Spain Victorious: the Peruvian Exception
Again sorry for the wait, been having trouble lately ending these updates. >.>
Just in case you're all wondering, the next update will be on Mexico, so hang on tight.
Immediately after the Libertador’s untimely death the Republicans, led by General Antonio José de Sucre, renewed their push into Quito with renewed vigor. Most of the province fell in short order, allowing them to coerce the independent “Free Province of Guayaquil” to merge with the rest of Colombia. Soon after Guayaquil’s fall plans were drawn for the immediate liberation of Perú. Sucre received overall command of the liberating army of over 4,000, and on 2 July 1821 he began the invasion of the last viceroyalty still under Spanish control. The harsh environment of Northern Perú took a heavy toll on Sucre’s men, as many succumbed to the mountain cold of the Andes before arriving at Trujillo on 18 August. Sucre and his men received a warm welcome in Trujillo, as it was the main republican stronghold within the whole viceroyalty, having declared independence that previous December. After resting his troops and gaining some fresh Peruvian recruits, Sucre would continue his march southward, arriving in Lima on 5 September, where Sucre would meet the great liberator of Río de la Plata, José de San Martin. The two generals would meet for several rounds of talks, concerning the future of Perú and what form of government should replace the decrepit colonial administration. The talks, spanning all of September, seemed to be fruitless from the very beginning, as Sucre and San Martin clashed on the subject of future governance. San Martin, holding monarchist sympathies, was content establishing a constitutional monarchy headed by a European prince. Sucre on the other hand, a staunch Republican, firmly rejected that proposition in lieu of turning Perú into a republic. Neither one of them could reach a compromise on that front, so both men committed to simply focus on stamping out the Spanish threat, though that commitment soon fell by the wayside. San Martin was well aware of the lack of popular support for independence in Perú that was so evident elsewhere in Spanish America. He understood that outright confrontation would be very risky, and more often than not relied on diplomacy to win over the Peruvians as opposed to direct confrontation with the much larger Spanish Army. Sucre, despite his greatest attributes as a general, refused to employ such tactics, and as such cooperation between the two armies diminished. Viceroy José de la Serna, who had established himself in Cuzco after San Martin’s seizure of Lima, still held much of the Peruvian Andes, and with the support and leadership of General Pedro Antonio Olañeta, the Spanish intended to retain this swath of South America for the empire [1]. La Serna’s first goal dealt with the recapture of the capital at Lima and the port facilities at Callao. After the decisive Spanish victory against San Martin’s forces at Huamanga, the Spanish Army split in two, one force led by Olañeta would move north towards the Mantaro Valley, while a second force, led by French-born Spaniard José de Canterac, would move east toward the town of Ica, near the Pacific coast [2]. Olañeta would engage Sucre south of Huancayo, at the southern mouth of the Mantaro Valley, fighting the inconclusive 1st Battle of Huancayo. The opposing armies would reengage several days later on 7 October 1821 with Sucre taking the field. Olañeta managed to regroup his forces and retreat into the mountains before pushing once more into the valley on 13 October. The 2nd Battle of Huancayo ended with a Royalist victory, forcing Sucre and his men to retreat toward the city of Jauja near the valley’s northern edge. After another defeat at the hands of Olañeta near the Mantaro River south of Jauja, Sucre would retreat to his west, before moving north after recieveing news that Canterac had taken Lima. Running out of options, Sucre would move back to his remaining support base at Trujillo, arriving on 15 November. It was here that Sucre learned the exact details of Lima’s fall, via a letter he received from San Martin. After San Martin’s forces failed to stop Canterac’s advance up the Pacific coast, a last ditch effort to stop the Royalist advance outside Lima was put in place. It too failed and Canterac entered Lima, supported by some of the city’s inhabitants which had quickly grown tired of San Martin’s “Protectorate.” Despite the futility of the moment, the Republicans attempted one final stand at the port of Callao. Canterac would comment on his enemy’s tenacity, as the Republicans, though cornered and heavily outnumbered, refused to surrender for over two weeks. In the early morning hours of 18 October the majority of the remaining Republicans, as well as San Martin, set out in boats to be picked up by the Chilean Navy off the coast of Callao (Lord Cochrane having abandoned San Martin in September over disputes regarding pay for his men as well as issues of policy). San Martin would arrive to see a somber Valparaiso on 8 November, from which he would travel back to his old home in Mendoza in the former Río de la Plata.
