Battle of Las Salinas

Last updated
Battle of Las Salinas
Part of the Spanish conquest of Peru
DateApril 26, 1538 [1]
Location
near Cuzco, Peru
13°34′0″S71°58′41″W / 13.56667°S 71.97806°W / -13.56667; -71.97806
Result Victory for Nueva Castilla
Belligerents
Flag of New Spain.svg Nueva Castilla Flag of New Spain.svg Nueva Toledo
Commanders and leaders
Gonzalo Pizarro
Hernando Pizarro
Alonso de Alvarado
Pedro de Valdivia
Diego de Almagro  (POW)
Rodrigo Orgóñez
Strength
700 500
6 guns
Casualties and losses
9 120 dead [2]
Peru location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Peru
South America laea location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Battle of Las Salinas (South America)
Americas laea location map with borders.svg
Red pog.svg
Battle of Las Salinas (America)

The Battle of Las Salinas was a military conflict and decisive confrontation between the forces of Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro against those of rival conquistador Diego de Almagro, on April 26, 1538, during the Conquest of Peru. Both camps claimed to represent the authority of the Spanish Crown; Pizarro's forces controlled the province of Nueva Castilla, and those of Almagro, Nueva Toledo.

Contents

After an hour of carnage, the battle yielded a victory for Pizarro's forces: with Almagro captured and his lieutenant, Rodrigo Orgóñez killed on the field of battle, the Pizarros routed the enemy and took possession of Cuzco. Almagro was executed in July 1538.

Background

The conflict between the Pizarro brothers and Almagro originated in a dispute over the possession of the city of Cuzco during the initial Spanish partition and administration of Peru. While Almagro controlled the city from 1537, both he and the Pizarros considered it under their jurisdiction. [3] Almagro's enterprise had won him several earlier battles, but although he succeeded in taking the city by a coup de main, Pizarro's forces were by far the strongest in the region, leaving him with few options for its defence. Almagro, his fortunes on the wane, invalided by a debilitating disease, turned to Rodrigo Orgóñez to carry out the campaign.

Almagro's men made their first mistake by failing to secure the Guaitara pass guarding the approach to Cuzco; the Pizarros' force, braving the mountains, made a crossing and appeared in force along the coast. At a war council in Cuzco, Almagro even considered a new round of negotiations with the Pizarros; Orgóñez is said to have interrupted: "It is too late; you have liberated Hernando Pizarro, and nothing remains but to fight him." [4]

Accordingly, Orgóñez marched his 500 men toward the ancient Indian salt mines of Cachipampa, situated about 5 km south of Cuzco. His choice of battlefield has been subject to criticism in that the broken terrain limited the use of his cavalry, which accounted for over half his force. [5] The infantry, furthermore, was short on weapons and many were armed only with pikes. A battery of six falconets, on the other hand, gave him a marked advantage over his foes.

Pizarro's army consisted largely of infantry and numbered about 700. His cavalry was outmatched by Almagro's strong force of seasoned cavaliers, but in addition to veteran conquistadors he could rely on a contingent of Imperial arquebusiers recently arrived from Santo Domingo.

The battle

Orgóñez placed his infantry in the centre and a division of cavalry on each wing. Pizarro's army mirrored this deployment, with Alonso de Alvarado commanding one corps of cavalry and Hernando Pizarro the other. Gonzalo Pizarro led the battalion of infantry which spearheaded the first attack across the small river separating the two armies. Fire from Orgóñez's guns bit into Gonzalo's column and threw it into disorder, but the swampy ground prevented Orgóñez's cavalry from exploiting this advantage. Meanwhile, Pizarro's Imperial troops, gaining the other side, opened a murderous fire of double-headed shot on their enemies.

With the infantry locked in combat in the marshes, both Pizarro and Orgóñez brought forth their cavalry. On both sides, the left and right wings of cavalry merged into single columns under Orgóñez on one hand and Pizarro on the other. An epic shock followed as the two bodies met at full gallop, the men variously shouting "¡El Rey y Almagro!" or "¡El Rey y Pizarro!" Orgóñez, in the thick of the desperate fighting, was shot, unhorsed, and murdered while offering his surrender. [6] His death unhinged his cavalry, which began to fall back in confusion despite its superiority.

