_How, after the battle, the Governor ordered the wounded to
be tended, and had Gómez de Tordoya carried to Guamanga; how
retribution was inflicted on the conquered, and how Gómez de
Alvarado, being ill, died at Vilcas, and was taken to be buried
at Guamanga._
On the night after the battle it was very sad to hear the groans of
the wounded, and the complaints they gave utterance to. But they
received very little pity or help; on the contrary, the barbarians
slaughtered them and stripped them of their clothes and left them
naked. The captain Gómez de Alvarado was attacked by an illness
of which he died at Vilcas. His body was conveyed to Guamanga for
interment. They had also taken Gómez de Tordoya to Guamanga, sorely
wounded, and after he had received the last offices of the Church he
also died. Every one mourned for the deaths of these gentlemen and of
Pero Alvarez Holguin, and the others who fell in the battle. They were
very honourably interred, as men of such mettle deserved.[137] There
were killed on the field in that battle, counting both sides, 240
men. Some make the number higher, but I do not care to affirm anything
that I do not know for certain.
On the morning after the battle, Vaca de Castro, taking with him his
secretary and the chief magistrate of the camp, visited the tents to
see whether there were any of the murderers of the Marquis Pizarro
among the prisoners. As he did not see Martín Carrillo, but heard
that the captain Alonso de Cáceres was keeping him concealed, giving
out that he was dead, he ordered that he should be brought to his
presence dead or alive, and this was done. Carrillo was a native of
Ciudad Real. He and Pedro de San Millán of Segovia, and Francisco
Coronado[138] of Jerez by Bádajoz, and two others, were executed, and
their quarters stuck on poles. Knowing that many fugitives had made
for Guamanga, Vaca de Castro ordered the captain Diego de Rojas to
take some mounted men and return to that city and arrest all who might
be found there belonging to the enemy. While this was being arranged
there was an alarm in the camp, owing to a report that a large body
of men was in sight, who might be enemies. The Governor ordered the
troops to stand to their arms until it was known to whom the men who
were in sight belonged. Some horsemen rode out and found that they
were their own people returning with plunder they had taken from the
enemy's camp.
Then Vaca de Castro ordered a start to be made for Guamanga, which
was done, and on arrival he was received with much joy. He entrusted
the business of retributive justice to the licentiate De la Gama, the
licentiate León, and the bachelor Guevara. Diego de Rojas had already
executed judgment on some,[139] but we will put down here together in
one list all who were executed at Guamanga as well as those who met
their fate between that city and Cuzco. They were--
Captain Cárdenas, of Toledo
Pedro de Oñate
Captain Diego de Hoces,[140] of Zaragoza
Capt. Juan Tello, of Sevilla
Bartolomé de Arbolancha[140]
Francisco Pérez[140]
Antonio Noguero, of Puerto de S^{ta} María
Basilio (an Italian)
Martel, of Sevilla[140]
Francisco de Mendibar, of Torrejón de Velasco
Captain Martín Cote (a Guipuzcoan)
Captain Juan Muñoz
Barragán (the younger),[140] of los Santos
Martín Carrillo[140]
Juanes de Santiago, of Santander
Juanes (a Biscayan)
Captain Juan Pérez, captain of cross-bowmen
Juan Gómez de Salvatierra, of the Almendral
Baltasar Gómez,[140] of Valladolid
Juan de Guzmán[140] de Acuña, son of Vasco de Guzmán
Juan Sánchez,[140] of Estremadura
Bartolomé Cabezas,[140] of Jerez
Ramírez, of León
Losa,[140] of Zamora
Carreño, of Sevilla
Juan Diente,[140] of Gibraltar[141]
Vaca de Castro was guilty of great remissness in not sending the
news forthwith to the King our Lord and those of his Royal Council.
Nay rather, several vessels were detained many days in the port of
Lima, and many merchants and traders were put to serious loss through
his action in not allowing them to leave the ports where they were
anchored. The captain Francisco de Herencia and some others were
banished, and a shipmaster was ordered to convey them to New Spain.
When they were far from the coast of Peru they mutinied and went to
Panamá. At that time I had come thither to negotiate certain business
with the Audience which then sat at that city. The mutineers presented
themselves before the members of the Audience, who set them free.
To return to Vaca de Castro. He remained for eight days in Guamanga,
reforming various things for the good of the Realm, and despatching
letters to the various cities in it to announce the victory that God,
our Lord, had given him. Hearing that Don Diego had fled towards
Cuzco, he ordered the captain Garcilaso de la Vega to set out at once
for that city, with some cavalry, and occupy it in the name of his
Majesty the King, our Lord. Should Don Diego be found in the city, he
was to be arrested, as well as any of his followers who were there. So
Garcilaso de la Vega departed, with some lancers, to carry out what
the Governor Vaca de Castro had ordered him.
FOOTNOTES:
[137] Holguin, Tordoya, and Gómez de Alvarado are said to have been
buried in the little church of San Cristóbal at Guamanga, near the
head of the avenue leading to the Chupas road. But _Cojo_ Arias told
me of the tradition that Gómez de Tordoya was not buried with the
others, but in the church of La Merced, nearer the centre of the town.
In 1887 a statue of a warrior was found in a niche in La Merced,
recumbent on a mortuary bed, embracing his sword. It is of sandstone
and 6½ feet long. It no doubt represents Gómez de Tordoya, probably
due to the piety of his cousin Garcilaso de la Vega. The Indians of
Guamanga (Ayacucho) are renowned as sculptors.
[138] All three were actual assassins of the Marquis Pizarro.
[139] Viz., Juan Tello de Guzmán, and Almagro's Camp-master Pedro de
Oñate.
[140] Assassins of the Marquis.
[141] Also Pedro de San Millán and Francisco Coronado.