Measures Of Gonzalo Pizarro--Escape Of Vaca De Castro--
Reappearance Of The Viceroy--His Disastrous Retreat--
Defeat And Death Of The Viceroy--Gonzalo Pizarro Lord Of Peru
1544--1546
The first act of Gonzalo Pizarro was to cause those persons to be
apprehended who had taken the most active part against him in the late
troubles. Several he condemned to death; but afterwards commuted the
sentence, and contented himself with driving them into banishment and
confiscating their estates.1 His next concern was to establish his
authority on a firm basis. He filled the municipal government of Lima
with his own partisans. He sent his lieutenants to take charge of the
principal cities. He caused galleys to be built at Arequipa to secure the
command of the seas; and brought his forces into the best possible
condition, to prepare for future emergencies.
The Royal Audience existed only in name; for its powers were speedily
absorbed by the new ruler, who desired to place the government on the
same footing as under the marquess, his brother. Indeed, the Audience
necessarily fell to pieces, from the position of its several members.
Alvarez had been sent with the viceroy to Castile. Cepeda, the most
aspiring of the court, now that he had failed in his own schemes of
ambition, was content to become a tool in the hands of the military chief
who had displaced him. Zarate, a third judge, who had, from the first,
protested against the violent measures of his colleagues, was confined to
his house by a mortal illness;2 and Tepeda, the remaining magistrate,
Gonzalo now proposed to send back to Castile with such an account of
the late transactions as should vindicate his own conduct in the eyes of
the emperor. This step was opposed by Carbajal, who bluntly told his
commander that "he had gone too far to expect favor from the Crown;
and that he had better rely for his vindication on his pikes and muskets!"
3
But the ship which was to transport Tepeda was found to have suddenly
disappeared from the port. It was the same in which Vaca de Castro was
confined; and that officer, not caring to trust to the forbearance of one
whose advances, on a former occasion, he had so unceremoniously
repulsed, and convinced, moreover, that his own presence could profit
nothing in a land where he held no legitimate authority, had prevailed on
the captain to sail with him to Panama. He then crossed the Isthmus, and
embarked for Spain. The rumors of his coming had already preceded
him, and charges were not wanting against him from some of those
whom he had offended by his administration. He was accused of having
carried measures with a high hand, regardless of the rights, both of the
colonist and of the native; and, above all, of having embezzled the public
moneys, and of returning with his coffers richly freighted to Castile.
This last was an unpardonable crime.
No sooner had the governor set foot in his own country than he was
arrested, and hurried to the fortress of Arevalo; and, though he was
afterwards removed to better quarters, where he was treated with the
indulgence due to his rank, he was still kept a prisoner of state for twelve
years, when the tardy tribunals of Castile pronounced a judgment in his
favor. He was acquitted of every charge that had been brought against
him, and, so far from peculation, was proved to have returned home no
richer than he went. He was released from confinement, reinstated in his
honors and dignities, took his seat anew in the royal council, and Vaca
de Castro enjoyed, during the remainder of his days, the consideration to
which he was entitled by his deserts.4 The best eulogium on the wisdom
of his administration was afforded by the troubles brought on the
colonies by that of his successor. The nation became gradually sensible
of the value of his services; though the manner in which they were
requited by the government must be allowed to form a cold commentary
on the gratitude of princes.
Gonzalo Pizarro was doomed to experience a still greater disappointment
than that caused by the escape of Vaca de Castro, in the return of Blasco
Nunez. The vessel which bore him from the country had hardly left the
shore, when Alvarez, the judge, whether from remorse at the part which
he had taken, or apprehensive of the consequences of carrying back the
viceroy to Spain, presented himself before that dignitary, and announced
that he was no longer a prisoner. At the same time he excused himself
for the part he had taken, by his desire to save the life of Blasco Nunez,
and extricate him from his perilous situation. He now placed the vessel
at his disposal, and assured him it should take him wherever he chose.
The viceroy, whatever faith he may have placed in the judge's
explanation, eagerly availed himself of his offer. His proud spirit
revolted at the idea of returning home in disgrace, foiled, as he had been,
in every object of his mission. He determined to try his fortune again in
the land, and his only doubt was, on what point to attempt to rally his
partisans around him. At Panama he might remain in safety, while he
invoked assistance from Nicaragua, and other colonies at the north. But
this would be to abandon his government at once; and such a confession
of weakness would have a bad effect on his followers in Peru. He
determined, therefore, to direct his steps towards Quito, which, while it
was within his jurisdiction, was still removed far enough from the theatre
of the late troubles to give him time to rally, and make head against his
enemies.
In pursuance of this purpose, the viceroy and his suite disembarked at
Tumbez, about the middle of October, 1544. On landing, he issued a
manifesto setting forth the violent proceedings of Gonzalo Pizarro and
his followers, whom he denounced as traitors to their prince, and he
called on all true subjects in the colony to support him in maintaining the
royal authority. The call was not unheeded; and volunteers came in,
though tardily, from San Miguel, Puerto Viejo, and other places on the
coast, cheering the heart of the viceroy with the conviction that the
sentiment of loyalty was not yet extinct in the bosoms of the Spaniards.
But, while thus occupied, he received tidings of the arrival of one of
Pizarro's captains on the coast, with a force superior to his own. Their
number was exaggerated; but Blasco Nunez, without waiting to ascertain
the truth, abandoned his position at Tumbez, and, with as much
expedition as he could make across a wild and mountainous country half-
buried in snow, he marched to Quito. But this capital, situated at the
northern extremity of his province, was not a favorable point for the
rendezvous of his followers; and, after prolonging his stay till he had
received assurance from Benalcazar, the loyal commander at Popayan,
that he would support him with all his strength in the coming conflict, he
made a rapid countermarch to the coast, and took up his position at the
town of San Miguel. This was a spot well suited to his purposes, as lying
on the great high road along the shores of the Pacific, besides being the
chief mart for commercial intercourse with Panama and the north.
