Bolívar's campaign to liberate New Granada: Difference between revisions

{{Campaignbox Venezuelan War of Independence}}'''Bolívar's campaign to liberate New Granada''' also known as the '''Liberation Campaign of 1819''' was part of the Colombian and [[Venezuelan War of Independence|Venezuelan wars of independence]] and was one of the many [[Military career of Simón Bolívar|military campaigns fought by Simón Bolívar]]. Bolívar's victory in New Granada (today: [[Colombia]], [[Venezuela]], [[Ecuador]] and [[Panama]]) secured the eventual independence of northern South America. It provided Bolívar with the economic and human resources to complete his victory over the Spanish in [[Venezuela]] and Colombia.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Bolívar's attack on New Granada is considered one of the most daring in military history, compared by contemporaries and some historians to Hannibal's or Napoleon's [[Napoleon Crossing the Alps|crossing of the Alps]] in 1800 and José San Martín's [[Crossing of the Andes]] in 1817.<ref>Masur, Gerhard. ''Simon Bolivar'', 273.</ref><ref>Mijares, Augusto. ''The Liberator'', 354.</ref>

By 1817, Bolívar had set up his headquarters in the [[Orinoco]] region in southern Venezuela. It was an area from which the Spaniards could not easily oust him.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} There he engaged the services of several thousand foreign soldiers and officers, mostly [[British Legions|British and Irish]], set up his capital at Angostura (now [[Ciudad Bolívar]]) and established liaisons with the revolutionary forces of the [[Llanos]]. This included one group of Venezuelan ''[[llanero]]s'' (cowboys) led by [[José Antonio Páez]] and another group of New Granadan exiles led by Colonel [[Francisco de Paula Santander]], who was the commander of the remnant forces that made up the army of the [[United Provinces of New Granada|United Provinces of New Granda]] and would join Bolivar's army. With these forces he began a campaign from [[Guyana]], pushing Morillo westwards where his forces would reach the gates of [[Caracas]], only to be turned back by Morillo at the 3rd Battle of La Puerta. With this defeat Boilvar retreated to the safety of ''Llanos'' of the [[Apure]] region. In early 1819, Morillo's forces penetrated the ''llanos'' of the Apure region with the goal of finishing off Bolivar. Bolivar defeated him at the [[Battle of Las Queseras del Medio]] in April, forcing Morillo to retreat to [[Calabozo]], where he would stay to wait out the rain season.

Earlier, in August 1818, Bolivar had promoted Santander to Brigadier General and dispatched him to the ''Llanos'' of [[Casanare Department|Casanare]] along with 1,200 muskets, uniforms, and other supplies, with the mission of creating and training a New Granadan army for a future campaign to liberate New Granada. As this area of New Granada was one of the few places where there was no Spanish presence, it harbored many of the New Granadans who had fled Morillo's reconquest. Santander was able to effectively organize this army, which eventually reached around 1,200 men.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

By 1819, the young [[artillery]] Colonel José María Barreiro was the military commander of all royalist troops in New Granada, and counted with at least 4,500 trained soldiers of the III Division of the Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme scattered throughout the Kingdom.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Since assuming command, his mission was both to attack and defend the kingdom against any rebel threat. As both Viceroy Samano and Morillo heard reports of Santander's efforts to organize an army in Casanare at the same time that Morillo penetrated the Apure region in Venezuela, Barreiro was instructed to attack Santander in Casanare. He deployed a force of 1,200 men 540 cavalry in March 1819, crossing the Andes and arriving in the llanos and reaching Pore in early April. This campaign was unsuccessful{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}: the Royalist Army became exhausted as it was badly prepared for the campaign and was constantly harassed by Patriot forces, which forced Barreiro to withdraw to Tunja as the rainy season set in.

