José María Barreiro Manjón (August 20, 1793 – October 11, 1819) was a Spanish military officer who fought in the Peninsular War and in the Colombian War of Independence. In 1819 at the rank of colonel, he was commander of the III Division of Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme (Royalist Army) in New Granada during Simon Bolivar's campaign to liberate New Granada. He commanded his army against the Patriot Army at the Battle of Vargas Swamp, where he would be defeated, and at the Battle of Boyacá, where he would be captured along with remnants of the III Division and the end of Spanish control over New Granada.
Barreiro would die at the age of 26, when he and 37 other Spanish officers who had been taken prisoner were executed by firing squad in the main plaza of Santa Fe by orders of General Francisco de Paula Santander on October 11, 1819.
Early career José María Barreiro Manjón was born on August 20, 1793, in the port city of Cádiz in the Kingdom of Spain. His father was artillery colonel José Barreiro and his mother Antonia Manjón Micón. At the age of 12, on January 7, 1806, he enrolled as a cadet at the Real Colegio de Artillería de Segovia (Royal Artillery School in Segovia) and graduated on November 2, 1808, with the rank of sub-lieutenant.
Peninsular War Barreiro participated in the defense of Madrid against Napoleon after the Battle of Somosierra in December 1808, where he would be wounded and taken prisoner, however he managed to escape three months later.Forero, Paulo Emilio (1969) p. 45 The Supreme Central Junta granted him the rank of second lieutenant. On May 24, 1809, he was assigned to the 2nd Army of the Right, and fought in Catalonia, where he was promoted to second lieutenant on April 25, 1810, and to lieutenant on the following August 26. He fought in the Siege of Valencia, against the troops of Marshal Suchet, and was able to retreat to Alicante, after the capitulation of that city on January 9, 1812. He was adjutant major of the 3rd artillery regiment (August 4, 1812), being incorporated into the 4th army, receiving the rank of captain on December 13 of that year. He was then assigned to the Reserve Army of Andalusia, and was promoted to captain of Horse Artillery (February 5, 1813), fighting at Pancorbo and in the Siege of Pamplona.
Colombian Independence War In December 1814 Barreiro was assigned to the 10,000 strong Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme under the command of Field Marshall Pablo Morillo, this expeditionary army was created with the goal of reconquering the Viceroyalty of New Granada and the Captaincy General of Venezuela which had been in open rebellion since 1810. The expedition set sail from Cádiz in February 1815 arriving off the coast of Venezuela in early April 1815. From Venezuela Morillo then took his force to New Granada and began a campaign to reconquer New Granada in which most of the country had been in control of republican forces since 1811. This campaign started off with Spanish Forces putting the port city of Cartagena under siege in August 1815 for 105 days. Barreiro participated in some of the assaults on republican positions during the siege. The city surrendered to the Spanish in December, and in acknowledgement for his actions during the siege Barreiro was promoted to Colonel on December 15, 1815. After the capture of the capital, Santa Fe, in May 1816 Barreiro returned with the bulk of the army to Venezuela in order to fight off a renewed campaign by Simon Bolivar.
Commander of Royalist Forces in New Granada When Field Marshall Juan de Samano was named Viceroy of New Granada in March 1818, the III Division of the Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme, now stationed in Santa Fe, was left without a commanding officer, with Colonel Francisco Warleta ill and Colonel Sebastián de la Calzada already commanding the V Division in the plains of Apure, General Morillo named Barreiro commander of the division in January 1818.Riaño, Camilo (1969) p. 352 Barreiro upon hearing this news marched from Venezuela to Santa Fe with reinforcements composed of local Venezuelan troops for the capital, these troops were seen by the Spanish leadership as valuable as the European troops Morillo had brought. Upon arriving to Santa Fe on August 4, 1818, Barreiro decided to organize and discipline his troops, the III Division was composed of some 3000 troops organized into four infantry battalions along with 600 cavalry.Gutierrez Ardila, Daniel (2019) pp. 19–20
When Barreiro assumed command in late 1818, New Granada had been largely pacified as a result of its reconquest by Spanish forces in 1815–1816 with the exception of small guerilla groups operating in central New Granada, things would begin to change in the coming year. In early 1819, Morillo became concerned about the intelligence reports he received regarding Neogranadine General Francisco de Paula Santander who had been dispatched by Simon Bolivar to the region with the task of organizing an army in the eastern plains region of Casanare.
