[133] The real truth was that there was not a single one of the old and trusted captains of the elder Almagro with his son; Diego de Alvarado had gone to Spain, Orgónez and Lerma were slain at or after Las Salinas, Francisco de Chaves had been murdered by Juan de Herrada, and Sotelo by García de Alvarado. The rest were disgusted with the murder of the Marquis and at Juan de Herrada being placed over them. Four, indeed, were actually fighting in the army of Vaca Castro, namely Gómez de Alvarado, Saavedra, Guevara, and Montemayor.
The murder of the ever faithful and very able Captain Sotelo was a fatal blow to young Almagro. There was no one at Chupas that he could trust. Six of his captains were actual assassins of the Marquis Pizarro, three others were accomplices outside the chamber. Little reliance could be placed on the rest. The assassins and their accomplices would be fighting with ropes round their necks and would fight hard. But the ill-fated young half-caste, with his ability and bravery, was doomed.
[134] Both were assassins of the Marquis. They did this to escape the halter.
[135] Some authorities say that the Inca Paula and his Indians, on the side of Almagro, made an attack early in the day, which was repulsed.
[136] Juan Rodriquez Barragán, the ensign Enrique, and eight others also fled with Don Diego, as well as Diego Méndez.
Juan Balsa, Almagro's Captain-General, fled to Vilcas where he was killed by the natives. He had a house at Cuzco and had married an Inca Princess.
Some authorities say that Pedro Suárez, when he marshalled Almagro's army, told Don Diego to remain on the spur. His plan was to defend the ascent from the Lambras-huayccu ravine and not to attack. It is said that when Don Diego charged down at the head of his cavalry, Suárez told him that he would be defeated, but that if he had taken his advice he would have been victorious. It is added that he abandoned Don Diego, and went over to the side of Vaca de Castro. This story is not mentioned by Cieza de León.
[137] Holguin, Tordoya, and Gómez de Alvarado are said to have been buried in the little church of San Cristóbal at Guamanga, near the head of the avenue leading to the Chupas road. But Cojo Arias told me of the tradition that Gómez de Tordoya was not buried with the others, but in the church of La Merced, nearer the centre of the town. In 1887 a statue of a warrior was found in a niche in La Merced, recumbent on a mortuary bed, embracing his sword. It is of sandstone and 6-1/2 feet long. It no doubt represents Gómez de Tordoya, probably due to the piety of his cousin Garcilaso de la Vega. The Indians of Guamanga (Ayacucho) are renowned as sculptors.
[138] All three were actual assassins of the Marquis Pizarro.
[139] Viz., Juan Tello de Guzmán, and Almagro's Camp-master Pedro de Oñate.