# The Emancipation of South America/Chapter 25

II.—Map of the Viceroyalty of Peru, including Upper Peru.
CHAPTER XXV.
PERU.
1820.
Peru was the first of the American colonies in which, at the era of the Conquest, the spirit of rebellion against the Mother Country broke out. During the Colonial epoch the mixed races frequently rebelled against their Spanish masters. At the end of the eighteenth century Tupac-Amaru, who came of the old royal race of the Incas, made an attempt to restore the kingdom of his forefathers. But these insurrections had no root in the soil, they were but the convulsive efforts of a conquered race reduced to slavery. When they were quelled the country remained at peace for many long years. Peru, like to one of the tracts of perennial calm upon the ocean, felt nothing of the currents which ebbed and flowed around her; she was isolated from the world; the movements which convulsed America in 1809 and 1810 were hardly felt there. The instinct of nationality, which is the germ of independence, was not entirely wanting; but there was no cohesion among the masses of the people, whose inertness presented a dead weight against the progress of the revolutionary idea.
Peru was at the Conquest truly an imperial colony, embracing all the Spanish possessions in South America, from Cape Horn to the Equator. The word Peru became synonymous with wealth. After the creation of the Viceroyalties of New Granada and La Plata, that of Peru ​still stretched over a vast area, extending 25 degrees south of the Equator, and from the Pacific to the frontiers of Brazil, while its central position gave it a paramount influence over all its neighbours.
Lima was the capital of this imperial colony. This city stands not far from the sea, in a beautiful valley, at the foot of the Western Cordillera, where rain never falls, and where the thunder is heard to roll and the lightning is seen to flash but once in a century. A transparent veil of clouds tempers the fiery rays of the sun, while the moist southern breeze imparts a softness to the atmosphere which has its reflex in the temperament of the people.
Lima rivalled Mexico in wealth, and was the seat of a viceregal court, with its privileges, its pomps, and its enervating vices. It was also surrounded with walls, and Callao, with its castles and batteries, was but the port of the great city. She had also an official Church, a corrupt clergy, and an inquisition, the only one which had burnt heretics in America. Three-fifths of her population, like to that of ancient Rome, was composed of slaves, freedmen, and tributary Indians, with a passion for bull-fights they had learnt from the Spaniards, and for chicha, which they inherited from the Incas. Her women were celebrated for beauty and grace, and she was the natal city of the patron saint of America, Santa Rosa de Lima, among whose relics are shown the dice with which she played with her Divine spouse.
Situate in the tropic of Capricorn Peru has every climate known in the world, ranging from the torrid zone at the sea level to the eternal snow of her Cordillera. The Creoles of Peru were by nature intelligent, and cultivated science and the arts. They had also a literature of their own. The Mercurio Peruano, published in the eighteenth century, was the first periodical printed in South America. ​The University of Lima was as famous in America as that of Salamanca in Spain; the skill of her physicians was renowned all over the continent. Peru was also the centre of the Royalist reaction; for ten years she had held the revolution in check. Thus it was when the emancipating armies from the north and from the south closed in upon her in the year 1820. She was the Carthage of San Martin.
At the outbreak of the revolution Peru proper had a population of about a million and a half, and Upper Peru had nearly half a million. Of these the indigenous races formed about half, mixed races a fifth, negro slaves about fifty thousand, and Spaniards hardly a seventh, the remainder being Creoles, the descendants of Europeans born in America. The North and the South of Peru were two separate countries, which looked with jealousy one on the other, even for many years after they became one nation. The highlands of the interior and the lowlands of the coast were also two entirely different regions. The inhabitants of the lowlands were enervated by the climate, but the mixed races which inhabited the hills were very athletic, and made excellent infantry.
Spaniards and Creoles dwelt in cities on the coast, or in fertile valleys among the mountains. The indigenous races, who were serfs, were almost entirely confined to the hills; the mixed races and free negroes formed the working classes of the cities; the farms were cultivated by African slaves. The Peruvians were thus a people who had no cohesion among them, and were easily dominated by the powerful military clique which ruled the colony, while their passive inertness was a formidable barrier to the spread of revolutionary ideas among them.
In 1810 General Abascal was Viceroy of Peru; he was already old, but was possessed of great talents, both political and military. He was one in whom prudence was blended with decision and with perseverance. The flames of insurrection blazed around him, but he showed ​a bold front to the storm, and made Peru the citadel of the colonial power. If it had been possible to conquer the revolution he would have conquered it; as it was he greatly retarded its progress.
To counteract the contagion of the revolutionary spirit, he inspired the Peruvians with a spirit of devoted loyalty to the mother country, and to her exiled King. On the basis of the few Spanish troops he had with him, he raised a native army, recruited in the Highlands and officered by Peruvians. Their own generals led them to victory, till the struggle, from being a revolt against the domination of Spain assumed the aspect of a civil war, in which Americans fought against Americans in defence of American ideas.
Thus Abascal quelled the rebellion in Quito, stemmed the tide of Argentine invasion, and reconquered Chile. He was then reinforced by troops from Spain, led by generals who had proved their skill in the War of the Peninsula. The revolution was crushed wherever it had broken out, save only in the United Provinces and in a part of Venezuela. In 1817 the passage of the Andes by San Martin put a stop to his success. Chacabuco and Maipó turned the tide of victory against him, and the Royalist reaction was shut up in the Highlands of Peru, where the principle of loyalty to the flag of Spain had taken deep root in the hearts of the people.
