Pichincha battle
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The Battle of Pichincha occurred on May 24, 1822 on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, more than 3,000 meters above sea level, near the city of Quito.
The encounter, which occurred in the context of the Spanish American wars of independence, confronted the united independence army under the command of the Venezuelan Brigadier General (he did not yet hold the title of Marshal) Antonio José de Sucre, made up of: a Division that of Gran Colombia, the Southern Division (current Ecuador) and another Peruvian Division under the command of Andrés de Santa Cruz, colonel of the Peruvian army, against the royalist army commanded by Commander Melchor Aymerich. The defeat of the Spanish forces led to the liberation of Quito and ensured the annexation of the provinces that belonged to the Royal Audience of Quito, also known as the Presidency of Quito, to Gran Colombia and from the Colombian administrative jurisdiction what we know today as the Republic of Ecuador finally emerged.
Background
It could be stated that the military campaign for the independence of Quito began on October 9, 1820, when the port city of Guayaquil proclaimed its independence from Spain after a quick and almost bloodless revolt against the local garrison. The leaders of the revolt, a combination of Peruvian officers from the Granaderos regiment of the Cuzco Reserve that formed the city's garrison and Venezuelans from the colonial Army along with local intellectuals and patriots, formed a government council and an army for the purpose of defend the city and extend the independence movement to other provinces of the Presidency of Quito. By then, the course of the wars of independence in South America had turned against Spain; Simón Bolívar's victory in the Battle of Boyacá ensured the independence of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, while in the South José de San Martín, after having landed with his army on the Peruvian coast in September 1820, began the campaign for independence. of the viceroyalty of Peru.
First campaigns in the Royal Court of Quito
The first movements began in 1809 with the rebellion of the Criollos against Spanish rule known as The First Cry of American Independence, although there are other precursors such as Eugenio Espejo, a wise Creole of mestizo origin who launched the first written proclamations in the publication «The New Luciano of Quito». The rebels formed a provisional Government Board on August 10, 1809 in Quito, revolting against Spanish power and governing themselves autonomously; However, the participants ended up being imprisoned and murdered in the Massacre of August 2, 1810. This chapter of Ecuadorian history was taken as an example at the beginning of several libertarian processes in Latin America. On that date, the rebels advocated the leadership of an autonomous government board, changing the authorities in Quito, maintaining their autonomy using the strategy of the masks of Fernando VII, which consisted of swearing false loyalty to the captive King Fernando VII in order to maintain autonomy. The historiography of Ecuador considers this event as the First Cry of Spanish-American Independence and the beginning of the emancipation process of the region. Once French rule ended and with the refusal of the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII, to abide by the Constitution of Cádiz, a wave of independence movements was unleashed in Spanish America.
In 1820 after the independence of Guayaquil. The independent government of Guayaquil formed an army of local men and in November sent it to the mountain region, with the purpose of adding followers to the independence cause. After some initial successes, such as the declaration of independence of Cuenca on November 3, 1820, the independentistas suffered a serious defeat against the royalist army in the battle of Huachi, near Ambato, which forced them to return to the coastal regions.
San Martín informed of the declaration of independence of Guayaquil through José de Villamil and in order to support the defense and security of Guayaquil, he decided to send a commission of emissaries, formed by the Secretary of War and Navy Tomás Guido and General Toribio de Luzuriaga, Chief of his General Staff, along with supplies and 150 rifles that Villamil disembarked from the schooner Alcance, on November 20, 1820. Luzuriaga was appointed military commander of the province, his priority being to organize the external defenses, for which he rearmed a battalion under the command of Villamil in order to contain the counterattack of the royalists in Babahoyo. On December 30, the Pact of Protection and Mutual Assistance of 11 articles is signed, through which the Province of Guayaquil is placed under the protection of the General in Chief of the Liberation Army of Peru and with it its total military submission, but maintaining their right to freely define after the wars to integrate into the State that best suits them, whether it be Peru or Greater Colombia...
