The Battle of Ayacucho was the last battle in the war for independence from Spain, on December 9th, 1824. It was supposed to be led by General San Martín, who was originally from Venezuela and who liberated much of South America. Since he had just been made president of Colombia, his general Sucre, also from Venezuela, led the battle and won the unconditional surrender that Peru had been fighting for since Tomasa Tito Condemayta won the battle of Sangarará in 1780.

Battle re-enactments

I went to Ayacucho for the bicentennial re-enactment of the battle, which was a massive multi-national celebration. About a thousand actors represented the Spanish troops and another thousand actors from Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Peru represented the patriot soldiers. There were about 10,000 spectators who waited hours in the rain to watch the battle.