Upper Peru After The Battle of Ayacucho and The Birth of Bolivia
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After the victory at Ayacucho, following precise orders from Bolívar, general Sucre entered Upper Peru (today's Bolivia) territory on February 25, 1825. Besides having orders of installing an immediately independent administration, his role was limited to giving an appearance of legality to the process that Upper Peruvians themselves had started already. Royalist general Pedro Antonio Olañeta stayed in Potosí, where he received by January the "Union" Inf. Battalion coming from Puno under the command of colonel José María Valdez. Olañeta then summoned a War Council, which agreed to continue the resistance in the name of Ferdinand VII. Next, Olañeta distributed his troops between Cotagaita fortress with the "Chichas" Btn. in charge of colonel Medinacelli, while Valdez was sent to Chuquisaca with the "Union" Btn. and Olañeta himself marched toward Vitichi, with 60,000 pieces of gold from the Coin House in Potosí.
However, in Cochabamba the First Battalion "Ferdinand VII", led by colonel José Martínez, rioted, followed by the Second Battalion "Ferdinand VII" in Vallegrande, removing brigadier Francisco Aguilera on February 12. Royalist colonel José Manuel Mercado occupied Santa Cruz de la Sierra on February 14, as Chayanta stayed in the hands of lieutenant colonel Pedro Arraya, with squadrons "Santa Victoria" (Holy Victory) and "Dragones Americanos" (American Dragoons), and in Chuquisaca the battalion "Dragones de la Frontera"(Frontier Dragoons) under colonel Francisco López claimed victory for the independentists on February 22. At this point, the majority of royalist troops of Upper Peru refused to continue fighting against the powerful army of Sucre. Colonel Medinacelli with 300 soldiers also revolted against Olañeta, and on April 2 of 1825 they faced each other in the Battle of Tumusla, which ended with the death of Olañeta. A few days later, on April 7, general José María Valdez surrendered in Chequelte to general Urdininea, putting an end to the war in Upper Peru.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Ayacucho
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