Having made contact in the most unlikely of places, both commanders had no choice but to throw their troops piecemeal into the battle. There was little room to manoeuvre on the steep slopes of Pichincha, amid deep gullies and dense undergrowth. The men from the "Paya", recovering from the initial shock, took positions under withering fire, waiting for the "Trujillo" to come up. A startled Sucre, hoping only that the Spaniards would be even more exhausted than his own troops, began by sending up the Yaguachi Battalion (Ecuadorians). The Colombians of the "Alto Magdalena" tried to make a flanking move, but to no avail, as the broken terrain made it impossible. Soon, the "Paya", "Barrezueta" and "Yaguachi", suffering heavy losses and lacking enough ammunition, began to fall back.