Battle of Corpahuaico

Battle context

The Battle of Corpahuaico was fought in 1824 in the Andean highlands of Ayacucho, Peru, as part of the closing stages of the Peruvian War of Independence. By this point, the Royalist forces engaged here under Jerónimo Valdés and José de la Serna represented one of the few remaining Royalist armies still active in South America. The engagement took place within the broader Ayacucho campaign, in which Patriot commanders Antonio de Sucre and Jacinto Lara were working to eliminate organized Royalist resistance in the highlands. Patriot casualties are recorded at between 200 and 700. The battle occurred days before the decisive engagement that would effectively end Spanish imperial authority on the continent, placing Corpahuaico within the final sequence of operations that collapsed Royalist military power in Peru.