Pedro Camejo

Pedro Camejo (* approx. 1790 in San Juan de Payara , Venezuela , † June 24, 1821 on the battlefield of Carabobo , called Negro Primero ) was a lieutenant cavalry in the Liberation Army, adjutant and bodyguard of José Antonio Paez .

As a black slave of the colonial era, Pedro Camejo belonged to the Spaniard Vicente Alonso and therefore inevitably fought with the royalists until he entered the service of José Antonio Paez in 1816. Here the lieutenant first caught on because of the defense of Lieutenant José María Córdoba, the later cavalry general, who was judged by a court martial for desertion and involvement in the murder of two officers of the (actually allied) New Grenadine Union (i.e. the first Republic of Colombia ), which is currently had collapsed under the Spanish expeditionary army, was charged.

The real abilities of the tall, strong man, who was an outstanding lancer, consisted in his alert intelligence, his careful mental preparation for the tasks assigned to him and his ability to adapt extremely quickly to new situations. Simon Bolivar met Camejo for the first time in 1818 in San Juan de Payara on his center campaign, where he asked the lieutenant, interested by the reports of Paez, to whom he was loyal, some questions, the answers of which impressed Bolívar. Among other things, he gave greed for money as a motive for his conversion to the patriots, but also that he then understood and internalized the noble goals of the freedom fighters.

In the Battle of Queseras del Medio (April 2, 1819), Camejo was one of the 150 men who attacked Morillo's standing army and smashed them by means of a fast and effective counterattack against the opposing cavalry, which was almost ten times superior. Like the rest of the men, he was awarded the Orden de los Libertadores de Venezuela .

In the Second Battle of Carabobo (June 24, 1821), El Negro Primero (the First Black) in the first cavalry regiment of Paez was with the attackers who lured the Spaniards from their positions. The man with the huge knife that knew how to lead only he and several times owed his life to Paez, said goodbye to the middle of the battle, after a serious injury, with the words: "My General, I come to you adiós to say because I'm dead!"

The importance of Pedro Camejo lies in the fact that he managed to rise from a former slave to an officer. He is thus a symbol of the opportunities for advancement and the identification figure for the many blacks who fought in the ranks of the patriots in the liberation war in Venezuela for their own freedom and that of the colony; the hero of the slaves imported from Africa, who mostly formed the front line in the battle lines and whose sacrifice is still insufficiently appreciated.

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• Three biographies
• venezuelatuya
• Gerhard Masur : Simon Bolivar and the liberation of South America . Südverlag, Constance 1947.

Web link

• Table of contents on the wars of liberation in the Bolivarian countries with sources