The Battle of Boyacá (1819), also known as the Battle of Boyacá Bridge was a decisive victory by a combined army of
Venezuelan
Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...
and
New Granadan troops along with a
British Legion
The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants.
...
led by General
Simon Bolivar over the III Division of the Spanish Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme commanded by Spanish Colonel José Barreiro. This victory ensured the success of
Bolívar's campaign to liberate New Granada. The battle of Boyaca is considered the beginning of the independence of the north of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, and is considered important because it led to the victories of the
battle of Carabobo in Venezuela,
Pichincha in Ecuador, and
Junín and
Ayacucho in Peru.
New Granada acquired its definitive independence from the
Spanish Monarchy
The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country.
The Spanish monarchy is constitu ...
, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years.
Under the overall command of General Simon Bolivar, the
Brigadier Generals
Francisco de Paula Santander
Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (April 2, 1792 – May 6, 1840) was a Neogranadine military and political leader who served as Vice-President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and was later elected by Congress as the President ...
and
José Antonio Anzoátegui
José Antonio Anzoátegui (1789–1819) was a Venezuelan military officer who fought in the Venezuelan War of Independence, Venezuelan and Colombian War of Independence, Colombian Wars of Independence.
Born in Barcelona, Venezuela, Barcelona, he ...
led a combined patriot army of Neogranadines and Venezuelans that defeated in two hours the Spanish Royalist forces led by Spanish Colonels
José María Barreiro and Francisco Jiménez who would both be captured in battle. The effective destruction of the Royalist Army led to the collapse of the
Royalist Government in the capital of
Santa Fe with Viceroy
Juan de Samano along with other government officials fleeing the capital shortly after news had reached of the battle. The battle led to the liberation of much of central New Granada and would lead to the union between New Granada and Venezuela creating the
Republic of Colombia (Gran Colombia) in December of that same year.
The battle occurred 150 km from
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
in the
Andes Mountains
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...
, in a place known as ''Casa de Teja'', close to a bridge over the Teatinos River and 3 roads heading to Samaca, Motavita and
Tunja, an area which is now part of the
Boyacá Department
Boyacá () is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".
Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mount ...
. The site of the battlefield today is dotted with various monuments and statues that commemorate the battle.
Prelude

General
Simon Bolivar's Patriot Army surprised the Spanish by strategically crossing the
Andes Mountain Range through the Paramo de Pisba into the
Boyacá region in early July of 1819, however the march had weakened his army. To prevent this threat from growing stronger, Viceroy
Juan de Samano ordered the commander of the Spanish forces in
New Granada–which were the III Division of the Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme, led by artillery Colonel Jose Maria Barreiro to intercept and defeat Bolivar's army to prevent him from reaching the capital of
Santa Fe. This would lead to the two forces clashing at the
Battle of Vargas Swamp on July 25.
After Bolívar secured a narrow victory at the Battle of Vargas Swamp on July 25th, the Patriot Army camped near the vicinity of the battlefield, while Spanish Forces camped in the nearby town of
Paipa. Both armies still had the same goal of reaching the capital
Santa Fe, which was only defended by some 400 Spanish troops. On August 3, still camped in Paipa the Spanish observed Bolivar's forces cross the
Chicamocha River near Paipa and then at night observed him by candlelight retreat to his original positions across the river. The Spanish then rested unaware of Bolivar's feint, as he ordered a nocturnal countermarch crossing the river again and taking the alternate route to the city of
Tunja through the Toca Road.
This allowed Bolivar to outmaneuver his Spanish counterpart and gain the lead for the race to Santa Fe, a reversal of the previous situation with Bolivar now trying to prevent Barreiro from reaching the capital. On August 4 at 9:00 am the Patriot Army reached the village of
Chivata and 2 hours later entered and occupied the city of Tunja. The city had been lightly defended as a small garrison and the Governor Juan Lono had left the city in the direction of Paipa to give Colonel Barreiro the supplies and reinforcements he had begged the Viceroy for, in the city Bolivar was able to obtain 600 rifles for his army.
Barreiro would eventually find out about this on August 5 and quickly marched his army southwest, midday he rendezvoused with Governor Juan Lono who provided him with 12,000 cartridges and 3 artillery pieces (2
howitzers and 1
cannon
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
) that had been sent by the Viceroy. Upon learning that Bolivar had taken the city and seeing that his line of communication with the capital was cut, he ordered his army march around Tunja through the mountains northwest of the city at night through roads deemed impassable during the
rainy season
The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs.
