The Northern Liberating Current (1810-1826) was a military-military campaign led by the Venezuelan Simon Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios, better known as Simón Bolívar, liberator of the Americas. The conflict began in what was known as New Granada (Colombia-Venezuela-Ecuador) and culminated with the independence of Peru and Bolivia.
This campaign includes Numerous stratagems of the hand of Simón Bolívar , In which the famous Battle of Boyacá was fought in Colombia, the Battle of Carabobo in Venezuela and the Battle of Pichincha in Ecuador, and then ended in the Independence of Peru and with it the end of the yoke of the Spanish crown.
Background of the Northern Liberating Current
In 1810, after the deposition of the Spanish viceroy Vicente Emparan, Venezuela crossed several revolts that put in danger the Spanish supremacy.
At that time, Bolivar was already taking action to begin the independence movement that would lead him to recruit Francisco de Miranda In London, who had just directed part of the campaigns of the French Revolution in Europe.
In March 1811, a national congress met in Caracas. Although not a delegate, Bolivar gave his first public address:"Let us set the cornerstone of American freedom without fear. To hesitate is to perish."
The First Republic was declared the 5 of July in Venezuela, becoming the first colony in trying to be freed of the Spanish empire.
Although he had no formal military training and no experience on the battlefield, Bolivar was appointed Lieutenant Colonel under Miranda. It participated in its first commitment 19 of July, carrying out an assault to the Spanish bastion of Valencia. However, rebel forces were repulsed and later a siege forced the capitulation on August 19, after heavy losses on both sides.
As a result of this, Miranda and Bolivar begin to have differences in the treatment of the counterrevolutionary conspirators. Meanwhile, on the political front, Republicans suffered from the government's lack of experience, and within a few months the royal treasury, obtained under trifles, was spent on a Spanish blockade that led to a worsening economic situation in the area.
Bolivar was in charge of the most important republican port, Puerto Cabello in Venezuela, where a large number of prisoners were kept in the main fort, as well as a large collection of arms and artillery.
The combination proved fatal: a traitor freed the prisoners who were armed and began to bomb Bolivar's position. He and his men barely escaped with their lives.
Bolivar felt ashamed of the loss and furious that Miranda did not respond to calls for help. Shortly afterwards, he and other officers turned Miranda over to the Spaniards. When the Spaniards completed their reconquest of the country, Bolivar escaped to Cartagena in New Granada, which was immersed in a bloody civil war.
Battle of Boyacá (Colombia)
The Battle of Boyacá occurred on August 7, 1819 near Bogotá, and South American insurgents were victorious over Spanish forces. This battle Would free Nueva Granada , Today Colombia.
An army of about 3,000 men, under the command of Generals Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Paula Santander, surprised and defeated the Spaniards in the preliminary confrontations in Gámeza (July 12), Pantano de Vargas (July 25) and captured Tunja on August 5th.
In Boyacá, Santander cut off the Spanish advance near a bridge over the Boyacá River, while Bolivar's troops attacked the main force half a mile away, resulting in some 1,800 prisoners and the Spanish commander.
Bolivar conquered Bogotá on August 10 and was acclaimed as the liberator of New Granada. It constituted a provisional government leaving to Santander like vice-president and interim head and left ways to Angostura in Venezuela, where it announced its plan to establish the Republic of Great Colombia.
Battle of Carabobo (Venezuela)
One of the crucial victories for the liberation of South American territory was the Battle of Carabobo (June 24, 1821), which made Venezuela independent of Spanish control.
Under the indications of the liberal government recently installed in Spain, General Pablo Morillo had signed an armistice with Simon Bolivar, commander of the revolutionary forces in northern South America, in November 1820. The patriots then broke the terms of the agreement by moving against The royal garrison on Lake Maracaibo.
In Carabobo, Bolivar led his numerically superior army of some 6,500 troops, including volunteers from the British Isles, to victory over the Spaniards led by General La Torre. General Jose Antonio Páez and his llaneros and the British and Irish volunteers defeated the Spanish army while the patriotic cavalry crushed its center.
The resulting patriotic victory ensured the independence of Venezuela, since the Spanish decided that they would never try to control the region.
With the expelled Spaniards, Venezuela would begin to reform after years of wars, and in turn, Bolivar would found the Republic of Great Colombia, that at that time would include Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama. Subsequently, this Dissolved .
Pichincha battle
The capitulation of the battle of Pichincha
The 24 of May of 1822, the rebel army under the command of the general Antonio José de Sucre And the Spanish forces headed by Melchor Aymerich, faced on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, in view of the city of Quito, Ecuador.
To the north, Simon Bolivar had liberated the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1819, and to the south, Jose de San Martin had liberated Argentina and Chile and moved to Peru. The last major bastions for the realistic forces on the continent were in Peru and around Quito.
On the night of May 23, Sucre ordered his men to move to Quito. He wanted them to take the high ground of the volcano Pichincha that dominates the city, and there to wait for the first rays of light of day to face on the steep muddy slopes of the volcano.
The forces of Sucre had spread during their march, and the Spaniards were able to decimate their main battalions before the rear had reached. When the rebellious Scottish-Irish battalion Albion annihilated a force of Spanish elite, the realists were forced to retire.
On May 25, Sucre entered Quito and formally accepted the surrender of all Spanish forces. Bolivar arrived in mid-June to happy crowds.
The battle of Pichincha would be the final warming of the rebel forces before tackling the strongest stronghold of the realists on the continent: Peru. The Battle of Pichincha consolidated Sucre as one of the main rebel officers of the Campaign led by Bolivar.
Independence of Peru: Battle of Junín and Ayacucho
Battle of Ayacucho
On August 6, 1824, Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre defeated the Spanish army on Lake Junin, high in the Peruvian mountains. This victory set the stage for the Battle of Ayacucho, where another impressive patriot triumph secured freedom for Peru and all of South America.
In Junín, Bolivar took advantage that its enemies were divided to take attack, moving to near 9000 men.
The Argentine cavalry of Bolivar reached the final first, inciting the British general William Miller, whose cavalry tried to withdraw before firing and attacking the royalist cavalry. The patriots advanced at nightfall, and De Canterac, the commander-in-chief of the Spanish forces, retreated fearfully to face the patriot army on the plains.
The Battle of Ayacucho would happen 9 of December of 1824, being a victory on the realists in the altiplano near Ayacucho, Peru. He liberated Peru and secured the independence of the emerging South American republics of Spain.
The forces of some 6,000 men, including Venezuelans, Colombians, Argentines and Chileans, as well as Peruvians, were again under the leadership of Bolivar and Sucre.
Sucre opened the attack with a brilliant cavalry charge led by the brash Colombian José María Córdoba, and in a short time the royalist army had been defeated, with some 2,000 men dead.
The Spanish viceroy and his generals were taken prisoner. The terms of surrender stipulated that all Spanish forces were withdrawn from Peru and Charcas (Bolivia).
References
- Battle of Ayacucho. Retrieved from Britannica.com.
- Battle of Ayacucho, 1824 - The Art of Battle.
- The Battle of Boyaca. Retrieved from Thoughtco.com.
- Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin. Retrieved from Thoughtco.com.
- Battle of Carabobo - Oxford Reference. Retrieved from Oxfordrefernce.com.
- Battle of Carabobo (1821) - Fast and Easy Rules for Students. Retrieved from Juniorgeneral.org.
- Biography of Simon Bolivar. Retrieved from militaryheritage.com.