The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

W >> William H. Prescott >> The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70

Their distresses were still further aggravated by the rumors,
which continually reached their ears, of the state of the
country. The rising, it was said, was general throughout the
land; the Spaniards living on their insulated plantations had all
been massacred; Lima and Truxillo and the principal cities were
besieged, and must soon fall into the enemy's hands; the
Peruvians were in possession of the passes, and all
communications were cut off, so that no relief was to be expected
from their countrymen on the coast. Such were the dismal stories,
(which, however exaggerated, had too much foundation in fact,)
that now found their way into the city from the camp of the
besiegers. And to give greater credit to the rumors, eight or
ten human heads were rolled into the plaza, in whose
blood-stained visages the Spaniards recognized with horror the
lineaments of their companions, who they knew had been dwelling
in solitude on their estates! *15

[Footnote 15: Ibid., ubi supra. - Conq i Pob. del Piru, Ms.]
Overcome by these horrors, many were for abandoning the place at
once, as no longer tenable, and for opening a passage for
themselves to the coast with their own good swords. There was a
daring in the enterprise which had a charm for the adventurous
spirit of the Castilian. Better, they said, to perish in a manly
struggle for life, than to die thus ignominiously, pent up like
foxes in their holes, to be suffocated by the hunter!

But the Pizarros, De Rojas, and some other of the principal
cavaliers, refused to acquiesce in a measure which, they said,
must cover them with dishonor. *16 Cuzco had been the great prize
for which they had contended; it was the ancient seat of empire,
and, though now in ashes, would again rise from its ruins as
glorious as before. All eyes would be turned on them, as its
defenders, and their failure, by giving confidence to the enemy,
might decide the fate of their countrymen throughout the land.
They were placed in that post as the post of honor, and better
would it be to die there than to desert it.

[Footnote 16: "Pues Hernando Picarro nunca estuvo en ello y les
respondia que todos aviamos de morir y no desamparar el cuzco.
Juntavanse a estas consultas Hernando Picarro y sus hermanos,
Graviel de Rojas, Hernan Ponce de Leon, el Thesorero Riquelme."
Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq, Ms.]

There seemed, indeed, no alternative; for every avenue to escape
was cut off by an enemy who had perfect knowledge of the country,
and possession of all its passes. But this state of things could
not last long. The Indian could not, in the long run, contend
with the white man. The spirit of insurrection would die out of
itself. Their great army would melt away, unaccustomed as the
natives were to the privations incident to a protracted campaign.
Reinforcements would be daily coming in from the colonies; and,
if the Castilians would be but true to themselves for a season,
they would be relieved by their own countrymen, who would never
suffer them to die like outcasts among the mountains.

The cheering words and courageous bearing of the cavaliers went
to the hearts of their followers for the soul of the Spaniard
readily responded to the call of honor, if not of humanity. All
now agreed to stand by their leader to the last. But, if they
would remain longer in their present position, it was absolutely
necessary to dislodge the enemy from the fortress; and, before
venturing on this dangerous service, Hernando Pizarro resolved to
strike such a blow as should intimidate the besiegers from
further attempt to molest his present quarters.

He communicated his plan of attack to his officers; and, forming
his little troop into three divisions, he placed them under
command of his brother Gonzalo, of Gabriel de Rojas, an officer
in whom he reposed great confidence, and Hernan Ponce de Leon.
The Indian pioneers were sent forward to clear away the rubbish,
and the several divisions moved simultaneously up the principal
avenues towards the camp of the besiegers. Such stragglers as
they met in their way were easily cut to pieces, and the three
bodies, bursting impetuously on the disordered lines of the
Peruvians, took them completely by surprise. For some moments
there was little resistance, and the slaughter was terrible. But
the Indians gradually rallied, and, coming into something like
order, returned to the fight with the courage of men who had long
been familiar with danger. They fought hand to hand with their
copper-headed war-clubs and pole-axes, while a storm of darts,
stones, and arrows rained on the well-defended bodies of the
Christians.

