On 9 December 1824, on the high plain of La Quinua near Ayacucho in the Peruvian Andes, a patriot army of Peruvians, Colombians, Venezuelans, Argentines and Chileans under General Antonio José de Sucre routed the larger royalist army of Viceroy José de la Serna. The wounded viceroy was taken prisoner, and that day his second in command signed a capitulation that took all Spanish forces out of Peru.
The last royal army
Sucre, the Venezuelan general who served as Simón Bolívar's chief lieutenant, faced it with a smaller force of soldiers from across the continent. Britannica puts the patriots at about 6,000 and the royalists at about 9,000, with ten times as many guns; Guillermo Sherwell's 1924 life of Sucre gives more than 9,000 against fewer than 6,000. The Peruvian state newspaper El Peruano, citing Peruvian historians, gives figures between 5,780 and 6,775 patriots and about 9,300 royalists.1
The royalists took position on the hill of Condorcunca above the plain, with Canterac, Valdés and Monet among the viceroy's generals. Before the fighting began, Britannica relates, many officers crossed between the lines to embrace friends and brothers on the other side. Sherwell tells how Sucre allowed the Colombian general José María Córdoba to meet his friend Monet, and the two embraced in sight of both armies.2
The battle
The start is given as 10 o'clock by Sherwell and as nine by the Peruvian historian Fredy Taype, quoted by El Peruano. As the royalists came down from the hill, Córdoba's division struck them, and the attack broke the royalist line. Córdoba's order is remembered in different words: Taype gives it as “Soldiers! Arms at will! The step of victors!”, while Sherwell renders it as “Colombians, use your weapons at your own will. Advance to conquer!”. By around one in the afternoon it was over. La Serna, wounded, surrendered his sword to Córdoba and was taken to Sucre's tent.3
The figures for the losses differ. Britannica speaks of about 2,000 royalists killed. The historian Henry Urbano, quoted by El Peruano, estimates about 3,000 casualties among the 15,000 men of both armies. Sherwell lists more than 2,000 royalist soldiers and fourteen guns taken, while El Peruano counts 3,200 royalist soldiers taken prisoner, besides officers and generals.4
The capitulation
With the viceroy a prisoner, Canterac took command and went to Sucre to negotiate, and the capitulation was signed by Sucre and Canterac with the date of 9 December. All Spanish forces were to leave Peru and Charcas, today Bolivia. Royalist officers and soldiers who wished could sail for Spain at Peru's expense and keep their uniforms and swords. The last Spanish troops left Callao, the port of Lima, in January 1826. Peru has kept 9 December as the Day of the Army since a decision of President Augusto B. Leguía in September 1928.5
