Freli

· 18 Apr 2022

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The story of Carabobo

#history on June 24, 1821, between the realist army led by Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre and the Republican commanded by General in Chief Simon Bolivar. The victory achieved by the latter was decisive for the liberation of Caracas and the Venezuelan territory, a fact that was definitively achieved in 1823 with the Naval Battle of Lake Maracaibo and the seizure of the fortresses of Puerto Cabello.

On June 15, 1821, the Liberator reorganized the republican army into three divisions. The first by José Antonio Páez, and formed by the Braves of Apure battalions led by Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Torres and the British Hunters (led by Colonel Thomas Ildeston Ferriar), as well as 7 cavalry regiments. The second, commanded by Major General Manuel Cedeño, and made up of the Tiradores battalions led by Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig Flegel, and Vargas Lieutenant-Colonel Antonio Gravete, to which was added a cavalry squadron. The third, under the orders of Colonel Ambrosio Plaza and made up of 4 battalions. Rifles by Lieutenant Colonel Arturo Sandes, Grenadiers led by Colonel Francisco Paula Vélez, Victor of Boyacá led by Colonel Juan Uslar y Anzoátegui, commanded by Colonel José M. Arguidegui completed all this by a cavalry regiment. The republican forces totaled 6500 men.

Finally, attacked from the front by the infantry and on the right by the cavalry, the realistic battalions chose to withdraw. As a last resort, the Tower ordered the regiment of the King's Lancers to attack the patriot cavalry, but this unit not only disobeyed the order, but fled in the face of the onslaught of the republican forces. As the battle entered its final phase, the patriots began a tenacious persecution of the Spanish army, which was carried out as far as Valencia. Of the 4,279 troops who participated in the battle of Carabobo, the realists lost two senior officers, 120 junior officers and 2,786 soldiers. For their part, the republicans' casualties were also heavy. The rest of the realist army ended up taking refuge in Puerto Cabello.