Battle Progress
On the morning of June 19th, the revolutionary army had placed their troops in Huaqui, Caza and Machaca and built a temporary bridge over the Desaguadero river moving 1,200 troops across. The aim was to distract Goyeneche's troops on their front and right flank while surrounding the royalists on their rear through the lines established by this new bridge.
General Goyeneche decided to do a direct attack with his full force. At three in the morning of June 20 he ordered colonels Juan Ramírez and Pablo Astete, lieutenant colonels Luis Astete and Mariano Lechuga (with 350 cavalry and four cannons) to attack Caza, near the road to Machaca and communication to Huaqui, while he marched towards Huaqui with colonels Francisco Picoaga and Fermín Piérola commanding 300 cavalry, 40 guardsmen and 6 pieces of artillery.
At dawn the heights on the hills the royalist troops needed to take were already teeming with revolutionary troops, cavalry and fusiliers who started shooting the Spaniards along with grenades and slingshots. The royalists responded and within a few hours made the revolutionaries retreat.
When the independentist troops heard of Goyeneche's advance towards Huaqui, Castelli, Balcarce and Montes de Oca left the town with 15 artillery pieces and 2,000 men and took a strong position on the road to Huaqui between a small lake and the hills behind.
Goyeneche ordered and advance under enemy fire while colonel Picoaga's battalion covered them with return fire. The independentist troops, recognizing general Goyeneche, directed their fire towards him, he ordered one of his aides to transmit the order to attack with his right flank, also covering the road with Piérola's battalion and detached three companies to advance on the front while he and the rest of his troops attacked through the left.
The Argentine cavalry tried to stop the push but was overran and fled, along with the whole rebel army towards Huaqui. Goyeneche ordered pursuit and subsequently captured the town. Colonel Ramírez soon after sent a messenger informing them of victory at Caza.
The battle ended with the Argentine troops in full retreat, with more than a thousand men lost and abandoning most of their artillery. In full run they took refuge in Potosí and later on farther south in Jujuy.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Huaqui
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