Colombian Independence

In this document you will learn about the Independence of New Granada (what today is Colombia, Venezula and Ecuador).

En este documento aprenderás acerca de la Independencia del Virreinato de la Nueva Granada comprendida por lo que hoy en día es Colombia, Venezuela y Ecuador.

1. COLOMBIAN INDEPENDENCE

By Mario Arenas Herrán


The Colombian Independence is the most
important historical event of our country,
which allowed the emancipation of
Colombia with the Spanish empire. It was
the conflict that was fought during the
first quarter of the 19
th
Century to free the
Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–
1819), which are now Colombia, Panamá,
Ecuador and Venezuela.
It was a process in which we can notice 3
stages. The very first phase goes from
1810 until 1816 and it’s characterized by
the repetitive infighting among the
Patriots, those who rebelled violently
against Spain. Then, in 1816, the
Loyalists recovered the control of the
country, being the following years known
as the Spanish Reconquest of the New
Granada. However, it was in 1819 when
a series of military and political struggles
started, until the territories of the
viceroyalty gained the full independence
from Spain in 1822.
This war was part of the Spanish
American wars of independence, emerged
in Latin America due to the French
invasion of Spain in 1808, during the
Napoleonic Wars in Europe.

The Foolish Fatherland
The period between 1810 and 1816 in the
Viceroyalty of New Granada was marked
by such several conflicts between the
federalists and the centralists that it was
named as La Patria Boba (the Foolish
Fatherland) since both sides agreed with
the independence, but they could not
reach agreement about how the nature of
the new government should be.
In 1808 during the Peninsular War, owing
to the Napoleonic invasion, several local
administrations, called Juntas, were
established in different cities of Spain as a
patriotic alternative in opposition to the
official administration imposed by the
French invaders. Realizing the need of
unity promoted the creation of a central
one, the Supreme Central Junta, but it
lasted two years.
The term was also used in Spanish
America to describe the first autonomist

2. governments established in 1809, 1810
and 1811 in reaction to the developments
in Spain. After the beginning of the First
Republic of Venezuela and the
establishment of a junta in Caracas, cities
in New Granada began to do the same
and established their own juntas.
Cartagena de Indias established it on May
22
th
of 1810, followed by Cali on July
3rd, Pamplona the next day, and then
Socorro on July 10th. On July 20th,
Santa Fe de Bogotá, established its own
junta. Nowadays, this date is celebrated
as Colombia's Independence Day.

Antonio Nariño
In 1811 the province of B ogotá,
centralist, was declared the Free and
Independent State of Cundinamarca,
and the first president was Jorge Tadeo
Lozano. Nevertheless, Antonio Nariño
forced his resignation and replaced him
the same year. Meanwhile, the other
provinces had joined in the United
Provinces of New Granada, a federation
with a parliamentary system, which
consisted in a union of partially self-
governing states or regions under a
central government. These two different
forms of government of New Granada
could not reach an agreement, becoming
this situation in a conflict that led to war
in 1812 and again in 1814.
The first war ended in a draw. Although
there were quite a lot of casualties in the
battle, Cundinamarca organized an
expedition the following year, in this case
against the Spanish and Royalist forces,
pretending to reach Popayan and Pasto,
and eventually Quito. Nariño's forces
were able to take Popayán in January
1814. By the time they arrived in Pasto,
they had suffered many raids of Royalist
guerrillas and the morale of many of the
troops under Nariño's command was so
weak because of the lack of promised
reinforcements from Antioquia. After
being wounded during combat, a false
rumor of Nariño's death was spread. The
soldiers returned to Popayán, and Nariño
was left practically alone in the
battlefield. He tried to hide, but when he
was found, he surrendered himself and
was taken to the Royal prison at Cádiz.
The second war between federalists and
centralists took place after this episode,
when the United Provinces took the
opportunity to send an army headed by
Simón Bolívar against a weakened
Cundinamarca. Finally, Bolívar and his
army forced the submission of
Cundinamarca to the Union in December
1814.

3. Spanish Reconquest of New
Granada
The Spanish Invasion of United Provinces
of New Granada occurred in 1815–1816,
and is known as the Reconquest (in Latin
America) or Restoration (in Spain). After
the Napoleonic Wars ended, Ferdinand
VII restored to the throne in Spain, and
decided to send military forces to retake
the South American colonies, which had
established autonomous juntas and
independent states.
The invaders were led by "The Pacifier"
Pablo Morillo, a Spanish military and
marine who was named the I Count of
Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta,
and completed the Reconquest of New
Granada by taking Bogotá on May 1816.

The Liberation Campaign
In late 1818, the situation was finally in
favor of the Patriots. It allowed Bolívar,
from Venezuela, and Francisco de Paula
Santander, from New Granada, to begin
to coordinate joint actions that promoted
a military unit.
By 1819, Simón Bolívar wanted to attack
Tunja, but he could collect only about
2,200 troops, organized into four
battalions; one of them in command of
James Rooke who had between 160 and
200 Englishmen. On the other side, José
María Barreiro, who was in command of
the royalist troops in New Granada, had
at least 4,500 men.
Crossing the Moorland of Pisba

Simon Bolivar Crosses the Andes
On May 26 1819, Bolivar mobilized his
army, from Venezuela to Casanare, in
New Granada. He arrived there on June
4
th
of the same year, and in Tame on June
11
th
, where General Santander was. Now,
with around 4300 soldiers, they decided
to march to Tunja, where Barreiro's army
protected the city. They had 3 options to
do it, but they chose the most difficult and
inhospitable way, through the Pisba
Moorland, crossing the East Andes since
it would give them the wow-factor.

Vargas Swamp Battle
Bolivar tried to prevent the path that the
supporting forces from Bogotá were
going to use to help Barreiro's army.
Barreiro realized what was going to
happen, and ordered his troops to stop it.
Finally, both sides met in the swamp of
Vargas and fought. Bolívar's army
successfully beat the royalist army in
spite of the fatigue after climbing the
Moorland de Pisba.

4. The Battle of Boyacá
After Vargas Swamp Battle, Bolivar
reorganized and gave rest to the army
until August 4th, day when ordered to
return to Venezuela, but before going
there, he decided to take Tunja, arriving
in the city on August 5 in the morning.
Aware of the situation, Barreiro is forced
to mobilize to prevent the Independentist
army take Santafé. Due to this, Barreiro
and his men took the fastest route to
Bogotá, by the bridge of Boyacá with the
purpose of meeting with Sámaro, another
Spanish leader, and organize the defense
of the city.
Bolivar noticed the Barreiro’s intentions,
so the Patriots intercepted the bridge
before they could pass. It was a short and
intense battle in which the Spanish army
was surprised. After two hours, the
Bolivar army killed about 1600 men, and
more than 200 wounded.
With the Battle of Boyacá, the Spanish
rule in New Granada ended, and it
inspired other Latin American triumphs.

Boyacá Bridge (not the original)