Here the viceroy erected his standard, and in a few weeks found himself
at the head of a force amounting to nearly five hundred in all, horse and
foot, ill provided with arms and ammunition, but apparently zealous in
the cause. Finding himself in sufficient strength to commence active
operations, he now sallied forth against several of Pizarro's captains in
the neighborhood, over whom he obtained some decided advantages,
which renewed his confidence, and flattered him with the hopes of
reestablishing his ascendency in the country.5
During this time, Gonzalo Pizarro was not idle. He had watched with
anxiety the viceroy's movements; and was now convinced that it was
time to act, and that, if he would not be unseated himself, he must
dislodge his formidable rival. He accordingly placed a strong garrison
under a faithful officer in Lima, and, after sending forward a force of
some six hundred men by land to Truxillo, he embarked for the same
port himself, on the 4th of March, 1545, the very day on which the
viceroy had marched from Quito.
At Truxillo, Pizarro put himself at the head of his little army, and moved
without loss of time against San Miguel. His rival, eager to bring their
quarrel to an issue, would fain have marched out to give him battle; but
his soldiers, mostly young and inexperienced levies, hastily brought
together, were intimidated by the name of Pizarro. They loudly insisted
on being led into the upper country, where they would be reinforced by
Benalcazar; and their unfortunate commander, like the rider of some
unmanageable steed, to whose humors he is obliged to submit, was
hurried away in a direction contrary to his wishes. It was the fate of
Blasco Nunez to have his purposes baffled alike by his friends and his
enemies.
On arriving before San Miguel, Gonzalo Pizarro found, to his great
mortification, that his antagonist had left it. Without entering the town,
he quickened his pace, and, after traversing a valley of some extent,
reached the skirts of a mountain chain, into which Blasco Nunez had
entered but a few hours before. It was late in the evening; but Pizarro,
knowing the importance of despatch, sent forward Carbajal with a party
of light troops to overtake the fugitives. That captain succeeded in
coming up with their lonely bivouac among the mountains at midnight,
when the weary troops were buried in slumber. Startled from their
repose by the blast of the trumpet, which, strange to say, their enemy had
incautiously sounded,6 the viceroy and his men sprang to their feet,
mounted their horses, grasped their arquebuses, and poured such a volley
into the ranks of their assailants, that Carbajal, disconcerted by his
reception, found it prudent, with his inferior force, to retreat. The
viceroy followed, till, fearing an ambuscade in the darkness of the night,
he withdrew, and allowed his adversary to rejoin the main body of the
army under Pizarro.
This conduct of Carbajal, by which he allowed the game to slip through
his hands, from mere carelessness, is inexplicable. It forms a singular
exception to the habitual caution and vigilance displayed in his military
career. Had it been the act of any other captain, it would have cost him
his head. But Pizarro, although greatly incensed, set too high a value on
the services and well-tried attachment of his lieutenant, to quarrel with
him. Still it was considered of the last importance to overtake the
enemy, before he had advanced much farther to the north, where the
difficulties of the ground would greatly embarrass the pursuit. Carbajal,
anxious to retrieve his error, was accordingly again placed at the head of
a corps of light troops, with instructions to harass the enemy's march, cut
off his stores, and keep him in check, if possible, till the arrival of
Pizarro.7
But the viceroy had profited by the recent delay to gain considerably on
his pursuers. His road led across the valley of Caxas, a broad,
uncultivated district, affording little sustenance for man or beast. Day
after day, his troops held on their march through this dreary region,
intersected with barrancas and rocky ravines that added incredibly to
their toil. Their principal food was the parched corn, which usually
formed the nourishment of the travelling Indians, though held of much
less account by the Spaniards; and this meagre fare was reinforced by
such herbs as they found on the way-side, which, for want of better
utensils, the soldiers were fain to boil in their helmets.8 Carbajal,
meanwhile, pressed on them so close, that their baggage, ammunition,
and sometimes their mules, fell into his hands. The indefatigable warrior
was always on their track, by day and by night, allowing them scarcely
any repose. They spread no tent, and lay down in their arms, with their
steeds standing saddled beside them; and hardly had the weary soldier
closed his eyes, when he was startled by the cry that the enemy was upon
him.9
At length, the harassed followers of Blasco Nunez reached the
depoblado, or desert of Paltos, which stretches towards the north for
many a dreary league. The ground, intersected by numerous streams, has
the character of a great quagmire, and men and horses floundered about
in the stagnant waters, or with difficulty worked their way over the
marsh, or opened a passage through the tangled underwood that shot up
in rank luxuriance from the surface. The wayworn horses, without food,
except such as they could pick up in the wilderness, were often spent
with travel, and, becoming unserviceable, were left to die on the road,
with their hamstrings cut, that they might be of no use to the enemy;
though more frequently they were despatched to afford a miserable
banquet to their masters.10 Many of the men now fainted by the way
from mere exhaustion, or loitered in the woods, unable to keep up with
the march. And woe to the straggler who fell into the hands of Carbajal,
at least if he had once belonged to the party of Pizarro. The mere
suspicion of treason sealed his doom with the unrelenting soldier.11
The sufferings of Pizarro and his troop were scarcely less than those of
the viceroy; though they were somewhat mitigated by the natives of the
country, who, with ready instinct, discerned which party was the
strongest, and, of course, the most to be feared. But, with every
alleviation, the chieftain's sufferings were terrible. It was repeating the
dismal scenes of the expedition to the Amazon. The soldiers of the
Conquest must be admitted to have purchased their triumphs dearly.
