Pedro Antonio de Olañeta y Marquiegui (October 16, 1770 in Elgueta, Gipuzkoa, Spain – April 2, 1825 in Tumusla, Potosí Department, Bolivia)[1] was a Royalist commander in the army of the Spanish Empire who fought against the South American insurgency led by Simón Bolívar.
[1] When the May Revolution occurred in 1810 he sided with the Royalists, commanded by General José Manuel de Goyeneche, and fought as an officer in campaigns against the rebels.
Bolivar, having news of Olañeta's actions, took advantage of the dismantling of the royalist defensive system so that he "moved the whole month of May to Jauja", and faced José de Canterac, who was isolated in Junín on August 6 of 1824.
Finally, October 7 of 1824, having his troops right in front of the doors of Cusco, Bolívar gave general Sucre the command of the new battle front, which followed the course of the Apurímac River, and he withdrew to Lima in order to negotiate more loans to keep the war going in Peru, and to receive a Colombian division of 4000 men provided by Páez, which arrived after the Battle of Ayacucho, where the patriot forces won the day.
[4][need quotation to verify] After the decisive defeat of the main royalist armies in the Battle of Ayacucho, Olañeta continued a hopeless resistance against Simón Bolívar's forces in the Campaign of Sucre in Upper Peru (today's Bolivia).