control in Peru the independence of Colombia would be endangered, and being invited by the Peruvians, Bolivar proceeded to Lima at the head of a considerable force; he was joyfully welcomed and appointed dictator of Peru, until such time as the Spaniards should be conquered or driven out. The royalist army retired to the interior at the approach of Bolivar and his army.
The royalists were in such numbers that Bolivar did not dare to risk a battle until the arrival of reinforcements from Colombia, and when threatened with an attack he retired to Truxillo. In February, 1824, the royalists again occupied Lima and Callao; by the following June Bolivar's forces were sufficiently strong to enable him to resume the offensive, which resulted in a battle on the plains of Junin, on the 6th of August, where the royalists were defeated with heavy loss, especially in cavalry, on which great reliance was placed. From this time until the 9th of December no important action was fought but there was much skilful manoeuvring on both sides. The liberating army, consisting of the united forces of Peru and Colombia, was under the command of General Anton Jose de Sucre, who had previously distinguished himself on the battlefield and especially at Pichincha in 1822, where he defeated the Spaniards in a fiercely fought conflict.
Early in December General Sucre took a position at Ayacucho in sight of the royalist army, which was posted on a height. General Bolivar was not present; he had given full power to Sucre to do as he thought best, either to give battle to the royalists or refuse it. In a letter written a short time before the battle of Ayacucho Bolivar cautioned Sucre in the following words:
"Remember, that on your army corps depends the fate of Peru, perhaps forever; and with it, that of the whole of America, perhaps for years. Considering the terrible consequences which a battle lost may entail upon us, every means of foresight and strategy is to be exerted so