Bolívar conceived of the [[Military operation|operation]] in late 1818 and early 1819 after the [[Congress of Angostura]] began its deliberations and had reappointed him president of [[Second Republic of Venezuela|Venezuela]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} If Bolívar could liberate New Granada, he would have a whole new base from which to operate against General [[Pablo Morillo]], head of the [[royalist (Hispanic American Revolution)|royalist]] forces in the area and end the stalemate in Venezuela.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Central New Granada held great promise since, unlike Venezuela, it had only been recently conquered by Morillo and it had a prior six-year experience of independent government.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Royalist sentiment, therefore, was not strong.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} But it would be hard to take the initiative against the better prepared and better supplied royalist army.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} To surprise it, Bolívar decided to move during the [[wet season|rainy season]], when the Llanos flooded up to a meter and the campaign season ended. Morillo's forces would be gone from the Llanos for months and no one would anticipate that Bolívar's troops would be on the move.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The proposed route, however, was considered impassable, and therefore the plan understandably received little support from the Congress or from Páez. [[File:Marcha del libertador Bolívar y Santander en la campaña de los Llanos.jpg|thumb|Bolívar and Santander traversing the flooded ''Llanos'' by Jesús María Zamora.|287x287px]]

On May 25, Bolivar set out with his Venezuelan troops from the town of Mantecal in the [[Apure]] region of Venezuela westwards towards Tame in New Granada (modern day Colombia) where he met up with the army General Santander had formed to combine their forces and then set off for the Andes. During the march from Venezuela to New Granada a considerable number of horses and pack mules were lost to the flooded Llanos where they drowned. On June 4 they crossed the [[Arauca River]] and reached Tame on June 12. Once there Bolivar began the organization of the combined army of 2,500 men with him as commander-in-chief and General [[Carlos Soublette]] as his [[Chief of staff]]. The army was organized into 2 Divisions, a Vanguard Division in the front of the army under the command of Brigadier General Francisco de Paula Santander, and a Rearguard Division, with the bulk of the army under the command of Brigadier General [[José Antonio Anzoátegui]]. Within this Rearguard Division was the British Legion under the command of Colonel [[James Rooke (British Legion officer)|James Rooke]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moreno de Angel |first=Pilar |title=Santander |orig-date=1989 |publisher=Crítica Colombia |year=2019 |isbn=9789584276926 |edition=1st |location=Bogotá |pages=400 |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gutiérrez Ardila |first=Daniel |title=1819: Campaña de la Nueva Granada |publisher=Universidad Externado de Colombia |year=2019 |isbn=978-958-790-122-1 |edition=1st |location=Bogotá |pages=61}}</ref> While at Tame, Bolivar and Santander conducted a war meeting in order to discuss which route the army would take to cross the Cordillera Oriental. While Bolivar had originally intended to take the route through La Salina pass, Santander disagreed with this and suggested taking the route through the Paramo de Pisba with Boilvar eventually agreeing with this recommendation.<ref>Riaño, Camilo. ''La Campaña Libertadora de 1819'', 116-119.</ref> The pass through the Paramo de Pisba was the shortest and the least defended route, however it was also the most difficult and treacherous but with the greatest chance of surprising Spanish forces as it was deemed impassable by Barreiro especially during the rain season.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} With the forces that he and Santander had recruited in the [[Apure River|Apure]] and [[Meta River]] regions now combined, set off on June 17, 1819.<ref>Lynch, John. ''Bolívar, A Life'', 124–127.</ref><ref>Masur, Gerhard. ''Simon Bolivar'', 261–264.</ref><ref>Madariaga, Salvador de. ''Bolívar'', 339–343.</ref>

In order to reach the pass, the Patriot Army marched towards Morcote where the foothills of the Andes began and then to Paya where they climbed to the last town, called Pisba, before crossing the Paramo, where they reached the town of [[Socha]] on the other side of the Cordillera. The army's march usually began around 5 am as the early morning weather was much easier on the troops.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The Vanguard division eventually reached Morcote on 26 June and on 27 June they marched towards Paya. The rearguard was usually a day's march behind the vanguard.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} It reached Morcote on the morning of 27 June.

