Beschreibung:

SUCRE, ANTONIO JOSÉ DE Three autograph letters in Spanish signed ("Ant. J. de Sucre"), written in brown ink on laid paper, some leaves with watermark, addressed to General Francisco de Paulo Santander, the Acting President of Colombia, each dated 11 December, 1824; one page, one page and three 1/2 pages; Together with two detailed maps of the Ayacucho battlefield, before and during the combat, prepared by Captain Don Bacilio Cortegano, rendered by him in brown ink on a sheet of laid paper, each with a brief legend signed "Sucre"; And an autograph letter in Spanish signed ("Ant. J. de Sucre"), written in brown ink on laid paper, addressed "A su Excelencia el General Bolivar" i.e. Simon Bolivar, dated Huamanga, 18 December, 1824. Seven sheets in total, each roughly 12 1/8 x 8 1/2 inches (31 x 21.5 cm). Oval ink authentication stamp on each page, on the blank versos of margins where possible, the 11 December letters and maps with small file holes in the right or upper margins, a few minor restorations. A group of dispatches in which Sucre, as the Grand Marshal of Ayacucho, reports on the decisive victory that signaled the end of the Spanish American Wars of Independence. Written just two days after the Battle of Ayacucho, which was fought on the 9th of December, the letters report the decisive defeat of the Spanish forces in Peru, the wounding and capture of the Viceroy José de la Serna, and give an enthusiastic, even ecstatic account of the victory. The accompanying maps, which provide an indispensable account of the disposition of the opposing forces before and after the Battle, were drawn by Don Cortegano, a captain of the First Peruvian Battalion, which fought vigorously in the battle. These, labeled Croquis No. 1 and Croquis No. 2, inscribed to General Santander at the head, are precise and detailed, whereas Sucre's prose is often deeply emotional and laden with pride in the accomplishments of his forces: he states that the drawings "will serve as a memorial to the glorious five month campaign that has culminated in the absolute independence of America and the end of Spanish power in the land of Christopher Columbus." The letter from Sucre to Bolivar, written ten days after the battle, describes the measures that Sucre recommends to stabilize the newly liberated territories. The first group of letters sold by Christie's New York, 7 December 1990; the second Christie's New York, Dec 7, 1990, . C