José María Córdova Muñoz, also known as the "Hero of Ayacucho", was a General of the Gran Colombian army during the Independence War of Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia from Spain.
Early life
Córdova was born in Concepción, Antioquia on September 8, 1799.Arismendi Posada, Ignacio; Gobernantes Colombianos, trans. Colombian Presidents; Interprint Editors Ltd.; Italgraf; Segunda Edición; Page 73; Bogotá, Colombia; 1983 The son of Crisanto de Córdova y Mesa, a small merchant active in the east of Antioquia who had also been pedáneo mayor, and Pascuala Muñoz Castrillón, the couple had four other children: Salvador, Vicente, Venancia and Mercedes. Subsequently, his family moved to San Vicente and, later, to Rionegro. Córdova in his childhood only had the basic education of the time and that of accompanying his father on business trips.
Military career Córdova's military career began in 1814, when he joined the newly formed Engineer Corps in the province of Antioquia, which had just been established by Colonel Francisco José de Caldas in Medellín. Cordova's interest in the military and the revolutionary cause had been stoked by the Colombian declaration of independence, as well as Antioquia's own declaration of independence as the "Republic of Antioquia" or the "Free and Sovereign State of Antioquia" that joined in a federation in 1812 with other provinces of New Granada to form the United Provinces of New Granada. On June 6, 1814 he was accepted into the military school as a cadet that Colonel Caldas had created along with nine other cadets. Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p.21.
At the short lived military school one of his instructors was a French cavalry officer Emanuel Roergas Serviez, a veteran of the Napoleonic wars and now an officer in the Army of the Union (the army of the United Provinces of New Granada, also referred to as the patriot army). Serviez soon became his mentor. In early 1815 Serviez now a Colonel, was ordered by the federal congress to bring reinforcements to the Cauca province to assist Brigadier General José María Cabal's army of the south in their defense of the Cauca Valley from a renewed Spanish offensive. Serviez then took the Conscripts of Antioquia infantry battalion and marched south to assist General Cabal, in this battalion was a young second lieutenant Córdova who Serviez had also made him his aide-de-camp. Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p. 26.
On July 5, 1815, at the Battle of the Palo River Córdova's battalion was placed on the right flank of the patriot army.Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p. 27. During the battle Córdova's battalion took part in the bayonet charge against the Spanish troops and received a bullet through his hat which knocked him down and led him to being erroneously labeled as dead in General Cabal's report of the battle to the congress. Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p. 28. The battle was a decisive patriot victory and allowed the patriots to recapture the city of Popayán later that month. After a brief recovery, for his actions during the battle Córdova was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, at the time of his promotion he was only 16 years old. He remained garrisoned in Popayán for the next three months.
Once the counter offensive by the Spanish troops began in 1815, Serviez was appointed as commander in chief of the Army, while Córdova continued to serve him as his aide. By early 1816, after taking command of the forces that had been defeated by the Spanish at the Battle of Cachirí back in February 1816 and with only a limited number of troops, Serviez knew it would pointless to mount a defense of the capital Santafe and made the decision to retreat with what was left of the army to Casanare Province in the Llanos Orientales.López, Manuel Antonio (1878). Recuerdos históricos del coronel Manuel Antonio López, ayudante del estado mayor general Libertador Colombia i Perú 1819-1826 (1st ed.). Bogotá: J.B. Gaitan. p. 1 Along with Córdova, other important officers also joined them in their retreat such as Colonel Francisco de Paula Santander, Antonio Morales, Tomas Mantilla, and Jose Maria Vergara. Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p. 33.
Campaign in the Llanos During their retreat, the Patriot army was chased after by Brigadier Miguel de la Torres's troops up until the town of Pore where they managed to shake off their enemy. On July 1, 1816 the beleaguered patriot forces reached the town of Chire where they met up with the Venezuelan troops of GeneralRafael Urdaneta. Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p. 36. There they joined forces with the Venezuelan patriots, forming a combined army to face the Spanish. This army eventually came under the command of Lt. Colonel Jose Antonio Páez, a native of the llanos known of for his tenacity and the respect he commanded amongst the Venezuelan llanero cavalry. Páez assumed command of the army after Santander, who had been originally picked to be commander, was faced with insubordination by the Venezuelan troops who clamored for Páez to be commander.
After assuming command, Páez immediately went on the offensive to attack the Spanish troops that had ventured into the llanos. He divided his troops into three columns of cavalry with Santander, Serviez, and Urdaneta as commanders of the columns. Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p. 37. Cordova remained by Serviez's side and took part in the Battle of El Yagual on October 9, 1816, the Patriot victory allowing the combined Neogranadine and Venezuelan army to take control of the town of Achaguas. Despite this victory there remained a tension between Páez and the Neogranadine officers.
