History Of The Conquest Of Peru

W >> William Hickling Prescott >> 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

Thus summoned by Almagro, the authorities of Cuzco, unwilling to give
umbrage to either of the contending chiefs, decided that they must wait
until they could take counsel--which they promised to do at once--with
certain pilots better instructed than themselves in the position of the
Santiago. Meanwhile, a truce was arranged between the parties, each
solemnly engaging to abstain from hostile measures, and to remain quiet
in their present quarters.

The weather now set in cold and rainy. Almagro's soldiers, greatly
discontented with their position, flooded as it was by the waters, were
quick to discover that Hernando Pizarro was busily employed in
strengthening himself in the city, contrary to agreement. They also
learned with dismay, that a large body of men, sent by the governor from
Lima, under command of Alonso de Alvarado, was on the march to
relieve Cuzco. They exclaimed that they were betrayed, and that the
truce had been only an artifice to secure their inactivity until the arrival
of the expected succours. In this state of excitement, it was not very
difficult to persuade their commander--too ready to surrender his own
judgment to the rash advisers around him--to violate the treaty, and take
possession of the capital.12

Under cover of a dark and stormy night (April 8th, 1537), he entered the
place without opposition, made himself master of the principal church,
established strong parties of cavalry at the head of the great avenues to
prevent surprise, and detached Orgonez with a body of infantry to force
the dwelling of Hernando Pizarro. "That captain was lodged with his
brother Gonzalo in one of the large halls built by the Incas for public
diversions, with immense doors of entrance that opened on the plaza. It
was garrisoned by about twenty soldiers, who, as the gates were burst
open, stood stoutly to the defence of their leader. A smart struggle
ensued, in which some lives were lost, till at length Orgonez, provoked
by the obstinate resistance, set fire to the combustible roof of the
building. It was speedily in flames, and the burning rafters falling on the
heads of the inmates, they forced their reluctant leader to an
unconditional surrender. Scarcely had the Spaniards left the building,
when the whole roof fell in with a tremendous crash.13

Almagro was now master of Cuzco. He ordered the Pizarros, with
fifteen or twenty of the principal cavaliers, to be secured and placed in
confinement. Except so far as required for securing his authority, he
does not seem to have been guilty of acts of violence to the
inhabitants,14 and he installed one of Pizarro's most able officers,
Gabriel de Rojas, in the government of the city. The municipality,
whose eyes were now open to the validity of Almagro's pretensions,
made no further scruple to recognize his title to Cuzco.

The marshal's first step was to send a message to Alonso de Alvarado's
camp, advising that officer of his occupation of the city, and requiring
his obedience to him as its legitimate master. Alvarado was lying, with a
body of five hundred men, horse and foot, at Xauxa, about thirteen
leagues from the capital. He had been detached several months
previously for the relief of Cuzco; but had, most unaccountably, and, as
it proved, most unfortunately for the Peruvian capital, remained at Xauxa
with the alleged motive of protecting that settlement and the surrounding
country against the insurgents.15 He now showed himself loyal to his
commander; and, when Almagro's ambassadors reached his camp, he put
them in irons, and sent advice of what had been done to the governor at
Lima.

Almagro, offended by the detention of his emissaries, prepared at once to
march against Alonso de Alvarado, and take more effectual means to
bring him to submission. His lieutenant, Orgonez, strongly urged him
before his departure to strike off the heads of the Pizarros, alleging,
"that, while they lived, his commander's life would never be safe"; and
concluding with the Spanish proverb, "Dead men never bite." 16 But the
marshal, though he detested Hernando in his heart, shrunk from so
violent a measure; and, independently of other considerations, he had
still an attachment for his old associate, Francis Pizarro, and was
unwilling to sever the ties between them for ever. Contenting himself,
therefore, with placing his prisoners trader strong guard in one of the
stone buildings belonging to the House of the Sun, he put himself at the
head of his forces, and left the capital in quest of Alvarado.