On 27 June, as the Patriot Vanguard approached the town of Paya, they spotted the presence of a Spanish Garrison guarding the town. This Spanish garrison of around 300 men was under the command of Major Juan Figueroa y Ladron. They were guarding the town because it was along the road that led to the main mountain pass at [[Labranzagrande]]. Santander then ordered the troops of the ''Cazadores'' Battalion to attack the Spanish force in order to clear the way for the rest of the army. The battle was short, as Figueroa ordered his troops to withdraw towards Labranzagrande when he realized that he was facing a larger force. He also cut the bridge towards that town, thinking that it was the intended route for the Patriot Army.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

With the path cleared, the army continued its march. However that same day{{which?|date=March 2024}} Bolivar and the rearguard reached Morcote. Doubts began to arise amongst the Venezuelans troops and officers (apart from Bolivar) about the feasibility of the campaign, due to the lack of sufficient clothing and supplies for the difficult mountain crossing.<ref>Gutiérrez Ardila, Daniel. ''1819: campaña de la Nueva Granada'': 61-62</ref> Bolivar then convened a war council and sent a letter to Santander informing him of this, recommending that the army try crossing the Andes through Cucuta.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Santander then gathered his officers (who were mostly New Granadan like him{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}) to discuss what should be done. He then sent a letter responding to Bolivar, writing that even if the rest of the army did not wish to continue, the Vanguard force would continue the campaign whilst there was the slightest chance of success.<ref>Harvey, Robert. ''Liberators: Latin America's Struggle for Independence'': 176.</ref> Santander also countered Bolívar by saying that crossing the Andes through Cucuta would take far longer and that they would lose their element of surprise, allowing Barreiro to receive reinforcements from Venezuela.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The conviction and determination of the New Granadan officers inspired confidence in Bolivar and the Venezuelan officer corps and as a result of this he decided to continue the campaign.<ref>Riaño, Camilo. ''La Campaña Libertadora de 1819'', 153.</ref>

[[File:Bolivar's troops in the Cordillera Oriental.jpg|thumb|Bolívar's troops ascend the Cordillera Oriental|154x154px]][[File:AgenciaDeNoticias-20190219-01 04.jpg|left|thumb|342x342px|Bolivar crossing the Paramo de Pisba by Francisco Antonio Cano]]As the army ascended from the hot and humid, flood-swept plains of Venezuela of New Granada they were greeted by the freezing cold of the icy mountain pass of the [[Páramo]] de [[Pisba, Boyacá|Pisba]], which reached an elevation of 3,960 meters (13,000 feet), through the [[Cordillera Oriental (Colombia)|Cordillera Oriental]]. After the hardships of wading through a virtual sea,{{tone-inline|date=March 2024}} the mostly ''llanero'' army was not prepared and poorly clothed for the cold and altitude of the mountains as well as the heavy rainfall they experienced.<ref>Lynch, John. ''Bolívar, A Life'', 127–129.</ref><ref>Masur, Gerhard. ''Simon Bolivar'', 264–266.</ref><ref>Madariaga, Salvador de. ''Bolívar'', 343–348.</ref> Santander and the Vanguard division were able to weather the climate better as they were mostly from the Andes.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} This force arrived in Socha on July 4 and sent back men to assist the struggling Rearguard in their crossing.<ref>Riaño, Camilo. ''La Campaña Libertadora de 1819'': 160.</ref><ref>Harvey, Robert. ''Liberators: Latin America's Struggle for Independence'': 177.</ref> Anzoategui and the rearguard division began to cross the Paramo on July 5 and had spend the night on the plateau. Bolivar, who was with them, described the crossing: "That same day we entered the Paramo, while the weather was good, the troops suffered a lot from the cold and we lost all beasts of saddle and burden; It has been rare that one would make it."<ref>Riaño, Camilo. ''La Campaña Libertadora de 1819'': 162.</ref> The rearguard suffered heavily during the crossing as their troops were mostly men of the ''Llanos''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} During the night many froze to the death due to the scarcity of vegetation in the area preventing the building of fires for warmth.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The rearguard eventually descended on 6 July. General Soublette, who was still in Paya, informed Bolivar that the British Legion would cross on the 13th. During the crossing, 100 men had perished and others{{how many?|date=March 2024}} had deserted.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} In Socha, some 500 men were hospitalized and had to be cared for by the townsfolk.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Santander commented on the sorry state of the army, stating that "the army was a dying body."<ref>Gutiérrez Ardila, Daniel. ''1819: campaña de la Nueva Granada'': 62.</ref><ref>Moreno de Angel, Pilar. ''Santander'': 417.</ref>