Shortly after the battle, General Serviez was assassinated in suspicious circumstances, presumably under orders from José Antonio Páez. The death of Serviez was a large blow to Córdova, who placed the blame on Paéz and would forever hold a grudge against him expressing this years later in a letter written to Santander in 1826 when Páez led an insurrection against Gran Colombia expressing his views on the Lion of Apure by saying "What good can come from the man who ordered the assassination of General Serviez, the one who disobeyed the Liberator repeatedly in campaigns of 18' and 19'" Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p. 40. Fed up with Paéz, Córdova requested a passport to travel to Guyana where General Simon Bolívar had his army. However Paéz refused to authorize his leaving, leading Córdova to desert and head for Guyana, however Córdova was arrested by Paez's troops and taken to his headquarters. There Páez court martialed him for desertion, which carried the penalty of death. Córdova narrowly avoided execution, thanks to the intervention of another officer, Pedro Camejo, and was subsequently restored to his rank. Córdova remained in Paez's army and fought valiantly in the bloody Battle of Mucuritas on April 28, 1817. After the victory Córdova insisted on being allowed to march to Guyana which he was finally allowed to do, reaching there by way of the Orinoco River where he met Simon Bolivar for the first time where Bolivar subsequently incorporated him into his general staff. On November 14, 1817 in Angostura, he was promoted to the rank of captain.
Córdova then took part in the Guyana Campaign and Center Campaign where Bolívar's Patriot army was defeated by General Pablo Morillo's forces near the outskirts of Caracas leading to the end of the campaign and forcing Bolivar to retreat with his tattered army back to Angostura.
New Granada Campaign of 1819 After the failure of the Center Campaign, Bolivar began to replan his strategy and opted for a possible campaign to invade and liberate New Granada which had been under firm control of the Spanish since the reconquest of 1816. However the army was devastated after the Center Campaign, so new troops would need to be raised. Thus in August 1818, Bolivar promoted Colonel Santander to brigadier general and made him commander of the Vanguard Division of the Liberator Army dispatching him with some officers to the llanos of Casanare in New Granada with a number of rifles and supplies with the goal of raising troops for the upcoming campaign. After many months of preparation, Bolivar decided to begin the campaign on May 23, 1819 marching from Venezuela to join with Santander's army in Casanare. Córdova who had been promoted from captain to lieutenant colonel on February 14, 1819, would take part in the campaign as divisional chief of staff of Brigadier General Jose Antonio Anzoátegui's Rearguard Division. Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p. 47. Taking part in the difficult marches across the flooded llanos and the grueling crossing of the eastern Andes through the Páramo de Pisbá. Córdova saw action at the Battle of Gámeza on July 11 and at the bloody battle of Vargas Swamp on July 25, 1819 where the Patriots snatched a victory from the Spanish at the very last moment. 13 days later the campaign concluded with a decisive Patriot victory at the Battle of Boyacá, on August 7 1819, with the Patriot army entering the viceregal capital of Santa Fe triumphantly on August 11.
With the victory at Boyacá most of central New Granada was liberated of Spanish control. Shortly after their entrance in Santa Fe. Upon arriving to Santa Fe, Córdova had been ordered to chase after Viceroy Juan de Sámano who had fled the day before for the river port of Honda on the Magdalena River with goal of reaching of Cartagena de Indias. While at Honda, on August 13 Córdova was given the order of liberating his home province of Antioquia and was given 50 men to complete this task. Valencia Tovar, Álvaro. (2021) General de división José María Córdova. Academia Colombiana de Historia. 2nd edition. Bogotá. p. 55. At the age of 19, this expedition would be Córdova's first independent command. After recruiting more troops he embarked on his mission on August 22 with 190 soldiers, arriving in Rionegro on August 25 and in Medellín on August 30.Melo, Jorge Orlando; Historia de Antioquia, trans. History of Antioquia; Editorial Presencia Ltd.; Primera Edición; Page 96; Bogotá, Colombia; November, 1988
Once there, Córdova became the Military Chief of Antioquia, while José Manuel Restrepo was named as the Civilian Chief in charge of the public administration. Córdova organized a small army of 700 volunteers, and on February 12, 1820, he defeated the Spanish army of Colonel Francisco Warleta at the “Battle of Chorros Blancos”, in Yarumal, Antioquia. This victory marked the end of the presence of Spanish troops in Antioquia.
Having completed his mission in Antioquia, Córdova then took part in the Battle for Cartagena in 1821, commanding his own Antioquia Battalion.
Southern Campaign