Bolívar's Campaigns and Gran Colombia

Bolívar's military campaigns turned political ideas into new states. After years of setbacks, including the fall of two Venezuelan republics, he made a bold move in 1819, leading an army across the flooded plains and over the Andes to surprise royalist forces in New Granada. Victory at Boyacá in August 1819 opened Bogotá, and the Congress of Angostura created the Republic of Colombia, later called Gran Colombia, uniting present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama.

Victory at Carabobo in 1821 secured Venezuela. Bolívar relied on llaneros, the cowboys of the plains, and on British and Irish volunteers. To win support, he offered freedom to enslaved men who fought. Compared with Washington's army, Bolívar's forces were more diverse and the wars more destructive, since both sides had used 'war to the death' tactics. Military success, however, did not guarantee political unity.