PICHINCHA, BATTLE OF

(May 24, 1822), in the Latin-American wars of independence, a victory by South American rebels, commanded by Antonio Jos de Sucre, over the Spanish royalists on the lower slopes of Cerro Pichincha, an Andean volcano. It enabled the rebels to occupy nearby Quito, Ecuador, the following day. Simn Bolvar, leader of the revolutionary forces in northern South America, was acclaimed liberator, and Ecuador was joined to the newly formed but transitory Republic of Gran Colombia.