The barbarians showed more discipline than was to have been
expected; for which, it is said, they were indebted to some
Spanish prisoners, from several of whom, the Inca, having
generously spared their lives, took occasional lessons in the art
of war. The Peruvians had, also, learned to manage with some
degree of skill the weapons of their conquerors; and they were
seen armed with bucklers, helmets, and swords of European
workmanship, and even, in a few instances, mounted on the horses
which they had taken from the white men. *17 The young Inca, in
particular, accoutred in the European fashion, rode a war-horse
which he managed with considerable address, and, with a long
lance in his hand, led on his followers to the attack. - This
readiness to adopt the superior arms and tactics of the
Conquerors intimates a higher civilization than that which
belonged to the Aztec, who, in his long collision with the
Spaniards, was never so far divested of his terrors for the horse
as to venture to mount him.

[Footnote 17: Herrera assures us, that the Peruvians even turned
the fire-arms of their Conquerors against them, compelling their
prisoners to put the muskets in order, and manufacture powder for
them. Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 5, 6]

But a few days or weeks of training were not enough to give
familiarity with weapons, still less with tactics, so unlike
those to which the Peruvians had been hitherto accustomed. The
fight, on the present occasion, though hotly contested, was not
of long duration. After a gallant struggle, in which the natives
threw themselves fearlessly on the horsemen, endeavouring to tear
them from their saddles, they were obliged to give way before the
repeated shock of their charges. Many were trampled under foot,
others cut down by the Spanish broadswords, while the
arquebusiers, supporting the cavalry, kept up a running fire that
did terrible execution on the flanks and rear of the fugitives.
At length, sated with slaughter, and trusting that the
chastisement he had inflicted on the enemy would secure him from
further annoyance for the present, the Castilian general drew
back his forces to their quarters in the capital. *18

[Footnote 18: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Conq. i Pob.
del Piru, Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8 cap. 4,
5.]

His next step was the recovery of the citadel. It was an
enterprise of danger. The fortress, which overlooked the
northern section of the city, stood high on a rocky eminence, so
steep as to be inaccessible on this quarter, where it was
defended only by a single wall. Towards the open country, it was
more easy of approach; but there it was protected by two
semicircular walls, each about twelve hundred feet in length, and
of great thickness. They were built of massive stones, or rather
rocks, put together without cement, so as to form a kind of
rustic-work. The level of the ground between these lines of
defence was raised up so as to enable the garrison to discharge
its arrows at the assailants, while their own persons were
protected by the parapet. Within the interior wall was the
fortress, consisting of three strong towers, one of great height,
which, with a smaller one, was now held by the enemy, under the
command of an Inca noble, a warrior of well-tried valor, prepared
to defend it to the last extremity.

The perilous enterprise was intrusted by Hernando Pizarro to his
brother Juan, a cavalier in whose bosom burned the adventurous
spirit of a knighterrant of romance. As the fortress was to be
approached through the mountain passes, it became necessary to
divert the enemy's attention to another quarter. A little while
before sunset Juan Pizarro left the city with a picked corps of
horsemen, and took a direction opposite to that of the fortress,
that the besieging army might suppose the object was a foraging
expedition. But secretly countermarching in the night, he
fortunately found the passes unprotected, and arrived before the
outer wall of the fortress, without giving the alarm to the
garrison. *19

[Footnote 19: Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.]

The entrance was through a narrow opening in the centre of the
rampart; but this was now closed up with heavy stones, that
seemed to form one solid work with the rest of the masonry. It
was an affair of time to dislodge these huge masses, in such a
manner as not to rouse the garrison. The Indian nations, who
rarely attacked in the night, were not sufficiently acquainted
with the art of war even to provide against surprise by posting
sentinels. When the task was accomplished, Juan Pizarro and his
gallant troop rode through the gateway, and advanced towards the
second parapet.
But their movements had not been conducted so secretly as to
escape notice, and they now found the interior court swarming
with warriors, who, as the Spaniards drew near, let off clouds of
missiles that compelled them to come to a halt. Juan Pizarro,
aware that no time was to be lost, ordered one half of his corps
to dismount, and, putting himself at their head, prepared to make
a breach as before in the fortifications. He had been wounded
some days previously in the jaw, so that, finding his helmet
caused him pain, he rashly dispensed with it, and trusted for
protection to his buckler. *20 Leading on his men, he encouraged
them in the work of demolition, in the face of such a storm of
stones, javelins, and arrows, as might have made the stoutest
heart shrink from encountering it. The good mail of the
Spaniards did not always protect them; but others took the place
of such as fell, until a breach was made, and the cavalry,
pouring in, rode down all who opposed them.

