The Last Conquistador

by Stuart Stirling

  Luis Sánchez: It is true that when the Captain Hernando de Soto and his men reached the crest of Vilcaconga, which is some 8 leagues from Cuzco, they found there in its defence Quisquis, Atahualpa’s captain-general, with many other warrior chiefs and a great number of warriors, and against whom a great battle was fought, and seven Spaniards died, and almost the rest were wounded, and some of them very badly; and in the same manner died and were wounded horses; and the battle took place at dusk, and as night was falling the natives were ignorant of the damage they had caused us, nor did they realize the great harm they had done the captain and us men, nor did they know the stranglehold they held over us, for had they known they would have overwhelmed us; and for that reason the captain and the men fortified ourselves high above the crest until almost two o’clock, more or less, until the Adelantado Don Diego de Almagro with the rest of the horsemen came to our aid, and we all grouped ourselves together at the top of the crest until dawn; and the natives, conscious of our rescue, did not turn away until the arrival of Don Francisco Pizarro with the rest of the men. What we experienced at the crest of Vilcaconga was more perilous than anything else I witnessed in all the Conquest, and I witnessed all the men render His Majesty there singular service.

  Conquistador: (12) The governors and those who went with them, I among them, marched in good order towards the city of Cuzco, and close to the city, some half a league, more or less, some hundred thousand Indians came out to confront us in three squadrons, and we battled with them until we dispersed them and placed them under His Majesty’s sovereignty; and a number of Spaniards were wounded and horses were killed, and we had to delay our march for another day, and in the morning in battle order we entered the city of Cuzco and its square and took possession of its strongholds.

  Pedro de Alconchel: After the Governor and the rest of the men arrived at the crest of Vilcaconga the men formed themselves into their ranks and marched towards the city of Cuzco, and near the city, some half a league, we were met by Quisquis with a great number of his warriors in their squadrons, and we fought with them from the time of vespers until nightfall; and on the morning of another day the Marqués and all the men arrayed in their ranks entered the city, and in all this I witnessed Mansio Serra doing all that was commanded of him as the good soldier he was.

  Lucas Martínez Vegazo: It is the truth, and what I witnessed take place and the multitude of Indians was great, though I do not know their exact number.

  Juan Pantiel de Salinas: The governors began their advance on the city with all the men, and among them Mansio Serra, and on their march to seize the city of Cuzco, half a league away, Quisquis, captain-general of the Indian warriors, with a great number of men, which as far as I could tell were some eighty thousand in number, came out in its defence; and with whom we fought all day until almost nightfall when they retreated, leaving many Spaniards and horses wounded; and another day in the morning we entered the city and took possession of it in the name of His Majesty.

  Bernabé Picón: At our entry to Cuzco we were met by a great number of warriors who were in guard of the city, and we fought with them until at nightfall we made them disperse to a hill; another day in the morning the Governor and all the men entered the city of Cuzco and took possession of it, and in which I saw Mansio Serra among the small number of our men, for in all there were no more than one hundred and twenty.

  Luis Sánchez: The Governor Don Francisco Pizarro and all the men left the crest in good order on the road to the city of Cuzco, and half a league away we met the same chief who with all his men had abandoned the crest of Vilcaconga, and who he had reinforced; and what this witness believes were some hundred thousand warriors, and who in their squadrons formed themselves in defence of the city, and with whom we once more fought until God was served and they were repelled; and another day by force of arms we entered the city in the morning after great peril and hardship, in which Mansio Serra like all the rest of the men took part at great risk to his person like a good soldier.

  Conquistador: (13–14) As the city of Cuzco had been won the Governor Don Francisco Pizarro commanded the Captain Soto to go to the province of Cuntisuyo with fifty horsemen and also some foot men in pursuit of Atahualpa’s warriors chiefs, and I was among those who served there for more than two months, punishing them and fighting them, and working in the most rugged of country, suffering great hunger, until we found their chiefs in the midst of their many warriors, and we fought them, defeating them and capturing some of them. The Governor then ordered us to return to Cuzco, for he feared our enemies would attack us; and we returned to where he and the rest of the men were in guard of the city, and which the Indians had surrounded, putting our lives in much danger because of their numbers and the hunger and necessities from which we suffered.

