Hello, and welcome to Western Sieve. Episode two hundred and fifty three,
The Great Rebellion. Last time, Juans and Gonzalo Pizaro seemingly went out of
their way to push manco Inca into leading a rebellion. They took his gold,
they took his wife, They took any shred of dignity that he might
have had, but took away any pretense of his power. Francisco Pizzaro worked
hard to follow Cortez's playbook. Now his brothers seemed intent upon following whatever playbook
was written about how to mess it all up, making matters worse. It
seems that the Inca had begun to learn how to deal with the Spanish,
their weapons, and their horses. Remember, there were perhaps less than five
hundred total Spaniards in all of South America at this point. In one month
leading up to the Great Rebellion, the Spanish lost around thirty men to ambushes.
At that rate, the Spanish presence in South America would be wiped out
in little over sixteen months, and those were isolated in small scale attacks.
What would happen if manco Inca unleashed the full weight of the Incan military might
upon the Spaniards. How long could they last? Then a month, a
week? Well, today we find out. Today begins the last great gasp
of the Inca Empire. When Manko Inca and the high priest villac Umu reached
the Inca town of Las, they found nobles from across the Inca Empire assembled
and waiting for them in this small town thirty miles from Cusco were now assembled
the most of the Inca elite from the entire kingdom. Manko's job was clear.
He needed to stitch his empire back together, and to do so,
he needed to eliminate the Spanish. Luckily, for him, the entire remaining
Inca military apparatus was present. It would be in all hands on deck sort
of situation going forward. So luckily, Manko was starting off on the right
foot. For the first time since he had become emperor, Manco was free
to issue orders without Spanish interference. He turned and addressed the crowd, my
beloved sons and brothers. I never thought it would be ever necessary to do
what I am now thinking of doing, because I always thought and felt certain
that the bearded people who you call Varaca's which I used to call them,
because I thought that they had come from the creator God Varacha would not give
me grief in all things. But now I see they are scheming once again
to capture and kill me. And you have also seen how poorly they have
treated me, and how ungratefully they have thanked me for what I have done
for them, insulting me a thousand times over and then seizing me and tie
me up at my feet and neck like a dog. And especially after they
have given me their word that we had formed a partnership together based upon love
and friendship. I can't help but remind you how many times you have asked
me to do that which I am now intending to do, saying that I
should rise up against them, and asking me why I had allowed them in
my land. I didn't think that what is happening now could ever have occurred,
but that's what's happening. And because all they want is to persist in
angering and tormenting me, I am forced to do the same with them.
Since you have always shown me so much love and I have endeavored to make
me happy. Let's all join together and unite as one and send our messengers
throughout the land, so that in twenty days time, everyone will arrive in
this town without the bearded ones knowing anything about it. He ended by saying,
quote, I am determined to leave no Christian alive in this land.
Thus, I want to first surround Cousco. Those of you who want to
serve me will have to stake their lives on this effort. End quote.
He turned and presented them with ceremonial vases before continuing, drink from these vases
only if you will join me under these conditions. Everyone drank simultaneously. Messengers
sprinted forth from Laris to the four corners of the Empire, bearing one message,
Assemble your warriors. The time is now. Meanwhile, in Cusco,
Hernando Pisato had also called for a meeting. Hernando now finally admitted that manko
Inca had deceived him and was likely organizing a rebellion. Reports had been coming
in. Hernando now told the assembled Spaniards of large movements of native troops in
the UK Valley, only fifteen miles to the north. The renegade Emperor was
now headquartered in the town of Kalka, overseeing the gathering of native forces.
Obviously, Hernando said he had made an error in judgment in allowing Manko and
vilak Umu to leave, but there was no time to waste. Their lives
were in danger. The most important thing they needed to do was try to
disperse the gathering forces and, if possible, recapture the emperor. If Manko
could be recaptured, Hernando was very confident that they could force him to end
the rebellion. If he were not recaptured, then they could expect attack from
a large native army. Hernando decided to send his brother Juan with a cavalry
detachment out to a nearby valley in the hopes of both reconnoitering for evidence of
the rebellion and to recapture Manko Inca. Juan and his meat road to the
valley, but when they reached the edge of the plateau, they could scarcely
believe their eyes. Beneath them would have been a green valley had been transformed
into a carpet of beije Inca tunics. The rumors of the Inca army had
seemingly had been transformed into reality overnight. Despite the initial shock, Juan Pisano
soon led his cavalry down into the valley. It was there that native informants
had told him Manco Inca was directing the rebellion. Manco had taken careful precautions,
however, even before the Spaniards had arrived, Native troops destroyed all the
bridges over the river that basically bisected the valley into two. He then positioned
his warriors on the opposite bank, who stood from an elevated position, yelling
and taunting the Spaniards from below. With little choice other than to proceed,
though, Juan Pisados splashed his horse into the river and galloped through. Native
warriors immediately began throwing all kinds of objects, swinging their slings and throwing spears.
