The Ecuadorian War of Independence, part of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early 19th century, was fought from 1809 to 1822 between Spain and several South American armies over control of the Real Audiencia of Quito, a Spanish colonial jurisdiction which later became the modern Republic of Ecuador. The war ended with the defeat of the Spanish forces at the Battle of Pichincha on May 24, 1822, which brought about the independence of all the lands of the Real Audiencia of Quito.
The military campaign for the independence of the territory now known as Ecuador began after nearly three hundred years of Spanish colonization. Ecuador's capital, Quito, was a city of around ten thousand inhabitants. There, on August 10, 1809, came one of the first calls in Latin America for independence from Spain,[1] led by the city's criollos, including Carlos de Montúfar and Bishop José Cuero y Caicedo. The short-lived State of Quito was suppressed by Juan de Sámano in the Battle of Ibarra (1812).
On October 9, 1820, the port city of Guayaquil, part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, proclaimed its independence after a brief and almost bloodless revolt against the local garrison. The leaders of the movement, Peruvian pro-independence officers from the colonial army led by colonel Gregorio Escobedo, second in command of the garrison, and Ecuadorian intellectuals and patriots summoned by José Joaquín de Olmedo, set up a Junta de Gobierno with a military force to defend the city and carry the independence movement to the other provinces of the country.
News of Guayaquil's proclamation of independence spread rapidly to other cities in the Presidencia, and several quickly followed its example. Portoviejo declared its independence on October 18, 1820, and Cuenca—the economic center of the southern highlands—did the same on November 3, 1820.
View of the entrance into Quito of the troops of the Viceroy of Peru under the command of the first lieutenant of the Spanish Royal Guards, Manuel Arredondo y Mioño[es]
Junta de Guayaquil on the offensive
The military unit raised and financed in the Free Province of Guayaquil was named Division Protectora de Quito ("Division for the Protection of Quito"). It was to advance on the cities of Guaranda and Ambato in the central highlands, hoping to bring them into the independence movement, and cut all road communication between Quito and Guayaquil and Cuenca, forestalling any Royalist countermove from the north.
The division, under the command of Venezuelan colonels Luis Urdaneta and León de Febres-Cordero, ringleaders of the revolt in Guayaquil, advanced out of the coastal plain towards the highlands, and by November 7, was ready to march into the Andes mountains. On November 9, 1820 the first clash at Camino Real with a Royalist force was a success, through a strategic mountain pass on the road from Guayaquil to Guaranda. This victory opened the way into the inter-Andean highlands, and the capture of Guaranda soon followed. News of the presence of the patriot army in Guaranda had the intended effect: many of the towns in the highlands proclaimed their independence. Latacunga and Riobamba did so on November 11, and Ambato on November 12, 1820. By the middle of November, Spanish control of the Presidencia had been reduced to Quito and its surrounding areas in the northern highlands. It looked as if the liberation of the entire territory would be easier than expected.
Spain strikes back
Hopes for a quick victory were short-lived. Field-Marshal Melchor Aymerich, acting President and supreme commander of Royalist forces in Quito, sent around 5,000 troops south under veteran Spanish colonel Francisco González to deal with the 2,000-man patriot army in Ambato. Severely defeated in the Battle of Huachi on November 22, 1820, Urdaneta's force fell back, badly mauled, to Babahoyo on the coastal plains.
Authorities in Guayaquil, who on November 11, 1820, had issued a decree creating the Provincia Libre de Guayaquil (Free Province of Guayaquil), desperately organized a ragtag detachment of the survivors of Huachi plus some reinforcements (300 men altogether, including some 50 cavalry), and ordering it to make a final stand at Babahoyo. As the Royalist army did not seem inclined to come down to the plains to meet them, the patriots sent guerrilla bands into the highlands, which were ambushed and massacred January 4 1821, at the Battle of Tanizagua. The guerrillas' commanding officer, Spanish-born colonel Gabriel García Gomez, taken prisoner, was executed by firing squad and decapitated, with his head sent to Quito to be displayed to the population. Thus ended the attempt of the Junta de Guayaquil to achieve the independence of the Presidencia de Quito, amid total military failure and Royalist reprisals on the civilian population of the highland cities.
Sucre arrives
Antonio José de Sucre
Yet help was on the way. By February 1821, the help requested by the Junta de Guayaquil in October finally materialized in the form of General Antonio José de Sucre, sent by General Simón Bolívar, president of Gran Colombia, who embarked from Panama to Guayaquil. Even more welcome perhaps were the weapons Sucre brought with him: 1,000 muskets, 50,000 musket rounds, 8,000 flints, 500 sabers, and 100 pairs of pistols. Sucre's instructions were clear: "To liberate the capital city of Quito, whose taking will bring about the liberation of the whole Department",[This quote needs a citation] as the first step towards later securing the complete independence of Perú. Bolívar also informed the Junta de Guayaquil that they would begin a simultaneous campaign from both the north and south of Quito.
