;
Colonel Andrés Santa Cruz accepted service in the patriot army, and was
afterward president of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation. Arenales’s
campaign was notable for its influence in winning recruits to the cause
of independence among the inhabitants of the sierra, who were greatly
impressed by the conduct of the troops, especially their respect for
property and human life, which had been ruthlessly sacrificed by the
royalist armies.
The first point of disembarkation made by General San Martin after
leaving Pisco was Ancón, to the north of Lima, where he received word
that Guayaquil had declared its adhesion to the Ejercito Libertador. In
the meantime, many Peruvian patriots had joined San Martin’s army. A
young soldier named Vidal became conspicuous for his zeal and energy and
was promoted to a captaincy for valuable services at this time. Admiral
Cochrane was busily preparing to seize the Spanish frigate _Esmeralda_
in the port of Callao, and on the 6th of November, at midnight, he
perfected his plans, organizing the squadron into two divisions, each of
which advanced on the frigate from opposite directions; the Spaniards
made a heroic resistance but to no avail, as the prize was captured and
carried off to Ancón. This was one of the most daring and brilliant
episodes of the campaign. Soon afterward, General San Martin removed his
army from Ancón to Huaura, near the port of Huacho, about one hundred
miles north of Ancón. Everywhere he was welcomed by the patriots, whose
number increased daily. The adhesion of Trujillo was secured through the
Intendente, the Marquis de Torre-Tagle, his _pronunciamiento_, which was
issued on the 29th of December, 1820, gaining for the patriot cause all
the provinces of his jurisdiction, which included Lambayeque, Cajamarca,
and Piura. Meantime, Arenales was making uninterrupted progress through
the interior, the patriotic Huánuco having issued its _pronunciamiento_
in favor of the cause immediately after the victory of Cerro de Pasco.
In Lima, the viceroy was losing all control of affairs; the royalist
battalion “Numancia,” six hundred strong, joined the Liberator’s army;
the very secretaries of Pezuela were coöperating with the patriots; and
public opinion was divided only between admiration for the Liberator and
contempt for the policy of the viceroy, who, at least, controlled a
larger military force than San Martin, and was better protected.
In January, 1821, the leading generals of the royalist army, distrusting
the purposes of the viceroy and dissatisfied with existing conditions,
demanded his abdication, and raised General La Serna to the supreme
command. General Pezuela retired to Europe with his family. After his
abdication more than a hundred royalist officers and soldiers joined San
Martin’s army, among others, Colonel Gamarra, who became president of
Peru later; and Colonel Eléspuru, who organized the first exclusively
Peruvian battalion in the Liberator’s army. General La Serna, no more
courageous than Pezuela, did not believe that he could offer sufficient
resistance to the advance of the patriot army on Lima, and retired to
the interior, General San Martin entering the capital on the 12th of
July, 1821. On the 28th of July, the date celebrated throughout the
republic of Peru as “Independence Day,” the proclamation of independence
took place in the Plaza Mayor, in front of the government palace; after
the memorable words: “From this moment Peru is free and independent by
the will of the people and by the justice of their cause which God
defends!” the standard was unfolded and the shouts of a joyous people
voiced the sentiment of an emancipated country in _Viva la Patria! Viva
la Libertad! Viva la Independencia!_
The Protector, as San Martin was called, began at once the organization
of a provisional government. He appointed his cabinet, naming as
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Don Juan Garcia del Rio; Minister of War
and Marine, Don Bernardo Monteagudo; and Minister of Finance, Don
Hipólito Unánue. The patriot Riva-Agüero was appointed President of the
Department of Lima. Among the first political acts of the Protector was
the abolition of slavery and of the _mita_. He also proclaimed liberty
of the press and reform in the administration of justice and finance. At
this time Lord Cochrane insisted that his soldiers were impatient to be
paid; and, in order to meet their demands, he went to Ancón where he
seized a cargo of silver ready for shipment, amounting, it is said, to
four hundred thousand dollars. His action was disapproved by San Martin,
and he retired from Peru. Meantime, the royalists were defeated in an
attempt, made under General Canterac, to get reinforcements to the
garrison in the fortress of Callao, which had been left in charge of
General La Mar when La Serna withdrew from the capital. The garrison was
forced to capitulate and General La Mar entered the army of the
Independence. The final triumph of the patriots depended on the capture
of the royalist army, still encamped in the sierra, and the troops of
the Protector were growing impatient over the delay; the political
leaders were occupied with the preparations for the forthcoming national
Congress, which was to meet the following year to promulgate the
Constitution of Peru; in the midst of these conditions, General San
Martin gave the reins of government into the hands of the Marquis de
Torre-Tagle as Supreme Delegate and went to Guayaquil, in order to meet
the great leader of the Ejercito Colombiano, General Simon Bolivar, who
had accomplished for the northern provinces of South America that which
he himself had done so well in the southern half of the
continent,—securing their independence of the Spanish monarchy.