As the horses struggled across a hail of stone missiles either shot plumes of
water into the air or else made metallic clanging sounds as they slammed into the
spaniards armor. When they emerged on the opposite sides, the Spaniards immediately spurred
their mounts towards the sling flowers, who then began to run. The Spaniards
easily speared them with their lances or sliced at them with the swords. The
masses of native soldiers, meanwhile, who were really just newly conscripted peasants who
had just arrived moments before, retreated up the hillside, having no doubt been
instructed by their commanders at the steep terrain would prevent attacks by the Spaniards.
After a series of charges and feints, which were largely unsuccessful, again because
they're now going up an extreme incline, Juan suddenly broke off the attack and
galloped with his men toward the town of Kolka, where they immediately began a
door to door search from Manco Inca. Manco Inca, however, had previously
escaped. For the next three days, the Spaniards remained in Kalka, debating
what to do, while the Inca army maintained its position on the hillside.
Given the warriors extreme numbers, was a little bit surprising to the Spaniards that
they didn't attack. The Inca commanders seemed really quite content to just allow the
Spaniards remain virtually unopposed in Kalka. Four days after the arrival, however,
the Spaniards learned why no attack had curred. A loan rider from Cusco arrived
in a great hurry bearing a message from Hernando Juan's forces were to return to
Cusco at once in all speed. Massive numbers of native troops had suddenly appeared
on the hillside surrounding the capitol. If Juan and his cavalry didn't return at
once, Hernando and his remaining Spaniards would be unable to hold the city.
In other words, Juan had been duped. He lost no time, though,
gathering up his men and galloped out of town. As the Spaniards rode
past the fortress of Seeste Human, they could not believe their eyes. Overnight
hills that had been completely devoid of natives when they wrote past the first time,
had suddenly filled with Inca troops. It was as though they were emerging
from the land itself. So numerous were the natives that it was difficult for
Juan to find a way back into town that was not already cut off the
returning conquis. The Doors now made a dash down into the city, rejoining
the relieved Spanish citizens that they had left behind with a mere ten horses.
Given that the Spaniards on foot were just so much less effective and inflicting damage
on the Natives than were cavalrymen, Hernando and the one hundred and twenty six
men who had remained in the capitol almost certainly would have been overwhelmed if Manco's
troops had attacked while Juan was away. But even now, with a total
cavalry force of eighty six horsemen, the odds against them were enormous. Pedro
Pisaro, who had returned with Juan, recalled quote, when we returned,
we found many squadrons of warriors continuously arriving and camping on the steepest places around
Cusco to await the arrival of all their men. After they arrived, they
camped on the plains as well as on the hills. So numerous were the
rebel troops that came here that they covered the fields, and day by day
it looked as if they had spread a black cloth cut over the ground for
half a league around the city of Cusco. At night, there were so
many rebel campfires that it looked like nothing other than a cloudless sky full of
stars and quote. In the days that followed, the Spaniards watched with growing
anxiety as more and more Native troops poured in, filling the gaps on the
hills around them. Clearly, one at Anando and the rest of the Spaniards
had been caught totally off guard by the size and scope of this rebellion.
Neither the Spaniards nor their native spies had even been aware that a massive rebellion
had been brewing. Presently, there were one hundred and ninety six Spaniards trapped
in Cusco, and those Spaniards had no clue how many men they were facing.
Just those that they could see were too many to count, and who
knew how many more men were on their way to Cusco. For those Spaniards
within the capital of the Inca Empire, the reality must have been sobering and
difficult to digest, but the reality was inescapable. They were alone, totally
alone. Hernando sentence sorties of cavalry against the Inca arrayed before him to test
their strength, but to no avail. On one occasion, a Spanish cavalry
officer was surrounded and cut off from his compatriots. Try as he might,
he could not free himself, and, in the view of other Spaniards watching
helplessly from nearby, the Inca dragged him from his horse and decapitated him.
If here, Nando Pisato and his friends were not already terrified, they sure
were now If they had any chance of surviving, Hernando realized they had to
rely on their cavalry, which still gave them a huge advantage, and their
roughly five hundred native allies. Hernando divided this cavalry into three parts, with
himself in overall command one. His brother was named second in command. The
military structure of the Inca forces arraid against the Spaniards was more complex than that
of most of the Spanish themselves, mainly due to the greater number of troops.
At the top of the military pyramid now stood Manko Inca, the head
of the state. He was so considered to be the son of the God,
and the overall military commander alongside him was the High Priest of villac Umu.
I don't give a lot of names of Inca military commanders throughout these episodes
because some of them tend to come and go. But vilak Umo has some
staying power. That's why I focus on him. In charge of the actual
siege of the armies around Cusco is a new general, General Inquill, who
was aided by a lieutenant whose name I'm not going to bother. Giving you
various other commanders led their individual legions, each of which was ordered to occupy
a specific location around Cusco. Again, remember that this isn't a Roman legion
that's trained together for months, even years. This is a patchwork army of
conscripts that's been pulled up. I mean, a lot of these military commanders
have a lot of experience, but some of these troops have absolutely no experience
whatsoever, and we have to keep that in mind as these events unfold.
