PERU.
1820.
Peru was the first of the American colonies in which, at the era of the
Conquest, the spirit of rebellion against the Mother Country broke out.
During the Colonial epoch the mixed races frequently rebelled against
their Spanish masters. At the end of the eighteenth century Tupac-Amarú,
who came of the old royal race of the Incas, made an attempt to restore
the kingdom of his forefathers. But these insurrections had no root in
the soil, they were but the convulsive efforts of a conquered race
reduced to slavery. When they were quelled the country remained at peace
for many long years. Peru, like to one of the tracts of perennial calm
upon the ocean, felt nothing of the currents which ebbed and flowed
around her; she was isolated from the world; the movements which
convulsed America in 1809 and 1810 were hardly felt there. The instinct
of nationality, which is the germ of independence, was not entirely
wanting; but there was no cohesion among the masses of the people, whose
inertness presented a dead weight against the progress of the
revolutionary idea.
Peru was at the Conquest truly an imperial colony, embracing all the
Spanish possessions in South America, from Cape Horn to the Equator. The
word Peru became synonymous with wealth. After the creation of the
Viceroyalties of New Granada and La Plata, that of Peru still stretched
over a vast area, extending 25 degrees south of the Equator, and from
the Pacific to the frontiers of Brazil, while its central position gave
it a paramount influence over all its neighbours.
Lima was the capital of this imperial colony. This city stands not far
from the sea, in a beautiful valley, at the foot of the Western
Cordillera, where rain never falls, and where the thunder is heard to
roll and the lightning is seen to flash but once in a century. A
transparent veil of clouds tempers the fiery rays of the sun, while the
moist southern breeze imparts a softness to the atmosphere which has its
reflex in the temperament of the people.
Lima rivalled Mexico in wealth, and was the seat of a viceregal court,
with its privileges, its pomps, and its enervating vices. It was also
surrounded with walls, and Callao, with its castles and batteries, was
but the port of the great city. She had also an official Church, a
corrupt clergy, and an inquisition, the only one which had burnt
heretics in America. Three-fifths of her population, like to that of
ancient Rome, was composed of slaves, freedmen, and tributary Indians,
with a passion for bullfights they had learnt from the Spaniards, and
for chicha,[15] which they inherited from the Incas. Her women were
celebrated for beauty and grace, and she was the natal city of the
patron saint of America, Santa Rosa de Lima, among whose relics are
shown the dice with which she played with her Divine spouse.
Situate in the tropic of Capricorn Peru has every climate known in the
world, ranging from the torrid zone at the sea level to the eternal snow
of her Cordillera. The Creoles of Peru were by nature intelligent, and
cultivated science and the arts. They had also a literature of their
own. The _Mercurio Peruano_, published in the eighteenth century, was
the first periodical printed in South America. The University of Lima
was as famous in America as that of Salamanca in Spain; the skill of her
physicians was renowned all over the continent. Peru was also the centre
of the Royalist reaction; for ten years she had held the revolution in
check. Thus it was when the emancipating armies from the north and from
the south closed in upon her in the year 1820. She was the Carthage of
San Martin.
At the outbreak of the revolution Peru proper had a population of about
a million and a half, and Upper Peru had nearly half a million. Of these
the indigenous races formed about half, mixed races a fifth, negro
slaves about fifty thousand, and Spaniards hardly a seventh, the
remainder being Creoles, the descendants of Europeans born in America.
The North and the South of Peru were two separate countries, which
looked with jealousy one on the other, even for many years after they
became one nation. The highlands of the interior and the lowlands of the
coast were also two entirely different regions. The inhabitants of the
lowlands were enervated by the climate, but the mixed races which
inhabited the hills were very athletic, and made excellent infantry.
Spaniards and Creoles dwelt in cities on the coast, or in fertile
valleys among the mountains. The indigenous races, who were serfs, were
almost entirely confined to the hills; the mixed races and free negroes
formed the working classes of the cities; the farms were cultivated by
African slaves. The Peruvians were thus a people who had no cohesion
among them, and were easily dominated by the powerful military clique
which ruled the colony, while their passive inertness was a formidable
barrier to the spread of revolutionary ideas among them.
In 1810 General Abascal was Viceroy of Peru; he was already old, but was
possessed of great talents, both political and military. He was one in
whom prudence was blended with decision and with perseverance. The
flames of insurrection blazed around him, but he showed a bold front to
the storm, and made Peru the citadel of the colonial power. If it had
been possible to conquer the revolution he would have conquered it; as
it was he greatly retarded its progress.
To counteract the contagion of the revolutionary spirit, he inspired the
Peruvians with a spirit of devoted loyalty to the mother country, and to
her exiled King. On the basis of the few Spanish troops he had with him,
he raised a native army, recruited in the Highlands and officered by
Peruvians. Their own generals led them to victory, till the struggle,
from being a revolt against the domination of Spain assumed the aspect
of a civil war, in which Americans fought against Americans in defence
of American ideas.
Thus Abascal quelled the rebellion in Quito, stemmed the tide of
Argentine invasion, and reconquered Chile. He was then reinforced by
troops from Spain, led by generals who had proved their skill in the War
of the Peninsula. The revolution was crushed wherever it had broken out,
save only in the United Provinces and in a part of Venezuela. In 1817
the passage of the Andes by San Martin put a stop to his success.
Chacabuco and Maipó turned the tide of victory against him, and the
Royalist reaction was shut up in the Highlands of Peru, where the
principle of loyalty to the flag of Spain had taken deep root in the
hearts of the people.