Morillo ordered Barreiro to conduct an invasion of that province before the winter rain season set in in order to clear that province of rebel presence.Albi de la Cuesta, Julio (2019) p. 381Gutierrez Ardila, David (2019) p. 20 In March 1819 Barreiro gathered a force of 1,800 troops and crossed the cordillera oriental and invaded the province, however the campaign was not successful as the lack of supplies and inhospitable climate hampered his force as well as a Santander's strategy of retreating further into the plains. In mid April Barreiro and his exhausted forces withdrew back towards central New Granada and garrisoned in the city of Tunja to wait out the rain season.
Bolivar's Campaign to Liberate New Granada With Barreiro's forces back in central New Granada, the rainy season set in, and the Spanish believed it impossible for any army to march under such difficult conditions. However, in late May 1819, after receiving news from Santander about Barreiro's failed offensive in Casanare, Bolívar led his forces from the plains of Apure in Venezuela towards Santander's forces in Casanare to join them and begin their campaign to liberate New Granada.
These two armies would meet in Tame on June 15, 1819, and would march together towards the Cordillera Oriental with the aim of crossing the Andes through the Páramo ("Moor") de Pisba. Barreiro was informed about the reunion of Bolivar and Santander on July 25 and their intentions of penetrating central New Granada, that same day he informed Viceroy Juan de Samano of the situation.Friede Alter, Juan (1969) pp. 65–66 This news led Barreiro to consider several paths through which Bolívar could possibly cross through the mountains: La Salina, Paya (Pisba), Pueblo Viejo, Medina, Miraflores, Tenza valley and Cáqueza. He discarded the first four, considering them too difficult and costly in human lives, especially in the winter season. He also ruled out penetration through Cáqueza, because it was located too far to the south. He assumed that Bolívar would choose the pass through the Tenza Valley as the most appropriate and sent a number of forces there to guard the pass.Friede Alter, Juan (1969) p. 34 Meanwhile, the only Spanish forces that Barreiro had left on the other side of the Andes was a small garrison of 2 companies; some 300 men under the command of sergeant major Juan Figueroa y Ladron garrisoned in the town of Paya. This force would come into contact with the Patriot Army's vanguard under the command of Santander on July 27 and skirmished with them. Upon realizing they were facing a larger army, the Spanish withdrew towards Labranzagrande where the main mountain pass lay, Figueroa upon this encounter immediately wrote a letter to Barreiro informing him of the situation.
Barreiro's soon found himself in a difficult situation: he did not dare to cross the mountain range and attack Bolívar, because he feared opening any other passage for him on a front that extended almost 250 kilometers. Furthermore, he did not see the possibility of maintaining his troops on the other side of the mountains, practically cut off from Tunja and the capital. He therefore chose to wait, while alarming and contradictory reports arrived such as one that informed that Bolívar was going to meet Páez in Píedecuesta. Barreiro then ordered his forces to gather, as he had previously stationed them at widely dispersed points.
Finally, on July 5 he received news that 500 cattle were spotted being led from Paya to Pisba and on the 6th, that the enemy army had moved towards the moor towards Pisba and Socotá. When Bolivar had arrived in Socha on July 6 his army was in a weakened state and at its most vulnerable, however Barreiro preferred to stay garrisoned and concentrate his forces as they were still trickling in. Viceroy Samano grew frustrated with this approach and decided to relieve Barreiro of his command and replace him with Colonel Sebastián de la Calzada, who was commander of the 400 strong European Aragon Battalion which guarded Santa Fe, as commander of the III Division.Albi de la Cuesta, Julio (2019) p. 386 Barreiro however, refused this order as it would "Stain his honor as a military officer" and then informed the viceroy that only General Pablo Morillo had the authority to relieve him of his command, thus he ordered de la Calzada to return to Santa Fe when he arrived in Tunja.Friede Alter, Juan (1969) pp. 99–100. Carta de Barreiro a Samano 8 de Julio 1819 Tunja [Letter from Barreiro to Samano 8 July 1819, Tunja]
At dawn on July 8, Barreiro finally moved his army in the direction of Sogamoso to meet the patriot forces arriving there on the night of the 9th. On July 10 a series of skirmishes and combats began between the two armies at Corrales and Gameza. In his reports to the Viceroy, Barreiro claims victories over the Patriots. On the July 11 a larger battle occurred again at Gameza, during the battle a large group of Patriot troops were taken prisoner, Barreiro subsequently ordered their execution by bayonet in order to conserve ammunition, he justified this in a letter to the Viceroy stating that this action was necessary stating that "The kind of soldiers we have need to get bloodied in order to get fired up."Barreiro wrote "Many prisoners are taken but I have them all killed instantly to further compromise the soldier. As soon as some chief or officer of regular principles appears who can give us information, I will forward it to Your Excellency for examination"Friede Alter, Juan (1969) p. 112Albi de la Cuesta, Julio (2019) p. 387
Vargas Swamp