First Upper Peru campaign The first Upper Peru campaign was a military campaign of the Argentine War of Independence , which took place in 1810 . It was headed by Juan José Castelli , and attempted to expand the influence of the Buenos Aires May Revolution in Upper Peru ( modern Bolivia ) . There were initial victories , such as in the Battle of Suipacha and the revolt of Cochabamba , but it was finally defeated during the Battle of Huaqui that returned Upper Peru to Royalist influence . Manuel Belgrano and José Rondeau would attempt other similarly ill - fated campaigns ; the Royalists in the Upper Peru would be finally defeated by Sucre , whose military campaign came from the North supporting Simón Bolívar . Antecedents . The Spanish king Ferdinand VII was captured and imprisoned during the Peninsular War , and the Junta of Seville took over government , claiming to govern on the absent king ' s behalf . There was concern about this in many Spanish overseas colonies , who thought that in the absence of the king they had the same right for self - determination as Seville . This caused the Chuquisaca Revolution and the La Paz revolution , which tried to create their own government Juntas . However , both revolutions were short - lived , and swiftly defeated by the Spanish authorities . The May Revolution , in Buenos Aires , was more successful , and ousted the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros . The Primera Junta , which replaced him , prepared a military expedition to Upper Peru to secure the control of the area , while another expedition headed to Paraguay . Before proceeding to Upper Peru , this military campaign defeated a counter revolution in Córdoba , organized by the former viceroy Santiago de Liniers . Ortiz de Ocampo disobeyed orders to execute the prisoners , sending them to Buenos Aires instead . As a result , the Junta appointed Juan José Castelli as commander of the Army of the North instead of Ocampo , and executed the prisoners on their way to Buenos Aires . Development . Castelli was not received well in Córdoba , where Liniers was popular , but he was in San Miguel de Tucumán . In Salta , despite the formal good reception , he had difficulty obtaining troops , mules , food , money or guns . He took the political leadership of the Expedition , displacing Hipólito Vieytes , and replaced Ocampo with Colonel Antonio González Balcarce . He was informed that Cochabamba revolted in support of the Junta , but was threatened by royalist forces from La Paz . Castelli intercepted as well a mail from Nieto to Gutiérrez de la Concha , governor of Córdoba , which was already executed for his support to Liniers . This mail mentioned a royalist army led by Goyeneche advancing over Jujuy . Balcarce , who had advanced to Potosi , was defeated by Nieto in the Battle of Cotagaita , so Castelli sent two hundred men and two cannons to strengthen his forces . With these reinforcements Balcarce achieved the victory at the Battle of Suipacha , which allowed patriots to control all of Upper Peru unopposed . One of the men sent was Martín Miguel de Güemes , who would eventually lead the " Guerra Gaucha " in Salta years later . At Villa Imperial , one of the richest cities of Upper Peru , an open cabildo calls Goyeneche to withdraw from their territory , which he obeys as he did not have military strength to prevail . The Bishop of La Paz , Remigio La Santa y Ortega , flees with him . Castelli is received in Potosí , where he required an oath of allegiance to the Junta and the surrender of the royalist generals Francisco de Paula Sanz and José de Córdoba y Rojas . He arranged that the operation to capture Vicente Nieto was carried out exclusively by the surviving patricians at the mines of Potosi , who had been incorporated with honors to the Army of the North . Sanz , Nieto and Córdoba were executed at the Plaza of Potosí ; but Nieto claimed to die happy because it was under the Spanish flag . Goyeneche and Ortega , on the other hand , were safe on royalist land . Bernardo Monteagudo , inmate at the Jail of the Court of Chuquisaca for his participation in the revolution of 1809 , escaped to join the ranks of the army . Castelli , who already knew the background of Monteagudo , appointed him his secretary . He set up his government in Chuquisaca , where he presided over the change of regime in the entire region . He planned the reorganization of the Mines of Potosi , and a reform at the University of Charcas . He proclaimed the end of native slavery in the Upper Peru , canceling the tutelage and giving them political rights as neighbors , equal to those of the criollos . He prohibited as well the establishment of new convents and parishes , to avoid the common practice that , under the guise of spreading the Christian doctrine , the natives were forced into servitude by religious orders . He authorized free trade and redistributed land expropriated from the former workers of the mills . The decree was published in Spanish , Guarani , Quechua and Aymara ; he established several bilingual schools as well . The first anniversary of the May Revolution was celebrated in Tiahuanaco with Indian chiefs , where