NEW GRANADA LIBERATION CAMPAIGN: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The Liberation Campaign of Nueva Granada was a military campaign led by Simón Bolívar at the beginning of the year 1819. The purpose of this war activity was to achieve the independence of the province of Nueva Granada, present-day Colombia.

This campaign also sought to promote the process of creation of the Republic of Colombia, which was later constituted by the Royal Audience of Quito, the Captaincy General of Venezuela and the viceroyalty of New Granada, territories that at that time were under the Spanish power.

Simon Bolivar

One of the most outstanding consequences of this campaign was the motivation it aroused in the promoters of independence to liberate the other instances that were in the hands of the Spanish Empire. The triumph obtained by the independentistas constituted a firm step in the achievement of independence in the continent.

Background

Political crisis of 1808

During the year 1808, the crisis of the Spanish monarchy was sharply worsened, which notably affected both the political and economic development of the provinces that were under the yoke of the Spanish Empire, including the territory of New Granada.

Thanks to this latent decay within Spanish power, the first seeds of nonconformity began to grow, which later led to Latin American independence and the creation of what is now known as the nation states.

During the course of June of that same year, a considerable part of the Spanish provinces was in an open rebellion, which occurred as a result of the constant popular uprisings that were carried out due to the strong mistreatment exercised by the viceroyalty, both towards the patriots as towards the common people.

This brought with it the establishment of an emergency administrative power led by members of the clergy, aristocrats, and former city council workers.

While Spain was at war with France due to the Napoleonic invasions, these organizers were in charge of imposing taxes and exercising the functions of the courts.

As this occurred, the Spanish Empire increasingly lost its control over American lands, causing the creoles to yearn more strongly for the power that had been denied them because of their second-rate nationality (in other words, for not being peninsular whites).

Provincial elections of 1809

At the beginning of 1809, the Central Government Board of Spain and the Indies promoted the entry of the representatives of the American provinces from the holding of elections.

This means that, for the first time in history, the captaincies general of America had the right to elect the deputies who would answer to the Spanish body politic.

Through the vote, in the new kingdom of Granada, Marshal Antonio de Narváez was selected, who was unable to exercise his position due to the dissolution of the Central Board.

Despite this, these elections promoted among enlightened men the need to express their projects and ideas on the recomposition of the present and prevailing monarchical order at that time.

Causes

Political situation in 1818

At the beginning of 1818, the political situation in New Granada and in Venezuelan territory was very disconcerting due to the strong reprisals that had been taken against the patriots.

At that time Juan Sámano had been chosen as viceroy; he decided to continue the bloody policy of his predecessor Morillo.

After the bewilderment and confusion that it produced in its beginnings, this violent policy resulted in the final decision to confront the Spanish regime. For this reason, a series of various uprisings and guerrillas took place in almost all of Granada.

During the course of 1818 these confrontations became massive and extended throughout the months until July, at which time they became the best support for the Liberation Campaign.

These guerrillas were favored by the priests who supported the cause of the patriots within the provinces of the viceroyalty, which ensured their survival and success.

Despite the fact that these uprisings did not directly disturb Spain's military power, they were a quite concrete step forward to achieve political freedom.

The congress of Cariaco and the uprising of Piar

Before the New Granada Campaign, two events occurred that prompted and precipitated the raising of arms; These were the Cariaco congress (which took place in New Granada) and the betrayal of Piar, which occurred in Venezuelan territory.

Despite this, Bolívar acted quickly and managed to end the uprising of Piar, whom he sentenced to death.

For its part, the congress did not have great relevance as a movement, it is even classified by connoisseurs as "an insubordination without a future." However, these difficulties were an incentive to take action before losing control of the territories.

Demands of the other patriots

After these events, some patriots in charge of maintaining order - such as Colonel Fray Ignacio Mariño, Agustín R. Rodríguez and Commander Antonio Arredondo - demanded that Bolívar help them in Angostura to preserve the freedom that had been achieved there.

In turn, they also demanded from the Liberator the military and political independence of the Apure army.

In other words, around Nueva Granada and Venezuela considerable internal and external problems were brewing, which threatened the attainment of the freedom and absolute independence of nations. This influenced the development of the Liberation Campaign of 1819.

Stages

Campaign starts

In the year 1819 the royalist Lieutenant José María Barreiro was in the province of Nueva Granada commanding 3,000 well-prepared and well-armed men.

Santander, under the command of the Liberator, had gathered 2,200 soldiers, made up mostly of blacks, indigenous people, mulattoes and some Creoles, who had been recruited from the Venezuelan plains.

Viceroy Juan de Sámano ordered Barreiro to attack Santander's troops; however, the former decided to withdraw due to a considerable loss of soldiers.

On the other hand, José Antonio Páez had to carry out a diversionary maneuver on Murillo's troops in the city of Cúcuta; however, this was not carried out.

Finally, on May 26, the patriot army advanced, made up of 4 battalions, which were assisted by the British legion under the command of Arthur Sandes, Ambrosio Plaza, James Rooke and José de la Cruz Carillo.

Entrance to the Granada territory

On June 4 of the same year Bolívar managed to enter the province of Casanare, where he met Santander, who had managed to reunite a considerable number of soldiers after the casualties that occurred during the confrontation with Barreiro.