However, in February 1821, Bolívar, who at that time was President of the Republic of Colombia, assisted from Santafé by Vice President Francisco de Paula Santander, sent General José Mires with the Guías squadron as advance guard. i> from Colombia as aid to Guayaquil, along with the promise of sending a thousand rifles, supplies and reinforcements, and in turn imposing their conditions. In May of the same year, Brigadier General Antonio José de Sucre, Commander in Chief of the Southern Division of the Colombian Army and Bolívar's most trusted subordinate, arrived in Guayaquil with two experienced battalions. He was to assume leadership of the Patriot army, and begin operations with a view to the liberation of the city of Quito and the entire territory of the Royal Court of Quito. Bolívar's political objective was to incorporate all the provinces of the Real Audiencia, including Guayaquil, into Colombia. But in Guayaquil, many of its citizens had greater ties and sympathies for Peru, but not for Colombia. Sucre's advance through the Andes began in July 1821. As in the first campaign, after having some initial successes, Sucre was defeated by the Royalist army on September 12, coincidentally in the same place where the previous one occurred. Battle of Huachi. This second campaign ended with an armistice between the independentistas and the royalists on November 18, 1821.
Order of battle
| Battle order | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Patriot Army | Royal Army | ||
Commander-in-Chief
Senior Division
Infantry
CavalryColonel Diego Ibarra.
Senior Division
Infantry:
Cavalry:
Artillery:
| _-_Common_Version_of_the_Colours.svg) Commander-in-Chief
Senior Division
Infantry:
Cavalry:
Artillery:
NOTES Juan de la Cruz Mourgeon and Achet captain-general of New Granada and commander-in-chief of the army had died on April 8 following the consequences of an accident on horseback on arrival in Quito  Light battalion First of Catalonia (expeditionary): Lieutenant Colonel Ramón Castilla. This battalion stayed in the reserve and did not participate in Bomboná or Pichincha and blocked by General Cartris capitulated in Tuquerres (...). Ramón Castilla went to the independence camp, participated in Ayacucho as a senior assistant in Gamarra and later became president of the Republic of Peru. | ||
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Planning
Back in Guayaquil, General Sucre concluded that the best strategy for the next campaign would be to avoid any attempt to advance directly towards Quito via Guaranda, in favor of an indirect advance, marching first to Cuenca before redirecting towards the North, through the Andes, heading to Quito. This plan offered numerous advantages: by recapturing Cuenca, communications between Quito and Lima could be prevented, and it would allow Sucre to wait for the reinforcements that San Martín had then promised to send from Peru. Furthermore, a progressive advance from the coast and ascent through the mountains would allow his army a gradual adaptation to the physiological effects of the change in altitude. But fundamentally, it was the only way to avoid direct combat in unfavorable conditions with the Royalist forces coming from Quito.
The campaign
By January 1822 Sucre had already organized the new campaign. His army consisted of approximately 1,700 men, including veterans of his previous campaigns and new recruits. There were men from the flat lands of the Province of Guayaquil and volunteers who came from the Sierra, like the Cuenca hero Abdón Calderón, whose father had died heroically in 1812, defending the State of Quito. The two contingents were soon organized as the Yaguachi Battalion; There were also New Granada and Venezuelan soldiers sent by Bolívar, a few Spanish officers and soldiers who had changed sides, an entire battalion of British volunteers, and even a few Irish and French. On January 18, the Patriot army headed to Machala, in the plain. On February 9, after having crossed the Andes, Sucre entered the town of Saraguro, where his army joined the 1,600 men of the Peruvian Division, sent by San Martín, under the command of Colonel Andrés de Santa Cruz. This force (Auxiliary Expedition from Santa Cruz to Quito) was made up mostly of Peruvian recruits, there were also Chileans, Argentines and Alto-Peruvians (Bolivians), it also had Argentine officers, among which Félix Olazábal, both Infantry and Antonio, stood out. Sánchez de Caballería and a squadron of the Andes Horse Grenadier Regiment (Argentine) under the command of Juan Lavalle. Facing this multinational force of around 3,000 men, the Royalist cavalry detachment, of around 900 men, defending Cuenca withdrew towards the North, being pursued from a distance by the Patriot cavalry. Cuenca was then recaptured on February 21, 1822, without a single shot being fired. During March and April, the Royalists continued to march north, successfully avoiding confrontation with the Patriot cavalry. However, on April 21, a fierce encounter between cavalry forces occurred at Tapi, near Riobamba. At the end of the day the Royalists again withdrew, while Sucre's main army proceeded to capture Riobamba, staying there until the 28th before resuming its journey towards Quito.
Approach to Quito
On May 2, 1822, Sucre's main force had reached the city of Latacunga, 90 km south of Quito. There Sucre proceeded to reorganize his troops, adding volunteers from nearby towns, while he waited for reinforcements, especially the Alto Magdalena Battalion (from Colombia) and new intelligence reports on the whereabouts of the Royalist army..
