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Peru Colonial Period
Although the Spanish were able to impose effective
control
over much of the region by 1537, the conquerors soon fell
to
fighting among themselves over the spoils of their
success. Order
under the Spanish viceroys was gradually established and
extended, but not without regular and persistent
challenges at
the local or regional level from dissident indigenous
groups,
often in the name of the Inca. Because of the economic
importance
of Peru to the crown, second only to Mexico, there was a
larger
Spanish military presence here than in the rest of Spain's
New
World empire. Even so, until the colonial reforms of 1764
by the
Bourbon dynasty in Spain, the military garrisons were
small and
stationed in the cities. Many career officers and troops
served
their tours of duty in these Peruvian cities and then
returned to
Spain. Landowners were left to their own devices for
protecting
their local interests, so they raised private militias as
necessary. Military forces during the last sixty years of
Spanish
rule were more regularized and institutionalized into
three
categories: Spanish regiments on temporary service, others
on
permanent colonial service, and colonial militias.
The independence movements that began to sweep Latin
America
in 1810 during Napoleon Bonaparte's occupation of Spain
and his
brother Joseph's brief reign were slow to reach Peru, but
they
inevitably arrived. New regiments raised locally to
protect the
viceroyalty initially defeated independence forces
attempting to
liberate the area from outside, but eventually played an
important role in ousting the Spaniards themselves.
However, the
main impetus for independence came from Simón Bolívar
Palacios
and José de San Martín from the viceroyalties of New
Granada and
Río de la Plata (River Plate), respectively. It was San
Martín
who brought his army to Peru from Chile and took Lima
after
refusing to negotiate with the viceroy, declaring
independence on
July 28, 1821, and making himself military dictator. He
used this
position to advance the cause of independence and to
prepare
militarily for the final campaigns against the Spanish.
This
preparation included establishment of a series of military
units,
the first of which, called the Peruvian Legion, was formed
on
August 18, 1821. In addition, he formed Los Montoneros, a
mounted
guerrilla force, to harass the royalists and shield the
operations of the republican regulars.
San Martín resigned and went into exile in France
before full
independence was secure, when he realized that he and
Bolívar
would not be able to cooperate. Nevertheless, San Martín's
earlier organizational and training efforts earned him the
sobriquet of protector of Peruvian independence and
founder of
the EP. As San Martín had expected, Bolívar went on to win
the
Battle of Junín in August 1824, with significant help from
the
forces that San Martín had prepared. These Peruvian units
also
made important contributions to the final battle for
independence
at Ayacucho on December 9, 1824, under the command of
General
Antonio José de Sucre Alcalá
(see
Independence Imposed From Without, 1808-24
, ch. 1).
Data as of September 1992
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