Yet the viceroy had one source of disquietude, greater, perhaps, than any
arising from physical suffering. This was the distrust of his own
followers. There were several of the principal cavaliers in his suite
whom he suspected of being in correspondence with the enemy, and even
of designing to betray him into their hands. He was so well convinced of
this, that he caused two of these officers to be put to death on the march;
and their dead bodies, as they lay by the roadside, meeting the eye of the
soldier, told him that there were others to be feared in these frightful
solitudes besides the enemy in his rear.12
Another cavalier, who held the chief command under the viceroy, was
executed, after a more formal investigation of his case, at the first place
where the army halted. At this distance of time, it is impossible to
determine how far the suspicions of Blasco Nunez were founded on
truth. The judgments of contemporaries are at variance.13 In times of
political ferment, the opinion of the writer is generally determined by the
complexion of his party. To judge from the character of Blasco Nunez,
jealous and irritable, we might suppose him to have acted without
sufficient cause. But this consideration is counterbalanced by that of the
facility with which his followers swerved from their allegiance to their
commander, who seems to have had so light a hold on their affections,
that they were shaken off by the least reverse of fortune. Whether his
suspicions were well or ill founded, the effect was the same on the mind
of the viceroy. With an enemy in his rear whom he dared not fight, and
followers whom he dared not trust, the cup of his calamities was nearly
full.
At length, he issued forth on firm ground, and, passing through
Tomebamba, Blasco Nunez reentered his northern capital of Quito. But
his reception was not so cordial as that which he had before experienced.
He now came as a fugitive, with a formidable enemy in pursuit; and he
was soon made to feel that the surest way to receive support is not to
need it.
Shaking from his feet the dust of the disloyal city, whose superstitious
people were alive to many an omen that boded his approaching ruin,14
the unfortunate commander held on his way towards Pastos, in the
jurisdiction of Benalcazar. Pizarro and his forces entered Quito not long
after, disappointed, that, with all his diligence, the enemy still eluded his
pursuit. He halted only to breathe his men, and, declaring that "he would
follow up the viceroy to the North Sea but he would overtake him," 15
he resumed his march. At Pastos, he nearly accomplished his object.
His advance-guard came up with Blasco Nunez as the latter was halting
on the opposite bank of a rivulet. Pizarro's men, fainting from toil and
heat, staggered feebly to the water-side, to slake their burning thirst, and
it would have been easy for the viceroy's troops, refreshed by repose, and
superior in number to their foes, to have routed them. But Blasco Nunez
could not bring his soldiers to the charge. They had fled so long before
their enemy, that the mere sight of him filled their hearts with panic, and
they would have no more thought of turning against him than the hare
would turn against the hound that pursues her. Their safety, they felt,
was to fly, not to fight, and they profited by the exhaustion of their
pursuers only to quicken their retreat.
Gonzalo Pizarro continued the chase some leagues beyond Pastos; when,
finding himself carried farther than he desired into the territories of
Benalcazar, and not caring to encounter this formidable captain at
disadvantage, he came to a halt, and, notwithstanding his magnificent
vaunt about the North Sea, ordered a retreat, and made a rapid
countermarch on Quito. Here he found occupation in repairing the
wasted spirits of his troops, and in strengthening himself with fresh
reinforcements, which much increased his numbers; though these were
again diminished by a body that he detached under Carbajal to suppress
an insurrection, which he now learned had broken out in the south. It
was headed by Diego Centeno, one of his own officers, whom he had
established in La Plata, the inhabitants of which place had joined in the
revolt and raised the standard for the Crown. With the rest of his forces,
Pizarro resolved to remain at Quito, waiting the hour when the viceroy
would reenter his dominions; as the tiger crouches by some spring in the
wilderness, patiently waiting the return of his victims.
Meanwhile Blasco Nunez had pushed forward his retreat to Popayan, the
capital of Benalcazar's province. Here he was kindly received by the
people; and his soldiers, reduced by desertion and disease to one fifth of
their original number, rested from the unparalleled fatigues of a march
which had continued for more than two hundred leagues.16 It was not
long before he was joined by Cabrera, Benalcazar's lieutenant with a
stout reinforcement, and, soon after, by that chieftain himself. His whole
force now amounted to near four hundred men, most of them in good
condition, and well trained in the school of American warfare. His own
men were sorely deficient both in arms and ammunition; and he set about
repairing the want by building furnaces for manufacturing arquebuses
and pikes.17--One familiar with the history of these times is surprised to
see the readiness with which the Spanish adventurers turned their hands
to various trades and handicrafts usually requiring a long apprenticeship.
They displayed the dexterity so necessary to settlers in a new country,
where every man must become in some degree his own artisan. But this
state of things, however favorable to the ingenuity of the artist, is not
very propitious to the advancement of the art; and there can be little
doubt that the weapons thus made by the soldiers of Blasco Nunez were
of the most rude and imperfect construction.
As week after week rolled away, Gonzalo Pizarro, though fortified with
the patience of a Spanish soldier, felt uneasy at the protracted stay of
Blasco Nunez in the north, and he resorted to stratagem to decoy him
from his retreat. He marched out of Quito with the greater part of his
forces, pretending that he was going to support his lieutenant in the
south, while he left a garrison in the city under the command of Puelles,
the same officer who had formerly deserted from the viceroy. These
tidings he took care should be conveyed to the enemy's camp. The
artifice succeeded as he wished. Blasco Nunez and his followers,
confident in their superiority over Puelles, did not hesitate for a moment
to profit by the supposed absence of Pizarro. Abandoning Popayan, the
viceroy, early in January, 1546, moved by rapid marches towards the
south. But before he reached the place of his destination, he became
appraised of the snare into which he had been drawn. He communicated
the fact to his officers; but he had already suffered so much from
suspense, that his only desire now was, to bring his quarrel with Pizarro
to the final arbitrament of arms.
