Pizarro being of opinion that he would be easily destroyed if he waited
for the attack of the Peruvians, immediately ordered his soldiers to
advance to the charge, sending word to his brothers and the other officers
who commanded the cavalry to execute the orders which they had already
received. He likewise ordered the artillery and the crossbows to commence
firing upon the Indians, on which the cavalry, as had been concerted,
sallied forth and charged through among the Indians in three separate
bodies; while he moved forwards at the head of the infantry, pushing
directly for the litter in which Atahualpa was carried, the bearers of
which they began to slay, while others pressed on to supply their places.
As Pizarro was convinced that he and his people would be infallibly
destroyed if the battle remained for any length of time undecided, the
loss of one soldier being of infinitely worse consequence to him than the
destruction of hundreds was to the enemy, and that he gained nothing by
the death of thousands of the Peruvians, determined to make every effort
to gain possession of Atahualpa, for which purpose he cut his way up to
the litter in which he was carried; and seizing him by his long hair
dragged him from his seat to the ground. In doing this, as several of his
soldiers were making cuts with their swords against the golden litter, one
of their swords glancing off wounded Pizarro in the hand. Paying no
attention to this wound, he held fast his rich prize, in spite of the
endeavours of multitudes of Indians to rescue their sovereign, who were
all either killed or driven away, and at length secured Atahualpa as his
prisoner.
When the Peruvians saw their sovereign in the hands of the Spaniards, and
found themselves assailed in so many places at once by the enemy,
especially by the horse, the fury of whose charge they were unable to
resist, they threw down their arms and dispersed in every direction,
endeavouring to preserve their lives by flight. A prodigious multitude of
them being stopped by a corner of the great court or square, pressed with
such violence against the wall that a part of it gave way, forming a large
breach by which many of them escaped. The cavalry pursued the fugitives in
every direction till night, when they returned to quarters[14].
When Ruminagui heard the noise of the artillery, and saw a centinel who
had been placed on the top of a rock thrown down by a Spaniard, he
concluded that the Spaniards had gained the victory; and was so much
alarmed that he marched away with all his men to Quito, never stopping for
any time till he got to that city, which is two hundred and fifty leagues
from Caxamarca.
Atahualpa being thus made prisoner, and his whole army having taken to
flight, the Spaniards went next morning to pillage his camp, where they
found a prodigious quantity of gold and silver vessels, excessively rich
tents, stuffs, vestments, and many other articles of immense value.
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