The position of the royalist army under Pezuela, with the Buenos Ayrean army of independence in front, and this formidable insurrection in the rear, was most critical: for the Indians, believing that the rule of their Incas was to be restored, and that Pumacagua would succeed where Tupac Amaru had failed, were flocking in thousands to the standard of the old cacique. Pezuela organized a division of his army, 1200 strong, commanded by General Don Juan Ramirez, who marched from Oruro in October, and fell upon the rebels, numbering 4000 men, 500 armed with muskets, and the rest with slings, who were encamped on the heights above La Paz. The rebels retired in good order to Puno, and Ramirez entered La Paz, and, having extorted 63,000 dollars from the citizens, continued his march to Puno, which he occupied on November 23rd, and pressed on towards Arequipa on the 26th.[267] In the mean while Pumacagua and Angulo had been joined by many caciques with their _ayllus_ or tribes, and he organized his army at Cavanilla, giving the rank of generals and colonels to the Indian chiefs.[268] From Cavanilla the rebel forces marched along the road from Puno to Arequipa, descended the "alto de los huesos," and encountered the Spanish troops under Brigadier Picoaga in the plain of Cangallo. Picoaga was defeated and taken prisoner, and the Indians entered Arequipa in triumph, where the greatest enthusiasm prevailed for the cause of independence. Picoaga and Moscoso, the Intendente of Arequipa, were shot by order of the Angulos, who, early in December, issued a proclamation, declaring that Peru was free; that there had been a revolution in Lima; and that the viceroy Don José de Abascal was in prison. These falsehoods were intended to excite the Spanish Americans to revolt; but, indeed, they required no such stimulus, for the people of all races and classes were burning to throw off the yoke of Spain. It was at this time that Melgar, the enthusiastic young poet of Arequipa, joined the national army, and became secretary to Vicente Angulo. On the approach of Ramirez, Pumacagua evacuated Arequipa, and manœuvred for some days on the lofty plains between Apo and the post-house of Pati. Ramirez steadily advanced, and came in sight of the Indian army at a little hut called Chillihua, near the head of the "alto de los huesos;" but Pumacagua, avoiding a battle, retreated hastily into the interior, and Ramirez entered Arequipa without opposition on December 9th. His first act was to shoot Don José Astete, and other patriots who had compromised themselves during the time that Pumacagua was in the city.