February 2020, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru. I am exploring the site of a 1537 battle between Manco Inca’s indigenous forces and the Spanish Conquistadors under Hernando Pizarro. Part of the Spanish conquest of the New World.
The Spanish conquest of the New World was not a single campaign, but a series of dramatic encounters, alliances, rebellions and military expeditions that unfolded across the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and the Andes. Between the late 15th and mid-16th centuries, Spanish conquistadors, Indigenous allies, rival polities and powerful empires fought across forests, high plains, volcanic valleys and some of the world’s most extreme mountain landscapes. The resulting conflicts reshaped entire civilisations, while leaving behind battlefields — from the Valley of Mexico to the Peruvian Andes — whose terrain still reveals much about how these campaigns were fought.
In Mesoamerica, the encounter between Hernán Cortés and the Aztec Empire set the tone for conquest warfare: shifting alliances, internal rivalries, and the decisive influence of geography and urban fortification. The march on Tenochtitlan was shaped by lake systems, causeways and densely built cityscapes that produced sieges, street fighting and amphibious operations unlike anything encountered in Europe.
Further south, the campaigns against the Inca Empire were fought across some of the most formidable terrain in the world. The Andes offered high-altitude strongholds, narrow defiles, steep agricultural terraces and road systems that favoured defence and rapid movement by local forces. Battles and sieges — including the Siege of Cusco, where Spanish and Indigenous allies held the city against overwhelming Inca counterattacks, and the defence of Ollantaytambo, where Inca forces under Manco Inca used terraces, fields, stone fortresses and diverted river waters to halt the Spanish — reveal how terrain and Indigenous tactical adaptation shaped every phase of the conflict.
The final campaigns of the conquest pushed deep into remote valleys, jungle fringes and isolated highland enclaves as the last Inca resistance under Vilcabamba shifted to guerrilla warfare, ambushes and fortified refuges. By the 1570s, Spanish rule had extended across the former Inca heartlands, but resistance, cultural survival and Indigenous agency continued in complex forms.
This collection of battlefield studies examines these campaigns through archaeological evidence, Indigenous accounts, Spanish chronicles and modern field reconnaissance — revealing not only what happened during the conquest, but how the landscapes of the New World shaped the encounter between empires.
In-depth battlefield analyses based on terrain, primary sources, and on-the-ground exploration.
The Battle of Sacsayhuamán was a significant milestone in the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. While the Inca warriors demonstrated bravery and tenacity, they were unable to overcome the superior weaponry and tactics of the Spanish conquistadors. The Spanish victory at Sacsayhuamán ended the Inca attempt to reclaim Cusco.
Short-form observations, terrain insights, and working interpretations from the field. Some posts require access.
February 2020, Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley, Peru. I am exploring the site of a 1537 battle between Manco Inca’s indigenous forces and the Spanish Conquistadors under Hernando Pizarro. Part of the Spanish conquest of the New World.
Over thousands of years of warfare, armies have sought ways to gain advantage on the battlefield. Sometimes the solution was a new weapon. Sometimes it was a radical new method. Often it was a combination of both. From the disciplined ranks of the Greek phalanx to pike-and-shot warfare to the interlocking machine-gun fire plans of the twentieth century, tactical innovations have repeatedly reshaped how battles are fought.
The widespread adoption of firearms by European armies created a new tactical dilemma. The previously invulnerable pike formations were now extremely vulnerable to gunpowder weapons, while the musketeers remained vulnerable to enemy cavalry. What was needed was a combined-arms system in which the relative advantages of the musket, pike, cavalry, and artillery could cover each…
Authored by Mick Prictor, a retired military officer with 40 years’ service, and a military historian specialising in terrain-focused analysis of tactics, doctrine, and command decision-making in land warfare. His work draws on extensive battlefield fieldwork—more than 280 sites worldwide—and one of the world’s largest private collections of historic military arms, uniforms, and equipment. About me
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Armies: Conquistadors • Inca Army
Commanders: Juan Pizarro • Atahualpha
Methods: Mounted warfare • Siege warfare
Environments: Forest Warfare • Mountain Warfare
Further Study: Spanish Conquest Reading List
The collection spans campaigns in Mesoamerica and the Andes between 1492 and 1572, including Aztec, Maya and Inca conflicts.
Published studies include the Siege of Cusco, with forthcoming articles on Ollantaytambo and other key engagements across the Inca heartlands and the wider conquest.
Battles were fought across extreme landscapes — high mountains, narrow valleys, fortified terraced sites and vast urban centres — all of which shaped tactics, movement and the outcomes of sieges and engagements.
Accounts from Inca, Aztec and other Indigenous peoples provide essential perspectives on alliances, resistance strategies and local knowledge of terrain.
Yes. Many — including Cusco, Ollantaytambo and other Andean fortresses — retain significant archaeological features and landscape continuity.
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The Battle of Sacsayhuamán was a significant milestone in the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. While the Inca warriors demonstrated bravery and tenacity, they were unable to overcome the superior weaponry and tactics of the Spanish conquistadors. The Spanish victory at Sacsayhuamán ended the Inca attempt to reclaim Cusco.