That chief, meanwhile, had been well informed, through his spies, of the
viceroy's movements. On learning the departure of the latter from
Popayan, he had reentered Quito, joined his forces with those of Puelles,
and, issuing from the capital, had taken up a strong position about three
leagues to the north, on a high ground that commanded a stream, across
which the enemy must pass. It was not long before the latter came in
sight, and Blasco Nunez, as night began to fall, established himself on
the opposite bank of the rivulet. It was so near to the enemy's quarters,
that the voices of the sentinels could be distinctly heard in the opposite
camps, and they did not fail to salute one another with the epithet of
"traitors." In these civil wars, as we have seen, each party claimed for
itself the exclusive merit of loyalty.18
But Benalcazar soon saw that Pizarro's position was too strong to be
assailed with any chance of success. He proposed, therefore, to the
viceroy, to draw off his forces secretly in the night; and, making a detour
round the hills, to fall on the enemy's rear, where he would be least
prepared to receive them. The counsel was approved; and, no sooner
were the two hosts shrouded from each other's eyes by the darkness,
than, leaving his camp-fires burning to deceive the enemy, Blasco Nunez
broke up his quarters, and began his circuitous march in the direction of
Quito. But either he had been misinformed, or his guides misled him; for
the roads proved so impracticable, that he was compelled to make a
circuit of such extent, that dawn broke before he drew near the point of
attack. Finding that he must now abandon the advantage of a surprise, he
pressed forward to Quito, where he arrived with men and horses sorely
fatigued by a night-march of eight leagues, from a point which, by the
direct route, would not have exceeded three. It was a fatal error on the
eve of an engagement.19
He found the capital nearly deserted by the men. They had all joined the
standard of Pizarro; for they had now caught the general spirit of
disaffection, and looked upon that chief as their protector from the
oppressive ordinances. Pizarro was the representative of the people.
Greatly moved at this desertion, the unhappy viceroy, lifting his hands to
heaven, exclaimed, --"Is it thus, Lord, that you abandonest thy servants?"
The women and children came out, and in vain offered him food, of
which he stood obviously in need, asking him, at the same time, "Why he
had come there to die?" His followers, with more indifference than their
commander, entered the houses of the inhabitants, and unceremoniously
appropriated whatever they could find to appease the cravings of
appetite.
Benalcazar, who saw the temerity of giving battle, in their present
condition, recommended the viceroy to try the effect of negotiation, and
offered himself to go to the enemy's camp, and arrange, if possible, terms
of accommodation with Pizarro. But Blasco Nunez, if he desponded for
a moment, had now recovered his wonted constancy, and he proudly
replied,--"There is no faith to be kept with traitors. We have come to
fight, not to parley; and we must do our duty like good and loyal
cavaliers. I will do mine," he continued, "and be assured I will be the
first man to break a lance with the enemy." 20
He then called his troops together, and addressed to them a few words
preparatory to marching. "You are all brave men," he said, "and loyal to
your sovereign. For my own part, I hold life as little in comparison with
my duty to my prince. Yet let us not distrust our success; the Spaniard,
in a good cause, has often overcome greater odds than these. And we are
fighting for the right; it is the cause of God,--the cause of God," 21 he
concluded, and the soldiers, kindled by his generous ardor, answered him
with huzzas that went to the heart of the unfortunate commander, little
accustomed of late to this display of enthusiasm.
It was the eighteenth of January, 1546, when Blasco Nunez marched out
at the head of his array, from the ancient city of Quito. He had
proceeded but a mile,22 when he came in view of the enemy, formed
along the crest of some high lands, which, by a gentle swell, rose
gradually from the plains of Anaquito. Gonzalo Pizarro, greatly
chagrined on ascertaining the departure of the viceroy, early in the
morning, had broken up his camp, and directed his march on the capital,
fully resolved that his enemy should not escape him.
The viceroy's troops, now coming to a halt, were formed in order of
battle. A small body of arquebusiers was stationed in the advance to
begin the fight. The remainder of that corps was distributed among the
spearmen, who occupied the centre, protected on the flanks by the horse
drawn up in two nearly equal squadrons. The cavalry amounted to about
one hundred and forty, being little inferior to that on the other side,
though the whole number of the viceroy's forces, being less than four
hundred, did not much exceed the half of his rival's. On the right, and in
front of the royal banner, Blasco Nunez, supported by thirteen chosen
cavaliers, took his station, prepared to head the attack.
Pizarro had formed his troops in a corresponding manner with that of his
adversary. They mustered about seven hundred in all, well appointed, in
good condition, and officered by the best knights in Peru.23 As,
notwithstanding his superiority of numbers, Pizarro, did not seem
inclined to abandon his advantageous position, Blasco Nunez gave
orders to advance. The action commenced with the arquebusiers, and in
a few moments the dense clouds of smoke, rolling over the field,
obscured every object; for it was late in the day when the action began,
and the light was rapidly fading.
The infantry, now leveling their pikes, advanced under cover of the
smoke, and were soon hotly engaged with the opposite files of spearmen.
Then came the charge of the cavalry, which--notwithstanding they were
thrown into some disorder by the fire of Pizarro's arquebusiers, far
superior in number to their own--was conducted with such spirit that the
enemy's horse were compelled to reel and fall back before it. But it was
only to recoil with greater violence, as, like an overwhelming wave,
Pizarro's troopers rushed on their foes, driving them along the slope, and
bearing down man and horse in indiscriminate ruin. Yet these, in turn, at
length rallied, cheered on by the cries and desperate efforts of their
officers. The lances were shivered, and they fought hand to hand with
swords and battle-axes mingled together in wild confusion. But the
struggle was of no long duration; for, though the numbers were nearly
equal, the viceroy's cavalry, jaded by the severe march of the previous
night,24 were no match for their antagonists. The ground was strewn
with the wreck of their bodies; and horses and riders, the dead and the
dying, lay heaped on one another. Cabrera, the brave lieutenant of
Benalcazar, was slain, and that commander was thrown under his horse's
feet, covered with wounds, and left for dead on the field. Alvarez, the
judge, was mortally wounded. Both he and his colleague Cepeda were in
the action, though ranged on opposite sides, fighting as if they had been
bred to arms, not to the peaceful profession of the law.
