Campaña Admirable

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Simon Bolívar's Campaña Admirable ( German  Admirable Campaign ) in Venezuela in 1813 is one of two campaigns that made the establishment of the Second Republic of Venezuela possible after their successful completion. Without the campaign led by Santiago Mariño in eastern Venezuela, Bolívar would not have been able to succeed, as Spanish commander-in-chief Domingo Monteverde had to split up his troops. The campaign took place as part of the wars of independence in Venezuela against the Spanish crown from 1810 to 1823.

Route of the campaign of 1813, from Cúcuta to Caracas

prehistory

After the destruction of the First Republic of Venezuela, many Venezuelan patriots fled to New Granada . Bolívar, who arrived quite late in Cartagena de Indias , only received a mandate from the provincial government there to raise troops to defend the upper Rio Magdalena . From the end of 1812 he carried out the Magdalena campaign against the Spaniards of Santa Marta . His successes allow him to advance as far as the Colombian Eastern Cordillera.

San José de Cúcuta , on the neo-renadine side of the border with Venezuela, was occupied at the beginning of January by Ramón Correa y Guevarra from Maracaibo for the royalists. The border security of the province of Pamplona was the responsibility of Manuel Castillo y Rada (with his chief of staff Francisco de Paula Santander ). Castillo y Rada could not stop the advance of the Spaniards and had withdrawn to Piedecuesta, 15 kilometers southeast of Bucaramanga . Without going into the defense strategy proposed by Castillo y Rada, Bolívar, numerically inferior, marched on the Spaniards and retook Cúcuta on February 27th. The Spaniards fled back to Venezuela towards the northeast.

The Congress of the New Renadine Union (see First Republic of Colombia ) promoted Bolívar to Brigadier General and placed border security under him, which he organized aggressively. A victory by Castillo y Rada in La Grita , Venezuela , about 55 kilometers northeast of Cúcuta in April, drove Correa out of the border region. With this, Bolívar had fulfilled his task of securing the border and was preparing a campaign to his homeland, for which he had received only limited authority to Mérida and Trujillo on May 7th from the Union Congress .

The beginning of the campaign

Bolívar only had 500 soldiers, but he had been given ample weapons and ammunition to add to his army along the way. He was also given a contingent of troops from the federalists, who were defeated in the neo-renadine civil war, with some excellent officers. He recruited the first 150 men in the border region around Cúcuta. He made Rafael Urdaneta his chief of staff, entrusted Atanasio Giradot with the vanguard and José Felix Ribas with the rear guard. On May 14th, the rearguard left Cúcuta. That day the La Grita vanguard began the march to Mérida. On May 18, the vanguard reached Mérida without meeting any resistance; Bolívar with the rearguard on the 23rd. Here he was given the title of Liberator (Libertador). Here Bolívar was able to expand its army to 1,000 men. A commission of the neo-renadine congress did not reach Bolívar in time to prevent his unauthorized action. Correa had withdrawn with 300 men to Betijoque on Lake Maracaibo and was waiting there for reinforcements from Carache. In the province of Trujillo there were 150 men in the provincial capital and 160 in Niquitao. These belonged to the troops stationed in Barinas . Here, frigate captain Antonio Tiscar commanded around 2,500 soldiers and was toying with an incursion into New Granada.

Since Bolívar did not have enough soldiers, he decided to first liberate the areas of the Mérida Andes that were north of him and then march back to Barinas. The direct route from Mérida to Barinas led through the narrow gorge of Callejones, which he found too difficult and too unsafe. In addition, he could count on further reinforcements on the way.

On May 26, the vanguard set out under Giradot to provide reinforcements from Carache. Two departments under Luciano D'Elhuyar and Hermogenes Maza were supposed to drive Correa off the south bank of Lake Maracaibo. On June 3, after a march on the mountains over 4,000 meters high, the two divisions united and defeated a 50-man strong division from Correa near Escuque, around 25 km WSW Trujillo. On the same day, the Republicans reached Correa in Ponemesa, about 5 kilometers to the west, and scattered its 418 soldiers. With a maximum of 100 men, Correa then started the final retreat. Giradot led the rest of his 488-strong vanguard to Trujillo, where he met Maza and D'Elhuyar on June 10th. Bolívar arrived in Trujillo on the 14th and devoted himself to the political organization of the province. Here he issued the well-known “Decree from War to Death” on June 15th. Giradot captured Manuel Cañas, who had come from San Carlos to support Correa, at the heights of Agua Opispos north of Carache, about 45 km NNE Trujillo, on June 19 and attacked the 460 Spaniards. Despite the advantageous terrain, these could not withstand the onslaught. Giradot pursued the defeated royalists for over 20 kilometers, who were completely disbanded. With only minor losses of his own, he made a hundred prisoners and captured weapons, horses and equipment. Then the vanguard returned to Trujillo to Bolívar.

