Battle of Punta Quemada The Battle of Punta Quemada , fought sometime in January 1525 , was a brief encounter between a band of Spanish conquistador s and the warlike natives of Colombia , thought to be a northern tributary tribe to the Andean Kingdom of Quito , subordinate to and as well northern capital of the Inca Empire . Though it marked the end of Francisco Pizarro ' s first tentative expedition along the Pacific coast , the battle also represented a crucial step to Spain ' s discovery and conquest of the Inca Empire . For weeks before their landfall at Punta Quemada , Pizarro and his company had , both on sea and on land , steadily crawled southward along the coast of Colombia , enduring both the inhospitality of the terrain and the dangers of tropical tempests . Famine and fatigue alike had ravaged the group , leaving several dead and many on the brink of incapacitation , and only Pizarro ' s personal charisma and the iron constitution of the Castilians had kept the crew from collapsing into mutiny and despair . Upon reaching Punta Quemada , Pizarro , leading his men inland along unusually agreeable terrain , had discovered and occupied a large native village , the residents of which , to all appearances , had fled in terror at the sight of the Europeans . Delighted at the luck of having established quarters in such a defensible position , and mindful that his battered vessel out on the shore would not carry him much farther , Pizarro elected to send a contingent of men under Lieutenant Montenegro back to Panama for repairs and supplies while his own troops manned the village ramparts and awaited the arrival of Diego de Almagro , whose own expeditionary force , following the path of Pizarro ' s , was bound to arrive shortly . But the Quitians were warriors and , contrary to Spanish assessment , had abandoned their settlement only to see their women and children to safety . Armed with bows , slings , and spear s , they had closely monitored the invaders and gathered unseen in the jungle in preparation for an attack . Montenegro ' s column , the more vulnerable of the two Castilian parties , fell into a Quitian ambush just as it emerged from the heavy jungle foliage onto Andean foothills where arrows and other projectile s could fly unobstructed . A volley of arrows and stones struck the Spaniards . The Castilians began to fall back in panic and disarray as the natives bore down upon them . Montenegro , rallying his men , ordered a return volley at the onrushing Quitians . The Spaniards shredded the native charge with a flurry of crossbow bolts , then countercharged , driving the unarmoured Quitians back . The Quitians orchestrated a similar assault on Pizarro ' s camp and stormed the village , unleashing a shower of missiles at the defenders . Prescott recounts that Pizarro , too bold and fiery of temper to be held inside a set of walls by enemy fire , sallied out to meet the threat , rousing his men into a charge that drove the natives back . However , the natives counterattacked , and the Spanish troops faltered . Montenegro , fearing for his leader , had ordered an immediate march back to camp . He now appeared at the edge of the ridge and drove into the rear of the Quitian formations , shattering their resolve . Unable to resist this new threat , the natives fled into the jungle , leaving Pizarro wounded in no less than seven places . The conquistadors realized that the village was far less defensible than they had previously assumed , and fearing subsequent hostile encounters and unable to continue south by sea , Pizarro chose to end his expedition at Punta Quemada .