The Battle of Quillahuata was fought on 5 November 1814 when, during the Peruvian War of Independence, a Spanish Royalist army was crushed by a band of Argentine, Bolivian, and Paraguayan insurgents in the Peruvian interior.
Following his near-disaster at the Battle of Cliza, the Argentine guerrillero Galeano Moretti decided to intensify his war against the Royalists of Upper Peru. Moretti recruited Bolivian patriots from isolated villages and raided others, forcing villagers to hand over their supplies in exchange for the safety of their town. Moretti's band moved too slow to intercept small parties of Royalist farmers or even give battle to roving bandit groups, but he succeeded in attracting the attention of Royalist forces in the region. Colonel Francisco Javier Aguilera and his 46-strong platoon pursued Moretti's company as it neared the village of Quillahuata, and Aguilera swore to avenge Moretti's raid on Patacamaya, which destroyed his property and killed his tenants.
In the ensuing battle, the Royalists initially had the benefit of the high ground, but they threw away their advantage when they charged downhill to scatter the Patriots. The Patriot militia held firm and shot at the Royalists as they advanced, and Moretti himself charged forth on horseback and personally cut down several Royalist soldiers. After the Royalist attack stalled, the Patriots engaged in a bayonet charge that overwhelmed the remaining Royalists and wiped them out. A wounded Aguilera escaped, but his command was destroyed, granting Moretti his first significant victory since the Battle of Las Campanillas.
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