Barinas

Believing that the patriots would continue their march north, Tiscar commissioned José Martí with 800 men from Barinas to set out for the Andes to hunt Bolívar. José Felix Ribas, who had remained behind with the rearguard in Mérida, received the order from Bolívar to move up. Ribas marched directly northeast on Bocono, where Bolívar had ordered him. The advance guard also marched through Bocono to get to Guanare on the edge of the Mérida Andes. The vanguard was in Bocono on June 27th, Ribas arrived on the 30th. In Bocono Ribas met Rafael Urdaneta, who was transporting equipment for the vanguard with 50 men. When he heard of Martí marching behind him, Ribas turned around and attacked the Spaniards with his 350 soldiers on July 2nd near Niquitao. At the time of the attack, the Spaniards were near La Vega, about 10 kilometers southwest of Niquitao, near the small town of Las Mesitas. Despite his numerical inferiority, Ribas succeeded in pushing back the Spaniards in an eight-hour battle and thinning out their formation. Now he sent his cavalry into the rear of the royalists. 455 Spaniards then surrendered, of which Ribas 150 forcibly recruited. He also captured weapons and ammunition.

Bolívar, not knowing what was going on behind him, advanced quickly towards Guanare. His reconnaissance team under José de la Cruz Carillo surprised a troop of 100 horsemen from Tiscar at the crossing over the Rio Guanare on July 1st and took the royalists prisoner. The following day Giradot brought up the vanguard. That night, Bolivar learned of Ribas' success. In three days the vanguard marched along the edge of the Andes to Barinas. It was only on July 5th that Tiscar found out about Martí's defeat and had Barinas evacuated that night. The Republicans took over the equipment and weapons left by the Spaniards. The following day, Bolívar asked Giradot to pursue the Spaniards who were fleeing eastwards. The three-day pursuit stretched more than 100 kilometers southeast to the Rio Apure and ended with the desperate escape of the Spanish troops, leaving some of their weapons behind. Bolívar, meanwhile, set up political structures for the province of Barinas and recruited volunteers to continue the campaign.

The rearguard

The governor Pedro Gonzáles de Fuentes had collected the remains of Cañas and expanded it to a force of 500 soldiers with his own efforts. Bolívar, who feared that Fuentes might march from El Tocuyo to Guanare, in order to relocate him to the north, ordered Ribas on July 9 to raise these troops and to attack. On the 17th Bolívar Ribas sent to Araure and expressly forbade him to march north on Barquisimeto , since he suspected superior Spanish forces there.

In Araure, on the edge of the Andes, there were 300 Spaniards under Francisco Oberto, whom Ribas was able to defeat without danger. So he was told to turn east to march there. Subsequently, Ribas was to join the troops of Giradot and Urdaneta, who were advancing from Barinas. The places along the Andes, especially Barinas, had provided Bolívar troops so that Urdaneta could operate with its own army. Ribas arrived in El Tocuyo on July 18, but could no longer reach Fuentes. On the 20th he set out against the orders of Bolívar towards Barquisimeto. This is where Oberto had withdrawn when the troops of Giradot and Urdaneta were moving from Barinas towards Araure. With reinforcements from Coro, Fuentes and Oberto united under the command of the latter. The force consisted of 800 infantrymen, over 100 horsemen and four 6-pounders. Ribas had fewer than 500 infantrymen and 80 horsemen. At Los Horcones, about 35 kilometers southwest of Barquisimeto, Ribas attacked the Spaniards on July 22nd. He failed twice, but in the third attempt he managed to break the line of battle of the royalists. With that the fight was decided and Ribas himself took over the pursuit of the fleeing people. Apparently there was still time to free Barquisimeto and recruit prisoners of war on the same day.