Now, the overall strategy was even broader than that, because remember, Francisco
Pisaro is in what is going to be Lima with another Spanish force. So
Manco INCA remained in Kalka. But at the same time, another INCA general
whose name is Kisu Yupanqi, was leading another INCA army toward Lima. So
we have one group of armies in Cusco and another group of armies marching towards
Lima. Kisco Uponki His objective was to keep Francisco Pizaro pinned down so that
he would not be able to support his brother back in Cusco. It was
a very simple divide and conquer strategy. Julius Caesar would have approved any Spaniards
caught outside alone were to be exterminated on site and their weapons confiscated. Vilac
Umu argued that Manko should attack the Spanish forces in Cusco immediately, after all,
they outnumbered them at least fifty to one. Manko disagreed. He had
seen what the Spanish could do and he was not going to take any chances.
Following established Inca military practice, he would wait until absolutely every last soldier
from across his kingdom had arrived. Then he would attack with overwhelming force.
He wanted to make sure that neither the Spaniards horses nor their superior military technology
would be enough to save them. He wanted to be sure he could eliminate
them completely. By the time that he was ready to attack, Manka would
command somewhere between one hundred to two hundred thousand warriors, a truly monumental feat
of organization. As native troops from around the Empire continued to arrive and reinforce
the Inca siege around the city, the individual formations on the hillside grew to
such an extent that soon the troops were camping right up against the house of
the city's outskirts day and night. The warriors kept up a deafening roar,
shouting taunts and insults in their various languages. This was kind of like a
psychological campaign that the Inca were waging. At the same time. The purpose
was to keep the Spaniards off balance and afraid. Pedro Pizarro would write,
quote, there was so much shouting in the din of voices that all of
us were astonished end quote. Far from believing the Spaniards to be gods from
across the sea, the native warriors now clearly showed the Spaniards uttered disdain and
contempt. Meanwhile, Manko Inca, receiving constant updates of the situation and his
headquarters in Kalka, was determined not to overlook any aspect of depending military assault.
The young emperor was well aware that the various religious aspects of the impending
struggle were so important a victory as were simply the mechanical preparations of troops,
weapons, food and supplies. The favor of the gods really mattered, at
least from the Inca perspective. Mango was constantly presiding over a variety of feasts,
fasts, sacrifices, all in an effort to try to secure divine intervention
on their behalf in the battle to come. Finally, on what Spaniards called
Saturday May six, fifteen thirty six, during the Catholic feast day of Saint
John, with hundreds upon thousands of Native warriors shouting loudly, manco Inca launched
his all out attack as natives blue on single conch shales and clay trumpets,
Legions of javelin hurluers, sling throwers jungle archers all began to unleash a violent
barrage of stones, javelins and arrows upon the city below. A whoosh sound
came through the air and turned into a crackling noise as the first missiles began
to slam into the stone flagging and walls. Those Spaniards who were unlucky enough
to be outside ran for cover. Hundreds of thousands of Native warriors shock troops
began to move slowly in unison down the hillside, penetrating into the city and
head towards the capital's main central square. Mano's native infantry marched in close formation.
They carried an assortment of three foot long clubs, battle axes, and
shields, all the while keeping up a deafening roar. Native military officers traveled
with them, carried a law off and respendent litters. Similar native legions had
carved out and conquered the Inca's two five hundred mile long empire. Now their
descendants marched with the obvious determination of crushing these invaders who had so disturbed the
equilibrium of their land. Manco and his general's strategy was a simple one.
They would force the Spaniards towards the center of the city, shrinking the area
that they currently occupied. Then they would simply overwhelm and crush them with natives
from every direction. Now entering the city, the conquistadors found themselves caught in
the center of a rapidly tightening noose. Every one of them realized that they
couldn't find a way to stomp Manco's onslaught, they would be squashed together and
bludgeoned to death with clubs. The barrage of arrows and missiles had already forced
the Spaniards into hiding on the hillsides just above the city. Meanwhile, native
troops seized and occupied the main fortress of Susquehan, along with its supply rooms
and weapons. From here, bilak Umu and many of his commanders would oversee
the battle and send messages back to Manco Inca in Calca, about two hours
away. Other Inca forces soon captured other strategic enclosures, one of which abutted
the northern corner of the main square, recalled Pedro Pisaro quote. The city
of Cusco adjoins a hill on the side where the fortress of Susqueham is,
and on this side the Indians came down to some houses near the plaza that
belonged to Gonzaro Pisaro and to his brother Juan Pisaro. And from here they
did us much harm, for with stones they hurled onto the plaza without our
being able to prevent it. The place is steep and is between a narrow
lane that the Indians had seized, and thus it was not possible to go
up to it without all those who entered it being killed. There was also
incredible noise, on account of the loud cries and howling that they made,
and of the conch shell horns and gourds that they sounded, so that it
seemed as if the very earth trembled under a withering hail of stones and projectiles.