Meantime Abascal had retired from the scene, full of years and of glory,
and left Pezuela, the hero of Upper Peru, as Viceroy in his place. In
1816 General José de La Serna had arrived from Spain with
reinforcements, and with a commission as General-in-Chief of the armies
of Upper Peru. He was an experienced soldier, but was characterized by a
moderation which made him at times irresolute. In politics he professed
Liberal principles, and soon acquired a great ascendency over the army,
introducing a new influence which later on had very important effects.
Although Peru was the centre of the Royalist reaction, nevertheless the
American sentiment of independence was still latent within her, but the
want of cohesion among the various races which formed her people
rendered her helpless to work out her own destiny. All nations have
passed through these periods of impotence. Chile and New Granada, under
much better conditions, would never have redeemed themselves without
Argentine and Columbian intervention.
The revolutionary movements of the year 1809 found an echo in Lima, and
a young lawyer named Mateo Silva fell a victim to his patriotic ardour,
dying in the casemates of Callao, after six years of imprisonment. In
1810 another conspiracy was discovered, and was also crushed; but the
progress of Liberal opinion in Spain had its effect in Peru. From the
mother country came liberty of the press in 1811, and in 1812 the
establishment of Cabildos was decreed by the Regency of Spain, when
Peruvians for the first time made use of the right of election. But when
the Spanish Constitution fell in 1814, liberty of speech fell with it in
the capital of Peru.
In 1811, 1812, and 1813, various insurrectionary movements, fomented by
Argentine emissaries, broke out in Upper Peru, but were promptly crushed
with great severity. In 1814 a much more formidable insurrection broke
out in Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incas, in which the clergy took
a prominent part. In August a Junta was formed under the auspices of the
Cabildos, General Pumacahua, a pure Indian, being named President, and
José Angulo Captain-General. The new Government erected two gibbets in
the principal square as a sign of their authority, devised a flag,
raised an army, cast small cannon, and despatched emissaries to enter
into alliance with the Argentine Provinces. Their first operations were
crowned with success. Arequipa fell into their hands, and an expedition
to the east captured the city of La Paz; but their hordes of half-naked
Indians, armed with pikes and slings, were totally routed in two
battles with great slaughter by troops from Lima, supported by militia.
General Ramirez, being detached from the army of operations in Salta
with 1,200 men and four guns, speedily retook La Paz and Arequipa, and
in March, 1815, marched against the insurgents under Pumacahua, 20,000
strong with thirty-seven guns, cut them to pieces, and put an end to the
insurrection. The head of Pumacahua was stuck on a post in the great
square of Cuzco. Angulo and other leaders were shot.
From that time the Patriots of Peru thought no more of achieving liberty
by their own efforts, but they continued their propaganda among the
people by means of secret societies, which had their head-quarters in
Lima. In 1817 these societies opened communication with San Martin, who
responded to their overtures by sending Torres on a special mission to
Lima, as is recorded in Chapter XVII. Torres in his secret interview
received very valuable information from the Patriot leaders concerning
the plans of the Viceroy and the forces at his disposal, and concerted
with them the means of regular communication. The subsequent appearance
of the Chilian squadron on the coast, and the proclamations of
O’Higgins, San Martin, and Cochrane, greatly raised their hopes, and
information furnished by them was of great service to the admiral in his
operations. He was accompanied by Alvarez Jonte, who acted as
intermediary between him and the Patriots of Peru, and was the bearer of
special instructions to them from San Martin, who directed them to make
no insurrectionary movement until he was in a position to support them,
when local outbreaks might be of service in distracting the attention of
the enemy.
San Martin also sent off to Peru three young officers of his, who were
Peruvians by birth, one of whom betrayed his trust, and caused the
arrest of several of the Patriots; but the other two fulfilled their
mission with great skill, so that even in the army the revolutionary
spirit made great progress. Colonel Gamarra, who was in command of
troops drawn from Upper Peru, was discovered to have secret
correspondence with Belgrano, but the Viceroy dared not prosecute him
from fear of arousing a mutiny among his men.
Pezuela was fully alive to the dangers of his position, and wrote
earnestly to Spain for support. At the same time he instructed his
successor in command of the Army of Upper Peru, to advance into
Argentine territory. La Serna was driven back by Martin Güemes and his
gauchos, but in this campaign saw such evidence of the superior quality
of his troops that he thought it necessary to take precautions against
possible disloyalty among them. He accordingly put an end to their
independent organization, and drafted them into his Spanish regiments, a
measure which was eventually productive of great evil to the Royalist
cause.
The American officers were all staunch Royalists, but the Spanish
officers were more or less infected with the new ideas. Thus, the
_morale_ of the Army of Upper Peru became greatly deteriorated. A part
of it was soon after withdrawn to Lower Peru to reinforce the army
there, in preparation for meeting the threatened invasion from Chile,
upon which La Serna, alleging that he held his commission direct from
the King, and had the right to dispose of his troops as he chose, threw
up his command. Olañeta, a Peruvian and an ardent Royalist, was
appointed to succeed him, and La Serna retired to Lima.
The Royalist army was at this time led by many distinguished officers,
among them being Camba, the historian, and Valdés, who was held by
Americans to be the most skilful and the most noble of all their
adversaries. The army which held Lima was more than 8,000 strong, that
of Upper Peru was more than 7,000. The total force, including detached
garrisons, consisted of 23,000 men, against whom San Martin matched
himself with 4,000 men in the last struggle for the independence of
America.