  Pedro de Alconchel: After the city was won the Governor Don Francisco Pizarro ordered the Captain Hernando de Soto and some thirty horsemen and twenty foot men to go to the province of Cuntisuyo where Quisquis had retreated to a fortress with all his warriors; on which expedition I went, together with Mansio Serra, and being some days in the province Quisquis fled towards Jauja, where some fifty or seventy Spaniards had remained in guard of this city of the Kings,* for it was there it was first populated; and as he had fled the captain and us men returned to Cuzco; and in that expedition we spent some fifteen days, more or less, experiencing great difficulty because of the bad mountain passes and the roads and rivers we had to cross.

  Lucas Martínez Vegazo: It is true the Captain Soto left the city of Cuzco after we Spaniards had won it, taking with him horsemen and foot men in pursuit and in search of the chiefs and warriors of the Inca, and we had many encounters with them and scrapes, crossing passes and rivers of great danger; and I do not recall the time the expedition lasted, other than great risk and difficulty was experienced, and which Mansio Serra could not have failed to also experience like the others, because I was there and saw this with my own eyes. It is true the Captain Soto and the men who were with him returned to Cuzco, and the Marqués Don Francisco Pizarro once more sent him in pursuit of the warriors, and the Adelantado Don Diego de Almagro went with him, and in order to relieve Jauja where the Marqués had left some of the Spaniards in guard of the gold and silver of His Majesty, and which had been gathered after Hernando Pizarro had left for Spain; and we Spaniards experienced great risk to our lives and hardship, and which also Mansio Serra experienced, for I witnessed part of the expedition, and the rest of which is well known.

  Luis Sánchez: After the city was won the Governor had news that Quisquis, captain-general of the natives, had taken his position in the province of Cuntisuyo, some 15 leagues from the city of Cuzco, and he sent there his captain Hernando de Soto and soldiers in pursuit, among them this witness and Mansio Serra. In all we were in the province a month serving there, more or less, until the natives retreated to Jauja; and the Captain Soto, seeing that he could not pursue them on horseback because of the density of the terrain and mountains, returned to Cuzco. And after a few days of our return the Governor distributed to the Spaniards who had come there with him and those who had remained at Jauja the gold and silver which had been collected, and later he founded the city and distributed the land among eighty encomenderos, and one of whom he named was Mansio Serra, and whom he awarded Indians and lands, and which he retains to this day, and for which he served and fought so well.

  Berhabé Picón: After the Captain Soto and the Adelantado Don Diego de Almagro had gone to drive him out of the Cuntisuyo, Quisquis and his men had marched to Jauja, where this city of the Kings was first founded, and knowing this the Governor commanded Captain Soto and some thirty or forty horsemen, I among them, to ride in relief of the Spaniards who were in the valley of Jauja. And I heard it said how the Governor had populated the city of Cuzco, and how he had made Mansio Serra one of its encomenderos and awarded him a distribution of Indians; and when I returned to the city I found him in possession of his allotment and with his distribution
of Indians.

  Conquistador: (15) In recognition of the service I rendered Your Majesty and the great expenditure I had incurred, I was among those when the land was divided to be awarded two distributions as a person of rank, and for my service, and for which I was given seals.

  Pedro de Alconchel: I saw that the Marqués was always conscious of those who served him well in the war, and because he also was greatly fond of Mansio Serra for being so diligent and so deserving he made him an encomendero of Cuzco and gave him a distribution of Indians.

  Juan Pantiel de Salinas: I saw Mansio Serra named as an encomendero and awarded his distribution, and which he did not sell, being a person who had earned it by his merit.