Almagro's infantry, meanwhile, stood no chance against the superior firepower of Pizarro's men and, after an hour of brave fighting, began to scatter in the direction of Cuzco. Almagro watched the rout from his litter on a hill: "With an agony not to be described, he had seen his faithful followers, after their hard struggle, borne down by their opponents till, convinced that all was lost, he succeeded in mounting a mule, and rode off for a temporary refuge to the fortress of Cuzco." [7]

Juan de Málaga, the husband of conquistadora Inés Suárez reportedly died in the battle of Salinas. [8]

Notes

  1. MacQuarrie, Kim. The Last Days of the Incas (pp. 294-295). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.
  2. MacQuarrie, K. (2008). The last days of the Incas. 1st Simon & Schuster trade pbk ed. New York, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. chapter 21
  3. Andagoya, Pascual de. Narrative of the Proceedings of Pedrarias Davila. The Hakluyt Society. p. 54. Retrieved 21 June 2019 via Wikisource.
  4. Prescott, p. 1050. Almagro had captured Pizarro in a previous battle but had set him free in an attempt to come to an understanding with his rivals.
  5. Prescott, p. 1050
  6. Prescott, p. 1053. Prescott gives the generous epitaph: "Thus perished as loyal a cavalier, as decided in council, and as bold in action, as ever crossed to the shores of America."
  7. Prescott, p. 1054
  8. "Inés Suárez, la primera conquistadora española". 7 October 2021.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diego de Almagro</span> Spanish conquistador (1475–1538)

Diego de Almagro, also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador known for his exploits in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru. While subduing the Inca Empire he laid the foundation for Quito and Trujillo as Spanish cities in present-day Ecuador and Peru, respectively. From Peru, Almagro led the first Spanish military expedition to central Chile. Back in Peru, a longstanding conflict with Pizarro over the control of the former Inca capital of Cuzco erupted into a civil war between the two bands of conquistadores. In the battle of Las Salinas in 1538, Almagro was defeated by the Pizarro brothers and months later he was executed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco Pizarro</span> 16th-century Spanish conquistador who conquered Peru

Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gonzalo Pizarro</span> Spanish conquistador (1510–1548)

Gonzalo Pizarro y Alonso was a Spanish conquistador. He was the younger paternal half brother of Francisco Pizarro, who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Pizarro was the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodríguez de Aguilar (1446–1522), who, as an infantry colonel, served under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba during the Italian Wars. He was also the younger paternal half brother of Hernándo Pizarro y de Vargas and the older paternal full brother of Juan Pizarro y Alonso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire</span> Period of the Spanish conquest in South America

The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spanish soldiers under conquistador Francisco Pizarro, along with his brothers in arms and their indigenous allies, captured the Sapa Inca Atahualpa in the 1532 Battle of Cajamarca. It was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting but ended in Spanish victory in 1572 and colonization of the region as the Viceroyalty of Peru. The conquest of the Inca Empire, led to spin-off campaigns into present-day Chile and Colombia, as well as expeditions to the Amazon Basin and surrounding rainforest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manco Inca Yupanqui</span> 16th-century Inca emperor

Manqu Inka Yupanki (Quechua) was the founder and monarch of the independent Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, although he was originally a puppet Inca Emperor installed by the Spaniards. He was also known as "Manco II" and "Manco Cápac II". He was one of the sons of Huayna Capac and a younger brother of Huascar.

Juan Pizarro y Alonso was a Spanish conquistador who accompanied his brothers Francisco, Gonzalo and Hernando Pizarro for the conquest of Peru in 1532.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Cajamarca</span> 1532 battle during the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire

The Battle of Cajamarca also spelled Cajamalca was the ambush and seizure of the Inca ruler Atahualpa by a small Spanish force led by Francisco Pizarro, on November 16, 1532. The Spanish killed thousands of Atahualpa's counselors, commanders, and unarmed attendants in the great plaza of Cajamarca, and caused his armed host outside the town to flee. The capture of Atahualpa marked the opening stage of the conquest of the pre-Columbian civilization of Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco de Carvajal</span> Spanish military officer, conquistador and explorer

Francisco de Carvajal was a Spanish military officer, conquistador, and explorer remembered as "the demon of the Andes" due to his brutality and uncanny military skill in the Peruvian civil wars of the 16th century.

