The Battle of Los Horcones, part of the
Admirable Campaign
The Admirable Campaign () was a military action led by Simón Bolívar in which the provinces of Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo and Caracas were conquered by the Patriots.Arana, M., 2013, Bolivar, New York: Simon & Schuster, Its objective was to fr ...
, was a military conflict in the
Spanish American wars of independence
The Spanish American wars of independence (25 September 1808 – 29 September 1833; es, Guerras de independencia hispanoamericanas) were numerous wars in Spanish America with the aim of political independence from Spanish rule during the early ...
fought on 22 July 1813 between the pro-independence forces led by
José Félix Ribas
José Félix Ribas (; Caracas, 19 September 1775 – Tucupido, 31 January 1815) was a Venezuelan independence leader and hero of the Venezuelan War of Independence.
Early life
Ribas was the last of eleven sons, born to a prominent Caraca ...
and Spanish royalist troops under colonel
Francisco Oberto at the plain of Los Horcones. Ribas was victorious, capturing much of the Spanish equipment and capturing more than 300 prisoners.
Background
On 6 July,
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
entered the city of
Barinas, evacuated just the day before by
Antonio Tíscar. On 9 July, Simon ordered
José Félix Ribas
José Félix Ribas (; Caracas, 19 September 1775 – Tucupido, 31 January 1815) was a Venezuelan independence leader and hero of the Venezuelan War of Independence.
Early life
Ribas was the last of eleven sons, born to a prominent Caraca ...
to go through
El Tocuyo
El Tocuyo is a fertile valley and city in west-central Venezuela at elevation. It is located in south-central Lara State about 60 km southwest of Barquisimeto. The town of El Tocuyo was founded by Juan de Carvajal in 1545 on the banks of the Toc ...
to
Chubasquén, where royalist lieutenant
Pedro González de Fuentes was going in front of a royalist column which included infantry and cavalry reinforcements just incorporated from
Coro
Coro or CORO may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Coro'' (Berio), a composition by Luciano Berio
* Coro (music), Italian for choir
* Coro TV, Venezuelan community television channel
* Omweso (Coro), mancala game played in the Lango region of Uganda
* ...
.
Ribas marched through the ordered route and, on 18 July, took El Tocuyo for the patriotas.
On 20 July, the royalist troops incorporated the men that ship lieutenant
Manuel Cañas had saved from the
Battle of Agua Obispo against lieutenant colonel
Atanasio Girardot
Manuel Atanasio Girardot Díaz (2 May 1791 – 30 September 1813) was a Colombian revolutionary leader.
Son of Louis Girardot, wealthy merchant and French miner, Girardot fought with Simón Bolívar in the '' Campaña Admirable'' and other bat ...
, now counting with 400 men and 100 cavalries , plus 4 artillery pieces of calibers 6 and 8, two of each. At the same time, Ribas marched to
Quíbor
Quíbor is a city in the state of Lara, Venezuela. It has 70,536 inhabitants.
History
The region was inhabited well before the Europeans arrived. The first European record about the region dates back to 1545, when López Montalvo de Lugo, u ...
and
Barquismeto.
Being aware of these events, colonel
Francisco Oberto traveled from
Araure
Araure () is a town in the Venezuelan state of Portuguesa. This town is the shire town of the Araure Municipality and, according to the 2001 Venezuelan census, the municipality has a population of 111,908.
History
Araure was founded on July 6, ...
to
Barquisimeto
Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the fou ...
with 300 men and incorporated González's column, with the royalist finally accounting for a total of 700 men plus the cavalry and artillery.
Battle
Francisco Oberto, the Spanish commander, took defensive positions with its royalist troops at Los Horcones plain, 5 km away from Barquisimeto in the route to Quíbor, where they waited for the arrival of the patriotic column, commanded by
José Félix Ribas
José Félix Ribas (; Caracas, 19 September 1775 – Tucupido, 31 January 1815) was a Venezuelan independence leader and hero of the Venezuelan War of Independence.
Early life
Ribas was the last of eleven sons, born to a prominent Caraca ...
and
Jacinto Lara
Jacinto Lara (Carora, 5 June 1777 - Barquisimeto, 25 February 1859), was a Venezuelan independence leader and hero of the Venezuelan War of Independence. His contribution included participating in Simón Bolívar's 1813 Admirable Campaign. He was ...
.
The battle started at 11:00 and the royalist troops rejected the first two attacks thanks to its artillery, but a third attack finally took over the Spanish positions. This was largely thanks to sub-lieutenant Gabriel Picón González, who then aged 14 years old and became a hero by rushing and taking a Spanish cannon despite getting his right femur shattered due to shrapnel.
When the battle was lost for the royalists, Oberto and Cañas fled with 15 soldiers through San Felipe, with Ribas chasing them with 50 horsemen and finally getting them at Cabudare.
Aftermath
Both sides suffered heavy human losses, but otherwise Ribas achieved a complete victory for the patriotics, capturing all of the four artillery pieces as well as other weapons, medical supplies, transport vehicles and over 300 prisoners.
Gabriel Picón became a hero for Simón Bolívar, who quickly wrote a letter to Antonio Rodríguez de Picón, Gabriel's father and commander of
Mérida, telling that his son would become "eternal in the annals of Venezuela" due to his courageous action that day. Afterwards, Bolívar kept Picón under his protection, who wouldn't be able to pursue a military career and instead focused on politics, and later would become the governor of
Mérida. Picón would get known as the "boy-hero of the Battle of Los Horcones" due to his young age.
Gabriel Picón is buried in the
National Pantheon of Venezuela
The National Pantheon of Venezuela (''Panteón Nacional de Venezuela'') is a final resting place for national heroes.
The Pantheon (Latin ''Pantheon'', from Greek ''Pantheon,'' meaning " Temple of all the Gods") was created in the 1870s on th ...
, resting place for Venezuelan national heroes, and has a parish named after him in the
Alberto Adriani Municipality
The Alberto Adriani Municipality () (better known as El Vigia) is one of the 23 Municipalities of Venezuela, municipalities () that makes up the Venezuelan state of Mérida (state), Mérida and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the Natio ...
.
References
{{coord missing, Venezuela
Los Horcones
Los Horcones is an intentional community located about 40 miles from Hermosillo, Mexico. It has described itself "as the only true ''Walden Two'' community in existence". The members of Los Horcones use techniques based on behavioral science to s ...
Lara (state)
Los Horcones
Los Horcones is an intentional community located about 40 miles from Hermosillo, Mexico. It has described itself "as the only true ''Walden Two'' community in existence". The members of Los Horcones use techniques based on behavioral science to s ...
July 1813 events
1813 in Venezuela