Action of Tambo Nuevo

Action of Tambo Nuevo
Part of Bolivian War of Independence Argentine War of Independence
Engraving of the Action of Tambo Nuevo by Franz Van Riel
Date 23 to 25 October 1813 Location Bolivia 19°9′4.90″S 65°53′0.94″W / 19.1513611°S 65.8835944°W / -19.1513611; -65.8835944Coordinates: 19°9′4.90″S 65°53′0.94″W / 19.1513611°S 65.8835944°W / -19.1513611; -65.8835944 Result United Provinces victory
Belligerents
United Provinces of South America Republiquetas	Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid	Saturnino Castro
Strength
12 cavalrymen	5 soldiers (Yocalla) 50 soldiers (Tambo Nuevo)
Casualties and losses
None	15 prisoners 2 prisoners executed
Location within Bolivia

The Action of Tambo Nuevo, also known as Hazaña de los Tres Sargentos was a successful cavalry raid carried out between 23 and 25 October 1813, during the second Upper Peru campaign of the Argentine War of Independence, by a small detachment of Dragones of the Army of the North. The targets were the headquarters of royalist Colonel Saturnino Castro at Yocalla, and later a forward outpost on Tambo Nuevo.

After the defeat of General Manuel Belgrano in the battle of Vilcapugio, on 1 October 1813, the bulk of the republican Army of the North withdrawn to the east, establishing its headquarters in the town of Macha. Belgrano hoped to reinforce his exhausted and demoralized troops with local draft and supplies. The royalist situation was no better, despite their recent victory. General Joaquin de la Pezuela lost more than 200 men in Vilcapugio, along with a good number of mules and horses, the main way of carrying artillery and other provisions through the rugged soil. A smaller fraction of Belgrano's army retreated to the city Potosí, under the command of General Díaz Vélez. By mid-October, Potosí was threaten from the north by a royalist squadron, led by Colonel Saturnino Castro, who seized the town of Yocalla.

While honing his forces at Macha, Belgrano ordered several reconnaissance missions on the enemy. He chose one of his best officers, Lieutenant La Madrid, to collect intelligence about the royalist headquarters at Yocalla. La Madrid departed the republican camp with four Dragones and a native guide. After an icy-cold night, which ended in a heavy snowfall, the small detachment was just 400 metres away from the enemy stronghold. Not only their recce mission went unnoticed, but they also surprised a royalist patrol marching on the snow and took five prisoners. Only a troop of local natives, loyal to Pezuela, harassed La Madrid's group during their retreat along the defile of Tinguipaya, and informed Castro about his path through the mountains. When the captives were presented to Belgrano, he recognized two of them - a corporal and a soldier - as members of the royalist army defeated in Salta. These men had sworn not to turn their arms on the republicans again. To make an example, Belgrano had them executed by a shooting squad. Their bodies were later beheaded, and their heads, along with a reinforcement of eight Dragones, were sent to La Madrid, still close to the enemy.