Hernando Pizarro y de Vargas was a Spanish conquistador and one of the Pizarro brothers who ruled over Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alonso de Alvarado</span> Spanish conquistador

Alonso de Alvarado Montaya González de Cevallos y Miranda (1500–1556) was a Spanish conquistador and knight of the Order of Santiago.

Diego de Almagro II, called El Mozo, was the son of Spanish conquistador Diego de Almagro and Ana Martínez, a native Panamanian Indian woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Cusco</span> 1536–37 attempt by the Inca Empire to retake Cuzco from Spanish conquistadores

The 10-month siege of Cusco by the Inca army under the command of Sapa Inca Manco Inca Yupanqui started on 6 May 1536 and ended in March 1537. The city was held by a garrison of Spanish conquistadors and Indian auxiliaries led by Hernando Pizarro. The Incas hoped to restore their empire (1438–1533) with this action, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.

Rodrigo Orgóñez was a Spanish captain under Diego de Almagro, a conquistador known for his exploits in western South America.

The Battle of Ollantaytambo took place in January 1537, between the forces of Inca emperor Manco Inca and a Spanish expedition led by Hernando Pizarro during the Spanish conquest of Peru. A former ally of the Spaniards, Manco Inca rebelled in May 1536, and besieged a Spanish garrison in the city of Cusco. To end the stand-off, the besieged mounted a raid against the emperor's headquarters in the town of Ollantaytambo. The expedition, commanded by Hernando Pizarro, included 100 Spaniards and some 30,000 Indian auxiliaries against an Inca army more than 30,000 strong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Jaquijahuana</span> 1548 battle

The Battle of Jaquijahuana was fought between the forces of Gonzalo Pizarro and Pedro de la Gasca, on April 9, 1548, during the Revolt of the Encomenderos by the Spanish conquistadores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Chupas</span> Battle that took place during the Spanish conquest of Peru

After the assassination of Francisco Pizarro, in retaliation for his father's execution in 1538, Diego de Almagro II, El Mozo, continued to press claims as the rightful ruler of Peru and as leader of his father's supporters. His claims were largely unsuccessful, however, as Pizarro was succeeded as governor by Cristóbal Vaca de Castro, despite claims from his brother Gonzalo Pizarro, whose claims to join arms against the Almagristas and "El Mozo" largely remained unanswered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diego Centeno</span>

Diego Centeno was a Spanish conquistador. He arrived to South America and the recently conquered Inca Empire in 1534 at the age of 20, followed by, among others, Pedro de Alvarado, conqueror of Guatemala. In the ensuring battles between the Pizarro brothers and the Almagristas led by Diego de Almagro and, after his defeat and execution in 1538, by his son, Centeno took the party of Pizarro and New Castile. After the downfall of both parties, Diego fought with the Spanish royal forces of Pedro de la Gasca after the defeat and death of Blasco Núñez Vela on the hands of Gonzalo Pizarro. He was defeated in the battle of Huarina by Francisco de Carvajal but managed to reunite with de la Gasca and defeat the forces of Gonzalo and de Carvajal in the battle of Jaquijahuana.

The Battle of Abancay took place during the Spanish conquest of Peru. Alonso de Alvarado, sent by Francisco Pizarro to relieve the siege of Cusco, was camped at Jauja with five hundred men. He guarded the bridge and a ford on the Rio de Abancay, awaiting Almagro's men. However, the soldier Alvarado placed in command of the ford, Pedro de Lerma, deserted, allowing Almagro to capture Alvarado's force almost intact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neo-Inca State</span> 1537–1572 rump state of the Inca Empire

The Neo-Inca State, also known as the Neo-Inca state of Vilcabamba, was the Inca state established in 1537 at Vilcabamba by Manco Inca Yupanqui. It is considered a rump state of the Inca Empire (1438–1533), which collapsed after the Spanish conquest in the mid-1530s. The Neo-Inca State lasted until 1572, when the last Inca stronghold was conquered, and the last ruler, Túpac Amaru, was captured and executed, thus ending the political authority of the Inca state.

Gómez de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He was a member of the Alvarado family and the older brother of the famous conquistador Pedro de Alvarado.

References

MacQuarrie, K. (2008). The last days of the Incas. 1st Simon & Schuster trade pbk ed. New York, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.