The Battle of San Mateo was a series of battles in the Valleys of

Aragua Aragua State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains, jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular beaches are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first national par ...

in what is now

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, during the

Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence (, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in South America fought a civil war for secession and against unity of the S ...

between 28 February and 25 March 1814.

Prelude

In early 1814, Royalist commander

José Tomás Boves José Tomás Boves (Oviedo, Asturias, September 18, 1782 – Pedro María Freites Municipality, Urica, Venezuela, December 5, 1814), was a royalist caudillo of the Llanos during the Venezuelan War of Independence, particularly remembered for ...

had gathered a large army, composed of

Llanero A (, 'plainsman') is a Venezuelan and Colombian herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying eastern Colombia and western-central Venezuela. During the Spanish American wars of independence, lancers and cavalry served in b ...

's, Indigenous warriors and liberated slaves. On 3 February, he began his advance through the valleys of Aragua, thus threatening Caracas and Valencia. He defeated

Vicente Campo Elías Vicente is a Spanish and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer"). Vicente may refer to: Places *São Vicente, Cape Verde, an i ...

at La Puerta in

Guárico Guárico State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Juan de Los Morros and the largest city is Calabozo, other important city centers include Valle de la Pascua and Zaraza. Guárico State covers a total surface ...

Battle

On 28 February 1814, his first cavalry detachments arrived in the surroundings of the city of San Mateo and assaulted the trenches that defended the entrance to the valley, but the narrow terrain and the concentration of the Republican fire caused many casualties among the llaneros who were forced to retreat.
The next morning, Boves, who had also arrived at San Mateo, ordered the cavalry to go up to Puntas del Monte, a series of hills that were on the left wing of the defenders, from there the llaneros charged several times but again suffered many casualties by the well-entrenched defenders. The futility of a cavalry charge against the Republican lines made Boves think of a plan that would allow him to obtain the Republican ammunition depot in the "upper house" of Bolívar's sugar mill to arm his men, most of whom only had spears.

Self-sacrifice of Ricaurte

The main house of the San Mateo estate, property of

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

, was placed under the custody of Ricaurte and a small troop of fifty soldiers. During the Royalists' attack on 25 March, the army under the Royalists' Second Commander

Francisco Tomás Morales Francisco Tomás Morales (Agüimes Carrizal, Canary Islands, December 20, 1781 or 1783 – Las Palmas, Canary Islands, October 5, 1845), was a Spanish military, and the last of that country to hold the post of Captain General of Venezuela, reac ...

took hold of most of the estate, including the main house, which was used as the principal ammunition depot. Realizing that the battle of San Mateo would be lost if the main house fell into the hands of the Royalists, Captain Antonio Ricaurte ordered his men to leave, and lit a barrel of gunpowder inside one of the ammunition storage facilities of the main house, thus killing himself and a large number of the Royalist troops which were readily occupying the precincts. During the momentary disorder which followed the explosion, Bolívar seized the opportunity and launched an attack to regain control of the main house and later the whole of the estate.Antonio Ricaurte
The Battle of San Mateo ended with the victory of the Patriots' army. It was later estimated the Royalists lost more than ten times as many soldiers as the Patriots during the battle.

Bolivar lost two of his most important commanders :

and Manuel Villapol.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of San Mateo (1814) San Mateo San Mateo 1814 in Venezuela 1814 in the Viceroyalty of New Granada February 1814 March 1814