Action of Tambo Nuevo The Action of Tambo Nuevo , also known as " Hazaña de los Tres Sargentos " was a successful cavalry raid carried out between 23 and 25 October 1813 , during the second Upper Peru campaign of the Argentine War of Independence , by a small detachment of " Dragones " of the Army of the North . The targets were the headquarters of royalist Colonel Saturnino Castro at Yocalla , and later a forward outpost on Tambo Nuevo . Background . After the defeat of General Manuel Belgrano in the battle of Vilcapugio , on 1 October 1813 , the bulk of the republican Army of the North withdrawn to the east , establishing its headquarters in the town of Macha . Belgrano hoped to reinforce his exhausted and demoralized troops with local draft and supplies . The royalist situation was no better , despite their recent victory . General Joaquin de la Pezuela lost more than 200 men in Vilcapugio , along with a good number of mules and horses , the main way of carrying artillery and other provisions through the rugged soil . A smaller fraction of Belgrano ' s army retreated to the city Potosí , under the command of General Díaz Vélez . By mid - October , Potosí was threaten from the north by a royalist squadron , led by Colonel Saturnino Castro , who seized the town of Yocalla . First raid . While honing his forces at Macha , Belgrano ordered several reconnaissance missions on the enemy . He chose one of his best officers , Lieutenant La Madrid , to collect intelligence about the royalist headquarters at Yocalla . La Madrid departed the republican camp with four " Dragones " and a native guide . After an icy - cold night , which ended in a heavy snowfall , the small detachment was just 400 metres away from the enemy stronghold . Not only their recce mission went unnoticed , but they also surprised a royalist patrol marching on the snow and took five prisoners . Only a troop of local natives , loyal to Pezuela , harassed La Madrid ' s group during their retreat along the defile of Tinguipaya , and informed Castro about his path through the mountains . When the captives were presented to Belgrano , he recognized two of them - a corporal and a soldier - as members of the royalist army defeated in Salta . These men had sworn not to turn their arms on the republicans again . To make an example , Belgrano had them executed by a shooting squad . Their bodies were later beheaded , and their heads , along with a reinforcement of eight " Dragones " , were sent to La Madrid , still close to the enemy . Tambo Nuevo . La Madrid learned that Castro , aware of the route and movements of the " Dragones " due to his local informers , had ordered a company to mount an ambush on the outpost of Tambo Nuevo , a mountain pass 25 km north of Yocalla . On the night of the 24th , La Madrid and his men climbed a hill behind the outpost . Three soldiers , acting as scouts , were the first to reach the enemy position . They found a stable of adobe sheltering at least 50 horses , and another building guarded by a sentry . After overpowering the surprised soldier , they broke into the building where they found another 10 men sleeping . All of them were initially taken prisoners , but later a royalist sergeant managed to escape and gave the alarm . The rest of the company , suspecting that the republican forces outnumbered them , remained inside another building until dawn . There was a sporadic exchange of fire . At first light , La Madrid fell back to Macha with the 10 captives . The three soldiers were promoted to sergeants by Belgrano , with the title of " Sargentos de Tambo Nuevo " . Aftermath . The small action had the unexpected effect of relieving Potosí . Indeed , Castro believed that his squadron was shadowed by a combined force of 200 men and withdrawn to Condo , the headquarters of General Pezuela . This movement allowed General Díaz Vélez and his troops to join Belgrano ' s army in Macha . La Madrid cavalry reached the site of the battle of Vilcapugio , where he buried the corpses of several of his camarades fallen there . He chose this place to fix the severed heads of the prisoners executed by Belgrano in pikes . A banner was put on each pike with the writing " por perjuros " ( for perjurers ) .