  Conquistador: (16–19) I was one of the forty soldiers chosen to remain in the city of Cuzco in its defence in the company of the Captain Beltrán de Castro, which was when the governors had gone to meet with Don Pedro de Alvarado who had come from Guatemala with his soldiers. While on guard of this city it was learnt that the Incas planned to kill us all and recapture Cuzco, bringing with them as their chief Villac-Umu [Inca High Priest of the Sun]. In order to forestall their purpose, I and a number of my companions disguised ourselves as Indians, and taking with us our arms we went on foot to where Villac-Umu was encamped with a great number of warriors. And taking heart I was the first to seize him and we brought him as our prisoner to Cuzco and handed him over to the Captain Beltrán de Castro, and which was a great service we rendered Your Majesty. And as Villac-Umu was our prisoner the Incas wished to pay us a ransom for his freedom, and they gave us a great sum of gold worth more than two hundred thousand pesos, which we gave to the Captain Beltrán de Castro, and we soldiers, who had been responsible for his capture, refused any share of the ransom which was sent to His Majesty and his royal officials.

  Nicolás de Ribera: I was at Pachacámac when the Adelantado and then later the Governor returned to Jauja, and I saw that Mansio Serra did not come with them, but had remained in Cuzco in guard of the city with forty encomenderos, as is well known. And being at Chincha the news reached us of what is recorded, and how the land was saved, and this witness and other soldiers then went to populate the village of Sangalla.

  Pedro de Alconchel: I know that Mansio Serra was one of the forty Spaniards left in guard of Cuzco under Beltrán de Castro, and this is publicly known. This witness, who at the time was with the Governor Don Francisco Pizarro in this city of the kings, was present when the news of this was brought, and the Marqués received a letter concerning the event in question; and I believe Mansio Serra did what he states because he was brave and diligent in war. And though I was not in the city of Cuzco when these events took place, I know them to be true and publicly held, and those who had remained in guard of the city gave that amount of gold to the Marqués Don Francisco Pizarro who received it on behalf of His Majesty, and which was spent.

  Diego Camacho: I know Mansio Serra remained in guard of the city of Cuzco, for I went there for the first time before its siege, and met there Mansio Serra, who was one of its encomenderos, possessing there a house, horses and Indians. And being in the city of Cuzco news reached us of how Villac-Umu, who was the most important person after Manco Inca Yupanqui [recognized by Pizarro as native ruler], was with many warriors in the province of Cuntisuyo; and it was agreed that one night he be captured and brought back prisoner: an act Mansio Serra carried out, together with another citizen called [Francisco de] Villafuerte and nine or ten other soldiers. And I saw him brought back to the city and placed in the custody of the Captain Beltrán de Castro. It was an act of great boldness and which could not have been carried out without much danger and courage, especially as Villac-Umu was camped in such barren terrain and among so many of his warriors, and which was of great service to His Majesty.

  Lucas Martínez Vegazo: It is true up to some forty encomenderos, more or less, remained in the city with the Captain Beltrán de Castro, among them Mansio Serra; and he would have been unable to avoid being involved in what is recorded, for no other Spaniards had entered the city other than those who were in guard of it, and many had left on horseback and on foot, and only forty remained at great risk and danger to their lives, there being so few of them in the city, and the land being so barren and full of the Indian people, and this I know for I was one of the forty who remained in the city.

  Luis Sánchez: The Governor departed from the city, leaving in guard of it forty encomenderos under his captain Beltrán de Castro, I and Mansio Serra among them, and to found at Jauja, where the treasurer had remained with a number of people, this city of the Kings in the valley there. And in which time the forty encomenderos of Cuzco came into the possession of thirty-six thousand pesos of gold and six thousand marks of silver, and which was to be distributed among them; and being informed that Your Majesty, our Emperor, had need of this, we gathered it all together, registering it by seal in the presence of the Captain Beltrán de Castro and Diego de Narvaez, notary; and what took place is as recorded: for we were in guard of the city day and night with our lives at great risk because there were so few of us, and this city being the capital of this realm, and where all the captains and cousins of Atahualpa were gathered in great number with all their vassals; and where Mansio Serra and this witness performed great service to God, Our Lord, and to His Majesty.