Battle of Huamanga
Back in Trujillo, Sucre immediately appealed for more support, sending messengers back to Bogotá for more reinforcements. President Santander, though reluctant, dispatched an additional 1,700 troops to Trujillo. With the additional Colombian troops, as well as Peruvians recruited from all over Northern Perú thanks to Trujillo’s former Intendant José Bernardo de Tagle, Sucre initiated a second campaign into Royalist held territory in February 1822, making it as far as the coastal town of Barranca before engaging Royalists at the Battle of Pativilca River on 12 March 1822. Both armies arrived at a stalemate, as neither one could establish effective control of the Pativilca estuary. The tide turned in late March when additional reinforcements from Spain arrived in Lima. Though the majority of the reinforcements that would arrive to Olañeta’s side at Barranca would actually be natives of the viceroyalty, the presence of reinforcements proved a major morale booster, so much so that the stalemate broke in the Royalists favor on 27 March. Having lost a significant portion of his men, Sucre returned back to Trujillo, in an attempt to rally more support, but was unable to rest much along the way as the fiery Olañeta pursued him and his men back up to Trujillo, itself seething from a recent Spanish naval raid. Without many options left for him, Sucre chose to abandon Trujillo, leading his remaining troops and a handful of Peruvian Republicans up to Guayaquil. The Royalists wasted no time in teaching the populace of Trujillo the price for straying away from the crown, executing as many Republicans as they could find and initiating a campaign of terror on the population of Northern Perú. This somber note marked the end of the last significant attempt by the independent nations of South America to free Perú. As San Martin aptly put it, “the Peruvians, and only them, are the only ones capable of freeing their country.” The Santander government would sanction additional raids into Northern Perú in 1823 and 1825 in attempts to prompt revolution, but the will to continue the fight had already been extinguished. Spain, despite the odds, had managed to retain the last bit of its American empire it had left, and spent the remainder of 1822 and 1823 ensuring that Perú would remain with the crown [3].
--------------------------------------------------------------
[1] In OTL Olañeta gets into a spat with De la Serna over the latter's recognition of the 1812 Constitution forced down Fernando VII's throat in 1819-20 (Olañeta was big on absolutism). TTL De la Serna play's it a bit more safe and keeps Olañeta in line, preventing the Spanish forces from splitting like they did OTL.
[2] Bolivar isn't around TTL to rename the village of Huamanga to Ayacucho, and yay for irony!
[3] Bear in mind, the presence of more Royalists in Perú from the get go (many going there after Nueva Granada/Río de la Plata/México fell), and a few better decisions made my Charlie the V back home helped with Perú remaining with the empire.
Just in case you're all wondering, the next update will be on Mexico, so hang on tight.
Spain Victorious: the Peruvian Exception
Antonio José de Sucre
Antonio José de Sucre
Immediately after the Libertador’s untimely death the Republicans, led by General Antonio José de Sucre, renewed their push into Quito with renewed vigor. Most of the province fell in short order, allowing them to coerce the independent “Free Province of Guayaquil” to merge with the rest of Colombia. Soon after Guayaquil’s fall plans were drawn for the immediate liberation of Perú. Sucre received overall command of the liberating army of over 4,000, and on 2 July 1821 he began the invasion of the last viceroyalty still under Spanish control. The harsh environment of Northern Perú took a heavy toll on Sucre’s men, as many succumbed to the mountain cold of the Andes before arriving at Trujillo on 18 August. Sucre and his men received a warm welcome in Trujillo, as it was the main republican stronghold within the whole viceroyalty, having declared independence that previous December. After resting his troops and gaining some fresh Peruvian recruits, Sucre would continue his march southward, arriving in Lima on 5 September, where Sucre would meet the great liberator of Río de la Plata, José de San Martin. The two generals would meet for several rounds of talks, concerning the future of Perú and what form of government should replace the decrepit colonial administration. The talks, spanning all of September, seemed to be fruitless from the very beginning, as Sucre and San Martin clashed on the subject of future governance. San Martin, holding monarchist sympathies, was content establishing a constitutional monarchy headed by a European prince. Sucre on the other hand, a staunch Republican, firmly rejected that proposition in lieu of turning Perú into a republic. Neither one of them could reach a compromise on that front, so both men committed to simply focus on stamping out the Spanish threat, though that commitment soon fell by the wayside. San Martin was well aware of the lack of popular support for independence in Perú that was so evident elsewhere in Spanish America. He understood that outright confrontation would be very risky, and more often than not relied on diplomacy to win over the Peruvians as opposed to direct confrontation with the much larger Spanish Army. Sucre, despite his greatest attributes as a general, refused to employ such tactics, and as such cooperation between the two armies diminished. Viceroy José de la Serna, who had established himself in Cuzco after San