Yet Blasco Nunez and his companions maintained a brave struggle on
the right of the field. The viceroy had kept his word by being the first to
break his lance against the enemy, and by a well-directed blow had borne
a cavalier, named Alonso de Montalvo, clean out of his saddle. But he
was at length overwhelmed by numbers, and, as his companions, one
after another, fell by his side, he was left nearly unprotected. He was
already wounded, when a blow on the head from the battle-axe of a
soldier struck him from his horse, and he fell stunned on the ground.
Had his person been known, he might have been taken alive, but he wore
a sobre-vest of Indian cotton over his armour, which concealed the
military order of St. James, and the other badges of his rank.25
His person, however, was soon recognized by one of Pizarro's followers,
who, not improbably, had once followed the viceroy's banner. The
soldier immediately pointed him out to the Licentiate Carbajal. This
person was the brother of the cavalier whom, as the reader may
remember, Blasco Nunez had so rashly put to death in his palace at
Lima. The licentiate had afterwards taken service under Pizarro, and,
with several of his kindred, was pledged to take vengeance on the
viceroy. Instantly riding up, he taunted the fallen commander with the
murder of his brother, and was in the act of dismounting to despatch him
with his own hand, when Puelles remonstrating on this, as an act of
degradation, commanded one of his attendants, a black slave, to cut off
the viceroy's head. This the fellow executed with a single stroke of his
sabre, while the wretched man, perhaps then dying of his wounds, uttered
no word, but with eyes imploringly turned up towards heaven, received
the fatal blow.26 The head was then borne aloft on a pike, and some
were brutal enough to pluck out the grey hairs from the beard and set
them in their caps, as grisly trophies of their victory.27 The fate of the
day was now decided. Yet still the infantry made a brave stand, keeping
Pizarro's horse at bay with their bristling array of pikes. But their
numbers were thinned by the arquebusiers; and, thrown into disorder,
they could no longer resist the onset of the horse, who broke into their
column, and soon scattered and drove them off the ground. The pursuit
was neither long nor bloody; for darkness came on, and Pizarro bade his
trumpets sound, to call his men together under their banners.
Though the action lasted but a short time, nearly one third of the
viceroy's troops had perished. The loss of their opponents was
inconsiderable.28 Several of the vanquished cavaliers took refuge in the
churches of Quito. But they were dragged from the sanctuary, and some
---probably those who had once espoused the cause of Pizarro--were led
to execution, and others banished to Chili. The greater part were
pardoned by the conqueror. Benalcazar, who recovered from his
wounds, was permitted to return to his government, on condition of no
more bearing arms against Pizarro. His troops were invited to take
service under the banner of the victor, who, however, never treated them
with the confidence shown to his ancient partisans. He was greatly
displeased at the indignities offered to the viceroy; whose mangled
remains he caused to be buried with the honors due to his rank in the
cathedral of Quito. Gonzalo Pizarro, attired in black, walked as chief
mourner in the procession.---It was usual with the Pizarros, as we have
seen, to pay these obituary honors to their victims.29
Such was the sad end of Blasco Nunez Vela, first viceroy of Peru. It was
less than two years since he had set foot in the country, a period of
unmitigated disaster and disgrace. His misfortunes may be imputed
partly to circumstances, and partly to his own character. The minister of
an odious and oppressive law, he was intrusted with no discretionary
power in the execution of it.30 Yet every man may, to a certain extent,
claim the right to such a power; since, to execute a commission, which
circumstances show must certainly defeat the object for which it was
designed, would be absurd. But it requires sagacity to determine the
existence of such a contingency, and moral courage to assume the
responsibility of acting on it. Such a crisis is the severest test of
character. To dare to disobey from a paramount sense of duty is a
paradox that a little soul can hardly comprehend. Unfortunately, Blasco
Nunez was a pedantic martinet, a man of narrow views, who could not
feel himself authorized under any circumstances to swerve from the letter
of the law. Puffed up by his brief authority, moreover, he considered
opposition to the ordinances as treason to himself; and thus, identifying
himself with his commission, he was prompted by personal feelings,
quite as much as by those of a public and patriotic nature.
Neither was the viceroy's character of a kind that tended to mitigate the
odium of his measures, and reconcile the people to their execution. It
afforded a strong contrast to that of his rival, Pizarro, whose frank,
chivalrous bearing, and generous confidence in his followers, made him
universally popular, blinding their judgments, and giving to the worse
the semblance of the better cause. Blasco Nunez, on the contrary,
irritable and suspicious, placed himself in a false position with all whom
he approached; for a suspicious temper creates an atmosphere of distrust
around it that kills every kindly affection. His first step was to alienate
the members of the Audience who were sent to act in concert with him.
