The Battle
As the sun was rising, at
approximately 7:00 in the morning of 12 February 1814, the spearhead of the
Republican forces located at El Pantanero spotted Morales’s forces moving in
from the south and west of the town. The first clash between the vanguard
forces occurred an hour later. Morales’s forces quickly pushed the defenders
back and took control of the positions near the Aragua River and on the heights
of El Calvario and El Pantanero, while the Republicans retreated behind the
defensive perimeter they had set up around the houses in the town surrounding
the main plaza.
In his book El General en Jefe José Félix Ribas, the
Venezuelan historian Héctor Bencomo Barrios describes the battle as follows:
The magnificent barrier of artillery fire and fusiliers, coupled with
existing obstacles, had turned the main square into a true stronghold. Nine
times the enemy cavalry charged, and nine times it was forcefully pushed back,
because the position was virtually impregnable to cavalry forces. Morales,
blinded by his ignorance of tactics and his thirst for blood, was incapable of
realizing this and obstinately tried to overcome the Republicans….
Edgar Esteves Gonzales, in turn, in his book Batallas de Venezuela 1810-1824, describes the events as follows:
The
infantrymen sought to protect themselves behind any breastwork they could find,
trying to hold off the waves of cavalrymen that came at them, one after the
other, with no surcease for the Republicans. Morales’s men doggedly attacked
again and again while the inexperienced defenders dropped one by one….
Yet another author, Juan
Vicente González, in his biography of General José Félix Ribas, published in La Revista Literaria in 1865, quoting
from Gaceta de Caracas number 42,
tells us that:
…nine times Morales charged and nine times he
was pushed back; the battle began at 8:00 in the morning and was fought on the
outskirts of the town, and was fought in the streets, where the enemy hordes
were finally able to penetrate; and was fought from the square, where the formidable
leader regrouped, uncertain whether help would or would not come, self-confident
and trusting to his luck. On horseback, in the midst of his soldiers, he
encouraged and drove them; he was everywhere; he held back and tired the enemy
forces. There was in his eye, in his speech, a spark that shone in those dark
moments; his look forced hearts to strive. Thrice the horse under him fell to
the ground; a thousand bolts of lightning flashed around the plumage on his
head, the target of every shot, heroically handsome and visible in the midst of
his comrades.
At approximately 4:00 in the
afternoon, following a frenzied battle, when the stamina and morale of the
defenders seemed to be flagging, a cavalry column approached from the west
along the Valencia-San Mateo road to attack Morales and his men from behind. It
was Campo Elías, the victor at Mosquiteros and avenger of those who had fallen
at La Puerta. He had marched from La Cabrera, some 40 Km. away, with two
cavalry squadrons consisting of approximately two hundred (200) horsemen under
the command of Manuel Cedeño and the brothers Juan and Francisco Padrón, as
well as two hundred and twenty (220) infantrymen under Lieutenant Colonel José
María Ortega and Captain Antonio Ricaurte, in aid of the Republicans. Rivas took
advantage of the confusion that reigned following the unexpected arrival of
help and ordered an attack, led by Major Mariano Montilla. One hundred lancers and
fifty light infantrymen broke away from their defensive positions and managed
to break through the ranks of the attackers, allowing Campo Elías’s troops to
breach the bulwarks. Reorganizing his forces in the main plaza, Ribas ordered a
general attack. Morales, who had no idea of the size of the forces attacking
him or whether additional reinforcements were on the way, was unable to
withstand the onslaught and, taking advantage of the waning light after sunset,
retreaded to the higher ground of El Pantanero, pursued by Mariano Montilla and
Vicente Campo Elías. Meanwhile, Boves, with the reserve forces, was approaching
along the road from Villa de Cura.
The battle ended with the
Republicans in control of the main plaza and Morales’s forces spread out in the
hills of El Pantanero. The next day, following the arrival of Boves at the head
of the reserves, the enemies of the Republic tried to regain the upper hand, an
initiative that was stymied by a group under the command of Colonel Campo
Elías, who defeated Boves’s men and sent them fleeing. Boves was forced to
return to Villa de Cura. One of the men to die in this battle was Rudecindo
Canelón, a captain in the Valerosos Cazadores battalion who had endured prison
in Puerto Rico and in Coro following the fall of the First Republic and had
been a heroic figure in the Battle of Araure.
The Republicans had suffered
serious losses. In his official report General José Félix Ribas said “We, in turn, lost some 100 men and have
close to four hundred wounded. Among the former, we must lament the death of
the intrepid commander of the “Soberbios Dragones de Caracas”, C.L. María Rivas Dávila; cavalry lieutenant C. Ron....” He goes on to report that
two horses had been killed out from under him, but that he had not been
injured. His report then goes on to say that no prisoners were taken “because our troops show no mercy....”
In the case of the death of the
commander of the “Soberbios Dragones de Caracas”, Luis María Rivas Dávila, who
was not a professional soldier but a lawyer from Mérida, and who had joined the
liberation movement when the Admirable Campaign passed through his city –and
who had distinguished himself during the fighting at Cerritos Blanco outside
Barquisimeto, protecting the withdrawal of the Republican troops, and at the
Battle of Araure- history tells us that when the bullet that would ultimately
kill him was removed, he held it up and said “Give it to my wife and tell her to keep it, and to remember that it is
to it that I owe the most glorious moment in my life, the moment when I died
defending the cause of my soil.” With his last breath he cried out “I die content. Long live the Republic!”
On the tactical side, we cannot
fail to point out that General Ribas made the best possible use of his forces
given the circumstances and the terrain where he was facing his enemy. By
placing his troops, mostly inexperienced infantrymen, in a defensive position
within a fortified square, he neutralized the advantages of mobility and brute
force that the cavalry gave Colonel Morales. The layout of the streets leading
to the plaza where Ribas mounted his defense offered the great advantage of
providing both the infantry and the artillery with clear, very specific fields
of fire that the enemy would necessarily have to follow during their approach
and attack. In the case of Colonel Morales, in view of the defensive position
adopted by his enemy, he should have reorganized his forces, launching attacks
mainly with the infantry and used his cavalry to prevent the arrival of
reinforcements that could attack him from the rear.
Although the Battle of La
Victoria was not a decisive encounter in the War of Independence, it was
extremely important from a strategic standpoint because it meant that
communications between Valencia, where the general headquarters were located,
and Caracas, the seat of the Republican government, remained open and prevented
Morales and Rosete from joining forces against the latter city, which would
have led to a defeat of the Republicans.
This episode in the War of
Independence has gone down in Venezuelan history as a most significant battle
thanks to the courage of the young university students and seminarians from
Caracas who, although not men of arms, did not hesitate to seize them and offer
up their lives in defense of the cause of independence.
In commemoration of the Battle of La Victoria and in
honor of the young men who fought there, on February 10, 1947, the National
Constituent Assembly proclaimed February 12th as Youth Day in Venezuela, “in
recognition of the services young people had rendered to the republic.”
Written by Carlos A. Godoy L. In commemoration of the 200 anniversary of the battle of La Victoria. Caracas, Venezuela. January 2014
Plaza Jose Félix Ribas, La Victoria, Venezuela
Written by Carlos A. Godoy L. In commemoration of the 200 anniversary of the battle of La Victoria. Caracas, Venezuela. January 2014