The Spaniards who had been caught elsewhere in the city retreated to the main
square, which was lined with the Inca palaces that the Spaniards had seized and
occupied two years before. If the Inca strategy had been to encircle, squeeze,
and then crush, the Spaniards strategy was to just hold on if possible,
to two massive stone buildings the main palaces. These enclosures faced each other
on the eastern side of the square and had high gabled roofs of thatch and
were supported by big wooden beams. In desperation, the Spaniards converted these into
bunkers, relying on the roofs and walls to protect them from the relentless hail
of stones. One of these two buildings was under the command of Hernando Pisaro,
the other under the command of Hernan Ponstellion, not the guy from the
Fountain of View if he was. This guy's actually the former partner of De
Soto. So fierce was the native bombardment directly to them that the frightened Spaniards
were now unable even to venture out from either building. From within the dim
interiors, they just knelt and prayed. While outside rocks continue to thud fiercely
against the walls. According to one survive or quote, there were so many
sling shot stones coming in through the entryways of the doors that it seemed like
a dense hail at the time when the heavens are hailing furiously. End forced
to relinquish control of the city except for this small portion of the main square.
Pedro Pisaro recounted quote Hernando Pisardo. When his captains assembled many times to
discuss what should be done, some said we all to desert the town and
flee, while others said that we should hole up in the Great Hall of
the Palace, which was a great enclosure where we might all be, but
it had one doorway in a very high wall of stonemasonry. But none of
this advice was any good, for had we left Cusco, they would have
killed us all in many bad passes that are there, and had we taken
refuge in the enclosure, they would have imprisoned us with adobe bricks and stones.
Due to the huge number of native troops that there were. Before Hernando
could react, though, a devastating new problem appeared seemingly without warning. The
roofs of the houses within the city began exploding into flames. Evidently, Manko
had decided he would either rid himself of the Spanish or he would burn Cusco
to the ground. His warriors began heating stones until they were glowing hot,
then wrapping them in cotton before hurling them like sling shots into the city.
These tiny Molotov cocktails immediately ignited the roofs of the thatched buildings within the city.
Now Hernando found himself facing Manko warriors outside the city and a conflagration within
it. It was not long before the roof of the former palace within which
the Spaniards had made their base camp, caught on fire. One Spaniard recalled
quote, there happened to be a very strong wind that day, and as
the roofs of the houses were made of thatched, it seemed at one point
as if the entire city were one great sheet of flame. The Indians were
shouting so loudly, and the smoke was so thick that the men could neither
hear nor see one another end quote. Various sources describe what happened next.
According to some Spaniards, while the rest of Cousco burned, the flames on
the roof of the palace, somehow mysteriously went out. Later, some of
those present swore that the Virgin Mary herself had miraculously appeared with the flowing robe
and extinguished the flames. However, one scholar recounts a much more prosaic version,
and that is that the Spaniards owed their temper reprieved to the African slaves
they had stationed on the roof. Despite being ceaselessly fired upon by the arrows
of the natives, the Africans had been able to put out the fire.
With much of the city burning, and realizing that if they stayed within the
two buildings that they might soon be roasted to death, Hernando Pisaro decided that
he and his men had no choice but to leave the relative safety of the
building and launch a counter attack. According to one quote, it seemed to
them that it would better to go out than to perish there, And as
dense and continuous as the hail of rocks was, they suddenly came out together
with their Indian allies, and they went charging into their enemies in the lower
streets, destroying their entrenchment. Another chronicler added, when these native warriors saw
the Spaniards all gathered together, they fell upon them with great ferocity, hoping
to overrun them. The cavalry attacked them and held them up valiantly, and
both sides fought with great courage. Arrows and stones shot from slings rained down
on the Spaniards in a remark arkable way, but the horses, lances,
and armor were sufficient to cope with them, and they made no attack without
leaving at least one hundred and fifty or two hundred Indians dead on the ground.
As flaming roofs began to collapse and crash throughout the city, native warriors
were now able to run along the tops of the newly exposed walls, thus
gaining the advantage of height over the Spaniards and allowing themselves to be protected from
cavalry charges all day. As smoke poured from the city, the battle raged
fiercely. The Incas were primarily day fighters, however, and refused to fight
at night. Manka warriors on the first night seemed content to consolidate their advance
into the city by building barricades, further encircling the Spaniards within that night.
According to one chronicler quote, as they the Spaniards knew of no solution.
Their principal help came in resorting to God, such that all night in the
makeshift church built within the palace, they prayed for God to help them on
their knees and with their hands clasped near their mouths, which a lot of
Indians saw, and even those yards who were on the plaza guarding did the
same as well as many of the Indian allies. Quote. Another chronicler reports
the same writing, quote on their knees, the Christians begged for God's mercy
and called upon the Virgin Mary and all their saints. With tears in their
eyes, they prayed around quote bless us Saint James, bless us Holy Married
God, save us. They humbled themselves and with their weapons actually in their
hands, appealed to the Holy Mary. End quote. That evening, Hernando
Pizzado called a general meeting. Luckily for the Spanish her and then there was
a natural leader, even though he might be detested by some, who was
extremely cool under pressure, everyone realized their lives dependent on this man. He
stood and addressed the crowd as follows, gentlemen, I've asked you here to
meet me in order to speak to all of you, because it appears to
me that the Indians are shaming us more and more. I believe that the
reason for this is the lack of forcefulness and timidity that some of you have
shown. That's why we have abandoned most of the city. I don't want
it said of me at the land that Don Francisco Pizaro, my brother conquered
and populated, was lost in any way, shape or form because of fear,
Because anyone who really knows the Indians knows that weakness on our part only
makes them stronger. In the name of God and our King and defending our
houses in our estates, we will die if we must. Let's strengthen our
resolve with the understanding of why we have to fight, and then we will
not feel danger, because you already know that with courage one can achieve what
appears impossible, and without it, even that which is easy is made difficult.
