Battle of Sipe-Sipe
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Sipe-Sipe (also known as Battle of Viluma among Spanish historians) was a major battle in the South American wars of independence
South American Wars of Independence
The Latin American Wars of Independence were the various revolutions that took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and resulted in the creation of a number of independent countries in Latin America. These revolutions followed the American and French Revolutions, which had profound...

 in which the United Provinces of Río de la Plata (formerly the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, , was the last and most short-lived Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in America.The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 out of several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata basin, roughly the present day...

) were decisively defeated by Spanish royalist forces in Upper Peru
Upper Peru
Upper Peru was the region in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and after 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, comprising the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Los Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas...

 (now Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

). The battle took place on November 29, 1815, and resulted in the loss of Upper Peru for Buenos Aires. The area was reannexed by the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...

.

The Army of the North
Army of the North
The Army of the North , contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest and the Upper Peru from the royalist troops of the Spanish...

 had been under the command of José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...

, but for health reasons he asked to be relieved. He was replaced by José Rondeau
José Rondeau
José Casimiro Rondeau Pereyra was a general and politician in Argentina and Uruguay in the early 19th century.-Biography:...

. At the time of the third campaign in Upper Peru (the first two had been beaten off), General Carlos María de Alvear
Carlos María de Alvear
Carlos María de Alvear was an Argentine soldier and statesman, Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1815....

 was named by Supreme Director Ignacio Álvarez Thomas
Ignacio Álvarez Thomas
José Ignacio Álvarez Thomas was a South American military commander and politician of the early 19th century....

 to replace Rondeau. However Rondeau's officers revolted, and communicated to him that they would obey only his orders. Rondeau, now in revolt himself, accepted the officers' proposal and remained in charge.

General Martín Miguel de Güemes
Martín Miguel de Güemes
Martín Miguel de Güemes was a military leader and popular caudillo who defended northwestern Argentina from the Spanish during the Argentine War of Independence.-Biography:...

, a rival of Rondeau, withdrew the support of his Gauchos and retired to Salta
Salta
Salta is a city in northwestern Argentina and the capital city of the Salta Province. Along with its metropolitan area, it has a population of 464,678 inhabitants as of the , making it Argentina's eighth largest city.-Overview:...

, taking with him the part of the army that was in Jujuy. After a successful battle in April at Puesto del Marquéz, near today's border between Bolivia and Argentina, Rondeau's army reached Potosí
Potosí
Potosí is a city and the capital of the department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world by elevation at a nominal . and it was the location of the Spanish colonial mint, now the National Mint of Bolivia...

 by June and Chayanta
Chayanta
Chayanta is:*Chayanta Province, a province in the Potosí Department in Bolivia*Chayanta Municipality, a municipio in the Rafael Bustillo Province in Bolivia*Chayanta, Bolivia, a small town in the Chayanta Municipality in Bolivia...

 by September. In October, an attempt to overrun a small Royalist garrison at Venta y Media ended in defeat. Undeterred, the Army of the North occupied Cochabamba
Cochabamba
Cochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the fourth largest city in Bolivia with an urban population of 608,276 and a metropolitan population of more than 1,000,000 people...

.

From Cochabamba, Rondeau camped in the plateau of Sipe-Sipe, near the city of the same name. There on November 28, 1815 his forces were met by the Royalist forces from Peru under Brigadier Joaquín de la Pezuela
Joaquín de la Pezuela
Joaquín de la Pezuela Griñán y Sánchez Muñoz de Velasco, 1st marquis of Viluma was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of Peru during the War of Independence.-Background:...

. Rondeau had 3,000 to 3,500 men and nine field guns; Pezuela commanded 5,100 men and 23 field guns.

The result of the battle the next day was the most serious defeat of the independentist movements since the Battle of Huaqui
Battle of Huaqui
The Battle of Huaqui , was a battle between the Primera Junta's revolutionary troops and the royalist troops of the Viceroyalty of Peru on the border between Upper Peru, , and the Viceroyalty of Peru on June 20, 1811.- Prelude :The army commanded by Juan...

in 1811. The insurgents' losses were estimated at 2,000 men and all of their artillery. With this defeat, the region of Upper Peru was finally lost to the United Provinces, and Spanish control was reestablished.

For his success, in 1816 Pezuela was named interim viceroy of Peru by royal order dated October 15, 1815. The following year he was also promoted to lieutenant general and given the title Marquis of Viluma. Rondeau was removed from his command in 1816 and he returned to Buenos Aires.
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