Battle of Ollantaytambo - Order of Battle

Order of Battle

Manco Inca had gathered more than 30,000 troops at Ollantaytambo, among them, a large number of recruits from tribes of the Amazon Rainforest. Manco Inca's forces were a militia army made up mostly of conscripted farmers with only rudimentary weapons training. This was the regular fare in the Inca empire, where military service was a duty for all married men between 25 and 50 years old. In combat, these soldiers were organized according to their ethnic group and led into battle by their native leaders, called kurakas. They used melee weapons such as maces, clubs and spears as well as ranged weapons such as arrows, javelins, and slings; protective gear included helmets, shields, and quilted cloth armor. Against the conquistadors, wooden clubs and maces with stone or bronze heads were rarely able to penetrate Spanish armor; slings and other missile throwing weapons were somewhat more effective due to their accuracy and the large size of their projectiles. Even so, Inca soldiers were no match for the Spanish cavalry in open terrain so they resorted to fighting on rough terrain and digging pits in open fields to hinder the mobility of horses.

The attack was led by Hernando Pizarro, the senior Spanish commander in Cusco, with a force of 100 Spaniards (30 infantry, 70 cavalry) and an estimated 30,000 native allies. One of his main assets against the Inca armies was the Spanish cavalry because horses provided a considerable advantage in hitting power, maneuverability, speed, and stamina over Inca warriors. All Spaniards wore some kind of armor, the most commonly used types were chain mail shirts and padded cloth armor which were lighter and cheaper than full armor suits; they were complemented by steel helmets and small iron or wooden shields. The main Spanish offensive weapon was the steel sword, which horsemen supplemented with the lance; both weapons could easily penetrate the padded armor worn by Inca troops. Firearms, such as arquebuses were rarely used during the Spanish conquest of Peru because they were scarce, hard to use, and despised by horsemen as an ungentlemanly weapon. Spaniards relied heavily on Indian auxiliaries because they provided thousands of warriors as well as support personnel and supplies. These native troops had the same sorts of arms and armor as their Inca counterparts. During the Ollantaytambo campaign, the Pizarro expedition included thousands of auxiliaries, mainly Cañaris, Chachapoyas, and Wankas as well as several members of the Inca nobility opposed to Manco Inca.