The particulars of the conference between General San Martin and General
Bolivar in Guayaquil are not known to this day; but when the Protector
returned to Lima he resigned the government into the hands of the first
constituent congress, which met in Lima in 1822. This assembly conferred
on him the title of Founder of the Liberty of Peru; gave him the grade
of captain-general; decreed a life pension for him equal to that which
Washington received from the United States; ordered that his bust should
be placed in the National Library and a statue erected in his honor; and
conceded to him in perpetuity the honors due to the chief of government.
A short time afterward General San Martin went to Europe where he died
in 1850 at seventy-two years of age. His patriotism, the constant and
unfailing devotion with which he worked for the realization of the noble
ideal to which his life was consecrated, his honorable principles,
magnanimous conduct, and sterling character, the intrepidity of his
courage as a soldier, the modesty of his deportment as a victorious
leader, place him high above most of the great men of history and make
him worthy of immortality among the best of them.
[Illustration: THE HISTORICAL PALACE OF THE VICEROYS, LIMA.]
The first independent Congress of Peru decreed that the government
should be exercised by Congress, and that a Junta de Gobierno, composed
of three of its members, should constitute the chief executive power.
General La Mar, General Alvarado, and the Count de Vista Florida were
named for the first Junta, General La Mar being appointed its president.
The oath of allegiance to Congress took place with great _éclat_ in
September; the following year the Junta de Gobierno was dissolved and
Don José de la Riva-Agüero was elected president of the Republic, taking
the oath of office and receiving the _banda bicolor_, a band of ribbon
in two stripes, “white and red,” which is still worn by the chief
executive of Peru on official occasions. Congress also bestowed on
President Riva-Agüero the rank of grand marshal. At the same time, the
command of the army was given to General Santa Cruz and General Gamarra
was appointed chief of staff. The president gave especial attention to
the army, and within a few months after his inauguration General Santa
Cruz left Callao for the interior at the head of five thousand troops,
in two divisions, one of which was under his own command and the other
in charge of General Gamarra. They marched into Alto Peru and met the
united royalist forces under La Serna’s generals, Valdes and Olañeta,
but were obliged to retreat before the superior force of the enemy; and
Santa Cruz lost the greater part of his army while making his way to the
coast over the bleak Cordillera, during a dreadful storm. La Serna, who
had his headquarters at Cuzco, had organized his forces in two
divisions: the army of the North, commanded by General Canterac and
stationed in the valley of Jauja, as a menace to Lima; and the army of
the South, under General Valdes, supporting the royalist cause between
Arequipa and Potosí. This was the condition of affairs when General
Santa Cruz left Callao. Soon afterward General Sucre, who has been
called the diplomatic agent of General Bolivar, arrived in Callao with a
force of three thousand Colombian troops. At the same time, General
Canterac was preparing to march on Lima at the head of nine thousand
men. In view of the circumstances, President Riva-Agüero convoked a
council of war, which resulted in the appointment of General Sucre as
commander-in-chief of the patriot army. Canterac entered Lima in June,
1823, with his splendid troops, but finding that Santa Cruz was on his
way to the interior he retired to Jauja. With the advent of Canterac’s
army into Lima, the republicans removed their headquarters to Callao,
and later, to Trujillo. The difficulties incident to the inauguration of
a new form of government occurred in the present case; a quarrel arose
between Congress and executive, the president resenting the action of
Congress in bestowing supreme authority on General Sucre, and the
president’s enemies seeking to undermine his authority. General Sucre,
who immediately set out with his army to overtake Santa Cruz, gave the
command of the capital to the Marquis de Torre-Tagle. The enemies of
President Riva-Agüero secured his downfall, and after being
treacherously seized and imprisoned, he was forced to retire from the
country. He was one of the most distinguished characters of the
revolution and his services deserved a better reward. Posterity is proud
to honor, as one of the heroes of his country, the Grand Marshal
Riva-Agüero, Marquis de Monte Alegre and Chevalier of the Order of
Charles III.