Rainy Season may also refer to:
* ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King
* "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni
* '' ...
to avoid detection and gain the lead once gain. This march began in the town of
Combita at 1 am August 6 and then proceeded to
Motavita through a heavy downpour reaching the town at 11:30am where the army camped for the night. Marching through Motavita was considered a wise move strategically for the Spanish, due to its higher elevation one is able to observe Tunja from it. However Barreiro's movement did not go undetected and patriot spies informed Bolivar of their movements
Battle
At 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 7, the Royalist army departed Motavita and continued their march towards Santa Fe. From Motavita they marched down the Samaca road with the intention of rejoining the main ''Camino Real'' (Royal Road to Santa Fe) at the Casa de Teja or Casa de Postas where the road formed a Y shape as both the Samaca road and Camino Real converged and became a single road that crossed the Boyacá Bridge. The Boyacá Bridge was an important bridge that was part of the ''Camino Real de Santa Fe,'' where it crossed the Teatinos River which was swollen at this time of year as a result of winter rain season. The distance to the bridge was only 25 km which the Spanish completed in 7 hours 30 minutes, at an average pace of 18 minutes per kilometer. Early morning that same day at 7 am, Bolivar left Tunja and took up an observation point at the San Lazaro heights near Tunja, from there around 9 am he spotted the Royalist Army and was able to deduce the route that they were taking. A little after 10 through Colonel Manuel Manrique he ordered that
Upon receiving this order, General Santander's Vanguard Division set out from
Tunja toward Casa de Teja on the ''Camino Real'' with Anzoátegui's Rearguard Division following suit. Since 7am the Patriot army had been assembled in the central plaza of Tunja ready to move out at a moments notice, the bridge lay some 16km from Tunja, the Patriot army completed this in around 4 hours of marching. Between the hours of 12 to 1pm a fraction of the Royalist vanguard which was composed of the 2nd and 3rd Numancia infantry battalions along with some dragoons under the command of Colonel Francisco Jiménez arrived and took up position near the Casa de Teja, from where they could observe the bridge. Jiménez observing that there was no presence of patriot forces in the vicinity allowed his troops to rest and ordered that lunch rations be served.
Shortly before 2:00 p.m., patriot Captain Andres Ibarra and his forces spotted the Casa de Teja and the vanguard of the Spanish Army. The Spaniards spotted him too and the two exchanged fire, with Jimenez ordering his men to follow and engage what he believed was only a small observation force. 20 royalists chased after the Patriot force but later returned when they realized that this was a bigger force. General Santander who came marching down the ''Camino Real'' with the rest of the patriot vanguard upon seeing this unfold ordered Lieutenant Colonel
Joaquín París commander of the ''Cazadores'' Battalion to attack the Royalist forces at the Casa Teja.
The Spanish vanguard was forced to fall back to river and crossed the strategic bridge over the Teatinos River and took defensive positions there. Meanwhile, the full vanguard of the Patriot army under Santander had reached Casa de Teja. The two vanguards now found themselves on opposite sides of the river, with this Santander then ordered Colonel Antonio Bejar to take some forces down the river and cross it in order to attack the Spanish vanguard from the rear. The Spanish rearguard was still several kilometers behind, so General Anzoátegui ordered to block the way between the vanguard and the rearguard of the Spanish forces. The rearguard, outnumbered, retreated to a small hill close to Casa de Teja.
Anzoátegui then ordered a flank attack on the Spanish rearguard: battalions Barcelona and Bravos de Paez were to attack on the right side while the Legion Britanica and Rifles Battalion attacked on the left. The British Legion was a special forces squad composed of British and Irish people, which aided the revolutionary army in certain key battles for independence in South American countries. Unable to cross the river the Spanish assumed battle positions by the Casa de Teja: in the center they positioned three artillery pieces surrounded by the King's 1st infantry battalion to the left and the King's 2nd infantry battalion on the right, and on the wings, the Mounted Grenadiers and Dragoon cavalry units.
Arthur Sandes commander of Rifles Battalion charged the royalist artillery. This charge disrupted the arming of the 3 artillery pieces the Spanish possessed (they had transported them unassembled) only one of them was able to be assembled which allowed it to fire 3 shots before the gun carriage that supported it broke rendering it useless. Outnumbered, the Spanish rear guard began to retreat without any clear direction. Therefore, Bolívar ordered lancers units to attack the center of the Royalist infantry, the 3rd and 5th companies of the Granadan Dragoons charged the Patriot cavalry however the patriot cavalry conducted a turn face maneuver causing the dragoons to retreat as the patriot lancers had longer lances than they did. The other Spanish cavalry squadron the Mounted Grenadiers, ran away from the battle via the road towards Samaca. The charge of two patriot army cavalry squadrons caused panic amongst the Spanish troops, who were formed up in a column to resist the attack, although they were given the order to perform a bayonet charge this was not carried out due to the panic and confusion. Barreiro and his officers tried in vain to contain the rout of their soldiers and dismounted from their horses which condemned them to easily be captured by their enemy.