Since June 1819, the Spanish had received intelligence that Bolívar was possibly on the move.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} However, the Spanish doubted that Bolívar's army could make the trip during the rainy season.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Barreiro who had been garrisoned in Tunja since May. He dispersed troops throughout the various mountain passes and left a garrison in Paya. As a result, they were taken by surprise when Bolívar's small army emerged from the mountains on 6 July.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Bolívar rebuilt his forces by placing a [[Conscription|levy]] on the local population.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} In a series of battles, the Republican army cleared its way to [[Bogotá]]. First, at the [[Battle of Vargas Swamp]] on 25 July, Bolívar intercepted a royalist force attempting to reach the poorly defended capital. After the Battle of Vargas Swamp, Bolivar reorganized his men, resting them until 4 August, when he ordered a return to Venezuela. However, during the night, he redirected his forces towards Tunja, and took the city by mid-day of 5 August 1819. Due to Bolivar's flash conquest, Barreiro was obliged to mobilize his troops to defend the capital, Santafé, from Bolivar.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The Royalist men took the fastest route to Bogota (which led through the Boyacá Bridge), but were unable to pass, as Bolivar intercepted them in the early morning of 7 August. Bolivar's republican troops were composed of approximately 2,850 men, which successfully divided and defeated the 2,670 royalist soldiers in a battle that lasted two hours.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The battle resulted in the death of 66 republicans, 250 royalists, as well as the capture of approximately 1,600 of the remaining royal troops.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} At the [[Battle of Boyacá]] on 7 August 1819, the bulk of the royalist army surrendered to Bolívar.

On the day of the battle of Boyacá, Colonel Barrerio (leader of the royalist forces in Nueva Granada) was captured alongside 37 Spanish officers. The 38 prisoners were executed on 11 October 1819 by decree of Francisco de Paula Santander, staying true to Bolivar's motto of 'war to the death.' On receiving the news, the viceroy, [[Juan José de Sámano y Uribarri|Juan José de Sámano]], and the rest of royalist government fled the capital to Cartagena de Indias, leaving behind the treasury. On the afternoon of 10 August Bolívar's army entered [[Bogotá]] without any royalist resistance.<ref>Lynch, John. ''Bolívar, A Life'', 129–130.</ref><ref>Masur, Gerhard. ''Simon Bolivar'', 266-73.</ref><ref>Madariaga, Salvador de. ''Bolívar'', 357–358.</ref> His arrival concluded the campaign for liberating New Granada. The battle of Boyacá was a decisive triumph over Spanish power in New Granada, and the Spanish America as a whole.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Despite the royalists' strength in the other provinces of the region, such as Santa Marta and Pasto – where resistance withstood various years of revolutionary uprisings – the capital of the viceroyalty of New Granada had fallen into the hands of the New Granadans.

With New Granada secure, Bolívar returned to Venezuela in a position of unprecedented military, political and financial strength.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} In his absence, the Congress had flirted with deposing him, assuming that he would meet his death in New Granada.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} The vice-president Francisco Antonio Zea was deposed and replaced by Juan Bautista Arismendi. All this was quickly reversed when word got to the Congress of Bolívar's success. In December Bolívar returned to Angostura, where he urged the Congress to proclaim the creation of a new state: the [[Gran Colombia|Republic of Colombia (Gran Colombia)]]. It did so on 17 December and elected him president of the new country. Since two of its three regions, [[Venezuela]] and Quito ([[Ecuador]]), were still under royalist control, it was only a limited achievement.<ref>Lynch, John. ''Bolívar, A Life'', 132–134.</ref><ref>Masur, Gerhard. ''Simon Bolivar'', 274–275, 280–285.</ref><ref>Madariaga, Salvador de. ''Bolívar'', 353–354, 361–364.</ref> Bolívar continued his efforts against the royalist areas of Venezuela, culminating in the [[Battle of Carabobo]] two years later, which all but secured his control of northern South America.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Bolívar's victory in New Granada was, therefore, a major turning point in the history of northern South America.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} With this shift in political power, the path was laid out for the union of New Granada and Venezuela into the Republic of Colombia.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} However, the campaigns for independence would continue: Antonio José de Sucre marched South, towards Pasto, the Audiencia de Quito, the Viceroyalty of Peru, and Upper Peru, while Bolivar sought to expand the campaign to the westernmost regions of Venezuela, which still lay under Spanish power, and counted with 27,000 soldiers for its defense.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}