That officer had now taken up a position on the farther side of the Rio de
Abancay, where he lay, with the strength of his little army, in front of a
bridge, by which its rapid waters are traversed, while a strong
detachment occupied a spot commanding a ford lower down the river.
But in this detachment was a cavalier of much consideration in the army,
Pedro de Lerma, who, from some pique against his commander, had
entered into treasonable correspondence with the opposite party. By his
advice, Almagro, on reaching the border of the river, established himself
against the bridge in face of Alvarado, as if prepared to force a passage,
thus concentrating his adversary's attention on that point. But, when
darkness had set in, he detached a large body under Orgonez to pass the
ford, and operate in concert with Lerma. Orgonez executed this
commission with his usual promptness. The ford was crossed, though
the current ran so swiftly, that several of his men were swept away by it,
and perished in the waters. Their leader received a severe wound
himself in the mouth, as he was gaining the opposite bank, but, nothing
daunted, he cheered on his men, and fell with fury on the enemy. He was
speedily joined by Lerma, and such of the soldiers as he had gained over,
and, unable to distinguish friend from foe, the enemy's confusion was
complete.

Meanwhile, Alvarado, roused by the noise of the attack on this quarter,
hastened to the support of his officer, when Almagro, seizing the
occasion, pushed across the bridge, dispersed the small body left to
defend it, and, falling on Alvarado's rear, that general saw himself
hemmed in on all sides. The struggle did not last long; and the
unfortunate chief, uncertain on whom he could rely, surrendered with all
his force,--those only excepted who had already-deserted to the enemy.
Such was the battle of Abancay, as it was called, from the river on whose
banks it was fought, on the twelfth of July, 1537.- Never was a victory
more complete, or achieved with less cost of life; and Almagro marched
back, with an array of prisoners scarcely inferior to his own army in
number, in triumph to Cuzco.17

While the events related in the preceding pages were passing, Francisco
Pizarro had remained at Lima, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the
reinforcements which he had requested, to enable him to march to the
relief of the beleaguered capital of the Incas. His appeal had not been
unanswered. Among the rest was a corps of two hundred and fifty men,
led by the Licentiate Gaspar de Espinosa, one of the three original
associates, it may be remembered, who engaged in the conquest of Peru.
He had now left his own residence at Panama, and came in person, for
the first time, it would seem, to revive the drooping fortunes of his
confederates. Pizarro received also a vessel laden with provisions,
military stores, and other necessary supplies, besides a rich wardrobe for
himself, from Cortes, the Conqueror of Mexico, who generously
stretched forth his hand to aid his kinsman in the hour of need.18

With a force amounting to four hundred and fifty men, half of them
cavalry, the governor quitted Lima, and began his march on the Inca
capital. He had not advanced far, when he received tidings of the return
of Almagro, the seizure of Cuzco, and the imprisonment of his brothers;
and, before he had time to recover from this astounding intelligence, he
learned the total defeat and capture of Alvarado. Filled with
consternation at these rapid successes of his rival, he now returned in all
haste to Lima, which he put in the best posture of defence, to secure it
against the hostile movements, not unlikely, as he thought, to be directed
against that capital itself. Meanwhile, far from indulging in impotent
sallies of resentment, or in complaints of his ancient comrade, he only
lamented that Almagro should have resorted to these violent measures
for the settlement of their dispute, and this less-if we may take his word
for it--from personal considerations than from the prejudice it might do
to the interests of the Crown.19

But, while busily occupied with warlike preparations, he did not omit to
try the effect of negotiation. He sent an embassy to Cuzco, consisting of
several persons in whose discretion he placed the greatest confidence,
with Espinosa at their head, as the party most interested in an amicable
arrangement.

The licentiate, on his arrival, did not find Almagro in as favorable a
mood for an accommodation as he could have wished. Elated by his
recent successes, he now aspired not only to the possession of Cuzco, but
of Lima itself, as falling within the limits of his jurisdiction. It was in
vain that Espinosa urged the propriety, by every argument which
prudence could suggest, of moderating his demands. His claims upon
Cuzco, at least, were not to be shaken, and he declared himself ready to
peril his life in maintaining them. The licentiate coolly replied by
quoting the pithy Castilian proverb, El vencido vencido, y el vencidor
perdido; "The vanquished vanquished, and the victor undone."

What influence the temperate arguments of the licentiate might
eventually have had on the heated imagination of the soldier is doubtful;
but unfortunately for the negotiation, it was abruptly terminated by the
death of Espinosa himself, which took place most unexpectedly, though,
strange to say, in those times, without the imputation of poison.20 He
was a great loss to the parties in the existing fermentation of their minds;
for he had the weight of character which belongs to wise and moderate
counsels, and a deeper interest than any other man in recommending
them.