[Footnote 20: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms]

The parapet was now abandoned, and the enemy, hurrying with
disorderly flight across the inclosure took refuge on a kind of
platform or terrace, commanded by the principal tower. Here
rallying, they shot off fresh volleys of missiles against the
Spaniards, while the garrison in the fortress hurled down
fragments of rock and timber on their heads. Juan Pizarro, still
among the foremost, sprang forward on the terrace, cheering on
his men by his voice and example, but at this moment he was
struck by a large stone on the head, not then protected by his
buckler, and was stretched on the ground. The dauntless chief
still continued to animate his followers by his voice, till the
terrace was carried, and its miserable defenders were put to the
sword. His sufferings were then too much for him, and he was
removed to the town below, where, notwithstanding every exertion
to save him, he survived the injury but a fortnight, and died in
great agony. *21 - To say that he was a Pizarro is enough to
attest his claim to valor. But it is his praise, that his valor
was tempered by courtesy. His own nature appeared mild by
contrast with the haughty temper of his brothers, and his manners
made him a favorite of the army. He had served in the conquest of
Peru from the first, and no name on the roll of its conquerors is
less tarnished by the reproach of cruelty, or stands higher in
all the attributes of a true and valiant knight. *22
[Footnote 21: "Y estando batallando con ellos para echallos de
alli Joan Picarro se descuido descubrirse la cabeca con la adarga
y con las muchas pedradas que tiravan le acertaron vna en la
caveca que le quebraron los cascos y dende a quince dias murio
desta herida y ansi herido estuvo forcejando con los yndios y
espanoles hasta que se gano este terrado y ganado le abaxaron al
Cuzco." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
[Footnote 22: "Hera valiente," says Pedro Pizarro, "y muy
animoso, gentil hombre, magnanimo y afable." (Descub. y Conq.,
Ms.) Zarate dismisses him with this brief panegyric: - "Fue gran
perdida en la Tierra, porque era Juan Picarro mui valiente, i
experimentado en las Guerras de los Indios, i bien quisto, i
amado de todos." Conq del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 3.]
Though deeply sensible to his brother's disaster, Hernando
Pizarro saw that no time was to be lost in profiting by the
advantages already gained. Committing the charge of the town to
Gonzalo, he put himself at the head of the assailants, and laid
vigorous siege to the fortresses. One surrendered after a short
resistance. The other and more formidable of the two still held
out under the brave Inca noble who commanded it. He was a man of
an athletic frame, and might be seen striding along the
battlements, armed with a Spanish buckler and cuirass, and in his
hand wielding a formidable mace, garnished with points or knobs
of copper. With this terrible weapon he struck down all who
attempted to force a passage into the fortress. Some of his own
followers who proposed a surrender he is said to have slain with
his own hand. Hernando prepared to carry the place by escalade.
Ladders were planted against the walls, but no sooner did a
Spaniard gain the topmost round, than he was hurled to the ground
by the strong arm of the Indian warrior. His activity was equal
to his strength; and he seemed to be at every point the moment
that his presence was needed.

The Spanish commander was filled with admiration at this display
of valor; for he could admire valor even in an enemy. He gave
orders that the chief should not be injured, but be taken alive,
if possible. *23 This was not easy. At length, numerous ladders
having been planted against the tower, the Spaniards scaled it on
several quarters at the same time, and, leaping into the place,
overpowered the few combatants who still made a show of
resistance. But the Inca chieftain was not to be taken; and,
finding further resistance ineffectual, he sprang to the edge of
the battlements, and, casting away his war-club, wrapped his
mantle around him and threw himself headlong from the summit. *24
He died like an ancient Roman. He had struck his last stroke for
the freedom of his country, and he scorned to survive her
dishonor. - The Castilian commander left a small force in
garrison to secure his conquest, and returned in triumph to his
quarters.

[Footnote 23: 'Y mando hernando picarro a los Espanoles que
subian que no matasen a este yndio sino que se lo tomasen a vida,
jurando de no matalle si lo avia bivo." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y
Conq. Ms.]

[Footnote 24: "Visto este orejon que se lo vian ganado y le avian
ganado y le avian tomado por dos o tres partes el fuerte,
arrojando las armas se tapo la caveca y el rrostro con la manta y
se arrojo del cubo abajo mas de cien estados, y ansi se hizo
pedazos. A hernando Picarro le peso mucho por no tomalle a
vida." Ibid., Ms.]

