Peru was already “independent”, but then the Spanish returned: the recapture of Lima that put the country in check

In this context, history seemed to take a 180 degree turn, and those who had left the capital two years ago now returned to it. The Spanish threat to retake Lima was fulfilled on June 18, 1823, when José Canterac, a royalist officer of French origin, an expert in guerrilla fighting, entered Lima with 9,000 troops. He did it to the ringing of the bells and without firing a single shot, since the city was unguarded. Hours before, what was left of the patriot army, under the command of Antonio José de Sucre, the Congress and the Executive Branch had taken refuge in the Callao fortress. Many citizens went with them, others stayed in Lima and went to the convents.

“The military cost of maintaining the city was great and that was exactly what Canterac did when he took Lima in June 23, it was a show of force and the Spanish wanted to make it clear that they could do it,” says historian Natalia Sobrevilla. “There the division of the patriots was also evident: Congress went on one side and Riva-Agüero on the other, who will end up moving part of his government to Trujillo… At that time, not everyone was convinced that independence was going to be successful. ”, adds the historian.

“The military cost of maintaining the city was great and that was precisely what Canterac did when he took Lima in June of the year 23, it was a show of force and the Spanish wanted to make it clear that they could do it.”

Natalia Sobrevilla historian.

the birth of a hero

During his presence in Lima, Canterac imposed quotas, confiscated property, and sought to “recover viceregal silverware to mint money,” according to researcher Isabelle Tauzin-Castellanos, in an essay in which she portrays the Spanish-French officer as a man “of short stature , blond, with fine curly beards”.

The most dramatic event of those uncertain days was the sacrifice of José Olaya Balandra, the intrepid fisherman from Chorilla who carried secret communications to the patriots stationed in Callao, and who, after being discovered and captured by the royalists, was executed next to the Plaza Mayor. , June 29, 1823.

Beyond these facts, the capture of Lima weakened the Spanish in the south. Thus, Santa Cruz and Gamarra were able to develop a momentary liberating offensive through Moquegua, Arica and Puno, for which Canterac and his forces were forced to hastily leave the capital on July 16 to march towards Cusco.

However, the Spanish soon retook control of the center and south of the country, so a single clamor began to prevail among the pro-independence civil and military elites: to ask for Bolívar’s presence in Peru.