Castelli paid tribute to the ancient Inca s , encouraging people to rise against the Spanish . However , despite the welcome received Castelli was aware that most of the aristocracy supported the auxiliary army out of fear instead of genuine support . In November 1810 he sent a plan to the Junta : to cross the Desaguadero river , border between the two viceroyalties , and take control of the Peruvian cities Puno , Cuzco and Arequipa . Castelli argued that it was urgent to rise against Lima , because its economy depended largely on those districts and if they lose their power over the main royalist stronghold would be threatened . The plan was rejected as too risky , and Castelli was required to comply with the original orders . Castelli obeyed as ordered . In December , fifty - three peninsulars were banished to Salta , and the decision was delivered for approval of the Junta . The vocal Domingo Matheu , who was associated with Tulla and Pedro Salvador Casas , arranged the annulment of the act , arguing that Castelli had acted influenced by slander and unfounded accusations . Support for Castelli began to decline , mainly due to the favourable treatment of natives and the determined opposition of the church , which attacked Castelli through his secretary Bernardo Monteagudo and his public atheism . Both royalists in Lima and Saavedra in Buenos Aires compared them both with Maximilien Robespierre , leader of the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution . Castelli also abolished the mita in Upper Peru , a project that was shared by Mariano Moreno , but Moreno had been removed from the Junta by this point . Without Castelli being in Buenos Aires to mediate between them , the disputes between Moreno and Saavedra had worsened . The Junta requested Castelli to moderate his actions , but he went ahead with the positions he shared with Moreno . Several saavedrist officers , such as José María Echaurri , José León Domínguez , Matías Balbastro , chaplain Manuel Antonio Azcurra and the sergeant major Toribio de Luzuriaga , planned to kidnap Castelli , deliver him to Buenos Aires for trial , and give the command of the Army of the North to Juan Jose Viamonte . However , Viamonte did not accept the plan when he was informed by the conspirators , and did not attempt to carry it out . When he knew about the fate of Moreno , Castelli wrote a mail to Vieytes , Rodriguez Peña , Larrea and Azcuénaga , asking them to move to the Upper Peru . After the defeat of Goyeneche , they would march back to Buenos Aires . However , the mail was sent by the common postal service , and the postmaster of Córdoba , Jose de Paz , decided to send it instead to Cornelio Saavedra . Besides , the morenist members of the Junta had already been ousted and exiled by that point . Defeat . The order of the Junta not to proceed to the Viceroyalty of Peru was a de facto truce that would last while not attacking Goyeneche . Castelli tried to turn the situation into a formal agreement , which would imply recognition of the Junta as a legitimate interlocutor . Goyeneche agreed to sign an armistice for 40 days until Lima was issued , and used that time to be strengthened . On 19 June , with the truce still in effect , an advanced royalist troop attacked positions at Juraicoragua . Castelli declared the truce broken and declared war on Peru . The royalist army crossed the Desaguadero on June 20 , 1811 , starting the Battle of Huaqui . The Army waited near Huaqui , between the plains of Azapanal and Lake Titicaca . The patriotic left wing , commanded by Diaz Velez , faced the bulk of the royalist forces , while the center was hit by the soldiers of Pio Tristan . Many patriotic soldiers recruited at the Upper Peru surrendered or fled , and many of the recruits in La Paz switched sides during the battle . The Saavedrist Juan José Viamonte was instrumental in the defeat , by refusing to join the conflict . Although the casualties of the Army of the North were not substantial , it was left desmoralized and disbanded . The inhabitants of Upper Peru left them and welcomed the royalists back , so the army had to quickly leave those provinces . However , the resistance of Cochabamba prevented the royalists from proceeding to Buenos Aires . Castelli moved to the post of Quirbe , and received orders to return to Buenos Aires for trial . However , upon learning of such orders they had already been replaced by others : Castelli should be confined at Catamarca , while Saavedra himself took charge of the Army of the North . Saavedra was deposed as soon as he left Buenos Aires , and confined in San Juan . The First Triumvirate , who took government by then , required Castelli to return . Once in Buenos Aires , Castelli was in a situation of political isolation . The triumvirate and the newspaper La Gazeta accused him of defeat in Huaqui and seek punishment as deterrent . His former supporters were divided between those who joined the ideas of the Triumvirate and those no longer able to do much . Castelli suffered from tongue cancer during the long trial , which made him progressively difficult to speak , and died on October , 1812 , with the trial still open .