General Bolivar arrived in Lima on the 1st of September, 1823. He was
received with the greatest enthusiasm, and was immediately invested by
Congress with supreme authority, military and political. Later, his
power was amplified, General Necochea being at the same time made
political and military chief of the capital, to replace the Marquis de
Torre-Tagle who fell into disgrace, through his correspondence with
General Canterac. As soon as possible, Bolivar began plans for the
accomplishment of the great purpose that had brought him to Peru, and
two months after his arrival he left Lima to establish military
headquarters at Pativilca, two hundred miles north of the capital and
due west of Cerro de Pasco near which the royalist troops were
stationed, in the department of Junin. Preparations were at once begun
for a campaign against the enemy. The Liberating Army, which consisted
of six thousand Colombian and four thousand Peruvian troops, was
organized in three divisions,—two Colombian, under Generals Cordova and
Lara, and one Peruvian, under General La Mar, the Peruvian cavalry being
placed in charge of General Miller, that of Colombia under Colonel
Carbajal’s orders, and the Argentine cavalry under Colonel Bruiz, while
General Necochea commanded the united cavalry force, General Sucre, who
had returned from the interior, being appointed chief of staff of the
whole army.
The presence of the great Bolivar, whose victorious campaigns in
Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador had sealed the independence of those
countries on the battlefields of Boyacá, Carabobo, Bomboná, and
Pichincha, animated the now drooping spirits of the Peruvian patriots,
and filled all hearts with hope and confidence. In the month of July,
1824, the Liberating Army of the North began its march toward Cerro de
Pasco. The task of leading a large body of troops over the mountains was
tremendous, especially as the supply of provisions had to be kept up at
great cost, and the severity of the climate at such an altitude was a
serious drawback. Over a similar pathway, five hundred miles farther
north, the Conquerors had led their men three centuries earlier, on
their way to Cajamarca. But on what a different mission! They sought the
subjugation of a noble and gentle race, whom they hoped to rob and
enslave “by right of conquest”; these advancing hosts were seeking to
bring freedom and happiness to a suffering people. The victory of the
former brought only an ignominious destiny to the Conquerors; the
triumph of the latter is emblazoned in the high places of immortal
glory. Pizarro’s name is a synonym for cruelty and rapacity; the names
of San Martin and Bolivar thrill the soul, and stir its noblest
sentiments.
[Illustration: THE MUNICIPAL PALACE, LIMA.]
The final events in the history of South American independence took
place within a year after the beginning of Bolivar’s campaign on the
plateau of Junin. The story of Junin is soon told. While the royalists
remained inactive at Jauja, more than a hundred leagues to the south,
Bolivar reached the plateau, on the 5th of August, 1824, and reviewed
his troops, ten thousand strong, cheering them with those inspiring
addresses which great military captains of all ages have found so
effective. As soon as General Canterac learned of the approach of
Bolivar, he advanced with his army, consisting of eight thousand
infantry, thirteen hundred cavalry, and a proportion of field artillery,
as far as the lake of Junin, near the southern shore of which the famous
engagement took place. After a march of fifteen miles through a
mountainous district, Bolivar’s army reached an elevated point, from
which they obtained a sudden view of the royalist army, five miles away,
marching over the plains of Junin. The patriot cavalry, nine hundred
strong, having dashed forward, came up within a short distance of the
royalists; putting himself at the head of his cavalry, Canterac ordered
a charge which might have won the day, as the patriots, in their
enthusiasm, had placed themselves in an unfavorable position; but the
Spaniards were too sure of their victory and pushed in hot pursuit of
the retreating cavalry, thereby giving an opportunity for a Peruvian
battalion under Colonel Suarez, which had been detained in the marshes,
to advance on the rear of the royalist ranks and thus afford the
retreating forces a chance to rally; the result was a total and complete
victory over the Spaniards after a battle that lasted less than an hour,
during which not a shot was fired, the lance and sabre alone being used.
The royalists lost nineteen officers and three hundred and forty-five
soldiers of the line, besides eighty taken prisoners. The patriot losses
were three officers and forty-two soldiers of the line killed and one
hundred wounded.
