Peruvian Independence Declared

July 28, 1821

San Martin entered Lima, the old viceregal capital of Spanish South America, and declared Peru independent in its main square. The royalists retreated into the mountains; the real fighting would drag on for three more years. But the silver-rich heart of Spain's empire was out of Madrid's hands. Bolivar would arrive from the north to finish the war, and the two liberators met at Guayaquil to divide a continent.