That is why I urge upon you, and I am asking that all
of you agree to this, because divided will be lost even without an enemy.
Unanimously, the men agreed to fight on with no thought to their personal
safety. While outside the number of Incan fires set by Native troops seemed to
outnumber the very stars. Both sides oddly felt optimistic about the battle that day.
The Spaniards believed they had weathered the storm. The Inca believed that they
had the Spaniards pinned down in two buildings. Manco Inca sent messengers out to
his commanders that tomorrow they would finish the Spanish in Cusco and move on to
Lima. In his mind, it was all over. The next day,
soon after dawn, a gray roar went up from the hundreds of thousands of
native warriors on the hillsides. Once again, hordes of Native troops descended upon
the city, filling the streets and marching toward the main square, where they
expected the Spaniards to make their final stand. In and around the same square,
Spanish cavalry and foot soldiers waited, along with African slaves and Native auxiliaries.
Manco's troops soon began setting a fire rooftops that had somehow escaped the conference
gration the previous day. Thus, as the city continued to smoke and burn,
warriors ran along the tops of house walls, hurling javelins and slinging stones
down upon their enemies. Afraid that Manco's troops might try to set their last
two buildings on fire, the Spanish had purposefully posted men on both rooftops.
These men were busy putting out fires as the sling throwers or jungle warriors fired
hot stones or flaming arrows at them. Meanwhile, in the narrow streets below,
the two opposing forces met and grappled with each other in combat that was
designed to settle the fate of Peru. With their military options reduced, the
Spaniards relied upon one simple strategy in order to prevent the small area that they
presently held from being overrun. Their three cavalry units continually charged the native warriors
in an effect to disrupt their attacks. Everyone agreed it was better to meet
one's end fighting on the open square or upon the narrow streets than to be
caught cowering in one of the bunkers. No Spaniard wanted to be trapped inside
either building, burned or clubbed to death. Thus, like the native warriors
attacking them, the Spaniards fought savagely, stabbing and slicing at the enemy with
their lances and swords, butchering native after native leaving on the ground pools and
puddles of gore and blood. Maneuverability for the cavalry had become difficult. The
force of the cavalry was further blunted by the number of native innovations. For
example, when one twenty three year old cavalry officer led a charge down one
of Cousco's narrow streets, a group of Manko's warriors suddenly pushed a high wall
over which collapsed on top of him and his men. They were knocked from
their horses would certainly been killed if they were not rescued by their native auxiliaries.
Meanwhile, on the hillsides around the city, Manko's troops had been busy
implementing additional strategies in an effort to neutralize the Spanish horses on flat agricultural terraces
at the incas called annanes, in which they had used to transform the sloping
hillsides in certain areas into a series of giant, staggered platforms. Native warriors
now dug pits in order to prevent cavalry charges. Elsewhere in the surrounding hills.
Other natives disrupted aqueducts leading into the city, flooding the flatlands along the
rim of the valley and making it impossible for horses to gallop on the marshy
ground within Cusco. Manco's troops continued building more and more wicker barricades, using
these to block off entire streets and thus restrict the horse's mobility. As the
cavalry wind wheeled on their horses and attempted to cope with so many new obstacles,
Mancoes warriors now unleashed a new weapon, when they had previously only used
when hunting deer, another large game. One of the siege's survivors, rode
As, follows. They have many offensive weapons, such as lances, arrows,
clubs, axes, halberds, darts and slings, and another type of
weapon that they call the eyelas, which were made from three round stones place
and sewn up in leather bags and attached to accord a yard long. They
throw these at the horses and thus bind their legs together, and sometimes they
will hit the rider and bind a man's arms to his body. These Indians
are so good at this that they can bring down a deer in the countryside.
Spaniards soon began calling these Inca's new strange weapon bolus or balls. In
response to the Inca's latest tactics, the Spaniards were forced to quickly come up
with counter strategies of their own. Because of the bolus, the cavalrymen now
needed foot soldiers to accompany them in order to cut them free when they became
entangled. Parties of Spanish horsemen and infantry meanwhile worked feverishly to destroy the barricades
in the streets. Although no Spaniard had yet been killed, many had nevertheless
received serious wounds on their arms, hands, legs, and faces, and
all of them realized that the desperate situation would have been even worse without the
help of their native auxiliaries. One man recounted quote, the friendly Indians were
of great help in curing the wounds and administering to all other needs, bringing
healing herbs and food to eat. On seeing this, many of the Spaniards
themselves so that they were in such straits that they did not know what would
have happened if had it not been for the help of those Indians end quote.