Week after week rolled away, and no relief came to the
beleaguered Spaniards. They had long since begun to feel the
approaches of famine. Fortunately, they were provided with water
from the streams which flowed through the city. But, though they
had well husbanded their resources, their provision were
exhausted, and they had for some time depended on such scanty
supplies of grain as they could gather from the ruined magazines
and dwellings, mostly consumed by the fire, or from the produce
of some successful foray. *25 This latter resource was attended
with no little difficulty; for every expedition led to a fierce
encounter with the enemy, which usually cost the lives of several
Spaniards, and inflicted a much heavier injury on the Indian
allies. Yet it was at least one good result of such loss, that
it left fewer to provide for. But the whole number of the
besieged was so small, that any loss greatly increased the
difficulties of defence by the remainder.
[Footnote 25: Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 24]
As months passed away without bringing any tidings of their
countrymen, their minds were haunted with still gloomier
apprehensions as to their fate. They well knew that the governor
would make every effort to rescue them from their desperate
condition. That he had not succeeded in this made it probable,
that his own situation was no better than theirs, or, perhaps, he
and his followers had already fallen victims to the fury of the
insurgents. It was a dismal thought, that they alone were left in
the land, far from all human succour, to perish miserably by the
hands of the barbarians among the mountains.

Yet the actual state of things, though gloomy in the extreme, was
not quite so desperate as their imaginations had painted it. The
insurrection, it is rue, had been general throughout the country,
a east that portion of it occupied by the Spaniards It had been
so well concerted, that it broke out almost simultaneously, and
the Conquerors, who were living in careless security on their
estates, had been massacred to the number of several hundreds An
Indian force had sat down before Xauxa, and a considerable army
had occupied the valley of Rimac and laid siege to Lima. But the
country around that capital was of an open, level character, very
favorable to the action of cavalry. Pizarro no sooner saw
himself menaced by the hostile array, than he sent such a force
against the Peruvians as speedily put them to flight; and,
following up his advantage, he inflicted on them such a severe
chastisement, that, although they still continued to hover in the
distance and cut off his communications with the interior, they
did not care to trust themselves on the other side of the Rimac.

The accounts that the Spanish commander now eceived of the state
of the country filled him with the most serious alarm. He was
particularly solicitous for the fate of the garrison at Cuzco,
and he made repeated efforts to relieve that capital. Four
several detachments, amounting to more than four hundred men in
all, half of them cavalry, were sent by him at different times,
under some of his bravest officers. But none of them reached
their place of destination. The wily natives permitted them to
march into the interior of the country, until they were fairly
entangled in the passes of the Cordilleras. They then enveloped
them with greatly superior numbers, and, occupying the heights,
showered down their fatal missiles on the heads of the Spaniards,
or crushed them under the weight of fragments of rock which they
rolled on them from the mountains. In some instances, the whole
detachment was cut off to a man. In others, a few stragglers
only survived to return and tell the bloody tale to their
countrymen at Lima. *26

[Footnote 26: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 5. - Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap 5. - Garcilasso, Com. Real.,
Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 28.

According to the historian of the Incas, there fell in these
expeditions four hundred and seventy Spaniards. Cieza de Leon
computes the whole number of Christians who perished in this
insurrection at seven hundred, many of them, he adds, under
circumstances of great cruelty. (Cronica, cap. 82.) The estimate,
considering the spread and spirit of the insurrection, does not
seem extravagant]

Pizzaro was now filled with consternation. He had the most
dismal forebodings of the fate of the Spaniards dispersed
throughout the country, and even doubted the possibility of
maintaining his own foothold in it without assistance from
abroad. He despatched a vessel to the neighbouring colony at
Truxillo, urging them to abandon the place, with all their
effects, and to repair to him at Lima. The measure was,
fortunately, not adopted. Many of his men were for availing
themselves of the vessels which rode at anchor in the port to
make their escape from the country at once, and take refuge in
Panama. Pizarro would not hearken to so dastardly a counsel,
which involved the desertion of the brave men in the interior who
still looked to him for protection. He cut off the hopes of
these timid spirits by despatching all the vessels then in port
on a very different mission. He sent letters by them to the
governors of Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico,
representing the gloomy state of his affairs, and invoking their
aid. His epistle to Alvarado, then established at Guatemala, is
preserved. He conjures him by every sentiment of honor and
patriotism to come to his assistance, and this before it was too
late. Without assistance, the Spaniards could no longer maintain
their footing in Peru, and that great empire would be lost to the
Castilian Crown. He finally engages to share with him such
conquests as they may make with their united arms. *27 - Such
concessions, to the very man whose absence from the country, but
a few months before, Pizarro would have been willing to secure at
almost any price, are sufficient evidence of the extremity of his
distress. The succours thus earnestly solicited arrived in time,
not to quell the Indian insurrection, but to aid him in a
struggle quite as formidable with his own countrymen.

