863 / 1070
BooK
V.
Royal
Commentaries.
'john de Acoj}a
was juíl: ready to make an Attempt of Surprife upon the Enemy,news
was brought, that one of
Centeno's
Souldiers was Aed to tbe other Party; wbereby
fearing tbat tbe deGgn was difcovered , tbat refolution was laid afide, much
to
the farisfaétion of
Pifarro,
who was of opinion that bis advantage was greater in
a ful! engagement with the whole Body, th?n to skirmiíh and fight in [ma,ll parties:
and thus much
Go,mara
confirms, and fays, rhar
Pit¡arro
told
Acofta,
tbac there
was no neeo to adventure his perfon wbere tbe Viél:ory was fecure and already
cenain. And indeed tbe confidence of
Pifarro
and bis Officers was grounded on
a
belief, tbac every individual Souldier would fight as valiantly as themfelves,
which certainly, if they had, ic would hav~ gained them che Viél:ory:
bue
their
errour foon appeared; for neiEher did tho[e who were reputed valianr, fighr like
fucb,
nor meo of lefs eíl:eem íhew tbemfelves cowards.
· The Advice wbich tbe Souldier brought who fled from
Pifarro,
that
'lohn de A–
cofta
was defigning
to
furprize them and beat up their quarcers ; caufed che Prefi–
dent to draw out
bis
men and put thern into array, in which poíl:ure they conti–
nued che whole night, and endured
fo
much cold, (as the Hiíl:orians
Gomara
and
Carate
write ) that' they were not able
to
bold tbeir weapons in their hands.
But fo foon as it was day, being che ninth of
April
15
48.
the King's Army .drew
farcber out into-the open field, aod into a larger quarter tban che nigbt befare. The
,
lnfantry were ali joined in a Body conduéted by tbeir refpeétive Captains , and
fupported on eacb band with wings of Mufqueciers; and flanked on che left wich
two bundred Horfe, V?bofe Captains were
Diego de Mora, rohn de Saavedra, Rodri–
go de Sal~r¡r
and
Francifco Hernandez.- Giron,
whom
Carate
calls
Aldana :
on che right
·were tbe Captains
Gomn
de
A/varado, Don Pedro Cabrera,
and
AlonjoMercadillo,
witb otber two hundred Horfe appointed to defend the lloy:il Standard, wbich
was carried by che
Lice111ciado Carvajal
,
in the fame rank witb cbefe Captains.
On the right band of tbefe ( at fome diíl:ance from tbe_m ) C_aptain
.Alonfo de
'Mendofa
and
Diego
de,
Centeno
were ranked with fixcy Horfe under cheir command,
ali which, or tbe greateíl: pare of tbem, confüled of thofe who efcaped from cbe
Batee! of
Huarina
;
wbo would have no other,Capcain chan
Mendofa,
becaufe he
had been cheir Companion and fellow Souldier in all tbeir travels and fufferings :
and tbefe drew
up
near che River to fuccour and receive
fuch
as íhould revele
· over
to
tbeir Party; for they expeél:ed many to fly over
to
them from ali quar–
ters of tbe Army ; and on chis quarcer efpecially cbere appeared moíl: difficulty
and danger. Capcain
Graviel de Roj,u
was indufüiouíly employed in planting his
Cannon
in
tbe field, which he witb mucb labour performed by reafon of cbe
Rocks and ruggednefs
of
tbe way. The General
Pedro de Hinojofa,
tbe Lieute–
nant General
Alonfa de A/varado,
and tbe Serjeanc Major
Pedro de Villa-vicencio
,
and che Governour
Pedro de Va!divia,
di[po[ed the other Troops and Companies
in tbeir due Places.
In
the Rere of ali was tbe PreGdei:it with three Biíhops,
viz.
of
Coz:.co
,
of
f2..!!:_itu
and
Los Reyes
,
with che principal perfons of the Order of
Preacbers , and Friars of tbe Order of our .Lady of
Merced,
with a very great
number of Churcb-men and Friars, wbo followed che Camp; for guard of whom
a Party of fifty Horfe were appointed , and
to
defend tbem in cafe any misfor–
tune,íhould bappen.
CH A P.
XXXV.
The
Succefs
of
the
Battel
of
Sackfahuana,
to the time of thé
total defeat of
Gon~alo Pi~arro.
S
O
foon
as it was day
Gonfalo Pifarro
commanded tbem to beat
a
march , a'nd
drew out bis men into tbe Plain whicb lyes between tbe River and tbe
Mountain : he alfo commanded a Plat-form to be raifed and tbe Cannon' moun–
ted.
lt
is faid alfo, by
Gomara,
tbat he committed che charge of drawing up tbé
Army
to
Licenciado Cepeda,
becaufe that
Carvajal
was
fo
angry and di[pleafed thí!t
bis
8.29