Despite the Inca's best efforts, the Spaniards were still able to kill several
hundred native warriors while suffering no fatalities themselves, although it is likely that many
of their native auxiliaries did lose their lives. Manco's generals quickly learned that although
their troops could apparently wound the Spaniards, it was nevertheless extremely difficult for the
warriors to kill them. Only by surrounding a cavalryman and pulling him from his
horse that they have a chance at killing an armored Spaniard in hand to hand
combat. The Spaniards took little consolation from their lack of casualties. After two
days of successive native attacks, their prospects remained grim. They were massively outnumbered
and their supplies were growing short. If they had anny chance of survival,
they needed to dislodge Manko's warriors from the fortress of Susqueham. If they could
take the fortress, then the Spaniards could eliminate attacks on their most exposed flank
and hold the most strategic military area on the Heights. After consulting with his
captains, Hernando finally decided that seizing Susqueham was the only means of reducing their
vulnerability, despite the clear and obvious danger that a frontal attack on the heavily
guarded fortress would entail Pedro Pizardo would later write, Nando Pisaro agreed that we
should go and try to capture the fortress, for it was from there we
were receiving the most damage, because at the very beginning an agreement was not
reached to take it before the Indians laid siege, nor was the importance of
holding it realized. This being agreed upon, we of the cavalry were given
the job to ready our weapons and go and take it. Juan Pisaro was
put in charge. Now, Juan was very popular amongst his fellow countrymen.
Earlier that day, he had been fighting on horseback when another cavalryman was struck
on his helmet with a large stone. He fell to the ground unconscious.
Spotting the danger Juan had written over, leapt from his horse and gone to
the man's aid. As Juan was dragging the fallen comrade to safety, a
native slingthrower unleashed a stone that struck him squarely in the draw. Although he
was stunned, Juan managed to pull his companion to safety. By evening,
though Juan's jaw had become so swollen that he was no longer able to wear
a helmet. Nevertheless, he was twenty three years old, ready and willing
to lead an attack on Susqueham. As Hernando had asked, helmet or no
helmet, Juan was going forward. The fortress Jan had to storm was formidable,
to say the least. Susqueham was built on a rocky edge on the
northern part of the city, protected on three sides by steep slopes, which
prevented a direct attack. On its northern side, facing away from the city,
the fortress fronted a grassy plain that the Incas frequently had used her festivals.
Since the fortress was pregnable only from that direction, the Incas built a
series of giant walls there with which to defend it. As one later scholar
would write, quote, on the side of the fortress that is less steep,
there are three walls, one above the other. The most beautiful thing
that can be seen among the buildings of that land are these walls, because
they are of stone, so large that no one who sees them would say
they had been placed there by human hands, For they are as large as
chunks of mountains, and they have a height of thirty palms about twenty one
feet in a length as many more. These walls twist more or less zigzag
in such a way that if they are bombarded it is impossible to do so
from directly in front, but only obliquely. The whole fortress was a warehouse
of weapons, clubs, lance's bows, axe's shield vests, thickly padded with
cotton, and other weapons of various sorts, gathered from every corner of the
realm that was subject to the Inca lord. Together, Juan and Hernando decided
that the only way to break into the fortress was first to take out the
legions of warriors to the north of the city. Yet to the many who
listened, the plan sounded suicidal. It might have been, but they had
no choice. If Juan had Nano and their men were to remain in Cusco,
Manco would eventually overwhelmed them. The math wasn't on their side. Losses
or no time wasn't on their side. Resources weren't on their side. Their
only chance was to throw the dice, trust in their God and hope for
the best. And so on the morning of May the thirteenth, fifteen thirty
six, Juan Pisado and about fifty horsemen quote emerged from the church and mounted
their horses as if they were going to fight, and started to look from
side to side. While they were looking about in this way, they suddenly
put their spurs to their horses, and then a full gallop, despite the
enemy, broke through the opening that had been sealed in the wall and charged
off up the hillside at a breakneck speed and quote. Juan's cousin Pedro recalled
how he and the rest of the cavalry had to first break through the native
contingents hurling stones at them, and then how they had to zig zag up
the steep hillside, stopping frequently while their native auxiliaries cleared the way. He
would later write again, quote, we went up through Carmeneca, a very
narrow road, bordered on one side by a hillside and the other by a
ravine deep in some places. And from this ravine they inflicted much damage on
us with stones and arrows, and they had also destroyed the road in some
places, and had made many holes in it. Went this way with great
efforts and difficulty, because we kept stopping and waiting while the few friendly Indians
we had with us, fewer than a hundred, filled up the holes and
repaired the roads end quote. The Spanish cavalry then wheeled east and charged in
the direction of the fortress, quickly reaching the grassy plain that stretched before its
northern wall. But now Juan really had a problem. His horses might be
a devastating weapon, but he was looking at a three thousand foot long wall
built of truly gargantuan stones, each one weighing three hundred and sixty tons or
more. As mentioned, these roads between twenty one to twenty eight feet in
the air, and I mean look as great as their horses were, they
can't ride up a vertical wall, making matters worse. Manco had troops on
every terrace ready to rain down projectiles on the Spaniards if they came. If
the attackers did manage to get control of one level, the Inca could just
move up to the next, and the next, and the next, and
continue the bombardment. Even those who had not originally questioned the sanity of the
plans must now have been having second thoughts. On the broad summit above the
wall stood a labyrinth the buildings, and from amongst those rose three stone towers.