But this was their fault as well as his, since they were as much too lax, as
he was too severe, in the interpretation of the law.31 He next alienated
and outraged the people whom he was appointed to govern. And, lastly,
he disgusted his own friends, and too often turned them into enemies; so
that, in his final struggle for power and for existence, he was obliged to
rely on the arm of the stranger. Yet in the catalogue of his qualities we
must not pass in silence over his virtues. There are two to the credit of
which he is undeniably entitled,--a loyalty, which shone the brighter
amidst the general defection around him, and a constancy under
misfortune, which might challenge the respect even of his enemies. But
with the most liberal allowance for his merits, it can scarcely be doubted
that a person more incompetent to the task assigned him could not have
been found in Castile.32
The victory of Anaquito was received with general joy in the
neighboring capital; all the cities of Peru looked on it as sealing the
downfall of the detested ordinances, and the name of Gonzalo Pizarro
was sounded from one end of the country to the other as that of its
deliverer. That chief continued to prolong his stay in Quito during the
wet season, dividing his time between the licentious pleasures of the
reckless adventurer and the cares of business that now pressed on him as
ruler of the state. His administration was stained with fewer acts of
violence than might have been expected from the circumstances of his
situation. So long as Carbajal, the counsellor in whom he unfortunately
placed greatest reliance, was absent, Gonzalo sanctioned no execution, it
was observed, but according to the forms of law.33 He rewarded his
followers by new grants of land, and detached several on expeditions, to
no greater distance, however, than would leave it in his power readily to
recall them. He made various provisions for the welfare of the natives,
and some, in particular, for instructing them in the Christian faith. He
paid attention to the faithful collection of the royal dues, urging on the
colonists that they should deport themselves so as to conciliate the
goodwill of the Crown, and induce a revocation of the ordinances. His
administration, in short, was so conducted, that even the austere Gasca,
his successor, allowed "it was a good government,--for a tyrant." 34
At length, in July, 1546, the new governor bade adieu to Quito, and,
leaving there a sufficient garrison under his officer Puelles, began his
journey to the south. It was a triumphal progress, and everywhere he
was received on the road with enthusiasm by the people. At Truxillo, the
citizens came out in a body to welcome him, and the clergy chanted
anthems in his honor, extolling him as the "victorious prince," and
imploring the Almighty "to lengthen his days, and give him honor."35
At Lima, it was proposed to clear away some of the buildings, and open
a new street for his entrance, which might ever after bear the name of the
victor. But the politic chieftain declined this flattering tribute, and
modestly preferred to enter the city by the usual way. A procession was
formed of the citizens, the soldiers, and the clergy, and Pizarro made his
entry into the capital with two of his principal captains on foot, holding
the reins of his charger, while the archbishop of Lima, and the bishops of
Cuzco, Quito, and Bogota, the last of whom had lately come to the city
to be consecrated, rode by his side. The streets were strewn with
boughs, the walls of the houses hung with showy tapestries, and
triumphal arches were thrown over the way in honor of the victor. Every
balcony, veranda, and house-top was crowded with spectators, who sent
up huzzas, loud and long, saluting the victorious soldier with the titles of
"Liberator, and Protector of the people." The bells rang out their joyous
peal, as on his former entrance into the capital; and amidst strains of
enlivening music, and the blithe sounds of jubilee, Gonzalo held on his
way to the palace of his brother. Peru was once more placed under the
dynasty of the Pizarros.36
Deputies came from different parts of the country, tending the
congratulations of their respective cities; and every one eagerly urged his
own claims to consideration for the services he had rendered in the
revolution. Pizarro, at the same time, received the welcome intelligence
of the success of his arms in the south. Diego Centeno, as before stated,
had there raised the standard of rebellion, or rather, of loyalty to his
sovereign. He had made himself master of La Plata, and the spirit of
insurrection had spread over the broad province of Charcas. Carbajal,
who had been sent against him from Quito, after repairing to Lima, had
passed at once to Cuzco, and there, strengthening his forces, had
descended by rapid marches on the refractory district. Centeno did not
trust himself in the field against this formidable champion. He retreated
with his troops into the fastnesses of the sierra. Carbajal pursued,
following on his track with the pertinacity of a bloodhound; over
mountain and moor, through forests and dangerous ravines, allowing him
no respite, by day or by night. Eating, drinking, sleeping in his saddle,
the veteran, eighty years of age, saw his own followers tire one after
another, while he urged on the chase, like the wild huntsman of Burger,
as if endowed with an unearthly frame, incapable of fatigue! During this
terrible pursuit, which continued for more than two hundred leagues over
a savage country, Centeno found himself abandoned by most of his
followers. Such of them as fell into Carbajal's hands were sent to speedy
execution; for that inexorable chief had no mercy on those who had been
false to their party.37 At length, Centeno, with a handful of men, arrived
on the borders of the Pacific, and there, separating from one another,
they provided, each in the best way he could, for their own safety. Their
leader found an asylum in a cave in the mountains, where he was secretly
fed by an Indian curaca, till the time again for him to unfurl the standard
of revolt.38
Carbajal, after some further decisive movements, which fully established
the ascendency of Pizarro over the south, returned in triumph to La Plata.
There he occupied himself with working the silver mines of Potosi, in
which a vein, recently opened, promised to make richer returns than any
yet discovered in Mexico or Peru;39 and he was soon enabled to send
large remittances to Lima, deducting no stinted commission for himself,-
-for the cupidity of the lieutenant was equal to his cruelty.
Gonzalo Pizarro was now undisputed master of Peru. From Quito to the
northern confines of Chili, the whole country acknowledged his
authority. His fleet rode triumphant on the Pacific, and gave him the
command of every city and hamlet on its borders. His admiral,
Hinojosa, a discreet and gallant officer, had secured him Panama, and,
marching across the Isthmus, had since obtained for him the possession
of Nombre de Dios,--the principal key of communication with Europe.
His forces were on an excellent footing, including the flower of the
warriors who had fought under his brother, and who now eagerly rallied
under the name of Pizarro; while the tide of wealth that flowed in from
the mines of Potosi supplied him with the resources of an European
monarch.
The new governor now began to assume a state correspondent with his
full-blown fortunes. He was attended by a body-guard of eighty soldiers.
