Siege of Cuzco

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Cuzco


caption=The siege of Cuzco according to Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala
partof=Spanish conquest of Peru
date=May 6, 1536-early March 1537
place=Cuzco, present-day Peru
result=Decisive Spanish victory
Almagristas seizes power in Cuzco
combatant1=Nueva Castilla
Pizarro brothers
combatant2=Nueva Toledo
Almagristas
combatant3=Inca Empire
commander1=Hernando PizarroPOW
Gonzalo PizarroPOW
Juan Pizarro II †
Francisco Pizarro
commander2=Diego de Almagro
Rodrigo Orgóñez
commander3=Manco Inca Yupanqui
strength1=190 Spaniards
Thousands of Indian auxiliaries
Later +300 Spaniards under F. Pizarro
strength2=700 Spaniards (as for early 1537)
strength3=100,000 to 200,000 Inca warriors
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=Unknown, but low
casualties3=Unknown

The Siege of Cuzco was the May 6, 1536 – March 1537, ten month siege of the city of Cuzco by the army of Inca Emperor Manco Inca Yupanqui against a garrison of Spanish conquistadors and Indian auxiliaries led by Hernando Pizarro.

An Spaniard expedition led by Francisco Pizarro had captured the Inca capital of Cuzco on November 15, 1533 after defeating an Inca army headed by general Quisquis. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 115.] The following month, the conquistadors supported the coronation as Inca emperor of Manco Inca to facilitate their control over the empire. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 123–125.] However, real power rested with the Spaniards who frequently humiliated Manco Inca and imprisoned him after an attempted escape in November 1535. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 178–180.] After his release in January 1536, Manco Inca managed to leave Cuzco on April 18 promising the Spanish commander, Hernando Pizarro, to bring back a large gold statue when in fact he was already preparing a rebellion. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 181–182.]

Having realized their mistake, Hernando Pizarro led an expedition against Manco Inca's troops, which had gathered in the nearby Yucay Valley, however, the attack failed as the Spaniards had severely underestimated the size of the Inca army. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 184–185.] The Inca emperor did not attack Cuzco at once, instead he waited to assemble his full army estimated at between 100,000 to 200,000 men strong around the city (some sources suggest numbers as low as 40,000); against them there were 190 Spaniards, 80 of them horsemen, and several thousand Indian auxiliaries. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 185–186.] The siege started on May 6, 1536 with a full-scale attack towards the main square of the city; the Inca army succeeded in capturing most of the city while the Spaniards took refuge in two large buildings near the main plaza. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 187–188.] The conquistadors managed to fend off Inca attacks from these constructions and mounted frequent raids against their besiegers. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 189–190.]

To relieve their position, the Spaniards decided to assault the walled complex of Sacsayhuamán, which served as the main base of operations for the Inca army. Fifty horsemen, led by Juan Pizarro, and accompanied by Indian auxiliaries broke through the Inca army files, turned around and attacked Sacsayhuamán from outside the city. During the frontal assault against the building's large walls, a stone struck Juan Pizarro in the head; he died days later from the injury sustained. The following day, the Spaniards resisted several Inca counterattacks and mounted a renewed assault at night using scaling ladders. In this way, they managed to capture the terrace walls of Sacsayhuamán while the Inca army held on to the two tall towers of the complex. The Inca commanders, Paucar Huaman and the high priest or Villac Umu, decided to leave the confinement of the towers and fight their way towards Calca, the site of Manco Inca's headquarters, to bring back reinforcements. The attempt was successful and the towers were left under the command of Titu Cusi Gualpa, an Inca noblemen. However, despite Titu's fierce resistance, the Spaniards and their auxiliaries managed to storm the towers so that when the Inca commanders returned, Sacsayhuamán was firmly under their control. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 192–196.]

The capture of Sacsayhuamán eased the pressure on the Spanish garrison at Cuzco; the fighting now turned in a series of daily skirmishes paused only by the Inca religious tradition of halting attacks during the new moon. [Hemming, "The conquest", p. 197.] During this period, the Spaniards successfully implemented terror tactics to demoralize the Inca army, they included an order to kill any woman caught and cutting off the hands of captured men. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 198–199.] Encouraged by their successes, Hernando Pizarro led an attack against Manco Inca's headquarters which were now at Ollantaytambo, further away from Cuzco. However, the expedition Manco Inca managed to defeat the Spanish expedition at the Battle of Ollantaytambo by taking advantage of the fortifications and the difficult terrain around the site. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 207–209.] The Spanish garrison had more success with several raids to gather food from regions near Cuzco; these incursions allowed them to replenish their almost exhausted provisions. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 210–211.] Meanwhile, Manco Inca tried to capitalize his success at Ollantaytambo with a renewed assault on Cuzco, however, an Spanish cavalry party had a chance encounter with the Inca army thus ruining any hope of surprise. That same the night the Spaniards mounted a full scale attack which achieved complete surprise and inflicted severe casualties on Manco Inca's troops. [Hemming, "The conquest", pp. 211–212.]

After 10 months of vicious fighting in Cuzco, with low-morale playing factor, Manco Inca decided to raise the siege at Cuzco and withdraw to Vilcabamba. It is suggested by some that this action threw away his only real chance to rebuff the Spaniards from Tawantinsuyu, however, it was probably the only realistic choice he had considering the arrival of Spanish reinforcements from the Indies led by Diego de Almagro. Upon facing victory and the aviability of expanding his own reign into Peru, Almagro seized the city once having achieved victory for Spain and had Hernando and Gonzalo imprisoned. Francisco managed to escape, however, to later face Almagro in a personal triumph at the battle of Las Salinas.

Notes

References

* Hemming, John. "The conquest of the Incas". London: Macmillan, 1993. ISBN 0-333-10683-0