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The Battle of Junín was a military engagement of the Peruvian War of Independence, fought in the highlands of the Junín Region on August 6, 1824. The preceding February the royalists had regained control of Lima, and having regrouped in Trujillo, Simón Bolívar in June led his rebel forces south to confront the Spanish under Field Marshal José de Canterac. The two armies met on the plains of Junín, northwest of the Jauja Valley. Bolivar, in a hurry to try to cut the royalist retreat towards Cuzco, sent out his cavalry to delay the movement of Spanish troups out of the Junin Plain. The Spaniards sent out their numerically superior cavalry to disrupt the incoming patriot cavalry to give Canterac time to withdraw his infantry from the plain. The plain is a marshland close to the Junin lake and the patriot troups were trying to form for battle when they were struck by the charge of the Spanish cavalry and sent back in confusion. However, the Spanish charge missed one of the Peruvian Legion Hussars's squadrons, which managed to form and charge the Spaniard cavalry's rear. The surprise caused the Spanish cavalry to drop their weapons, turn tails and run for the protection of their infantry, which had already vacated the plain. The battle lasted about one hour, and it involved hand-to-hand cavalry clashes with lance and saber. Interestingly, no firearms were used. About 250 Spaniards and 150 Peruvians were killed. Although in actuality this battle would qualify as little more than a skirmish, this military engagement greatly enhanced the morale of the victorious Peruvians, and demoralized the Spanish troups. The retreat of Canterac's troups after the defeat in Junin was relentless and defections from the Spanish troups to the patriots increased considerably. Eventually the Viceroy, La Serna, had to step in as commander of the Spanish forces to try and restore morale.
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