Some historians affirm that between Bolívar and Santander they managed to group 4300 soldiers; However, other sources assure that they only had 2,500 men.

The journey that the patriot troops made to reach Tame was very precarious because they crossed the road during the winter, which caused a continuous shortage of food and the loss of some weapons.

Finally, despite the difficulties imposed by the climatic conditions, on June 22, 1819 Bolívar managed to enter Pore, a city that was the capital of the province.

Passing through the Andes mountain range

After the episode that occurred at Fort Paya, the patriotic troops continued their march through the Andes mountain range, which led them to the town of Socha.

During this step, several soldiers died and many fell ill, dramatically reducing the capacity of the troops.

Battle of Tópaga

After the rest in Bocha, Bolívar's army met with Barreiro's troops, so on July 11 a strong battle was carried out in Tópaga and Gámeza.

Despite the powerful Spanish revenge, Bolívar managed to regroup the troops. With the help of Santander he managed to carry out a counterattack, forcing the withdrawal of the enemy army.

However, the royalist troops were able to place themselves in a more advantageous position (at a height known as El Molino), which made Bolívar finally make the decision to suspend the confrontation after several hours of continuous battle.

Battle of the Pantano de Vargas

On July 25, the Liberator ordered his troops to go to Paipa, in order to cut off the communication that existed between the royalists and Santafé de Bogotá. However, Barreiro realized this feat, so he decided to prevent it through a confrontation in the Pantano de Vargas.

While the patriotic troops were made up of 2,200 men, the royalists had 3,000 well-armed soldiers, which tipped the balance toward Spanish success.

However, Bolívar kept a part of his cavalry in reserve until the end, with which he managed to disperse the royalists and obtain victory. During these military actions, Colonel James Rooke died.

Boyaca's battle

After taking a notable rest, on August 4 Bolívar gave the order to return to Venezuelan territory. However, this was only a strategy to confuse Barreiro, who upon learning of the departure of the patriots decided to follow them.

Once Barreiro had launched his army to strike down the patriots on their return to Venezuela, Bolívar entered the city of Tunja, forcing the royalist commander to return suddenly.

This battle lasted two hours, for which it was considered a brief but intense warlike confrontation, in which the Spanish troops were surprised and outwitted.

With this battle the domain of the royalists in the province of Nueva Granada ended, inspiring the subsequent triumphs that were executed in other Latin American countries.

Consequences

As a result of the success of the Boyacá campaign, Barreiro was executed and Viceroy Juan de Sámano had to flee immediately, taking refuge in Cartagena de Indias.

Despite the success of the Battle of Boyacá, there were still royalists in other Colombian provinces such as Pasto and Santa Marta. However, later the capital was attacked by independence patriots, which allowed the union between New Granada and Venezuela.

On the other hand, influenced by the success of the Battle of Boyacá, the other campaigns remained firm and decisive in the face of their independence objective.

For example, Sucre continued his march towards the Audiencia of Quito and Upper Peru; instead, the Liberator still had to liberate the Venezuelan West, which remained under the yoke of the royalists.

Prominent figures

In addition to Simón Bolívar, it is important to highlight the important participation played by two fundamental characters in the history of the Nueva Granada Liberation Campaign; these were Francisco de Paula Santander and José María Barreiro.

Francisco de Paula Santander

One of the prominent figures before and during the Liberation Campaign was Francisco de Paula Santander, who achieved great success fighting in Venezuela during the years 1817 and 1818, in the first instance following orders from Páez and then under the tutelage of Simón Bolívar., both in Guyana and in the campaign against Caracas.

Due to his remarkable military performance, he was promoted to deputy chief of the General Staff of the Urdaneta Division in 1817. Then he was proclaimed brigadier general and chosen by the Liberator to organize the troops that were part of the liberating expedition in the year from 1819.

Jose Maria Barreiro Manjon

As Bolívar's counterpart was the Spanish soldier José María Barreiro Manjón, who participated in the Spanish War of Independence; He was even wounded and taken prisoner in Madrid in 1808.

Barreiro was released in 1810, when he continued to serve in the War of Independence. Later he was sent in 1815 to control the Captaincy General of Venezuela, as well as the viceroyalty of New Granada.

Despite his willful nature, it is considered that Barreiro was very young and inexperienced, reasons for which he failed in the Battle of Boyacá.

References

1. Chumbita, H. (sf) America in Revolution: brief history of the emancipation of the American countries (1776-1830). Retrieved on November 6, 2018 from Organización Cecies: cecies.org
2. Estrada, R. (2010) Foreigners and their participation in the first period of Independence in New Granada, 1808-1816. Retrieved on October 6, 2018 from the UDEA Digital Library: Bibliotecadigital.udea.edu.co
3. Martínez, A. (2009) The formation of the republican States in New Granada and Venezuela. Retrieved on November 5, 2018 from JSTOR: jstor.org
4. Rosselli, H. (1969) Medical Aspects of the Liberation Campaign of 1819. Retrieved on November 5, 2018 from the National University Magazine: magazines.unal.edu.co
5. Tisnes, R. (2018) La Nueva Granada en 1818 Retrieved on November 5, 2018 from the Cultural and Bibliographic Bulletin: publications.banrepcultural.org
6. Laurent, M. (2014) Contraband, power and color at the dawn of the New Granada Republic, 1822-1824. Retrieved on November 5, 2018 from Google books: books.google.es