Meanwhile, Aymerich prepared resistance points and artillery positions in the main mountain passes leading to Quito. Sucre, determined to avoid a frontal confrontation in unfavorable terrain, decided to advance parallel to the flanks of the Royalist positions, marching along the slopes of the Cotopaxi volcano in order to reach the Valley of the Chillos, in the rear of the Royalist defensive positions. On May 14, the Royalist army, sensing Sucre's intentions, began to retreat, arriving in Quito on the 16th. Two days later, and after a very difficult march, Sucre's army occupied Sangolquí, being received by Rosa de Montúfar in the Chillo-Compañía hacienda, which the Marquis of Selva Alegre had inherited from his father.
Final maneuvers
In the early morning of May 23, 1822, the patriot army, made up of 2,971 men, began to ascend the slopes of the Pichincha volcano. In the vanguard were 200 Colombians from Alto Magdalena, followed by the main army from Sucre; In the rear were the British from Albion, protecting the ammunition train. Despite the enormous effort of the troops, progress along the slopes of the volcano was slower than expected, and the drizzle that fell during the night turned the trails into swamps.
When dawn broke, to Sucre's dismay, the army had not made significant progress, finding itself literally halfway, 3,500 meters above sea level and within sight of the Royalist sentries in Quito. At eight o'clock, anxious about the slow advance of the Albion, and with his troops exhausted and affected by the altitude, Sucre ordered his army to stop advancing to rest, asking his officers to hide their battalions. as best they could. He sent part of the Cazadores del Paya battalion on a reconnaissance effort, followed by the Trujillo , a Peruvian battalion. An hour and a half later, suddenly, the Paya's men were hit by a well-aimed volley of muskets. This action started the battle.
Development of the battle
When dawn broke, the sentinels positioned near Quito saw the patriotic troops ascending the slopes of Pichincha. Aymerich, then aware of Sucre's intention to flank him by ascending the volcano, ordered his army of 1894 men to ascend the mountain as soon as possible, to confront Sucre there. Having found themselves on such an unlikely battlefield, the two commanders had no choice but to gradually send their troops into battle. There was little room to maneuver on the steep slopes of Pichincha, between deep ravines and dense bushes.
The Paya men, after recovering from the initial shock, repositioned themselves under enemy fire, awaiting the arrival of the Trujillo battalion. Sucre, hoping that the Spanish were more tired than his own troops, also sent the Yaguachi battalion, made up of Ecuadorians. The Alto Magdalena battalion tried to make a flanking movement, but without success, since the terrain did not allow it. Soon, the Paya, Trujillo and Yaguachi battalions (patriot battalions), suffering many casualties and with little ammunition, began to withdraw.
By then the fate of the battle for the Patriots seemed to depend on the Albion, which transported the much-needed ammunition; and yet his whereabouts were unknown. As time passed, the Royalists seemed to gain control of the battle. The other Peruvian Piura battalion was forced to retreat. In desperation, the reserve men of the Paya battalion were ordered to charge the enemy with their bayonets. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but the situation more or less stabilized for the Patriots. Despite this, Aymerich, as part of his strategy, during the ascent of Pichincha separated the Aragón battalion from his main force, ordering it to advance to the top of the volcano, and then attack the Patriots from the rear, breaking their lines in the right moment. Aragón was the best battalion of the royalist army; It was made up of Spanish veterans who had acted both in the Spanish War of Independence and in other battles in South America, and at that moment it was on the Patriots and ready to attack.
Fortunately for the Patriots, when the Aragón was about to charge the weakened Patriot line, it was stopped in its tracks by the Albion, which unexpectedly entered the battle. It turns out that Albion managed to advance to a higher position than the Spanish. Soon, the Magdalena joined the battle, and the Aragón, after suffering heavy casualties, disintegrated. Then the Magdalena advanced to the Patriota line to replace the Paya, and charged against the Realista line, which ended up breaking.
The sacrifice of Abdón Calderón
The Battle of Pichincha was the scene of the sacrifice for the Homeland of one of the most outstanding Ecuadorian heroes, the 17-year-old Abdón Calderón from Cuenca. Calderón, who was the son of Cuban Colonel Francisco Calderón, defender of the State of Quito in 1812, lived in Guayaquil and enlisted in the troops of Ecuadorian origin who fought in the Battle.