He dined always in public, and usually with not less than a hundred
guests at table. He even affected, it was said, the most decided etiquette
of royalty, giving his hand to be kissed, and allowing no one, of whatever
rank, to be seated in his presence.40 But this is denied by others. It
would not be strange that a vain man like Pizarro, with a superficial,
undisciplined mind, when he saw himself thus raised from an humble
condition to the highest post in the land, should be somewhat intoxicated
by the possession of power, and treat with superciliousness those whom
he had once approached with deference. But one who had often seen
him in his prosperity assures us, that it was not so, and that the governor
continued to show the same frank and soldierlike bearing as before his
elevation, mingling on familiar terms with his comrades, and displaying
the same qualities which had hitherto endeared him to the people.41
However this may be, it is certain there were not wanting those who
urged him to throw off his allegiance to the Crown, and set up an
independent government for himself. Among these was his lieutenant,
Carbajal, whose daring spirit never shrunk from following things to their
consequences. He plainly counselled Pizarro to renounce his allegiance
at once. "In fact, you have already done so," he said. "You have been in
arms against a viceroy, have driven him from the country, beaten and
slain him in battle. What favor, or even mercy, can you expect from the
Crown? You have gone too far either to halt, or to recede. You must go
boldly on, proclaim yourself king; the troops, the people, will support
you." And he concluded, it is said, by advising him to marry the Coya,
the female representative of the Incas, that the two races might
henceforth repose in quiet under a common sceptre! 42
The advice of the bold counsellor was, perhaps, the most politic that
could have been given to Pizarro under existing circumstances. For he
was like one who had heedlessly climbed far up a dizzy precipice,--too
far to descend safely, while he had no sure hold where he was. His only
chance was to climb still higher, till he had gained the summit. But
Gonzalo Pizarro shrunk from the attitude, in which this placed him, of
avowed rebellion. Notwithstanding the criminal course into which he
had been, of late, seduced, the sentiment of loyalty was too deeply
implanted in his bosom to be wholly eradicated. Though in arms against
the measures and ministers of his sovereign, he was not prepared to raise
the sword against the sovereign himself. He, doubtless, had conflicting
emotion in his bosom; like Macbeth, and many a less noble nature,
'"Would not play false,
And yet would wrongly win."
And however grateful to his vanity might be the picture of the airdrawn
sceptre thus painted to his imagination, he had not the audacity --we
may, perhaps, say, the criminal ambition--to attempt to grasp it.
Even at this very moment, when urged to this desperate extremity, he
was preparing a mission to Spain, in order to vindicate the course he had
taken, and to solicit an amnesty for the past, with a full confirmation of
his authority, as successor to his brother in the government of Peru.--
Pizarro did not read the future with the calm, prophetic eye of Carbajal.
Among the biographical notices of the writers on Spanish colonial
affairs, the name of Herrera, who has done more for this vast subject
than any other author, should certainly not be omitted. His account of
Peru takes its proper place in his great work, the Historia General de las
lndias, according to the chronological plan on which that history is
arranged. But as it suggests reflections not different in character from
those suggested by other portions of the work, I shall take the liberty to
refer the reader to the Postscript to Book Third of the Conquest of
Mexico, for a full account of these volumes and their learned author.
Another chronicler, to whom I have been frequently indebted in the
progress of the narrative, is Francisco Lopez de Gomara. The reader
will also find a notice of this author in the Conquest of Mexico, Book 5,
Postscript. But as the remarks on his writings are there confined to his
Cronica de Nueva Espana, it may be well to add here some reflections on
his greater work, Historia de las Indias, in which the Peruvian story bears
a conspicuous part.
The "History of the Indies" is intended to give a brief view of the whole
range of Spanish conquest in the islands and on the American continent,
as far as had been achieved by the middle of the sixteenth century. For
this account, Gomara, though it does not appear that he ever visited the
New World, was in a situation that opened to him the best means of
information. He was well acquainted with the principal men of the time,
and gathered the details of their history from their own lips; while, from
his residence at court, he was in possession of the state of opinion there,
and of the impression made by passing events on those most competent
to judge of them. He was thus enabled to introduce into his work many
interesting particulars, not to be found in other records of the period. His
range of inquiry extended beyond the mere doings of the Conquerors,
and led him to a survey of the general resources of the countries he
describes, and especially of their physical aspect and productions. The
conduct of his work, no less than its diction, shows the cultivated
scholar, practised in the art of composition. Instead of the naivete,
engaging, but childlike, of the old military chroniclers, Gomara handles
his various topics with the shrewd and piquant criticism of a man of the
world; while his descriptions are managed with a comprehensive brevity
that forms the opposite to the long-winded and rambling paragraphs of
the monkish annalist. These literary merits, combined with the
knowledge of the writer's opportunities for information, secured his
productions from the oblivion which too often awaits the unpublished
manuscript; and he had the satisfaction to see them pass into more than
one edition in his own day. Yet they do not bear the highest stamp of
authenticity. The author too readily admits accounts into his pages
which are not supported by contemporary testimony. This he does, not
from credulity, for his mind rather leans in an opposite direction, but
from a Want, apparently, of the true spirit of historic conscientiousness.
The imputation of carelessness in his statements--to use a temperate
phrase--was brought against Gomara in his own day; and Garcilasso tells
us, that, when called to account by some of the Peruvian cavaliers for
misstatements which bore hard on themselves, the historian made but an
awkward explanation. This is a great blemish on his productions, and
renders them of far less value to the modern compiler, who seeks for the
well of truth undefiled, than many an humbler but less unscrupulous
chronicle.