The victory of Junin gave Bolivar command of Tarma, Jauja, Huancayo,
Huanta, and Huamanga. General Canterac retired to Cuzco where he was
joined by Valdes, and the viceroy himself then took command of the
united armies, with Canterac as his chief of staff. The Liberator placed
his troops in charge of General Sucre with instructions to go into
quarters in the Apurimac valley, east of Ayacucho, during the rainy
season. But the viceroy immediately began operations against the patriot
army, hoping to get a position in their rear and cut off communication
with Lima. While General Sucre fell back to Andahuaylas, La Serna led
his army across the Apurimac and around by Pampachira and Huamanga, and
there countermarched along the Cuzco highroad to meet the patriots. His
army numbered ten thousand men, with fourteen pieces of artillery, and
sixteen hundred cavalry, presenting a very formidable force. When
General Sucre found out that the viceroy was leading his army toward
Huamanga, he left Andahuaylas and marched westward, crossing the Pampas
River a few leagues southeast of Ayacucho, and reaching the village of
Quinua, at the western extremity of the plain, on the 6th of December.
The viceroy advanced and took his position on the heights of
Condorcunca, which rose abruptly along the eastern boundary of the
plain; General Sucre’s troops were encamped in front of the Spaniards,
about a mile distant and having Quinua in the rear. On the morning of
December 9, 1824, the armies were ready for battle. The patriot forces
were formed in close columns, General Cordova commanding the right,
General La Mar the left, and General Miller the centre, with General
Gamarra as first chief of staff. The troops did not number more than
five thousand, but every soldier was fighting for a cause dearer than
life itself, and every heart thrilled with patriotic fervor as General
Sucre, in an inspiring voice, recalled their former achievements and
urged them to fight for their honor and the salvation of their country,
exclaiming: “On the efforts of to-day depends the fate of South
America!” As the royalist army was seen descending Condorcunca, he
added, pointing to their glittering columns: “Another day of glory is
about to crown your admirable constancy.” When the enemy appeared on the
plain, General Sucre ordered the Cordova division and two regiments of
cavalry to advance to the charge.
The field of Ayacucho presented an animated scene as the signal to
attack was given by the gallant Cordova, who, dismounting and placing
himself in front of his division, waved his sword above his head with
the enthusiastic order “Forward, with the step of victors!” His
confident bearing had an immediate effect on the troops, and they moved
to the attack in splendid order, the charge, which was made in four
parallel columns with the cavalry in the intervals, proving fatal to the
enemy. The historical fight was won after a little more than an hour’s
struggle, during which the royalists were driven back with great
slaughter. At first, the viceroy’s troops fought with skill and courage,
but they were gradually driven back and obliged to abandon the field.
The viceroy was wounded and taken prisoner, which had a depressing
effect on his followers. General Valdes made an unexpected detour and
attacked the left flank of the patriot army with such success that the
fortunes of the day hung for a few moments in the balance; La Mar’s
forces were obliged to retreat, and a part of Lara’s division which went
to his assistance was also driven back; but at this critical juncture
General Miller, commanding the Junin Hussars, made a splendid charge,
forcing the enemy to retreat and giving the patriots time to recover
their position. An impetuous charge was then made on Valdes’s ranks,
which sent cavalry and infantry flying in all directions. The victory
was won; General Canterac and General Valdes, as well as thirteen other
generals, five hundred officers and three thousand rank and file, became
prisoners of war. Before sunset General Canterac sued for terms, and a
capitulation was agreed upon which does the highest credit to the
generous spirit of the victors. The losses to the royalists were
fourteen hundred killed and seven hundred wounded, while the patriots
had three hundred and seventy killed and six hundred and nine wounded.
Such was the victorious outcome of the battle of Ayacucho, which has
been pronounced the most brilliant ever fought in South America, on
account of the splendid discipline of the troops, the skill and daring
of the officers, the presence of the ablest chiefs and highest
representatives of both the opposing forces, and the undaunted bravery
of the entire army on both sides. It is said that the viceroy’s mistake
lay in making any attack at all, but that he was impelled to it by the
eagerness of his troops, tired of their long marches. After the victory,
Huamanga received the name of Ayacucho. By the terms of the capitulation
the Spanish officers were given their passports, and many of them set
out for Spain immediately. The victory put an end to Spanish dominion in
South America, the Viceroy La Serna recognizing, by his signature to the
capitulation, the absolute independence of Peru. The subsequent history
of the Republic is a record of the progress and development of a nation
which had to learn the lesson of self-government after having been for
centuries accustomed to give unquestioning allegiance to an absolute
monarch, under a system that gave all honor to military prestige and
social rank, and regarded as unworthy of consideration any human rights
that were based on liberty, equality or fraternity.
[Illustration: ARMS OF PERU AT THE TIME OF THE INDEPENDENCE.]