The world's leading conquerors

by Wilson Lloyd Bevan

Francis Pizarro had been associated with Balboa up to the time of that leader’s assassination; afterwards he planned to act on his own account, and his planning ended in the organization of an expedition to acquire this empire of the south. The natural son of a Spanish noble, Pizarro, who was born about 1471 at Truxillo, had had no such advantages of education as those enjoyed by Cortez; he lacked also that conqueror’s impetuosity and chivalrous traits. Of the bad sides of the earlier conquistador he had more than a double portion; he was cold, calculating, and inflexible, shrinking from no cruelty and without a trace of the emotionalism which made Cortez so popular among his men.

Before giving a concrete shape to his scheme of conquest, he formed a commercial arrangement with Almagro an adventurer, and Luque a priest and schoolmaster of Panama, for the purpose of getting a financial backing. The first essay made in 1524 ended without tangible results. The coast of Peru was seen, and the adventurers were long enough on shore at Tumbez to see a surprisingly large number of gold and silver ornaments. They were not sufficiently strong to carry them off, but they had seen enough to pay for the hardships of their three years’ trip south and back. Pizarro then betook himself to Spain to get further support, and before he returned to Panama he had made personal arrangements with the government with respect to the basis on which he would carry out his plan of conquest. Some jealousy arose because of Pizarro’s manifest intention to assume the place of senior partner; the proposed expedition was saved only by the diplomacy of Luque, who again drew together his two comrades.

Finally, in 1532, Pizarro sailed away from Panama with three ships carrying in all 120 men and 36 horses. According to the plan accepted, Almagro was to follow with reinforcements, while Don Luque remained in Panama to prevent outside interference with the combination. News had come, as we have mentioned, to the ears of Huaina Ccapac of the landing of white men at Tumbez in 1525. Between this date and the year of Pizarro’s second trip had intervened the period of civil war between the rival claimants, with the captivity of the legitimate son, Huascar, in the spring of 1532. By April, after a two months’ trip down the coast, Pizarro arrived off the pueblo of Tumbez. He found it abandoned and dismantled. Spending some time exploring the neighborhood, he founded the town of San Miguel, and was put in possession of the facts that gave him his opportunity for advance into the interior. Huascar, desiring to get the coöperation of the Spaniards in maintaining his hold on the country, sent messengers to Pizarro with such encouraging words that the plan of conquest could already be outlined. Pizarro knew how, by making use of the divisions of the natives, Cortez had taken Mexico; his own opportunity had come sooner than he had expected. “If the land had not been divided,” said Pedro Pizarro, “we should have been able neither to enter nor conquer it.” On September 24, 1532, only about 200 Europeans, all told, set out; but the number of natives in Pizarro’s army was considerable. All the partisans of Huascar in the neighborhood were expected to join the Spaniards, because before setting out Pizarro had announced his intention of supporting Huascar, the “natural lord of the country.”

The Spaniards had, however, not made much progress towards the pueblo of Caxamalca when word came from Atahuallpa, the other claimant, that he desired the friendship of Pizarro; to reinforce his friendly sentiments a present accompanied the message. Pizarro spoke, in reply, of his desire for the Inca chieftain to be his friend and brother, and explained that his chief purpose in coming was to teach the principles of the Christian religion. Shortly after this official description of his mission had been given Pizarro moved forward; no opposition was offered, although in one place a large river had to be crossed where resistance would have been easy.

In order to obtain information about Atahuallpa efforts were made, without success, to get some account of his intentions. An Indian chief was tortured; his information was that the Inca was preparing to make war, in three places, on the Christians; later on it was reported that Atahuallpa was near Caxamalca with over 50,000 warriors. Perplexed, Pizarro employed a native notable to go to Atahuallpa as a friendly envoy to make clear to him that the Spaniards were coming as allies. As Pizarro’s men began to fear that they would be exposed to attack on the last stage of the journey, they were comforted by their commander’s assurance that they were really nothing more than peaceful missionaries of God and representatives of their king to ignorant heathen to whom they wished no harm.

