The Battle of Las Queseras del Medio was an important battle of the

Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, links=no, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought agai ...

. It took place on April 2, 1819. The forces of

José Antonio Páez José Antonio Páez Herrera (; 13 June 1790 – 6 May 1873) was a Venezuelan leader who fought against the Spanish Crown for Simón Bolívar during the Venezuelan War of Independence. He later led Venezuela's independence from Gran Colombia. H ...

consisted of 153 mounted

llanero A (, ‘plainsman’) is a South American herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying eastern Colombia and western-central Venezuela. During the Spanish American wars of independence, lancers and cavalry served in both ar ...

lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

s. They were pitted against more than 1,000

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

cavalry. The battle is noted for a phrase of Páez's that became famous: ''¡Vuelvan caras!'' (“ About face!”) –although some sources state that he actually said ''¡Vuelvan, carajo!'' (“Get back o the battle damn it!”).

Background

In April 1819, Bolívar met the cavalry division of General Páez encamped on the southern bank of the

Arauca River The Arauca River ( es, Río Arauca) rises in the Andes Mountains of north-central Colombia and ends at the Orinoco in Venezuela. For part of its run it is the boundary between Colombia and Venezuela. The major city on its banks is Arauca, Col ...

, a major tributary of the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

in the Apure plains, about 300 miles south of

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

. Together Paez's llaneros and Bolívar's troops numbered about 3,000 men. The army of Spanish General

Pablo Morillo Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, a.k.a. ''El Pacificador'' (The Peace Maker) (5 May 1775 – 27 July 1837) was a Spanish general. Biography Morillo was born in Fuentesecas, Zamora, Spain. In 1791 ...

, which was stationed across the river at "Las Queseras del Medio", about a mile from its banks, was 6,000 strong.

Battle

Paez took command of 153 llaneros and with their horses crossed the river swimming to a point some two miles above Morillo's encampment. Upon reaching the protection of the steep river bank on the opposite side, Páez formed his men into six or seven platoons and advanced into the open savannah. On seeing Páez, Morillo organized his forces. He placed a vanguard of 800 cavalry armed with lances and 200 cavalry armed with carbines in the center with his infantry and artillery. Morillo then charged with the vanguard. Páez and his men retreated in the direction where one of Bolivar's infantry units was stationed. Morillo's cavalry tried to surround Páez by flanking him on both sides. Páez ordered one of his platoons to attack the infantry in the center. The purpose of this action was to force the two flanking cavalry columns to come together, at which moment Páez would pull back his men to avoid being enveloped. The maneuver was well executed and with great speed, creating pandemonium in the royalists ranks, while withdrawing before the two wings of the Spanish cavalry closed ranks into a solid mass. It was, at this point, with the Spanish cavalry in full pursuit, that Páez gave his famous order, ''¡Vuelvan caras!'' (turn around, or about-face) and ordered all his llaneros to fall back upon the disconcerted enemy. Many contemporary historians believe the actual phrase he said was the more vulgar ''¡Vuelvan, carajo!'' ("go back, damn it!"), but that the more proper ''caras'' was substituted in earlier sources for the expletive ''carajo''. The Spanish cavalry, confused, turned around in panic and fled, leaving a trail of casualties in their wake. Spanish casualties amounted to 400 dead, while Páez lost 8 men in the action. After the battle Bolívar awarded Páez and his men with the '' Cruz de los Libertadores'' (Cross of the Liberators). Pedro Camejo had been involved in this battle as one of Páez's lancers.

Narciso López Narciso López (November 2, 1797, Caracas – September 1, 1851, Havana) was a Venezuelan-born adventurer and Spanish Army general who is best known for his expeditions aimed at liberating Cuba from Spanish rule in the 1850s. His troops carri ...

fought on the Spanish side of this battle.

References

External links

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Las Queseras del Medio
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Batalla de Las Queseras del Medio
{{Gran Colombia independence Las Queseras del Medio Las Queseras del Medio Las Queseras del Medio 1819 in Venezuela April 1819 events Las Queseras del Medio