Time Astra

Schematic plan · Latin American Wars of Independence

Battle of Junín

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A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Flat, Mixed groundHorseHorseHorseHorseCentreCentreLeft wingRight wingLeft wingRight wingReserveReserve0250 m500 mN

Independentalists (Patriot Army, 2,000 men under Bolivar) attacked Spain (Sp Army, 2,000 men under Canterac) in Peru. The CAA Database of Battles records 12 hours of fighting on a front of 1.4 km, a frontal attack, single envelopment, right flank against hasty defense, and that Independentalists won. Losses: Independentalists 145 (7%), Spain 464 (23%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

Independentalists

Bolivar

UnitArmMen
Independentalists left wingInfantry240
Independentalists centreInfantry320
Independentalists right wingInfantry240
Independentalists reserveInfantry200
Independentalists cavalry of the leftCavalry500
Independentalists cavalry of the rightCavalry500
BolivarCommander—
In this plan2,000

Spain

Canterac

UnitArmMen
Spain left wingInfantry240
Spain centreInfantry320
Spain right wingInfantry240
Spain reserveInfantry200
Spain cavalry of the leftCavalry500
Spain cavalry of the rightCavalry500
CanteracCommander—
In this plan2,000

What the sources report

IndependentalistsSpain
Strength, this plan2,0002,000
Losses, this plan145464

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 154, “Junin”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
12 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Flat, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Winter, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
1.4 km (attacker), 1.4 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Independentalistsattacker2,0001452,0000Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Right flank; Breakthrough; Pursued
Spaindefender2,0004642,0000Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Repulse; Withdrew

Attacker’s advantages leadership +1 · initiative +1

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.