BBC World Histories - 08.2019 - 09.2019

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Daniel Rey is a

British-Colombian

writer and historian

for Bolívar, but his army was severely

exhausted and undernourished.

Fortunately for the patriots, their

public relations campaign in the New

Granadan uplands ensured a warm

welcome from villagers who had been

harangued by the royalists. Locals fed

them poultry, pork and arepas – maize-

meal patties– and offered them

chicha, a fermented corn drink.

Fatigued from the march and resent-

ful of the changing climate, Bolívar’s

army rested at the village of Socha.

There, women made shirts, trousers,

jackets and underwear for the troops,

and the mayor and priest ordered

parishioners – both male and female

• to donate clothes. As a result, in the
  battles that followed, some soldiers in

Venezuelan llaneros: “Colonel, save the

fatherland!” Together with the cool-

headed Waterloo veterans in the ‘British

Legion’, their intervention won the day.

Having lost a third of their forces at

Vargas, the Spanish were in no position

to guard the city of Tunja, which Bolívar

took before preparing for what would

be the final battle of the campaign. On

7 August, Bolívar’s army met Barreiro’s

men just over 10 miles south of Tunja,

at the Boyacá Bridge. Troop numbers

were even: roughly 2,850 with Bolívar

and 2,700 with Barreiro, who also had

artillery. “A bayonet charge decided the

day,” wrote O’Leary, after the royalists

surrendered. The road to Bogotá and the

south-west was open.

Bolívar was now set on extending the

offensive to south-western New Grana-

da, the Caribbean coast, Venezuela and

Ecuador. Just 75 days after his departure

from Mantecal in the Venezuelan llanos,

Bolívar had broken the stalemate. He

entered Bogotá, capital of the viceroyalty

of New Granada, on 10 August, to be

greeted as ‘El Libertador’.

It was a pivotal moment. As one of

his commanders wrote the next day:

“One may say that the liberation of New

Granada has made

inevitable that of all

South America.”

the patriot army could be seen wearing

women’s blouses.

“Save the fatherland!”

Advancing over the plains of Bonza on

20 July, Bolívar’s troops skirmished with

royalist battalions. But the major fight-

ing didn’t take place until 25 July.

That day was the feast of St James –

patron saint of Spain and, more

favourably for Bolívar’s peripatetic army,

of pilgrims. After crossing the Sogamoso

river on rafts – an easy feat after the

hardships of the llanos crossings – the

patriots engaged the Spanish at Vargas

swamp. The battle was in the balance

until Bolívar ordered another cavalry

advance. According to tradition, Bolívar

called to Juan José Rondón of the

JOURNEYS In the footsteps of Simón Bolívar’s campaign to liberate Colombia

DREAMSTIME

Villagers of both

sexes donated clothes

to the patriots. In later

battles, soldiers could

be seen wearing

women’s blouses

Bogotá Cathedral was

under construction when

Bolívar entered the

capital of New Granada

on 10 August 1819 to be

greeted as ‘El Libertador’

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