December 9th 1824: Battle of Ayacucho
On this day in 1824, the climatic battle of the Peruvian war of independence occured at Ayacucho, ending in a decisive victory for the revolutionaries. The South American countries had been Spanish colonies for centuries, but their grip on the distant outposts began to falter at the beginning of the nineteenth century. At this time, Spain was wracked by political turmoil following Napoleon’s invasion of Spain and the capture of King Fernando VII. In this climate, other Spanish colonies - including Chile in 1810 - had declared their independence. Peru, however, remained loyal to the Spanish crown until the 1820s, when the regional campaign for self-determination spilled into Peru. There, revolutionaries led by Venezuelan Simon Bolivar sought to rout royalist forces, who were under the leadership of Viceroy Jose de la Serna, and engaged in protracted warfare in the effort to liberate Peru. The revolutionaries were initially repelled by Spanish troops, but Bolivar capitalised on political instability in the colonial administration to recruit soldiers from neighboring countries and launch further attacks. By December, the revolutionaries had amassed a considerable army at Ayacucho, made up of Peruvians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Argentines, and Chileans. Here, they were able take higher ground, giving them a tactical advantage over Spanish troops. Masterful military leadership by Bolivar’s second-in-command - Antonio Jose de Sucre - helped to secure the revolutionaries’ victory at Ayacucho. The royalist defeat, and capture of the viceroy, led to the end of the Peruvian war of independence, with Spanish surrender secured. The next year, Upper Peru (modern Bolivia) was also liberated. The last of the Spanish forces finally departed Peru in 1826, and with them ended Spanish rule in South America.
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