[5] As a consequence, on September 21 of the same year, the troops of the Liberating Expedition of Peru also occupied the Real Felipe Fortress, dominating the strategic port of Callao.

On June 18, 1823, Spanish general José de Canterac seized Lima along with numerous royalist soldiers, and remained in the city until July 16.

However, the bad conditions in which this garrison was found did not undergo any improvement, and there were several seditious instigations towards the troops of Callao to pass them to the royalist side.

Royalist forces led by Spanish General Monet entered Lima almost without resistance on February 25, after the withdrawal of the patriotic troops, appointing Brigadier José Ramón Rodil as head of the Callao garrison.

Shortly after the last evacuation of Lima by the Royalist Army troops, the independent soldiers finally took the capital, with Bolívar's arrival causing a massive exodus to Callao of those who maintained their loyalty to the Spanish crown, either by sincere conviction, for the defense of their interests, or for subsequent lawsuits with the leaders of the young independent Peru, with various Spaniards, Creoles and mestizos fleeing as refugees.

[7] Despite being informed in January 1825 about the capitulation at Ayacucho and its terms, this Spanish chief rejected the surrender proposal and insisted on defending Callao, hoping at some point to receive military reinforcements from Spain that never arrived.

To break the resistance, the Liberation Army, made up of Colombians and Peruvians for the most part, under the command of Venezuelan General Bartolomé Salom, established its camp in Bellavista and proceeded to surround the fortified area of Callao, bombarding the port constantly for months with heavy artillery fire.

[8] From the sea the ships of the independent side, commanded by the Chilean admiral Manuel Blanco Encalada and made up of the combined fleets of Chile, Colombia and Peru also attacked the royalist stronghold with their cannons without pause.

The astonishing resistance of the royalist chief deserved that President Santander told Bartolomé Salom after the triumph, when the latter asked to execute Rodil via firing squad: "Heroism does not merit punishment.