The Spanish Empire was regularly troubled by internal disturbances but only the revolt of Tupac Amaru in upper Peru in 1780 threatened it fundamentally from within, especially as it coincided with the American War of Independence and the Communero Revolt in Nueva Granada. There is no reliable evidence to suggest any direct coordination between these three events. The most concrete connection is that increased taxation which Carlos III imposed in the Americas to finance his military rivalry with Britain caused resentment throughout colonial society and was a declared grievance of both the Tupac Amaru and Communero revolts and other, lesser disturbances.
Tupac Amaru was a mixed race, Mestizo descendant of the Incas who arrested a corrupt Peninsular official on 4 November 1780. Other Indians then turned on their local administrators and within a few days 10,000 Indians and 1,000 Mestizos had taken up his cause. Some Blacks also joined him. Tupac Amaru assembled six ancient cannons and about 75 muskets which were issued to his Mestizos as Indians had been prohibited from acquiring firearms skills by the Spanish.
The Spanish in nearby Cuzco armed 604 urban militia and 700 Indian auxiliaries and marched on Tupac Amaru. However, on 18 November they were surprised while encamped in the town of Sangarard. Most of their Indian auxiliaries deserted and the militia panicked and fled into the church. After eight hours this was torched and the battle deteriorated into a massacre. The Spanish force lost 576 dead; 390 were militia but only 16 were Peninsulares. Tupac Amaru's losses were as low as twenty and he captured two light cannons and several hundred muskets.
Tupac Amaru could have captured the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco, an open city, with ease but he delayed, preferring to recruit a larger force. In the meantime the Cuzco authorities threw together a shabby 3,000 man urban militia force, the best of which were only Cuzco's Companias de Comercio, while the; Viceroy hurriedly despatched 200 mounted men of the Disciplined Militia Regiment of Mulattoes of Lima, the best militia unit in Peru, with extra arms. These reached Cuzco on 1 January 1781, the day before Tupac Amaru finally reached the city with at least 40,000 men. However, most of the rebels were Indians armed with slings and pikes, and only about 1,000 assorted firearms and at most twenty light cannons were available for his mestizos. On 4 January he began a general assault but the Spanish force, poor as it was, proved sufficient to hold off his army which never really mastered such artillery and firearms as it had. A final assault on 8 January was repulsed and he raised the siege on 11 January.
By now a battalion of regulars from the Regiment of Lima were on the March from Lima and Tupac Amaru's forces became increasingly engaged with loyal Indians. By 4 March Peru had assembled an army of 17,116 men in Cuzco and seven Spanish columns began to converge on Tupac Amaru's 9,000 strong force at Tinta. However, on 21 March the 1st Column was defeated at Pucacasa, losing numerous dead, all its supplies and 600 Indian auxiliaries deserted. It retreated hurriedly on the 2nd column whose lowland Limeno troops were suffering terribly from the cold and the following day both forces retired with the loss of 100 cavalry when Tupac Amaru renewed his assault. More Indian auxiliaries deserted and briefly the Spanish campaign was in doubt.
THE SPANISH ARMY ASSEMBLED IN CUZCO, 4 MARCH 1781
1st Column
- UM Dragoons 310 + Indians 2,000
2nd Column
- DM Mulattoes of Lima 200 + Indians 2,000
UM Cavalry 750 + 2 cannons
3rd Column
- R Regt. de Lima 150 + Indians 2,300
UM Infantry 500
4th Column
- UM Commercio de Cuzco 100 + Indians 2,900
5th Column
- R Regt. de Lima 100 + Indians 2,900
6th Column
- UM Dragoons 560
Reserve
- R Regt. de Lima 300
UM Regt. de Huamanga 200 + 6 cannons
TROOP TYPES: R=Regular, DM=Disciplined Militia, UM=Urban Militia
However, Tupac Amaru failed to take advantage of the moment and the Spanish advance resumed. Several bloody skirmishes were won against him by various columns and by 5 April they had surrounded Tupac Amaru and some 7,000 men at Tinta. In a surprise assault on 6 April he tried to break out but most of his army was killed or dispersed, eight cannons were recaptured and he himself was taken the following day and executed on 18 May. At no time had he openly declared independence, professing to the end his loyalty to the Spanish king whom he claimed was badly served by deceiving officials. The revolt continued under his half-brother Diego.
The Spanish army then marched to the relief of Puno which had been under siege for five months. However, it was gradually draining away as its Indian auxiliaries deserted and its regulars and militia suffered losses. On finding Puno without food it had to make a fighting retreat with 8,000 civilians back to Cuzco. Only 415 Limeno regulars and disciplined militia and 1,034 assorted urban militia returning out of the original 15,000. More, troops had to be assembled in Arequipa to reinforce them.
Meanwhile, over the viceregal border, La Paz underwent a 109 day siege. La Paz was part of the Viceroyalty of La Plata and its relief was effected from that side. A third of the population had died by the time a force of 2,700 urban militia under the governor of Charcas arrived on 30 June, but his army was forced to withdraw on 4 August due to the usual desertions. A second 75 day siege followed before a second 7,300 man relief expedition from distant Buenos Aires arrived. The two sieges had cost the lives of some 20,000 loyalists and 40,000 rebels, largely through hunger, disease and the weather because the latter were too ill-organised to mount any assaults. However, mass desertions soon reduced the Spanish army in La Paz to 1,800 preventing further offensive action.
By now the Spanish, thanks largely to the efforts of loyal Indians, had done just enough to force the negotiated surrender of Diego Tupac Amaru and 30,000 adherents on 26 January 1782, but their prestige and self confidence had been severely damaged and over 120,000 lives had been lost.
More Revolt of the Tupac Amaru: 1780-1782
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