The Battle of Tacuzcalco was a battle on 13 June 1524 fought between a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

army under the command of '' conquistador''

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of the Yucatá ...

and

Cuzcatlan Cuzcatlan ( Nawat: Kuskatan) (Nahuatl: Cuzcatlan) was a pre-Columbian Nahua state confederation of the Mesoamerican postclassical period that extended from the Paz river to the Lempa river (covering most of western El Sal ...

fighters under

Atlácatl Atlácatl (Nahuatl ''Ātlācatl'': ''ātl'' "water", ''tlācatl'' "human being" – whose death is sometimes put at 1528) is reputed to have been the name of the last ruler of an indigenous state based around the city of Cuzcatlan, in the southw ...

Background

In June 1524, Spanish '' conquistador''

embarked on an expedition into modern day

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by ...

with the intention of conquering the land for the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

.Arce and Antonio 2001, p. 118 On 8 June 1524, Alvarado fought and defeated

fighters under

at the

Battle of Acajutla The Battle of Acajutla was a battle on June 8, 1524, between the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado and the standing army of Cuzcatlan Pipils, an indigenous Nahua state, in the neighborhood of present-day Acajutla, near the coast of western E ...

Battle

On 13 June 1524, Alvarado engaged Atlácatl in a second battle at Tacuzcalco. Atlácatl's army was larger than the army he commanded at

Acajutla Acajutla is a seaport city in Sonsonate Department, El Salvador. The city is located at on the Pacific coast of Central America and is El Salvador's principal seaport from which a large portion of the nation's exports of coffee, sugar, and Ba ...

and Alvarado stated that seeing the size of Atlácatl's was "terrifying." Following the battle, Alvarado described the outcome as a "great massacre" and "punishment" of the

Pipil Pipil may refer to: *Nahua people of western El Salvador *Pipil language (Nawat) ** Pipil grammar **Pipil language (typological overview) This rather technical article provides a typological sketch of the Pipil language (also known as Nawat). Anot ...

warriors.

Aftermath

After the defeat at the hands of the Spanish, the Pipil refused to engage the Spanish in open battle, instead resorting to guerrilla tactics to fight the Spanish. After further campaigning, Alvarado and his men returned to Guatemala in July 1524.

References

Bibliography

* *{{cite book, date=1993, first1=William R., last1=Fowler Jr., chapter=Chapter 11 – The Living Pay for the Dead – Trade, Exploitation, and Social Change in Early Colonization Izalco, El Salvador, editor1-last=Rogers, editor1-first=J. Daniel, editor2-last=Wilson, editor2-first=Samual M., title=Ethnohistory and Archaeology: Approaches to Postcontact Change in the Americas, chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4iv9Qt0wbPUC&pg=PA181, type= , series= , language=en, location=

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, publisher=Plenum Press, pages=181–188, isbn=0-306-44176-4, access-date=15 February 2021 History of El Salvador Tacuzcalco Tacuzcalco Audencia of Guatemala Pipil Sonsonate Department 1524 in Central America