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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.