The final

Meanwhile, Rafael Urdaneta had arrived in Araure with 100 infantrymen and 50 riders and on July 21 went to look for Ribas. On the 23rd, he learned of Ribas's victory and returned to Araure to await Giradot and Bolívar. The latter arrived in Araure on the 24th and the vanguard arrived on the 26th, during the night. On the 25th, Bolívar sent Urdaneta to the east of San Carlos and the vanguard followed on the 27th. The Spaniards under Julian Izquierdo had stationed 1,200 soldiers here. Knowing the defeat of Oberto and the rapprochement of the patriots, Izquierdo San Carlos gave up and retreated north, towards Valencia . On the way he received orders from Captain General Monteverde to return to San Carlos. Instead of following orders, Izquierdo remained motionless halfway in Tinaquillo to await Monteverde with reinforcements from Caracas .

On the evening of July 29, Bolívar learned of Izquierdo's whereabouts and knew that he was waiting for reinforcements. Around midnight he advanced with the forces of Urdaneta and Giradot to prevent Izquierdo's force from growing any further. On the morning of July 31, Bolívar met the Spaniards, who withdrew to the heights of the Taguanes savannah from the now almost 1,500 patriots. The battlefield is about 10 km NE Tinaqillo and about 35 km SW Valencia.

Urdaneta reached the battlefield first with the cavalry and two companies of hunters. The Spaniards did not use the heights to defend their position and only had a reconnaissance vanguard there, which surprised Urdaneta and captured. The advance department kept the Spaniards busy while the rest of the troops arrived on the battlefield. Bolivar sent Giradot into the center for the attack, while the cavalry attacked the Spaniards' right flank. Izquierdo let his soldiers retreat in closed formation. This battle of retreat dragged on for six hours until Bolívar equipped 200 infantrymen with horses and dismounted the royalists to attack from behind. With this move, Bolívar decided the battle and the Spaniards surrendered. Izquierdo was wounded and succumbed to his injuries. None of the Spaniards escaped.

Monteverde, who was approaching with the reinforcements, was warned by the only officer who left in time and withdrew to Valencia.

Follow-up

Although Monteverde still had 400 infantrymen, 500 cavalrymen and 30 cannons in Valencia, he panicked and fled with the troops to Puerto Cabello on the night of August 1st. The poor morale of his soldiers was also responsible for this. Apparently some of the troops deserted in Valencia and on the way to Puerto Cabello. He also left behind considerable parts of his military equipment.

Bolivar left part of his rearguard in San Carlos with Ribas, who apparently did not take part in the battle, although he had arrived on time. Bolívar reached Valencia on August 2nd and sent Giradot with a detachment to confront Monteverde. However, he had enough head start and marched sufficiently fast that Giradot could no longer catch up with him.

Resistance also collapsed in Caracas when news of the defeat of Izquierdo and the advance of Bolívar's troops became known. The Spanish troops there disbanded and their members fled. When Bolívar arrived on August 7th, he was celebrated pompously by the population. The Second Republic of Venezuela began.

literature

  • de AUSTRIA, José (1855): Bosquelo de la historia militar de Venezuela. Tomo I. Imprenta y librería de Carreño Hermanos, Caracas.
  • BARALT, Rafael María y DÍAZ, Ramón (1887): Resumen de la historia de Venezuela. Tomo II. Imprenta de la librería de A. Bethencourt e hijos, Curazao.
  • LECUNA, Vicente (1950): Crónica razonada de las guerras de Bolívar. Tomo I. Caracas 2nd edition.
  • LECUNA, Vicente (1955): Bolívar y el arte militar. Colonial press, New York.
  • MONTENEGRO COLON, Feliciano (1837): Geografía general para la juventud de Venezuela. Tomo IV. Imprenta A. Damiron, Caracas.
  • RESTREPO, José Manuel (1858): Historia de la revolución de la República de Colombia ... Tomo I: Imprenta de José Jacquin, Besanzon.
  • TORRENTE, Mariano (1829): Historia de la Revolución Hispano-Americana. Tomo I. Imprenta de la León de Amarita, Madrid.