not yet arrived at the zone of combat. When they finally did arrive, the Mapuche troops retreated through the hills and the Spanish left the fort chasing them. Death While the surviving Mapuche forces were still retreating, an advance party commanded by Pedro de Avendaño arrived at Pilmaiquen, and in the Battle of Antihuala (on 5 February 1558) they captured Caupolican, who was in process of preparing a counteroffensive. According to De Vivar, while he was being guided, tied up, by a squad of Spanish soldiers towards the fort of Tucapel, an irate Mapuche woman appeared in front of them, whose name was Fresia, with a baby in her arms; the baby was a child of the defeated toqui. The woman reprimanded him for having allowed himself to be captured alive; she threw the baby down at his feet and walked away, useless the cries given asking her to return for the child. The march continued silently in its direction. He was taken before the veteran Alonso de Reinoso, who condemned him to die by impalement. Cristobal de Arevalo, the field marshal, was asked to be the executioner. Caupolican was taken and tied to a raised platform with a sharp wooden spike. According to Ercilla, while on the platform, he lifted his right leg and kicked his executioner off the platform. After doing so, he then leaped onto the spike himself. Galvarino was also captured and hanged. After these terrible episodes, and due to familial prestige, Caupolican the younger, Caupolican's oldest son, was chosen as the Mapuche military leader, leading the Battle of Quiapo (November 1558). Caupolican is considered by many to have been a very fierce warrior, although he did not have the victories of Lautaro. In modern times, Caupolican is recognized for his exploits in all of Chile by the naming of streets, theaters, parks and monuments in his honor. It is falsely believed that the bronze statue found on the Santa Lucia hill in Santiago is a tribute to the Toqui. What is true is that the statue is a work of the sculptor Nicanor Plaza, that popular Chilean tradition associates with Caupolican. See also Pedro De Valdivia Arauco War Lautaro Alonso De Ercilla Lincoyan Lemucaguin Alonso De Reinoso Jeronimo De Vivar Alonso De Gongora Marmolejo Pedro Mariño De Lobera References Sources 1558 deaths Executed Chilean people People executed by impalement 16th-century Mapuche people Indigenous leaders of