The central tower was the tallest and was four to five stories in height,
cone shaped, measuring seventy five feet in diameter. The two flanking at
on either side was nearly the same height and were rectangular. Beneath the towers
ran a series of different secret tunnels that extended out at least as far as
the defensive wall and perhaps beyond. Built during the previous century, susqueham which
actually means Fortress of the Satisfied Falcon, was so big that the entire population
of Cusco, if necessary, could find refuge within it. With at least
thirty thousand native warriors now defending it and the high priest villac Umu personally directing
the efforts, the fifty Spanish cavalrymen and maybe one hundred native allies were faced
with a seemingly insurmountable task. Had to figure out a way to breach these
massive walls and then seize the fortress from its defenders. Juan Pisaro and Ponce
de Leon, who remained with the expedition, now launched a series of direct
attacks on the fortress. The closer the Spanish got, the thicker the hail
of stones and other projectiles that rained down upon them. During the final charge,
Juan Pisato's own page was killed felled by a single stone. Many other
Spaniards had their horses wounded in what was becoming an increasingly desperate struggle. Not
Able to wear a helmet due to the head wound he had re suffered the
day before. With the last rays of sun falling, one urged on his
fellow cavalrymen for one final charge, shouting the traditional cries of Santiago, before
galloping across the grassy plain as stone missiles began to whizz down on top of
them, bouncing back up from the ground like massive hailstones. Wheeling to stop
before the main gate and protecting themselves with their shields, the Spaniards leaped from
their horses, then threw themselves against a large wicker barrier that had sealed the
gateway, somehow breaking through, the Spaniards now began to force their way up
the stone stair that led to the first terrace. As the native defenders rushed
to close off the breach, an increasingly heavy volley of rocks and missiles rained
down upon the Spaniards from above, loudly clanging off their armor. The Warrior's
figures counterattack soon forced the Spaniards to retreat back down the stairway and out onto
the plane, Shouting at his men to renew their efforts. Juan once again
surged forward, swinging his sword fiercely and forcing his way ahead, almost hurling
himself against a tide of native bodies. Juan's cousin Pedro recalled what happened next,
quote from a terrace that is on one side of the courtyard. They
showered us with so many stones and arrows that we could not protect ourselves.
And for this reason, Juan Pisaro shoved some of the infantry men toward the
terrace, which was so low, so that some of the Spaniards might get
up on it and drive the Indians from there. And while he was fighting
with these Indians in order to drive them away, neglected to cover his head
with his shield, and with so many stones that they were throwing, one
of them hit him on the head and cracked his skull, bleeding from what
was an obviously serious head injury. One nevertheless continued fighting until his Spaniards and
their native allies had gained a foothold on the first terrace, but with darkness
descending, and still being pummeled from the two sets of walls above them.
The Spaniards were gradually forced once again to retreat back down the wall and across
the plain, some remounting their horses, while others just stumbled backwards, holding
up their shields or protection. Mango's warriors meanwhile advanced after them, shouting insults,
while others continued to relentlessly whirl and launch a seemingly inexhaustible supply of stones,
reaching the relative safety of some of the buildings beyond the wall. Juan
Pisado now collapsed. Native auxiliaries carried him back down the steep hillside and into
the city, and he would drift in and out of consciousness for the next
few days while the battle continued to swirl around him. Three days after his
assault on Susqueham, the twenty five year old was loosed enough to dictate his
will, which a notary duly recorded as follows quote, I Juan Pisaro,
citizen of this great city of Cusco in the Kingdom of New cast deal.
Firstly, I commend my soul to God, who created and redeemed it with
his precious blood and body. And I order that if God decides to take
me from this present life. Because of the sickness I now have that my
body be buried in the main church in this city until such a time as
my brothers had Anando Pisarto and Gonzalo Pisarto carry my bones back to Spain.
I ordered that on the day of my death a requiem mass be sung,
and that a mass be sung on each of the following nine days. I
also order, because I received sexual services from an Indian woman who was given
birth to a child whom I do not recognize as my daughter, that,
nevertheless, because of the services of her mother, I ordered that if this
girl becomes of marriageable age and weds with the blessing of my brother Hernando Pisaro,
that she'd be given two thousand ducats for her marriage. However, if
she dies before marrying without heirs, it is my desire that the two thousand
ducats be returned not to her heirs, but to mine. This will was
made and approved before the notary public and witnesses in the said capital of Couscoe
on the sixteenth day of the month of May, in the year one thousand,
five hundred and thirty six of the birth of our Savior Jesus christ end
Quote. Two weeks after his injury, Juan Pisaro died. Despite his final
request, Juan's body was never returned to Spain. He was the first of
five Pisado brothers to die in Peru. He would not be the last.
With options running out, Cannando Pizzano wasted no time mourning his brother. He
didn't have the time to waste. He appointed his brother Gonzalo commander and ordered
him to complete the assault of the fortress. By now, both sides realized
the fight for Sasquaham was the great rebellion. If Manko could hold onto the
fortress, he would be able to hold onto his kingdom. If not,
and the odds were not in his favor, Manko called up five thousand more
men to defend his fortress. Hernando ordered a dozen more cavalry men to the
front, but these calvalrymen were men who could not now defend Cusco. Manko
could continue to call up additional resources, Hernando had to use what he had.
