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On the 7th of April the battle of Bombona occurred. It lasted the entire afternoon and part of the night. The independent army rose to the occasion, and accomplished what it had never before realized.
Canterac, in his retreat, was forced to cover 450 miles of very rough country, and lost a large part of his army. A festivity following this success was the occasion of generous words exchanged between the victor of Bombona and the conqueror of Pichincha. Sucre said: "Led by the Liberator, we can expect nothing but victory!"
Bolivar possessed the virtue of creating heroes by his side: Anzoategui in Boyaca; Paez in Carabobo; Torres in Bombona; Sucre, commander-in-chief in Pichincha and Ayacucho; and Cordova, under Sucre's command, in the last fight for independence. The War of Independence of Latin America began in Caracas on April 19, 1810, and ended in Ayacucho on December 9, 1824.
The Continent's Freedom Sealed in Ayacucho After the victories of Bombona and Pichincha Bolivar again evidenced his disinterestedness and his generosity in praising his officers. He reiterated his desire to resign his power. He expressed in a letter the need he felt for rest, and a belief that a period of repose might restore his former energy, which he felt slipping away from him.
Only the horsemen fought, but the defeated royalist cavalry on retreat, drew the infantry with them. The battle of Junin ranked in importance with those of Boyaca, Carabobo and Bombona, as well as that of Pichincha, and had a marked effect on the ultimate success of the Peruvian campaign. The morale of the royalists was destroyed.
The commander of Pasto was a Spanish colonel named D. Basilio Garcia. The two armies met in a place called Bombona, where all the advantages were on the side of the royalists. Bolivar found himself about to attack an army made almost invulnerable by nature; forests, roads, ravines all protected it. In such a position, Bolivar merely said these words: "We must conquer and we will conquer!"
San Martin was on the point of declaring war on Colombia, a fatal step which was prevented by the pressure of other more urgent matters, and perhaps because the victories of Bombona and Pichincha were too recent to encourage any disregard of the conquerors. As soon as Bolivar arrived in Quito, he decided to go to Guayaquil to take the situation in hand.
He was in such grave danger from the hostility of the inhabitants that he had to be escorted by Spanish soldiers, who, in this way, displayed their loyalty to their word and their high sense of honor. This occurred on the 8th of June, 1822. The battle of Bombona had taken place two months before, and in the interval another great event occurred in favor of the independent army.
The light of the moon witnessed the retreat of the royalist army, defeated and destroyed, seeking shelter in the city of Pasto; and the name of Bombona was written in history beside those of Boyaca and Carabobo as among the most momentous, the most significant battles fought for the cause of independence. The latter instructed him to surrender his command to a colonel.
Bolivar wisely deemed it of greatest moment, and what has occurred during the twentieth century has proved that Bolivar was absolutely right in his judgment. Bombona and Pichincha. The Birth of Ecuador. Bolivar and San Martin Face to Face In January, 1822, Bolivar was in Cali, assembling his army to invade Quito by land.
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