Martin’s seizure of Lima, still held much of the Peruvian Andes, and with the support and leadership of General Pedro Antonio Olañeta, the Spanish intended to retain this swath of South America for the empire [1]. La Serna’s first goal dealt with the recapture of the capital at Lima and the port facilities at Callao. After the decisive Spanish victory against San Martin’s forces at Huamanga, the Spanish Army split in two, one force led by Olañeta would move north towards the Mantaro Valley, while a second force, led by French-born Spaniard José de Canterac, would move east toward the town of Ica, near the Pacific coast [2]. Olañeta would engage Sucre south of Huancayo, at the southern mouth of the Mantaro Valley, fighting the inconclusive 1st Battle of Huancayo. The opposing armies would reengage several days later on 7 October 1821 with Sucre taking the field. Olañeta managed to regroup his forces and retreat into the mountains before pushing once more into the valley on 13 October. The 2nd Battle of Huancayo ended with a Royalist victory, forcing Sucre and his men to retreat toward the city of Jauja near the valley’s northern edge. After another defeat at the hands of Olañeta near the Mantaro River south of Jauja, Sucre would retreat to his west, before moving north after recieveing news that Canterac had taken Lima. Running out of options, Sucre would move back to his remaining support base at Trujillo, arriving on 15 November. It was here that Sucre learned the exact details of Lima’s fall, via a letter he received from San Martin. After San Martin’s forces failed to stop Canterac’s advance up the Pacific coast, a last ditch effort to stop the Royalist advance outside Lima was put in place. It too failed and Canterac entered Lima, supported by some of the city’s inhabitants which had quickly grown tired of San Martin’s “Protectorate.” Despite the futility of the moment, the Republicans attempted one final stand at the port of Callao. Canterac would comment on his enemy’s tenacity, as the Republicans, though cornered and heavily outnumbered, refused to surrender for over two weeks. In the early morning hours of 18 October the majority of the remaining Republicans, as well as San Martin, set out in boats to be picked up by the Chilean Navy off the coast of Callao (Lord Cochrane having abandoned San Martin in September over disputes regarding pay for his men as well as issues of policy). San Martin would arrive to see a somber Valparaiso on 8 November, from which he would travel back to his old home in Mendoza in the former Río de la Plata.
Battle of Huamanga
Back in Trujillo, Sucre immediately appealed for more support, sending messengers back to Bogotá for more reinforcements. President Santander, though reluctant, dispatched an additional 1,700 troops to Trujillo. With the additional Colombian troops, as well as Peruvians recruited from all over Northern Perú thanks to Trujillo’s former Intendant José Bernardo de Tagle, Sucre initiated a second campaign into Royalist held territory in February 1822, making it as far as the coastal town of Barranca before engaging Royalists at the Battle of Pativilca River on 12 March 1822. Both armies arrived at a stalemate, as neither one could establish effective control of the Pativilca estuary. The tide turned in late March when additional reinforcements from Spain arrived in Lima. Though the majority of the reinforcements that would arrive to Olañeta’s side at Barranca would actually be natives of the viceroyalty, the presence of reinforcements proved a major morale booster, so much so that the stalemate broke in the Royalists favor on 27 March. Having lost a significant portion of his men, Sucre returned back to Trujillo, in an attempt to rally more support, but was unable to rest much along the way as the fiery Olañeta pursued him and his men back up to Trujillo, itself seething from a recent Spanish naval raid. Without many options left for him, Sucre chose to abandon Trujillo, leading his remaining troops and a handful of Peruvian Republicans up to Guayaquil. The Royalists wasted no time in teaching the populace of Trujillo the price for straying away from the crown, executing as many Republicans as they could find and initiating a campaign of terror on the population of Northern Perú. This somber note marked the end of the last significant attempt by the independent nations of South America to free Perú. As San Martin aptly put it, “the Peruvians, and only them, are the only ones capable of freeing their country.” The Santander government would sanction additional raids into Northern Perú in 1823 and 1825 in attempts to prompt revolution, but the will to continue the fight had already been extinguished. Spain, despite the odds, had managed to retain the last bit of its American empire it had left, and spent the remainder of 1822 and 1823 ensuring that Perú would remain with the crown [3].
--------------------------------------------------------------
[1] In OTL Olañeta gets into a spat with De la Serna over the latter's recognition of the 1812 Constitution forced down Fernando VII's throat in 1819-20 (Olañeta was big on absolutism). TTL De la Serna play's it a bit more safe and keeps Olañeta in line, preventing the Spanish forces from splitting like they did OTL.
[2] Bolivar isn't around TTL to rename the village of Huamanga to Ayacucho, and yay for irony!
[3] Bear in mind, the presence of more Royalists in Perú from the get go (many going there after Nueva Granada/Río de la Plata/México fell), and a few better decisions made my Charlie the V back home helped with Perú remaining with the empire.
Last edited:
