Battalion (Ecuadorians). The Colombians of the Alto Magdalena tried to make a flanking move, but to no avail, as the broken terrain made it impossible. Soon, the Paya, Barrezueta and Yaguachi, suffering heavy losses and lacking enough ammunition, began to fall back. Everything now seemed to depend on the personnel of the British Legions bringing up the much needed reserve ammunition and additional personnel, but whose exact whereabouts were unknown. As time went by, the Royalists seemed to gain the upper hand. The Trujillo was forced to fall back, while the Piura Battalion (Peruvians), fled before making contact with the enemy. In desperation, the part of the Paya held in reserve was ordered to make a bayonet charge. Both sides suffered heavy losses, but the situation was somehow stabilized for the Patriots. Nevertheless, Melchor Aymerich had an ace up his sleeve, so to speak. During the march up Pichincha, he had detached his crack Aragón battalion from his main force, ordering it to make for the top of the volcano, so as to fall upon the rear of the Patriots when the time came, and break their lines. The Aragón battalion — a veteran Spaniard unit that had seen plenty of action both during the Peninsular War and in South America — was now above the Patriots. As luck would have it, just as it was about to charge down onto the faltering Patriot line, it was stopped dead in its tracks by the English, Scots and Irish veterans of Albión, which made a surprise entry into the battle. As it was, the Albión had actually advanced to a position higher than the Spaniards. Soon, the Magdalena battalion joined in the fight, and the Aragón, after suffering heavy losses, was put out of action. The Colombians from the Magdalena then went up to the line to replace the Paya, which was forced to pull back, and charged upon the Royalist line, which was finally broken. At midday, Aymerich ordered the retreat. The Royalist army, now disorganized and exhausted, retreated down the slopes of Pichincha towards Quito. Although some units descended to Quito in disarray, harassed by the Magdalena battalion charging after them, others retreated in orderly fashion. The Colombians reached the outer limits of Quito, but did not go any further, acting on orders from their commanding officer who prudently decided against letting his soldiers enter the city. Thus, the