Battle of Las Salinas

Battle of Las Salinas
Conflict	Campaign of conquest in the Inca civil war
Partof	Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire
Date	April 6, 1538
Place	near Cusco, Peru
Result	Victory for Gonzalo Pizarro's opponents (Almagro's faction) — historically contested
Combatant1	Forces loyal to Diego de Almagro
Combatant2	Forces loyal to Francisco Pizarro
Commander1	Diego de Almagro
Commander2	Gonzalo Pizarro
Strength1	~500–700 infantry and cavalry
Strength2	~700–1000 infantry and cavalry
Casualties1	heavy
Casualties2	moderate

Battle of Las Salinas.

The Battle of Las Salinas was fought in April 1538 near Cusco, Peru, during the fractious aftermath of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. It pitted the followers of Diego de Almagro against forces aligned with Francisco Pizarro and his brothers, producing a decisive engagement that reshaped the colonial power struggle among conquistadors including Gonzalo Pizarro and Hernando Pizarro. The clash followed legal and military disputes arising from the distribution of spoils after the fall of the Inca Empire and the contested governorships imposed by the Crown of Castile and its agents, such as Blasco Núñez Vela.

Background

Tension built after the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire and the capture of Atahualpa following the Battle of Cajamarca (1532), with leading figures—Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Almagro, Hernando Pizarro, Gonzalo Pizarro, Pedro de Alvarado, and Cristóbal Vaca de Castro—vying for titles and lands. The Capitulación de Toledo, New Laws debates, and royal appointments like the Procurador commissions complicated authority. Almagro’s 1537 expedition to Quito and the subsequent arrest of Francisco Pizarro’s lieutenant Manco Inca supporters contributed to recriminations that led to Almagro’s capture of Cusco. Legal interventions by envoys such as Alonso de Hojeda and conflicts involving Pedro de Valdivia and Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés formed a broader imperial context alongside events at Panama City and in the Castile court.

Opposing Forces

Almagro commanded veterans from the Quito campaign drawn from contingents under captains like Diego de Almagro II’s adherents and veteran captains with names tied to earlier campaigns such as Pedro de Añazco and Cristóbal de Peralta. Pizarro’s side gathered the Pizarro brothers—Francisco Pizarro, Hernando Pizarro, and Gonzalo Pizarro—with captains including Alonso de Alvarado, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, and crew who had served at Cajamarca. Both forces included cavalry, pikemen, arquebusiers, and indigenous auxiliaries drawn from Inca and allied groups including factions loyal to Manco Inca Yupanqui and other Andean polities like Huáscar’s remnants. The presence of crossbows, artillery pieces similar to those used at the Siege of Cuzco, and the logistical support networks linking Lima, Seville, and Santo Domingo reflected wider imperial supply chains.

Prelude and Deployment

After Almagro’s occupation of Cusco, negotiations failed amid insults, imprisonments, and executions such as the controversial treatment of Pizarro’s supporters and the exile of figures tied to Panama expeditions. Envoys including Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and legal petitions to the Council of the Indies and the Audiencia of Lima intensified rival claims. Forces moved from outlying posts like Abancay and Mollepata toward the plains near Tamburco and Las Salinas, with scouts, cavalry patrols, and indigenous informants mapping terrain. Commanders arranged columns and reserves following norms established in European engagements like the Italian Wars; captains such as Alonso de Molina and Diego de Almagro (the younger) positioned arquebusiers to guard roads to Cusco.

The Battle

On April 6 the two armies met on the salt flats and fields outside Cusco in a clash shaped by cavalry charges, musketry volleys, and mêlée fighting that recalled earlier engagements in the Conquest of Mexico and operations involving figures like Hernán Cortés. Leadership decisions by Diego de Almagro and Gonzalo Pizarro determined flank maneuvers; captains including Hernando de Soto-style veterans executed charges while arquebusiers and pikemen sought to hold lines. Almagro’s forces, tested by internal divisions and supply constraints, suffered from faltering cavalry cohesion and contested command among lieutenants related to the Quito venture. Pizarro’s men exploited terrain near salt pans, used coordinated cavalry and infantry actions, and captured key standards, forcing Almagro’s retreat and capture in the aftermath. The battle’s dynamics echoed tactical evolutions visible in engagements involving Charles V’s tercios and in New World confrontations such as the Battle of Otumba patterning.

Aftermath and Consequences

Following the defeat, Diego de Almagro was taken prisoner and later executed, an act that reverberated through colonial society and provoked reprisals by Almagro supporters, including the assassination of Francisco Pizarro in 1541 by followers of Diego de Almagro II (El Mozo). The Pizarro victory consolidated Pizarro family control of Cusco and temporarily stabilized their authority against rival conquistadors like Blasco Núñez Vela and administrators linked to the Council of the Indies. The conflict accelerated royal interventions including later appointments like Viceroy Francisco Pizarro? debates, influenced colonization patterns in Peru and Chile involving figures such as Pedro de Valdivia, and contributed to protracted guerrilla resistance by indigenous leaders including Manco Inca Yupanqui and alliances with Andean polities. Legal repercussions affected future grants such as the Repartimiento arrangements and informed subsequent royal legislation, including echoes in the passage of the New Laws.

Historical Significance and Legacy

The battle marked a definitive episode in the fracturing of conquistador unity after the fall of the Inca Empire, affecting lines of authority governed by the Crown of Castile and mediated by the Council of the Indies, Audiencia of Lima, and later the Viceroyalty of Peru. Its aftermath shaped colonial aristocracies and encomienda distributions involving families like the Pizarro family and the descendants of Diego de Almagro; it also informed chroniclers such as Pedro Cieza de León, Bernabé Cobo, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, and William H. Prescott in their narratives. The engagement entered cultural memory through accounts in Lima and Seville, influenced historiography in works by Jorge Basadre, John Hemming, Terence N. D'Altroy, and became a touchstone in Peruvian historical identity alongside sites like Cusco Cathedral and Sacsayhuamán. The struggle exemplified how European rivalries, imperial law, and New World ambitions intersected to produce enduring political and social transformations across Andean society.

Category:Battles involving Spain Category:History of Cusco Region