There is still another authority used in this work, Gonzalo Fernandez de
Oviedo, of whom I have given an account elsewhere; and the reader
curious in the matter will permit me to refer him for a critical notice of
his life and writings to the Conquest of Mexico, Book 4, Postscript.--His
account of Peru is incorporated into his great work, Natural & General
Historia de las lndias, MS., where it forms the forty-sixth and forty-
seventh books. It extends from Pizarro's landing at Tumbez to
Almagro's return from Chili, and thus covers the entire portion of what
may be called the conquest of the country. The style of its execution,
corresponding with that of the residue of the work to which it belongs,
affords no ground for criticism different from that already passed on the
general character of Oviedo's writings.
This eminent person was at once a scholar and a man of the world.
Living much at court, and familiar with persons of the highest distinction
in Castile, he yet passed much of his time in the colonies, and thus added
the fruits of personal experience to what he had gained from the reports
of others. His curiosity was indefatigable, extending to every department
of natural science, as well as to the civil and personal history of the
colonists. He was, at once, their Pliny and their Tacitus. His works
abound in portraitures of character, sketched with freedom and
animation. His reflections are piquant, and often rise to a philosophic
tone, which discards the usual trammels of the age; and the progress of
the story is varied by a multiplicity of personal anecdotes, that give a
rapid insight into the characters of the parties.
With his eminent qualifications, and with a social position that
commanded respect, it is strange that so much of his writings-the whole
of his great Historia de las Indias, and his curious Quincuagenas--should
be so long suffered to remain in manuscript. This is partly chargeable to
the caprice of fortune; for the History was more than once on the eve of
publication, and is even now understood to be prepared for the press.
Yet it has serious defects, which may have contributed to keep it in its
present form. In its desultory and episodical style of composition, it
resembles rather notes for a great history, than history itself. It may be
regarded in the light of commentaries, or as illustrations of the times. In
that view his pages are of high worth, and have been frequently resorted
to by writers who have not too scrupulously appropriated the statements
of the old chronicler, with slight acknowledgments to their author.
It is a pity that Oviedo should have shown more solicitude to tell what
was new, than to ascertain how much of it was strictly true. Among his
merits will scarcely be found that of historical accuracy. And yet we
may find an apology for this, to some extent, in the fact, that his writings,
as already intimated, are not so much in the nature of finished
compositions, as of loose memoranda, where everything, rumor as well
as fact,--even the most contradictory rumors,--are all set down at
random, forming a miscellaneous heap of materials, of which the discreet
historian may avail himself to rear a symmetrical fabric on foundations
of greater strength and solidity.
Another author worthy of particular note is Pedro Cieza de Leon. His
Cronica del Peru should more properly be styled an Itinerary, or rather
Geography, of Peru. It gives a minute topographical view of the country
at the time of the Conquest; of its provinces and towns, both Indian and
Spanish; its flourishing sea-coast; its forests, valleys, and interminable
ranges of mountains in the interior; with many interesting particulars of
the existing population,--their dress, manners, architectural remains, and
public works, while, scattered here and there, may be found notices of
their early history and social polity. It is, in short, a lively picture of the
country in its physical and moral relations, as it met the eye at the time of
the Conquest, and in that transition period when it was first subjected to
European influences. The conception of a work, at so early a period, on
this philosophical plan, reminding us of that of Malte-Brun in our own
time,--parva componere magnis,-was, of itself, indicative of great
comprehensiveness of mind in its author. It was a task of no little
difficulty, where there was yet no pathway opened by the labors of the
antiquarian; no hints from the sketch-book of the traveller, or the
measurements of the scientific explorer. Yet the distances from place to
place are all carefully jotted down by the industrious compiler, and the
bearings of the different places and their peculiar features are exhibited
with sufficient precision, considering the nature of the obstacles he had
to encounter. The literary execution of the work, moreover, is highly
respectable, sometimes even rich and picturesque; and the author
describes the grand and beautiful scenery of the Cordilleras with a
sensibility to its charms, not often found in the tasteless topographer, still
less often in the rude Conqueror.
Cieza de Leon came to the New World, as he informs us, at the early age
of thirteen. But it is not till Gasca's time that we find his name enrolled
among the actors in the busy scenes of civil strife, when he accompanied
the president in his campaign against Gonzalo Pizarro. His Chronicle,
or, at least, the notes for it, was compiled in such leisure as he could
snatch from his more stirring avocations; and after ten years from the
time he undertook it, the First Part--all we have---was completed in
1550, when the author had reached only the age of thirty-two. It
appeared at Seville in 1553, and the following year at Antwerp; while an
Italian translation, printed at Rome, in 1555, attested the rapid celebrity
of the work. The edition of Antwerp--the one used by me in this
compilation--is in the duodecimo form, exceedingly well printed, and
garnished with wood-cuts, in which Satan,-for the author had a full
measure of the ancient credulity,--with his usual bugbear
accompaniments frequently appears in bodily presence. In the Preface,
Cieza announces his purpose to continue the work in three other parts,
illustrating respectively the ancient history of the country under the
Incas, its conquest by the Spaniards, and the civil wars which ensued.
He even gives, with curious minuteness, the contents of the several
books of the projected history. But the First Part, as already noticed,
was alone completed; and the author, having returned to Spain, died
there in 1560, at the premature age of forty-two, without having covered
any portion of the magnificent ground-plan which he had thus
confidently laid out. The deficiency is much to be regretted, considering
the talent of the writer, and his opportunities for personal observation.
But he has done enough to render us grateful for his labors. By the vivid
delineation of scenes and scenery, as they were presented fresh to his
own eyes, he has furnished us with a background to the historic picture,--
the landscape, as it were, in which the personages of the time might be
more fitly portrayed. It would have been impossible to exhibit the
ancient topography of the land so faithfully at a subsequent period, when
old things had passed away, and the Conqueror, breaking down the
landmarks of ancient civilization, had effaced many of the features even
of the physical aspect of the country, as it existed under the elaborate
culture of the Incas.
History of the Conquest of Peru
by William Hickling Prescott