Battle Of Cajamarca Research Paper

The ‘Battle’ of Cajamarca was arguably the most important army operation of Spain’s conquest of Peru. Atahualpa had purposefully lured the Spanish into the heart of his empire, where he was confident he could call upon massive forces to surround and crush them if necessary. Unbeknownst to Atahualpa, Pizarro had designed a scheme for his soldiers to carry out: he would draw out the emperor and then capture him amidst his own troops, which would deal a heavy blow to the Incas. Pizarro invited Atahualpa to a meeting at Cajamarca, with 106 infantrymen armed with arquebuses, 62 cavalrymen, and four small cannons hidden within alleyways that opened into an open square in the town. Before the battle, Friar Vincente de Valverde approached Atahualpa,
who was accompanied by a huge, though lightly armed, party of 80,000 Incas. The Friar demanded him to convert to Catholicism and to accept Charles V., the Holy Roman Emperor, as his ruler. Bemused and insulted, Atahualpa rejected the offer, prompting the Spaniards to begin one of the most lopsided battles in history. Despite the great difference in numbers between the two sides, the Spaniards were able to overcome their opponents in mere minutes, unleashing a combination of gunfire and cavalry charges that devastated the shocked and unprepared Incas and allowed them to quickly capture Atahualpa and end the battle.