December 9, 1824

Battle of Ayacucho

Sucre defeats the royalist army and Canterac signs the Capitulation of Ayacucho

The man who signed the royalist surrender was not the viceroy: La Serna lay wounded and captive, so Canterac took command and signed instead.

9 December 1824 on the Pampa de Quinua

On 9 December 1824, Antonio José de Sucre's United Liberation Army of Peru faced Viceroy José de la Serna's larger royalist army on the Pampa de Quinua near Ayacucho. Sucre's later official report put the two forces at 5,780 and 9,310.

Later accounts report that shortly before the fighting, officers divided by friendship and family ties met unarmed between the lines, embraced, and then went back to their armies.

Downhill, and piecemeal

The royalist attack came off the Condorcunca heights in separated formations across broken ground, so the divisions could not all form up effectively on the plain.

Sucre reinforced José de La Mar's pressured left while José María Córdova's division and William Miller's cavalry counterattacked before much of the royalist force had deployed. The royalist army broke, La Serna was wounded and captured, and José de Canterac assumed command of the defeated force.

Sucre's report of 11 December gave 370 patriots killed and 600 wounded, against 1,800 royalist dead, 700 wounded and more than 2,000 rank-and-file prisoners.

A capitulation signed on the field

With the viceroy wounded and a prisoner, Canterac negotiated and signed the Capitulation of Ayacucho with Sucre that same day. It surrendered the territory, garrisons, stores and posts under royalist command, granted passage to Spain, and protected officers and residents who submitted to the new order.

It did not clear every holdout. Callao was to be handed over and its commander refused; royalists held Callao and Chiloé until 1826, and fighting continued in Upper Peru through 1825.

Word of the outcome left within hours of the battle and travelled overland; Lima did not have it until 22 December, nearly thirteen days later.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

The date and outcome are secure, but reported strengths and casualties vary by document. The figures above are explicitly attributed to Sucre's official report rather than presented as independently audited totals.
Sucre's brief same-day announcement rounded the forces to roughly 6,000 patriots and 9,000–10,000 royalists; later official reporting supplied the more precise 5,780 and 9,310.
The prebattle embrace is supported by later memoir and commemorative traditions, but accounts disagree about its timing and the number of participants.
Calling Ayacucho the absolute end of Spanish rule in South America requires qualification: royalists remained at Callao and Chiloé until 1826, and fighting continued in Upper Peru during 1825.