The Crossing of the Socorro Battalion in the Southern Campaign: Legacy of a Provincial Battalion in the Wars of Independence of New Granada (1813-1816)

Abstract

In the framework of the commemoration of the bicentennial of the Independence of Colombia, this article aims to analyze the trajectory of the Socorro battalion which developed its operations between 1813 and 1816 in the campaign that had the purpose of expelling the Spaniards from the southern provinces of the New Granada and defend the epicenter of republican power after the arrival of the Spanish expeditionary army. The methodology applied included a descriptive and qualitative study carried out based on the consultation of primary sources of this period. This battalion, of provincial origin, developed its action in the midst of an environment of internal political polarization and, despite all the vicissitudes of the war, served as the basis for the passage of militia forces to veterans, an aspect that would be key in the process of formalization and professionalization of the republican troops with which it was possible to complete the liberation of the Nueva Granada territory.