Meanwhile, one kilometer and a half behind Casa de Teja, Bejar's Patriot vanguard managed to ford the river and was approaching the rear of the Royalist vanguard force. Once it reached them, the vanguard forces engaged in battle, while this occurred Santander led a charge across the bridge by force, using bayonets.
The Spanish forces fled, leaving on the bridge their leader, Colonel Juan Tolrá who was killed. As the assembly of enemy prisoners began, the battle was over shortly after 4:30 p.m have only lasted a little more than 2 hours. The Patriots only suffered 66 casualties in total with some 13 dead and 53 wounded, meanwhile Barreiro's III Division was effectively dismantled as a result of the battle suffering 100 dead, 150 wounded, and 1,600 captured.
Aftermath
For their actions on the battlefield, Santander and Anzoátegui were both promoted to
General of Division
Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...
. At least 1,600 troops and several of the Spanish commanders, including Barreiro himself, were captured at the end of the battle. Since the majority of these captured troops were composed of Venezuelan and New Granadans, these troops were immediately incorporated into the Patriot Army which considerably augmented its size allowing Bolivar to dispatch these new units from the battlefield to other areas of New Granada that had not been liberated yet.
Through a messenger, who rode nonstop for 30 hours over the 100 km of bad roads that separated the battlefield from the capital, Viceroy
Juan de Samano was informed of Barreiro's defeat around 10 pm on August 8th. Not wishing to take any chances Samano hastily prepared to abandon the capital and did so at 9:00 am on August 9 bound for
Cartagena by way of
Honda
commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
disguised as a peasant. So hasty was the Viceroy's departure that he failed to destroy important government documents and archives and left behind some 900,000 pesos in gold, silver, and currency. Earlier that same day at 7:00 am Colonel Sebastian de La Calzada blew up the gunpowder supply in the arsenal and left with the 400 troops who were stationed in the city bound for
Popayan. Royalist sympathizers and other government officials also fled the capital.
Bolivar arrived on the 10th August with a group of cavalry in advance of his army where he received a jubilant welcome from the inhabitants of the city.
On 18 September, a victory ceremony was held for the patriot army in the ''Plaza Mayor,'' Bolivar was crowned with a laurel wreath given to him by a group of 20 women of the most prestigious families of the city who were all dressed in white. Along with this crown, Bolivar, Santander, and Anzoategui were all awarded the ''Cruz de Boyaca'' medal which had been created for the occasionThis victory ceremony was accompanied by a large number of
dances
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
and balls held in honor of the victors with many of the officers along with Bolivar himself attending these festivities.
On the orders of Santander, Colonel Barreiro and 38 more were executed in Bogotá on October 11, 1819, because of the
Decree of War to the Death. The bridge in question, el
Puente de Boyacá, is no longer in use but it has been maintained as a symbol of the Independence of South America.
Consequences
The consequences of Bolivar's victory at Boyaca bridge lead to large chain of events that would end up changing the history of South America forever.
* The final defeat of Royal forces in central
New Kingdom of Granada
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
and the weakening of the rest of the forces in all America.
*

The end of Spanish control over the American provinces, with the escape of viceroy Juan de Samano.
* The creation of
Gran Colombia
Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), also known as Greater Colombia and officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central ...
in December of 1819.
* The start of an autonomous government in the former Spanish provinces.
* The subsequent independence of
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
,
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
,
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
and the creation of
Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
, after a liberation campaign.
August 7 is a
national holiday in Colombia. On this date every 4 years the elected
President of Colombia
The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...
is inaugurated as
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
by taking the presidential oath of office while also receiving the
Presidential sash
A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the human body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else encircling the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, ...
in the
Plaza de Bolivar in
Bogota. August 7 is also Army Day (
Spanish: ''Día del Ejército Nacional'') in Colombia, the Colombian Army holds a large military ceremony at the site of the battle to commemorate its anniversary. This was established officially in 1978 under the administration of President
Alfonso López Michelsen.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyaca
Colombian War of Independence
Conflicts in 1819
Boyaca 1819
Battles of the Spanish American wars of independence
Boyacá
1819 in Colombia
1819 in Venezuela
August 1819