  Conquistador: (20–1) On their return from Quito and the city of the Kings, captains and soldiers were commissioned to go to the province of Callao, I among them and the brothers of the Governor Don Francisco Pizarro; and we went to the said province with our arms and horses and served there, pacifying and conquering the land after many engagements with the natives who were in considerable numbers, and we Spaniards few, ill fed and with a great many tasks to perform. After which I accompanied Juan Pizarro and Gonzalo Pizarro, His Majesty’s captains, to the provinces of Cuntisuyo where the natives had killed their Spanish masters; and we punished them and placed them under the royal dominion, after much fighting and effort.

  Diego Camacho: Because of the killings by the Indians in the province of Cuntisuyo of an encomendero by the name of Pedro Martín [de Moguer] and another encomendero called Simón Suárez, I saw the Captain Juan Pizarro and Gonzalo Pizarro, and Mansio Serra among them, leave the city with other soldiers to exert reprisal on that province; and being as I was in the city of Cuzco I heard it said that the reprisal had been carried out at the capture of the mountain fortress of Ancocagua, where more than eight thousand Indian warriors had taken refuge, and that a great deal of fighting took place; I saw them leave for the reprisal and also return from there, for Pedro Martín who the Indians killed was my brother.

  Lucas Martínez Vegazo: The Indian frogs killed Pedro de Moguer, their master, and beforehand had killed another Spanish master of theirs called Becerril; and the Captain Juan Pizarro and Gonzalo Pizarro and other men went on the reprisal, and which they carried out, and among them was Mansio Serra who served Your Majesty as a good soldier and as your vassal; and I know this because I myself served in the reprisal, and which I witnessed with my own eyes and saw Mansio Serra fighting amid great danger.

  Conquistador: (22–3) I was in Cuzco at the time of the general uprising, and I served much in its defence and did all that was commanded of me; experiencing both lack of food and necessities; and the natives took possession of the city’s fortress [of Sacsahuaman], and were some two hundred thousand in number,* and the Spaniards were few, many of whom had been killed and wounded; and the siege and fighting continued for some three to four months until in battle order we went to the fortress which was defended by some thirty thousand of their finest warriors; but by day it could not be captured and we were to wait for a further year. I and other soldiers dared enter the fortress, in which action I fought and was wounded in the stomach; and even though badly wounded and on the point of death, and though seeing the Captain Juan Pizarro and others killed, I was the first to cry victory.

  Diego Camacho: I saw and know that when the natives’ upri
sing broke out and when they laid siege to Cuzco Mansio Serra fought in defence of the city, serving there all the time, which was some fourteen months, with his arms and horses, in the day and at night, taking part in the engagements and battles with the natives, in which we all ran great risk and fought with much difficulty: for we were surrounded by more than three hundred thousand Indian warriors, and they had put us under such duress that they burnt the greater part of the city; and seeing this, and realizing the danger, the Captain Juan Pizarro decided that we had to capture the fortress where a great number of warriors had fortified themselves; and so it was decided, and among those who went up there was this witness and Mansio Serra, and some seventy soldiers in all; and for some days we had the fortress besieged and one night Mansio Serra and a few others volunteered to gain entry through a small opening they had seen, and thus they entered, and all the others after them, and we captured the surrounding area to the fortress at great peril and much fighting, and that night Juan Pizarro was killed. Hernando Pizarro, who had remained in the city, then came up and we held to the siege until the fortress was captured: scaling its walls with ladders, and in all this, as in the earlier siege of the city, Mansio Serra’s service was of principal importance.

  Bartolomé Díaz: I accompanied the Adelantado Don Diego de Almagro when he came from the provinces of Chile in aid of the city of Cuzco when Manco Inca had the city cut off at the time of his uprising in this realm; and on entering the city I met there Mansio Serra, and for this reason I know he took part in its defence, for the Adelantado and those who went there with him were the first Spaniards to gain entry to the city; and this is public knowledge.