Following the May Revolution (1810), the Buenos Aires-led Ejército Auxiliar del Perú (Army of the North) crossed into Upper Peru to confront royalist forces and extend revolutionary authority into the mining and administrative centers of Charcas (present-day Bolivia).
The Army of the North’s first major clash in the Upper Peru theatre ended unfavorably at Santiago de Cotagaita, forcing a withdrawal and reorganization before renewed operations farther north.
At Suipacha, patriot forces under Antonio González Balcarce (with Juan José Castelli) defeated a royalist column—widely regarded as the first decisive patriot victory in Upper Peru—triggering a short-lived collapse of royalist control across much of the region.
With Upper Peru temporarily under patriot control, Juan José Castelli established a revolutionary administration (notably in Chuquisaca and Potosí), issuing political and social measures intended to consolidate the May Revolution’s authority in the region.
A temporary truce/armistice was agreed between Castelli’s forces and José Manuel de Goyeneche, pausing major operations on the Desaguadero frontier while royalist forces regrouped and strengthened.
The armistice collapsed into a major engagement near Guaqui (Desaguadero). The royalist victory shattered the patriot position in Upper Peru and precipitated a rapid retreat south toward Jujuy and Salta.
Royalist forces extended their recovery of Upper Peru after Huaqui, defeating insurgent resistance at Amiraya (also described as a first Battle of Sipe Sipe) as the patriot army continued its withdrawal.
After reorganizing the Army of the North during a strategic retreat, Manuel Belgrano chose to give battle at Tucumán and won, stopping a major royalist push into the Argentine northwest and enabling a renewed offensive toward Upper Peru.
The Army of the North won a second major victory over royalist forces at Salta, capturing large numbers of troops and securing the northern frontier long enough to attempt a second Upper Peru expedition.
In the second Upper Peru campaign, Belgrano’s army suffered defeat at Vilcapugio against Joaquín de la Pezuela, undermining the renewed attempt to hold the highlands north of Potosí.
A second major defeat followed at Ayohuma, compelling the Army of the North to abandon the campaign and retreat toward Jujuy and Salta, while royalist power in Upper Peru reasserted itself.
During the third Upper Peru expedition, patriot forces won at Puesto del Marqués—an early tactical success that nevertheless did not translate into strategic control of the highlands.
A failed patriot attack at Venta y Media (near Lake Poopó) disrupted momentum in the third expedition and foreshadowed the decisive defeat that would soon follow at Sipe Sipe.
At Sipe Sipe (also known as Viluma), Joaquín de la Pezuela decisively defeated José Rondeau’s army. The loss effectively ended the United Provinces’ major conventional campaigns to control Upper Peru from the south.
In the final (fourth) push linked to the Upper Peru theatre, Manuel Belgrano dispatched Gregorio Aráoz de Lamadrid north from Tucumán to support resistance networks in Upper Peru and disrupt royalist communications in the Tarija region.
Lamadrid’s column, acting with local republiqueta leaders (including Eustaquio Méndez), defeated royalist forces near Tarija at La Tablada de Tolomosa, briefly securing Tarija and demonstrating the continuing importance of local guerrilla support after the end of major field campaigns.
Army of the North campaigns in Upper Peru (1810–1817)