Calderón, despite having received 4 gunshot wounds, preferred to remain motionless in the line of fire, encouraging his entire battalion and tirelessly raising what is now the light blue and white flag of the city of Guayaquil. At the end of the fierce combat he was transferred to the city of Quito, where he died after fourteen days, on June 7, 1822. Antonio José de Sucre in his brief part of the Battle of Pichincha, dated May 28 of that year says: " [...] I have a particular memory of the conduct of Lieutenant Calderón, who, having received four successive wounds, did not want to withdraw from combat. He will probably die, but the Government of the Republic will know how to compensate the family for the services of this heroic officer.
When Simón Bolívar arrived in the city of Quito and learned of these events, he posthumously promoted Calderón to the rank of captain and decreed that his salary be given to his mother. The company of the Yaguachi Battalion to which Calderón belonged would not have a captain and in the magazines, when his name was mentioned, the troops would respond: "He died gloriously in Pichincha, but he lives in our hearts." The tradition is maintained to this day in the Ecuadorian Army, because when the cavalry battalions are called, Calderón is named as Bolívar ordered.
In the work Legends of Heroic Time by the writer Manuel J. Calle, Calderón's death is narrated with a series of hyperboles, highlighting that, despite the serious injuries suffered in all four extremities, he He refused to leave the battlefield.
The Capitulation of Quito
- At twelve o'clock in the day under a shining sun, the soldiers of freedom at the top of the Pichincha at more than 3000 meters high shouted for victory. The victory was of Sucre, which was completed with the capitulation that the patriotic leader granted to Marshal Aymerich on May 25 of the same year.
- The fort of El Panecillo served as the command of the Spaniards, who even made artillery fire against the patriots, who had ascended the skirt of the nearby Pichincha volcano. When defeated, the Spaniards took refuge in the fort. Sucre, to avoid the bloody assault on the emblematic hill, sent an emissary to Aymerich to capitulate, which the Spanish general captain accepted.
According to the act of Capitulation of May 25, 1822, the Spanish, at 2:00 p.m. that day, lowered their flag and handed over their weapons to the Army of Gran Colombia, in a special ceremony that took place in a bridge of the colonial fort. In this way, the final act of the Spanish Empire in Ecuador took place at the top of Panecillo.
The fortress allowed us to monitor the north and south, so it was equipped with cannons. When the fort fell into the hands of the liberating Army of Gran Colombia, in 1822, fourteen pieces of artillery were taken from the Spanish.
With the operations whose final actions took place on the slopes of Pichincha and in the city of Quito, Sucre decided the wavering and delicate situation of Guayaquil in its favor; He gave freedom to the territory that today makes up the Republic of Ecuador, and facilitated its incorporation into Greater Colombia.
On June 18 of that year, Bolívar promoted him to division general and appointed him mayor of the department of Quito. That day, during the triumphant entry of the Liberator to the Plaza de la Independencia in Quito, a woman throws a laurel wreath at her face from her balcony, which vividly catches Bolívar's attention. This woman was Manuela Sáenz, who also participated in the independence struggles and would be named colonel by Bolívar, who made her her lover and called her "La Libertadora del Libertador."
At the head of the destinies of Ecuador, he developed a positive work of progress: he founded the Court of Justice of Cuenca and in Quito the first republican newspaper of the time, El Monitor. He installs the Economic Society in that city. Good proof of his personal activity is that, on September 6, 1822, he issued and signed 52 communications in Quito. Interested in education, it can be stated that in Cuenca he found 7 schools and left 20.
Meanwhile in Guayaquil
After the battle, a few days later the news reached Guayaquil, which was celebrated by the lobbyists and highest authorities of the Provisional Government. This was reflected in the main and only official means of communication of the Government, which was the 'Patriota de Guayaquil', publishing the following in commemoration of the victory achieved by the troops of various nationalities, among them the Guayaquileña: ”
The Patriot of Guayaquil. del Sabado June 15, 1822. The Senior Board of Government._ The united forces of Peru, Colombia and Guayaquil have finally broken the heavy chains that our brothers carried in the second capital of the Incas: and though the tyrants had established them in the huge mountains and deep ruins of that country, they were undone in the presence of the children of Freedom.
The waters of the Silver, Magdalena, Rimac and Guayaquil, formed a torrent, which climbed the Pichincha, drowned in its skirt to the tyranny. Those waters have made the tree of Liberty cool, watering on May 25 to the beautiful Quito, and confirmed that the AURORA of 9 OCTOBER, which scratched on our horizon. It was the dawn of the bright day that Freedom, with a magic air, had to walk on the proud top of The Andes.