The name of Espinosa is memorable in history from his early connection
with the expedition to Peru, which, but for the seasonable, though secret,
application of his funds, could not then have been compassed. He had
long been a resident in the Spanish colonies of Tierra Firme and Panama,
where he had served in various capacities, sometimes as a legal
functionary presiding in the courts of justice,21 and not unfrequently as
an efficient leader in the early expeditions of conquest and discovery. In
these manifold vocations he acquired high reputation for probity,
intelligence, and courage, and his death at the present crisis was
undoubtedly the most unfortunate event that could befall the country.

All attempt at negotiation was now abandoned; and Almagro announced
his purpose to descend to the sea-coast, where he could plant a colony
and establish a port for himself. This would secure him the means, so
essential, of communication with the mother-country, and here he would
resume negotiations for the settlement of his dispute with Pizarro.
Before quitting Cuzco, he sent Orgonez with a strong force against the
Inca, not caring to leave the capital exposed in his absence to further
annoyance from that quarter.

But the Inca, discouraged by his late discomfiture, and unable, perhaps,
to rally in sufficient strength for resistance, abandoned his stronghold at
Tambo, and retreated across the mountains. He was hotly pursued by
Orgonez over hill and valley, till, deserted by his followers, and with
only one of his wives to bear him company, the royal fugitive took
shelter in the remote fastnesses of the Andes.22

Before leaving the capital, Orgonez again urged his commander to strike
off the heads of the Pizarros, and then march at once upon Lima. By this
decisive step he would bring the war to an issue, and forever secure
himself from the insidious machinations of his enemies. But, in the mean
time, a new friend had risen up to the captive brothers. This was Diego
de Alvarado, brother of that Pedro, who, as mentioned in a preceding
chapter, had conducted the unfortunate expedition to Quito. After his
brother's departure, Diego had attached himself to the fortunes of
Almagro, had accompanied him to Chili, and, as he was a cavalier of
birth, and possessed of some truly noble qualities, he had gained
deserved ascendency over his commander. Alvarado had frequently
visited Hernando Pizarro in his confinement, where, to beguile the
tediousness of captivity, he amused himself with gaming,--the passion of
the Spaniard. They played deep, and Alvarado lost the enormous sum of
eighty thousand gold castellanos. He was prompt in paying the debt, but
Hernando Pizarro peremptorily declined to receive the money. By this
politic generosity, he secured an important advocate in the council of
Almagro. It stood him now in good stead. Alvarado represented to the
marshal, that such a measure as that urged by Orgonez would not only
outrage the feelings of his followers, but would ruin his fortunes by the
indignation it must excite at court. When Almagro acquiesced in these
views, as in truth most grateful to his own nature, Orgonez, chagrined at
his determination, declared that the day would come when he would
repent this mistaken lenity. "A Pizarro," he said, "was never known to
forget an injury; and that which they had already received from Almagro
was too deep for them to forgive." Prophetic words!

On leaving Cuzco, the marshal gave orders that Gonzalo Pizarro and the
other prisoners should be detained in strict custody. Hernando he took
with him, closely guarded, on his march. Descending rapidly towards
the coast, he reached the pleasant vale of Chincha in the latter part of
August. Here he occupied himself with laying the foundations of a town
bearing his own name, which might serve as a counterpart to the City of
the Kings,--thus bidding defiance, as it were, to his rival on his own
borders. While occupied in this manner, he received the unwelcome
tidings, that Gonzalo Pizarro, Alonso de Alvarado, and the other
prisoners, having tampered with their guards, had effected their escape
from Cuzco, and he soon after heard of their safe arrival in the camp of
Pizarro.

Chafed by this intelligence, the marshal was not soothed by the
insinuations of Orgonez, that it was owing to his ill-advised lenity; that it
might have gone hard with Hernando, but that Almagro's attention was
diverted by the negotiation which Francisco Pizarro now proposed to
resume.

