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1536 - The battle for Sacsahuaman The battle for Sacsahuaman Fierce skirmishes ensued over the next few days and the Spanish were successful in eventually recapturing a portion of the city. They also determined to recapture the mighty fortress of Sacsahuaman, just outside Cuzco, which was serving as a stronghold for many of the Indians. The Spaniards realised that this would give them an advantage point from which to launch further attacks against the natives.  Sacsahuaman
lies immediately above Cuzco and was primarily protected by three
massive terraced walls, rising over sixty feet and built in a
zig-zag fashion in order to break up attacking forces. Within
the terraced walls were three huge towers, the largest of which
had a rectangular base sixty-five feet long and rose up five
storeys. It could comfortably house over 5,000 soldiers and was
described by later Spanish historians as having "too many rooms and towers for one person to visit them all".A contingent of horseman, lead by Juan Pizarro, fought its way bravely through numerous pits and traps to reach the outer walls of Sacsahuaman. The natives responded with slingshots and javelins from the walls of the fortress and the Spanish suffered heavy losses. Juan Pizarro was mortally wounded during the attack and died the next day in Cuzco. He was buried secretly so that the Indians would not know and be encouraged for "he was a very brave man and the Indians were very frightened of him". The Spaniards continued their attacks on Sacsahuaman. "There was terrible confusion. Everyone was shouting and they were all entangled together... it looked as though the whole world was up there grappling in close combat". The Spaniards launched a surprise night attack, complete with scaling ladders, and were successful in breaching the outer walls. The Indians retreated to the three towers and defended them bravely for several days, flinging down boulders and javelins on their attackers.  Finally
"the remainder of the Indians gave way, so that Hernando
Pizarro and all his men were able to enter. They put all those
inside the fortress to the sword - there were 1,500 of them".
Many of the Indians flung themselves from the high walls of the
fortress. "Since these were high the men who fell first
died. But some of those who fell later survived because they
landed on top of a great heap of dead men". The native
bodies were left for the vultures and giant condors to prey upon.
The coat of arms for the city of Cuzco, awarded in 1540, shows
eight vultures "in memory of the fact that when the castle
was taken these birds descended to eat the natives who had died".A turning point The recapture of Sacsahuaman marked a turning point in the siege of Cuzco. The Spaniards now had a base from which to defend the city and launch punitive raids on the Indian armies. Hernando Pizarro ordered his men to kill any native women that were captured during the fighting, the idea being to deter the fighting men and deprive them of the valuable support that their wives provided. On another raid, 200 natives were captured and "the right hands were cut off all these men... they were then released so that they would go off. This acted as a dreadful warning to the rest". The morale of the native forces began to wane. Some of the generals criticised Manco for not having attacked the Spanish sooner. Others lamented his decision to command from nearby Calca instead of providing inspirational leadership by personally leading his forces in the attacks. Furthermore, many of the Indian army were farmers who were anxious to return home to plant their crops before the rains came. The resulting decrease in native numbers forced Manco to reduce his attacks on Cuzco and to maintain the siege until further reinforcements could be found. |
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