Campaigns of the South
| Campaigns of the South | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Colombian War of Independence and Spanish American Wars of independence | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
Pro-independence forces
Co-belligerents With support from | Spanish Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Simón Bolívar Antonio José de Sucre León de Febres Cordero Luis Urdaneta José de la Riva-Agüero Rudecindo Alvarado |
José de la Serna Pedro Antonio Olañeta Melchor Aymerich Agustín Agualongo Antonio Huachaca | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 30,000 soldiers | 24,000 soldiers (4000 soldiers in Quito and 20,000 soldiers in Peru) | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 24,000 casualties | 21,000 casualties | ||||||||
Campaigns of the South (1820—1826; Spanish: Campañas del Sur) is the name given to a series of military campaigns that Greater Colombia launched between 1820 and 1826 in South America with the purpose of expanding over the territories of the current republics of Colombia and Ecuador, as well as consolidating the independence of the republics of Peru and Bolivia. This was an extension of the multifaceted civil war launched against the Royalist Army in the Americas, which sustained the integrity of the Spanish Empire in such territories. Beyond the surrender of the regular armies, the royalist guerrillas in each country fought for several more years.
Determining which battles are included in the campaigns of the South varies so widely that some historians refer by this name to the liberation campaigns of Quito and Pasto between 1820 and 1822, while others refer to military operations between 1821 and 1826, when the fortress of El Callao surrendered. However, it can be said for certain that the goal of the campaigns of the South was to end the Spanish American wars of independence in South America and, as an additional result, the boom of the influence and power of Greater Colombia. The latter, under the presidency of Simón Bolívar, sought to bring together the new states under its hegemony. However, this project failed and Greater Colombia itself disappeared in 1831, balkanized for the secession of the states that conformed it.