The President wisely left the conduct of the battle to his military officers, who were perfectly competent for the purpose, and he showed his habitual good sense in withdrawing, with his priests and civilians, out of the immediate range of action. The commanders on his side, Hinojosa and Valdivia, were a match for the military skill of Carbajal; and Pizarro himself had more in him of the daring, dauntless cavalier than of the strategic leader. As he had faced the situation with all its consequences plainly set before him, resolving fully to abide them, we cannot bestow much sympathy upon him in his present plight, though we must admire his unshaken courage and constancy. At the decisive moment of his fate he had taken the advice of Cepeda in resisting, in opposition to that of Carbajal; and it was the wretch Cepeda who now betrayed him by galloping over to the enemy in the face of both armies. But this act, although it was contagious, perhaps did Pizarro no considerable harm, for his fate was already sealed.
The leaders on either side gave the word for the advance; but the humane President, anxious to spare the shedding of blood, ordered his men to halt, since the rebel host from its frequent desertions was evidently falling to pieces. The Spaniards on Pizarro’s side deserted him in various directions; some went to seek pardon from the President ere it should be too late; others made for the mountains. Pizarro himself, seeing that there was but one thing for him to do, gave up his sword to the first officer of rank whom he encountered, and by him he was conducted into the presence of the President. The latter, we are told, inquired severely why he had thrown the country into such confusion? why he had revolted? why he had slain the Viceroy? why he had usurped the government? and finally, why he had refused the repeated offers of grace? On his reply, in which he attempted to justify himself, he was ordered into close confinement. Thus terminated the culminating encounter between the royal forces and those of Pizarro, in which the latter on the plain of _Xaquixaguana_, like those of the Assyrian of old, though “unsmote by the sword,” yet “vanished like snow.”
Gasca, having sent an officer to _Cuzco_ to restrain the excesses which were to be expected, had next to concern himself with the trial of Pizarro and of Carbajal. It was of course a mere form, since they were taken in the act of opposing the royal forces in arms; and there could be no question of mercy, since they had both failed to avail themselves of the offers of the royal clemency repeatedly made. They were accordingly executed; Carbajal, who is said to have been eighty-four years of age, receiving his fate with the utmost indifference, and Pizarro meeting death with the dignified courage which he had ever shown. The estates of both were confiscated. It is satisfactory to add that the traitor Cepeda, though his head was not placed upon the block, yet was not allowed to go free. The President was indeed urged to send him to execution, since it had been by his advice that Pizarro had first refused the offers of grace; but Gasca refrained from doing so on account of the service which Cepeda had rendered the royal cause by his opportune desertion. He was accordingly sent a prisoner to Spain, where he was tried for high treason: during the progress of his trial he died in prison. It may be of interest here to remark that the fate which attended so many of the conquerors of _Peru_, spared neither Centeno, Hinojosa, nor Valdivia, the three foremost leaders on the side of the President, all of whom were soon afterwards cut off. The President thought it sufficient, in the interests of justice and of example, to execute Acosta and three or four other cavaliers who had surrendered with Pizarro. He then broke up his camp and marched to _Cuzco_.