WOMAN: When we proposed to be free, we could not let the peoples around us groan in oppression: the company was great, and the tyrants looked with disdain at our noble knee... They believed that your blood, which three times ran in Guachi and Tanisagua, would weaken and extinguish the flame of your godly love: but it became more alive; and while your children, brothers and friends ran into the weapons, we doubled the efforts, and all our resources were used to lead the children of the immortal Colombia in our aid...
WOMAN: Quito is already free: your vows are fulfilled; Providence takes you by the hand to the Temple of Peace. to gather the fruits of your constancy and of your sacrifices... we will fill the page that touches us in the troubles of American history, and we will spread the great destinies to which we are called...
_ In your own happiness is the reward of the fatigues we have suffered for the PATRIA... Under the auspices of Freedom, and with the protection of the great States that surround us, an immense career opens to the prosperity of this beautiful and rich People, which will be called by all the nations of the earth, THE OCCIDENT STREET. Guayaquil June 9 of 1822-3- OLMEDO-XIMENA-ROCA
Result
Although in the context of the Spanish American Wars of Independence the Battle of Pichincha appears as a minor conflict, both in terms of its duration and the number of combatants, its consequences were quite significant. On May 24, 1822, Sucre entered the city of Quito with his army, where he accepted the surrender of all the Spanish troops established in the territory that the Colombian government called "Department of Quito", considering it as integral part of the Republic of Colombia since its creation on December 17, 1819. Likewise, when Sucre recaptured Cuenca on February 21, he obtained from his local Council a decree in which the integration of his city and province to the Republic was proclaimed. from Colombia. Then, with the surrender of Quito, which in turn put an end to royalist resistance in the northern province of Pasto. Bolívar was able to enter the city on June 16, 1822 with his troops. Among the general enthusiasm of the population, the old Province of Quito was incorporated into the Republic of Colombia. However, Guayaquil had not yet decided its future, but with the arrival of Bolívar to the port city with his Gran Colombian army, on July 11, he ignored the local Government Board and forcibly proclaimed under pressure the incorporation of Guayaquil to the Gran Colombian army. Colombia.
It is under this scenario that the Guayaquil Interview takes place between the two great South American liberators, Bolívar and San Martín, from July 26 to 27, 1822 to determine how the war of independence would be closed in order to end the still strong presence of royalist forces in Peru.
Eight years later, in 1830, the provinces of the Southern Department of Greater Colombia, Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca, would separate to form a new country that would be called the Republic of Ecuador.
The Temple of the Homeland and other commemorative monuments
On the slope of Mount Pichincha where the combat took place, an obelisk was built in 1922 commemorating the first centenary of the Battle. The Obelisk, located in an Andean area at 3000 meters above sea level, remembers the names of the patriotic commanders and also has a plaque dedicated to the valor of the Spanish soldier.
In the 70s of the XX century, the military dictatorship that governed Ecuador decided to build a monument for the elderly on the site proportions than the modest original obelisk.
On the site the so-called "Temple of the Homeland" a reinforced concrete structure with several rooms dug into the mountain. The Temple of the Homeland, visible from various parts of the city of Quito, is decorated on the outside with a tower and a mosaic mural by Eduardo Kingman, which evokes the different episodes of the fight for the independence of Ecuador, from the times of Eugenio Espejo, passing through the Diez de Agosto.
The Temple has several rooms in which you can see some ancient weapons, which, although they are not mostly from 1822, are from the middle and end of the century XIX. Another room shows the period costumes of all the presidential and honor guards of South America, and a diorama that allows you to follow the incidents of the Battle of Pichincha.
In both rooms there are bronze statues of the Liberator Simón Bolívar and Marshal Antonio José de Sucre, as well as a symbolic tribute to the Ecuadorian heroine Manuela Sáenz, Bolívar's lover who, although she did not participate in the combat, is symbolically buried in the place. Another room contains the remains of an unknown soldier.
The Temple of the Homeland integrates the old obelisk from 1922 as a whole and allows a panoramic view of the Historic Center of Quito.
In the Historic Center, stands the Monument to the Unknown Heroes of Pichincha, a column with a bronze condor, on the "24 de Mayo" also built at the foot of the mountain on the occasion of the first centenary of the combat.
In popular culture
The battle is graphically narrated in number 44 of the Mexican comic magazine Aventuras de la vida real, dated August 1, 1959, titled The triumph of Pichincha.
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