José de San Martín The navy sailed from Chile on 20 August 1820. It was composed of eight warships, eleven gunboats, 247 cannons and a crew of 1,600, most of them Chileans. There were 12 frigates, and a brig with the 4,000 soldiers of the Army of the Andes. San Martín was the leader of the military expedition. They landed in Paracas, 200 km to the south of Lima, on 7 September, and occupied the nearby city of Pisco, which was abandoned by the royalists. Peruvian viceroy Joaquín de la Pezuela had instructions from Spain to negotiate with the patriots. Under an armistice the
Battle of Quechereguas Higgins secretly made the crossing, marched rapidly to the north and placed himself at the site of Quechereguas, in between the Royalist force and the road to Santiago. Gabino Gaínza responded by attacking the next day; O' Higgins' men firmly repulsed the attack, forcing the Royalists to fall back on Talca once more. Battle of Quechereguas The battle of Quechereguas occurred on 8 April 1814, during the War of Chilean Independence. The Royalists had taken the key Patriot town of Talca in March, 1814, and an army, under the command of Gabino Gaínza, now threatened to advance on the Patriot