Battle of Boyacá

The Battle of Boyacá (1819), also known as the Battle of Boyacá Bridge was a decisive victory by a combined army of Venezuelan and New Granadan troops along with a British Legion 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, 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, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years.

Under the overall command of General Simon Bolivar, the Brigadier Generals Francisco de Paula Santander and José Antonio Anzoátegui 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 in the Andes Mountains, 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. The site of the battlefield today is dotted with various monuments and statues that commemorate the battle.

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) 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 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

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