He had no illusions that he would not be reinforced anytime soon. All
day in Cusco, the fighting continued. Hundreds of native warriors were slaughtered due
to the Spaniards better armor, horses, and weaponry. Nevertheless, Manko's warriors
continued pressing forward. Piles of dead bodies littered the streets of what had once
been a glorious capital of the Inca Empire. Above the city on the grassy
plained before Susqueham Manko's fresh troops had arrived and now began pressing Gonzalo in his
cavalry so much that quote, the Spaniards were in a very difficult situation with
these reinforcements, because the Indians who arrived were fresh and attacked with great determination
that night. Exhausted, wounded, and increasingly desperate, the Spaniards were nevertheless
ready with a new plan. Realizing that Manco might send even more troops the
following day, and that their exposed presence above the city only invited greater counter
attacks, the Spanish captains decided to mount a night attack on the fortress.
The Spaniards knew full well that Manco's troops would never expect such an attack.
They also knew the natives disliked fighting at night, especially on the night of
a new moon, which was due that very night. Thus, despite the
day's fierce fighting, the Spaniards were somehow able to supervise the building of assault
ladders, probably constructed by native auxiliaries. The ladders were similar to those the
Spaniards had used on the Iberian Peninsula for century after century to assault the castles
of the Moors. Under the cover of darkness, Hernando Pisato and many other
Spanish soldiers within the city now secret climbed up the hill to join those above.
Before them lay the ink of fortress. As quietly as they could,
the Spaniards and their auxiliaries began carrying their assault ladders across the plain, seeking
out the darkest sections of the walls from which to stage their attack. Pulling
themselves on to the top of the first wall, the Spaniards attacked the first
startled sentries before the natives even understood what was happening. Slicing and stabbing with
their swords, the Spaniards quickly gave in the terrace along the top of the
first wall. Their native auxiliaries meanwhile climbed up after them, pulling the ladders
up from behind. Soon an alert was sounded and stones began to pelt down.
The conquistadors nevertheless continued throwing their ladders up against the next wall, climbing
up holding their shields in one hand and the swords in the other. Caught
by surprise, Manko's troops were soon forced to abandon the two lower terraces,
but rallied on top of the third. Directly behind rose the complex of buildings
and the three towers that loomed ahead in the night. With only one wall
remaining, the defenders had no choice but to make a final defensive stand.
According to one quote, I'm able to certify that this was the most fearful,
cruel war in the world between the Christians and Moors. There is some
mercy, and those whom they take alive can have some consolation because of ever
present ransoms. But here amongst these Indians there is neither love, nor reason
nor fear of God. They kill us as cruelly as they can, and
quote with a ferocity born of desperation. The Spaniards swung their swords, fending
off volley after volley of stone missiles with their shields. Throughout that long night,
the two sides fought, the Spanish forces on one side, pushing against
Manko's forces on the other. When dawn broke, the Spaniards and Manko's troops
were still locked together, neither side having slept now for a day and a
night, and no rest coming in the horizon. Despite the spaniards best efforts,
though, the Native defenders still held the three towers and most of the
buildings, while the Spaniards and their native auxiliaries held the terraced walls below.
Vilac Umu and his Great General meanwhile continued to direct the defenders from somewhere deep
within the complex of buildings. Susqueham, however, had one glaring weakness it
had no source of water. Soon the situation started to deteriorate, vilac Umu
decided there was not enough water and weapons to supply his defenders. As a
result, he ordered the defenders to break through the Spaniards rank, allowing himself
and some of the major generals to escape. Making their way to Kolka,
the two leaders urged Manko to send additional troops, hoping that a fresh counter
attack would route and destroy the Spaniards. By now, however, the remaining
Native to fenders had retreated to the three towers. Ernando Pisardo ordered that the
scaling ladders be set against all three of the towers at once, and that
his men stormed them simultaneously. With the Native defenders now out of weapons and
the Spaniards climbing onto all three towers, the route soon became a slaughter.
Countless Natives, rather than face sure death at the hands of the Spaniards,
chose instead to leap from the high walls and from the towers. Most died
on impact. Others fell on top of piles of the dead and survived,
although they two were soon clubbed or stabbed to death. By the time the
last defenders of the fortress were overcome, so many bodies lay strewn about the
area that groups of vultures and black condors soon descended to the ground to feast
upon their flesh. One of the Spanish attackers wrote, quote, we assaulted
and captured the fortress, killing three thousands souls. They killed our captain,
Juan Pisado, and during the combat in the city they killed four Christians,
not including more than thirty others who they killed on the ranches and the farms
of the Indian chiefs while we were out collecting tribute and quote. As usual
in the lopsided battles between the Natives and Spaniards. Thousands died on the Inca
side, while the Spaniards suffered relatively few losses thus far in Mango's rebellion.
In fact, the mortality score had risen to perhaps two to four thousand dead
native troops versus roughly thirty five dead Spaniards. The lopsided ratio, however,
and indeed nearly three years of almost uninterrupted Spanish victories, was about to change,