Second Battle of Huachi

The Second Battle of Huachi was a confrontation that occurred on 12 September 1821 between pro-independence troops led by General Antonio José de Sucre and Royalist troops led by General Melchor Aymerich, president of the Real Audiencia of Quito. Sucre, after having won the Battle of Yaguachi on 19 August, advanced towards Quito. The Spanish, who followed closely, positioned themselves to do battle in a field called Huachi, where they had already defeated Guayaquil forces a year before.

Second Battle of Huachi
Part of the Ecuadorian War of Independence
Battle of Huachi 1821
Date 12 September 1821 Location Huachi Grande near Ambato, Ecuador 1°17′45″S 78°38′50″W Result Royalist victory
Belligerents
Gran Colombia Free Province of Guayaquil	Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
Antonio José de Sucre José Mires	Melchor Aymerich
Strength
900 infantry 100 cavalry	1,200 infantry 500 cavalry
Casualties and losses
300 killed or wounded 500 prisoners 100 escaped	250 killed or wounded

Development of the battle

After a brief contact between both forces, the Spanish pretended to flee. General José Mires allowed the Albion and Guayaquil battalions to pursue the Royalists, but they were attacked by the Royalist cavalry and the infantry who turned around and encircled the Patriot battalions. With the Patriot army in disarray and Sucre wounded, the few surviving Patriots retreated to Guayaquil, leaving many men and supplies on the battlefield.

Consequences

The Royalists managed to keep Quito under Spanish rule. Generals Mires and Sergeant Major Antonio Martínez de Pallares were captured. Sucre, who was wounded and dismounted, was on the verge of being taken prisoner in the rout, but was just in time saved by his aide-de-camp, the Chilean officer Manuel Jordán Valdivieso, who pulled him on the back of his horse and crossed the enemy lines.

Quito would only be conquered by Sucre after the Battle of Pichincha in May 1822.