Second Battle of Huachi
In July 1821, Sucre was deploying his army in Babahoyo, ready to advance on the highlands as soon as the weather allowed. Aymerich acted to preempt him with a pincer movement: he would led his army from Guaranda down to Babahoyo, while Colonel González, came from the southern highlands down to Yaguachi to attack Sucre's flank. Thanks to a well-developed espionage network, Sucre was apprised of Aymerich's intentions, and sent General José Mires to deal with González. The encounter ended with the destruction of Gonzalez's force near the town of Cone on August 19, 1821. Upon receiving word of the defeat, Aymerich headed back to the highlands. Sucre followed, his main force occupying Guaranda on September 2, 1821.
Aymerich moved to block any further progress, and in the Second Battle of Huachi on September 12, 1821, annihilated Sucre's infantry. The patriot forces lost 800 men, mostly killed, plus 50 prisoners, among them General Mires. As the battle had also taken a heavy toll on the Royalists, Aymerich decided against exploiting his victory by advancing into the coastal plains. On November 19, 1821, the parties signed a 90-day armistice at Babahoyo, ending Sucre's ill-fated first attempt to liberate Quito.
With Sucre's casualties, he was not going to be able to get the royalists out of Quito. But as promised by José de San Martín, reinforcements from Peru helped Guayaquil, a Peruvian division of 1,500 men, including three cavalry squadrons and one artillery regiment under Alto-Peruvian Colonel Andrés de Santa Cruz departed from Paita and Trujillo in December 1821.
With these reinforcements Sucre began a new campaign in January 1822 to completely remove the royalist forces from the provinces of Quito and Guayaquil. The decisive battle took place on May 24, 1822, on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, near Quito in what is now Ecuador, and was a total victory for the Patriots. The next day, Sucre and his army entered the city of Quito, where he accepted the surrender of all the Spanish forces in the Real Audiencia of Quito.
In the meantime, Simón Bolívar and his army had also started marching south from Bogota on 13 December 1821. His goal was to open the land route between Bogotá and Quito, by conquering the fiercely Royalist region around San Juan de Pasto. After the hard-fought Battle of Bomboná on April 7 and El Peñol on April 20, Bolívar triumphantly entered Pasto on June 8, 1822 and accepted the capitulation of the local Spanish troops.
Nevertheless, the area remained unsettled. A first rebellion under command of Benito Remigio Boves between october and December 1822, ended with the Navidad Negra massacre in San Juan de Pasto. A second rebellion between June 1823 and June 1824 under command of Agustín Agualongo was crushed after the Second Battle of Ibarra (Ecuador), and the execution of Agualongo on 13 July 1824.
Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá, known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho", was a Venezuelan general and politician who served as the president of Bolivia from 1825 to 1828. A close friend and associate of Simón Bolívar, he was one of the primary leaders of South America's struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire.
Ambato is a city located in the central Andean valley of Ecuador. Lying on the banks of the Ambato River, the city also sits beneath several tall mountains. It is the capital city of the Tungurahua Province, situated at an elevation of 2,577 meters above sea level. It is variously nicknamed "City of Flowers and Fruits", "Land of the Three Juan's", and "Garden of Ecuador." Ambato's inhabitants are called Ambateños or Guaytambos. The current mayor of Ambato is Diana Caiza.
The Battle of Pichincha took place on 24 May 1822, on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, 3,500 meters above sea-level, right next to the city of Quito, in modern Ecuador.
The Peruvian War of Independence was a series of military conflicts in Peru from 1809 to 1826 that resulted in the country's independence from the Spanish Empire. Part of the broader Spanish American wars of independence, it led to the dissolution of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru.
José María Córdova Muñoz, also known as the "Hero of Ayacucho", was a General of the Gran Colombian army during the Independence War of Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia from Spain.
The Protectorate of Peru, also known as the Protectorate of San Martín, was a protectorate created in 1821 in present-day Peru after its declaration of independence from the Spanish Empire. The protectorate existed for one year and 17 days under the rule of José de San Martín and Argentina.
The Free Province of Guayaquil was a South American state that emerged between 1820 and 1822 with the independence of the province of Guayaquil from the Spanish monarchy. The free province had a provisional government and constitution until its annexation by Gran Colombia in 1822. Its successor was the Department of Guayaquil forming part of Gran Colombia. The Spanish province of Guayaquil had been separated from the Viceroyalty of Peru and in those days it only depended legally on the court of the Real Audiencia de Quito. About a decade later, the Departments of Guayaquil, Azuay, and Ecuador separated from Gran Colombia forming the current Ecuador.
The 1827 Guayaquil uprising, also known as the Guayaquil Department rebellion, was a rejection of the centralist policies of Gran Colombia. This was one of the first separatist rebellions in the country of Gran Colombia before it dissolved in 1829.
The October 9 Revolution was a successful revolt against the Spanish Empire in Guayaquil on October 9, 1820. It was led by the General Antonio José de Sucre and directed by Simón Bolívar. The revolt established a revolutionary junta and created the Free Province of Guayaquil, an independent state. The independence of Guayaquil revived the war of independence of the Real Audiencia de Quito as part of the Spanish American wars of independence. Prominent events in the revolution include the uprising of the Spanish garrison in the city of Guayaquil and the control of the Pacific by the Liberating Expedition of Peru, under the command of José de San Martín.