[Footnote 27: "E crea V. S *a sino somos socorridos se perdera el
Cusco, ques la cosa mas senalada e de mas importancia que se
puede descubrir, e luego nos perderemos todos: porque somos pocos
e tenemos pocas armas, e los Indios estan atrevidos." Carta de
Francisco Pizarro a D. Pedro de Alvarado, desde la Ciudad le los
Reyes. 29 de julio, 1536, Ms.]
It was now August. More than five months had elapsed since the
commencement of the siege of Cuzco, yet the Peruvian legions
still lay encamped around the city. Peruvian legions still lay
encamped around the city. The siege had been protracted much
beyond what was usual in Indian warfare, and showed the
resolution of the natives to exterminate the white men. But the
Peruvians themselves had for some time been straitened by the
want of provisions. It was no easy matter to feed so numerous a
host; and the obvious resource of the magazines of grain, so
providently prepared by the Incas, did them but little service,
since their contents had been most prodigally used, and even
dissipated, by the Spaniards, on their first occupation of the
country. *28 The season for planting had now arrived, and the
Inca well knew, that, if his followers were to neglect it, they
would be visited by a scourge even more formidable than their
invaders. Disbanding the greater part of his forces, therefore,
he ordered them to withdraw to their homes, and, after the labors
of the field were over, to return and resume the blockade of the
capital. The Inca reserved a considerable force to attend on his
own person, with which he retired to Tambo, a strongly fortified
place south of the valley of Yucay, the favorite residence of his
ancestors. He also posted a large body as a corps of observation
in the environs of Cuzco, to watch the movements of the enemy,
and to intercept supplies.
[Footnote 28: Ondegardo, Rel. Prim. y Seg., Ms.]

The Spaniards beheld with joy the mighty host which had so long
encompassed the city, now melting away. They were not slow in
profiting by the circumstance, and Hernando Pizarro took
advantage of the temporary absence to send out foraging parties
to scour the country, and bring back supplies to his famishing
soldiers. In this he was so successful that on one occasion no
less than two thousand head of cattle - the Peruvian sheep - were
swept away from the Indian plantations and brought safely to
Cuzco. *29 This placed the army above all apprehensions on the
score of want for the present.
[Footnote 29: "Recoximos hasta dos mil cavezas de ganado." Pedro
Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

Yet these forays were made at the point of the lance, and many a
desperate contest ensued, in which the best blood of the Spanish
chivalry was shed. The contests, indeed, were not confined to
large bodies of troops, but skirmishes took place between smaller
parties, which sometimes took the form of personal combats. Nor
were the parties so unequally matched as might have been supposed
in these single rencontres; and the Peruvian warrior, with his
sling, his bow, and his lasso, proved no contemptible antagonist
for the mailed horseman, whom he sometimes even ventured to
encounter, hand to hand, with his formidable battle-axe. The
ground around Cuzco became a battle-field, like the vega of
Granada, in which Christian and Pagan displayed the
characteristics of their peculiar warfare; and many a deed of
heroism was performed, which wanted only the song of the minstrel
to shed around it a glory like that which rested on the last days
of the Moslem of Spain. *30

[Footnote 30: Pedro Pizarro recounts several of these deeds of
arms, in some of which his own prowess is made quite apparent.
One piece of cruelty recorded by him is little to the credit of
his commander, Hernando Pizarro, who , he says, after a desperate
rencontre, caused the right hands of his prisoners to be struck
off, and sent them in this mutilated condition back to their
countrymen! (Descub. Conq., Ms.) Such atrocities are not often
noticed by the chroniclers; and we may hope they were exceptions
to the general policy of the Conquerors in this invasion.]
But Hernando Pizarro was not content to act wholly on the
defensive; and he meditated a bold stroke, by which at once to
put an end to the war. This was the capture of the Inca Manco,
whom he hoped to surprise in his quarters at Tambo.