The fears of the adventurers were set at rest by discovering from the natives they passed on their march up the sierras, that Atahuallpa was not preparing to meet them in anything but a peaceful fashion. In the difficult region through which they were being led, their advance could have been checked by a slight display of force. But the friendly attitude of the Inca chieftain was proved on several occasions by the appearance of messengers with food; Pizarro promised, on his side, that he would help to put down any remaining disaffection. On the part of the inhabitants there was no reason to suspect that the orders given by their superiors to serve and obey the newcomers were not reasonable. The general impression among the natives was that the Europeans were children of their god, the sun. Naturally this belief tended to give them a sacred character. Up to the present, indeed, there had been no conflicts with the natives except at Tumbez and at Puna, where the opposition was confined to a few hundred Indians. On the arrival in Caxamalca, Pizarro still kept up the ruse of being an ingenuous tourist; he sent personally to Atahuallpa to beg for an interview, insisting on his willingness to help him, and promising, if enemies were pointed out, he would send his men to reduce them.

Pizarro had now no difficulty in applying the scheme of conquest so successfully illustrated by Cortez in Mexico, but common enough to the conquistadors everywhere. By getting possession of the chief, the Spaniards made sure of the people; like Montezuma in Mexico, Atahuallpa in Peru was adored as a god. To put the capture of the Inca into execution was not difficult. He was invited to be present at a feast given by Pizarro. Under cover of this hospitable act his person could be seized. The risk came from the fact that he had about him 30,000 men. The night before the plot was to be carried out the Spanish camp gave itself up to religious exercises, the captain Pizarro taking the lead in encouraging his men to face the coming danger. Much comfort was derived from the assurances of the ecclesiastics who accompanied the expedition that God was on their side and would aid them to put his enemies to confusion. Careful arrangements had been made that the Spanish men-at-arms should be held in readiness in their quarters, prepared to sally into the square of the town at a moment’s notice. The artillerymen were bidden to train their guns on the Inca camp, and fire on it when the command was given. Pizarro took with him twenty men to aid in the seizure of Atahuallpa. In the great square where the Spaniards were lodged no one was to leave quarters until the artillery fire began. Much help was expected from the horsemen in causing a panic among the Indians, and they were told to put little bells on the harness.

The square of the pueblo that Pizarro selected to carry out his plan seemed expressly constructed for the deed. Triangular in shape, there were but two means of egress from it—two doors which gave access to the streets of the town. When the time appointed came, as the Inca chief delayed, Pizarro sent word to him to be expeditious, as the meal was being delayed until he arrived. Atahuallpa, taking an escort of 6000, who were unarmed except for small cudgels and slings, came into the square. Here there was every appearance of festivity; some of the men were dancing and singing; some carried plates and crowns of gold and silver. In a litter, made of gold and silver, Atahuallpa was borne along through the files of his escort, who parted ranks when he appeared, all keeping absolute silence. He then listened to a harangue from a Spanish friar inviting him to obey the Pope and receive the faith of Christ, and also to become the friend and tributary of the King of Spain. Otherwise he was threatened with the fate of an enemy; the Spaniards told him they would abolish all idols, “so that you may leave the lying religion of your many and false gods.”

Atahuallpa, in his answer, objected to taking the proffered position of tributary, but wished to be a friend of the King of Spain; he also declined to receive his kingdom at the hands of the Pope, as the friar had told him the King of Spain had done. On theological points he showed himself a skilled disputant, contrasting the Christian God, who had died, with the sun and moon, who had never died. He also inquired of the friar how he knew that the God of the Christians had created the world. The pious friar gave him his Breviary, explaining that he had learnt of the Creator from that book. Atahuallpa looked at it, opened its pages, first thanked him, then threw it on the ground, saying it told him nothing of the kind. Indignantly the friar picked up the Breviary and rushed to Pizarro, crying out, “The Gospels are on the ground. Vengeance! Christians, at them! they do not wish our friendship nor our law! Kill these dogs who despise God’s law. Go on, and I absolve you.”

At this instant the guns were fired, the trumpets sounded, and the infantry and cavalry came forth from their shelters. The sight of the armed warriors on their horses and the noise of the guns threw the Indians into a panic. In the rush to get out of the square, part of the wall surrounding it, was broken down. The Indians fell on top of one another, closely pursued by the horsemen, who trampled them down without mercy. Those who held their ground inside the inclosure were dealt with by the foot soldiers, and most of them were killed. There was no resistance, for the natives were practically unarmed. Atahuallpa was, as had been agreed, taken alive, many of his nobles giving up their lives to protect his person from attack. As the members of his bodyguard fell, their places were taken with desperate heroism by others of the group.