Carlos de Montúfar y Larrea-Zurbano was a Creole nobleman and soldier considered one of the liberators of current Ecuador. He fought alongside Simón Bolívar and was nicknamed El Caudillo.
Luis Urdaneta Farías was a Venezuelan soldier and revolutionary who participated in several military campaigns of the Spanish American Wars of Independence. Initially part of the troops loyal to the Spanish Empire, he switched sides during the conflict. He participated and played a leading role in the independence of Guayaquil. He fought in several battles under the command of Marshal Antonio José de Sucre in the Southern Campaign and in the Gran Colombia–Peru War. He insurrectioned against Juan José Flores' attempted separation of the Southern District from Gran Colombia.
Juan Paz del Castillo y Díaz Padrón was a Venezuelan soldier who participated in the Venezuelan War of Independence, reaching the rank of Divisional general during the conflict.
The Quito Revolution (1809–1812) was a series of events that took place between 1809 and 1812 in the Real Audiencia de Quito, which led to the establishment of a short-lived State of Quito, and which can be considered as the seed of the independence movements that ended up forming the current Republic of Ecuador.
The Battle of Camino Real, was the first battle in the Ecuadorian War of Independence, that took place on 9 November 1820. The battle was fought between Royalist soldiers in support of the Spanish Empire, and the Patriot forces of the Free Province of Guayaquil, who won the battle.
The First Battle of Huachi was the second battle in the Ecuadorian War of Independence, that took place on 22 November 1820 near Ambato, Ecuador. The battle was fought between Royalist soldiers in support of the Spanish Empire, and the Patriot forces of the Free Province of Guayaquil, who suffered a serious defeat.
The Battle of Yaguachi or Battle of Cone was a military confrontation that occurred on 19 August 1821 between Guayaquil independence troops and Grancolombian reinforcements, led by Antonio José de Sucre, against Royalist troops led by Colonel Francisco González. The battle was fought near the city of Yaguachi, current Province of Guayas in Ecuador, and was a victory for the Patriots which ensured the definitive independence of the Free Province of Guayaquil.
The Second Battle of Huachi was a confrontation that occurred on 12 September 1821 between pro-independence troops led by General Antonio José de Sucre and Royalist troops led by General Melchor Aymerich, president of the Real Audiencia of Quito. Sucre, after having won the Battle of Yaguachi on 19 August, advanced towards Quito. The Spanish, who followed closely, positioned themselves to do battle in a field called Huachi, where they had already defeated Guayaquil forces a year before.
The Pasto Campaign was a series of military operations carried out between 1822 and 1824 by Gran Colombia against the Royalist strongholds of San Juan de Pasto and Patía, Cauca in present-day Southern Colombia.
Abdón Calderón Garaycoa was a hero of Ecuador's war of independence. He died at age 17 from wounds sustained at the Battle of Pichincha. Such was his heroism that Simón Bolívar not only promoted him post-mortem but also decreed that in the future the first company of the Yaguachi battalion be reviewed as if he were alive, an honor rarely seen in military history.
Campaigns of the South is the name given to a series of military campaigns that Greater Colombia launched between 1820 and 1826 in South America with the purpose of expanding over the territories of the current republics of Colombia and Ecuador, as well as consolidating the independence of the republics of Peru and Bolivia. This was an extension of the multifaceted civil war launched against the Royalist Army in the Americas, which sustained the integrity of the Spanish Empire in such territories. Beyond the surrender of the regular armies, the royalist guerrillas in each country fought for several more years.
References
↑ Luz de América, el Primer Grito de la Independencia. Luz de America is the nickname of Quito.
Sources
Salvat Editores, ed. (1980). Historia del Ecuador (in Spanish). Vol.5. Quito: Salvat Editores. OCLC13243718.
Mora, Enrique Ayala (1989) [1983]. Nueva Historia del Ecuador (in Spanish). Vol.6. Quito: Corporación Editora Nacional. ISBN978-9978-84-001-6.
Rodríguez O., Jaime E. (2006). La revolución política durante la época de la independencia: El Reino de Quito, 1808-1822. Biblioteca de Historia, 20 (in Spanish). Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Corporación Editora Nacional. ISBN978-9978-19-127-9.
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![View of the entrance into Quito of the troops of the Viceroy of Peru under the command of the first lieutenant of the Spanish Royal Guards, Manuel Arredondo y Miono [es] Vista de la entrada en la ciudad de Quito de las tropas remitidas por el Excmo. Sr. Virrey del Peru al mando del primer teniente de Reales Guardias espanolas, Don Manuel Arredondo y Miono.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Vista_de_la_entrada_en_la_ciudad_de_Quito_de_las_tropas_remitidas_por_el_Excmo._Sr._Virrey_del_Per%C3%BA_al_mando_del_primer_teniente_de_Reales_Guardias_espa%C3%B1olas%2C_Don_Manuel_Arredondo_y_Mio%C3%B1o.jpg/220px-thumbnail.jpg)