Meantime Abascal had retired from the scene, full of years and of glory, and left Pezuela, the hero of Upper Peru, as Viceroy in his place. In 1816 General José de La Serna had arrived from Spain with reinforcements, and with a commission as General-in-Chief of the armies of Upper Peru. He was an experienced soldier, but was characterized by a moderation which made him at times irresolute. In politics he professed Liberal principles, and soon acquired a great ascendency over the army, introducing a new influence which later on had very important effects.
​Although Peru was the centre of the Royalist reaction, nevertheless the American sentiment of independence was still latent within her, but the want of cohesion among the various races which formed her people rendered her helpless to work out her own destiny. All nations have passed through these periods of impotence. Chile and New Granada, under much better conditions, would never have redeemed themselves without Argentine and Columbian intervention.
The revolutionary movements of the year 1809 found an echo in Lima, and a young lawyer named Mateo Silva fell a victim to his patriotic ardour, dying in the casemates of Callao, after six years of imprisonment. In 1810 another conspiracy was discovered, and was also crushed; but the progress of Liberal opinion in Spain had its effect in Peru. From the mother country came liberty of the press in 1811, and in 1812 the establishment of Cabildos was decreed by the Regency of Spain, when Peruvians for the first time made use of the right of election. But when the Spanish Constitution fell in 1814, liberty of speech fell with it in the capital of Peru.
In 1811 1812, and 1813, various insurrectionary movements, fomented by Argentine emissaries, broke out in Upper Peru, but were promptly crushed with great severity. In 1814 a much more formidable insurrection broke out in Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incas, in which the clergy took a prominent part. In August a Junta was formed under the auspices of the Cabildos, General Pumacahua, a pure Indian, being named President, and José Angulo Captain-General. The new Government erected two gibbets in the principal square as a sign of their authority, devised a flag, raised an army, cast small cannon, and despatched emissaries to enter into alliance with the Argentine Provinces. Their first operations were crowned with success. Arequipa fell into their hands, and an expedition to the east captured the city of La Paz; but their hordes of half-naked Indians, ​armed with pikes and slings, were totally routed in two battles with great slaughter by troops from Lima, supported by militia. General Ramirez, being detached from the army of operations in Salta with 1,200 men and four guns, speedily retook La Paz and Arequipa, and in March, 1815, marched against the insurgents under Pumacahua, 20,000 strong with thirty-seven guns, cut them to pieces, and put an end to the insurrection. The head of Pumacahua was stuck on a post in the great square of Cuzco. Angulo and other leaders were shot.
From that time the Patriots of Peru thought no more of achieving liberty by their own efforts, but they continued their propaganda among the people by means of secret societies, which had their head-quarters in Lima. In 1817 these societies opened communication with San Martin, who responded to their overtures by sending Torres on a special mission to Lima, as is recorded in Chapter XVII. Torres in his secret interview received very valuable information from the Patriot leaders concerning the plans of the Viceroy and the forces at his disposal, and concerted with them the means of regular communication. The subsequent appearance of the Chilian squadron on the coast, and the proclamations of O'Higgins, San Martin, and Cochrane, greatly raised their hopes, and information furnished by them was of great service to the admiral in his operations. He was accompanied by Alvarez Jonte, who acted as intermediary between him and the Patriots of Peru, and was the bearer of special instructions to them from San Martin, who directed them to make no insurrectionary movement until he was in a position to support them, when local outbreaks might be of service in distracting the attention of the enemy.
San Martin also sent off to Peru three young officers of his, who were Peruvians by birth, one of whom betrayed his trust, and caused the arrest of several of the Patriots; but the other two fulfilled their mission with great skill, so that even in the army the revolutionary spirit made ​great progress. Colonel Gamarra, who was in command of troops drawn from Upper Peru, was discovered to have secret correspondence with Belgrano, but the Viceroy dared not prosecute him from fear of arousing a mutiny among his men.
Pezuela was fully alive to the dangers of his position, and wrote earnestly to Spain for support. At the same time he instructed his successor in command of the Army of Upper Peru, to advance into Argentine territory. La Serna was driven back by Martin Güemes and his gauchos, but in this campaign saw such evidence of the superior quality of his troops that he thought it necessary to take precautions against possible disloyalty among them. He accordingly put an end to their independent organization, and drafted them into his Spanish regiments, a measure which was eventually productive of great evil to the Royalist cause.
The American officers were all staunch Royalists, but the Spanish officers were more or less infected with the new ideas. Thus, the morale of the Army of Upper Peru became greatly deteriorated. A part of it was soon after withdrawn to Lower Peru to reinforce the army there, in preparation for meeting the threatened invasion from Chile, upon which La Serna, alleging that he held his commission direct from the King, and had the right to dispose of his troops as he chose, threw up his command. Olañeta, a Peruvian and an ardent Royalist, was appointed to succeed him, and La Serna retired to Lima.
The Royalist army was at this time led by many distinguished officers, among them being Camba, the historian, and Valdés, who was held by Americans to be the most skilful and the most noble of all their adversaries. The army which held Lima was more than 8,000 strong, that of Upper Peru was more than 7,000. The total force, including detached garrisons, consisted of 23,000 men, against whom San Martin matched himself with 4,000 men in the last struggle for the independence of America.