After some correspondence between the parties, it was agreed to submit
the arbitration of the dispute to a single individual, Fray Francisco de
Bovadilla, a Brother of the Order of Mercy. Though living in Lima, and,
as might be supposed, under the influence of Pizarro, he had a reputation
for integrity that disposed Almagro to confide the settlement of the
question exclusively to him. In this implicit confidence in the friar's
impartiality, Orgonez, of a less sanguine temper than his chief, did not
participate.23

An interview was arranged between the rival chiefs. It took place at
Mala, November 13th, 1537; but very different was the deportment of
the two commanders towards each other from that which they had
exhibited at their former meetings. Almagro, indeed, doffing his bonnet,
advanced in his usual open manner to salute his ancient comrade; but
Pizarro, hardly condescending to return the salute, haughtily demanded
why the marshal had seized upon his city of Cuzco, and imprisoned his
brothers. This led to a recrimination on the part of his associate. The
discussion assumed the tone of an angry altercation, till Almagro, taking
a hint--or what he conceived to be such--from an attendant, that some
treachery was intended, abruptly quitted the apartment, mounted his
horse, and galloped back to his quarters at Chincha.24 The conference
closed, as might have been anticipated from the heated temper of their
minds when they began it, by widening the breach it was intended to
heal. The friar, now left wholly to himself, after some deliberation, gave
his award. He decided that a vessel, with a skilful pilot on board, should
be sent to determine the exact latitude of the river of Santiago, the
northern boundary of Pizarro's territory, by which all the measurements
were to be regulated. In the mean time, Cuzco was to be delivered up by
Almagro, and Hernando Pizarro to be set at liberty, on condition of his
leaving the country in six weeks for Spain. Both parties were to retire
within their undisputed territories, and to abandon all further
hostilities.25

This award, as may be supposed, highly satisfactory to Pizarro, was
received by Almagro's men with indignation and scorn. They had been
sold, they cried, by their general, broken, as he was, by age and
infirmities. Their enemies were to occupy Cuzco and its pleasant places,
while they were to be turned over to the barren wilderness of Charcas.
Little did they dream that under this poor exterior were hidden the rich
treasures of Potosi. They denounced the umpire as a hireling of the
governor, and murmurs were heard among the troops, stimulated by
Orgonez, demanding the head of Hernando. Never was that cavalier in
greater danger. But his good genius in the form of Alvarado again
interposed to protect him. His life in captivity was a succession of
reprieves.26

Yet his brother, the governor, was not disposed to abandon him to his
fate. On the contrary, he was now prepared to make every concession to
secure his freedom. Confessions, that politic chief well knew, cost little
to those who are not concerned to abide by them. After some
preliminary negotiation, another award, more equitable, or, at all events,
more to the satisfaction of the discontented party, was given. The
principal articles of it were, that, until the arrival of some definitive
instructions on the point from Castile, the city of Cuzco, with its
territory, should remain in the hands of Almagro; and that Hernando
Pizarro should be set at liberty, on the condition, above stipulated, of
leaving the country in six weeks.--When the terms of this agreement
were communicated to Orgonez, that officer intimated his opinion of
them, by passing his finger across his throat, and exclaiming, "What has
my fidelity to my commander cost me!" 27

Almagro, in order to do greater honor to his prisoner, visited him in
person, and announced to him that he was from that moment free. He
expressed a hope, at the same time, that "all past differences would be
buried in oblivion, and that henceforth they should live only in the
recollection of their ancient friendship." Hernando replied, with apparent
cordiality, that "he desired nothing better for himself." He then swore in
the most solemn manner, and pledged his knightly honor,--the latter,
perhaps, a pledge of quite as much weight in his own mind as the
former,--that he would faithfully comply with the terms stipulated in the
treaty. He was next conducted by the marshal to his quarters, where he
partook of a collation in company with the principal officers; several of
whom, together with Diego Almagro, the general's son, afterward
escorted the cavalier to his brother's camp, which had been transferred to
the neighboring town of Mala. Here the party received a most cordial
greeting from the governor, who entertained them with a courtly
hospitality, and lavished many attentions, in particular, on the son of his
ancient associate. In short, such, on their return, was the account of their
reception, that it left no doubt in the mind of Almagro that all was at
length amicably settled.28--He did not know Pizarro.

Book 4

Chapter 2

First Civil War--Almagro Retreats To Cuzco--Battle Of Las Salinas--
Cruelty Of The Conquerors--Trial And Execution Of Almagro-
His Character

1537--1538

Scarcely had Almagro's officers left the governor's quarters, when the
latter, calling his little army together, briefly recapitulated the many
wrongs which had been done him by his rival, the seizure of his capital,
the imprisonment of his brothers, the assault and defeat of his troops; and
he concluded with the declaration,--heartily echoed back by his military
audience,--that the time had now come for revenge. All the while that
the negotiations were pending, Pizarro had been busily occupied with
military preparations. He had mustered a force considerably larger than
that of his rival, drawn from various quarters, but most of them familiar
with service. He now declared, that, as he was too old to take charge of
the campaign himself, he should devolve that duty on his brothers; and
he released Hernando from all his engagements to Almagro, as a
measure justified by necessity. That cavalier, with graceful pertinacity,
intimated his design to abide by the pledges he had given, but, at length,
yielded a reluctant assent to the commands of his brother, as to a
measure imperatively demanded by his duty to the Crown.1

The governor's next step was to advise Almagro that the treaty was at an
end. At the same time, he warned him to relinquish his pretensions to
Cuzco, and withdraw into his own territory, or the responsibility of the
consequences would lie on his own head.

Reposing in his false security, Almagro was now fully awakened to the
consciousness of the error he had committed; and the warning voice of
his lieutenant may have risen to his recollection. The first part of the
prediction was fulfilled. And what should prevent the latter from being
so? To add to his distress, he was laboring at this time under a grievous
malady, the result of early excesses, which shattered his constitution, and
made him incapable alike of mental and bodily exertion.2

In this forlorn condition, he confided the management of his affairs to
Orgonez, on whose loyalty and courage he knew he might implicitly rely.
The first step was to secure the passes of the Guaitara, a chain of hills
that hemmed in the valley of Zangalla, where Almagro was at present
established. But, by some miscalculation, the passes were not secured in
season; and the active enemy, threading the dangerous defiles, effected a
passage across the sierra, where a much inferior force to his own might
have taken him at advantage. The fortunes of Almagro were on the
wane.

His thoughts were now turned towards Cuzco, and he was anxious to get
possession of this capital before the arrival of the enemy. Too feeble to
sit on horseback, he was obliged to be carried in a litter; and, when he
reached the ancient town of Bilcas, not far from Guamanga, his
indisposition was so severe that he was compelled to halt and remain
there three weeks before resuming his march.

The governor and his brothers, in the mean time, after traversing the pass
of Guaitara, descended into the valley of Ica, where Pizarro remained a
considerable while, to get his troops in order and complete his
preparations for the campaign. Then, taking leave of the army, he
returned to Lima, committing the prosecution of the war, as he had
before announced, to his younger and more active brothers. Hernando,
soon after quitting Ica, kept along the coast as far as Nasca, proposing to
penetrate the country by a circuitous route in order to elude the enemy,
who might have greatly embarrassed him in some of the passes of the
Cordilleras. But unhappily for him, this plan of operations, which would
have given him such manifest advantage, was not adopted by Almagro;
and his adversary, without any other impediment than that arising from
the natural difficulties of the march, arrived, in the latter part of April,
1538, in the neighborhood of Cuzco.

But Almagro was already in possession of that capital, which he had
reached ten days before. A council of war was held by him respecting
the course to be pursued. Some were for making good the defence of the
city. Almagro would have tried what could be done by negotiation. But
Orgonez bluntly replied,--"It is too late; you have liberated Hernando
Pizarro, and nothing remains but to fight him." The opinion of Orgonez
finally prevailed, to march out and give the enemy battle on the plains.
The marshal, still disabled by illness from taking the command, devolved
it on his trusty lieutenant, who, mustering his forces, left the city, and
took up a position at Las Salinas, less than a league distant from Cuzco.
The place received its name from certain pits or vats in the ground, used
for the preparation of salt, that was obtained from a natural spring in the
neighborhood. It was an injudicious choice of ground, since its broken
character was most unfavorable to the free action of cavalry, in which the
strength of Almagro's force consisted. But, although repeatedly urged by
the officers to advance into the open country, Orgonez persisted in his
position, as the most favorable for defence, since the front was protected
by a marsh, and by a little stream that flowed over the plain. His forces
amounted in all to about five hundred, more than half of them horse. His
infantry was deficient in firearms, the place of which was supplied by the
long pike. He had also six small cannon, or falconets, as they were
called, which, with his cavalry, formed into two equal divisions, he
disposed on the flanks of his infantry. Thus prepared, he calmly awaited
the approach of the enemy.