Juan José de Sámano y Uribarri
Encyclopedia
Cantabria
Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.Cantabria...
– July 1821, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
), was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of New Granada
Viceroyalty of New Granada
The Viceroyalty of New Granada was the name given on 27 May 1717, to a Spanish colonial jurisdiction in northern South America, corresponding mainly to modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The territory corresponding to Panama was incorporated later in 1739...
from 1818 to 1819, during the war of independence.
Military career
Sámano was a member of a distinguished family with a long tradition in the militia. In 1771 he entered the military as a cadet, and by 1779 he was a lieutenant. He was also professor of mathematics at the Military Academy of BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, where he remained five years.
In 1780 he moved to the Indies — first to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, later to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, and finally to Cartagena de Indias (in modern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
). In 1785 he returned to Europe. In 1789 he was promoted to captain and fought in the war with revolutionary France, under the command of General Ventura Caro. In one battle he was wounded in both thighs.
In 1794 he was transferred back to New Granada, at his request. He became governor of Riohacha
Riohacha
Riohacha, Rio Hacha or Rio de la Hacha , is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean sea, capital city of the La Guajira Department. Founded by conquistador Nikolaus Federmann in 1535, Riohacha was named...
in 1806, where he repelled a British attack. From Riohacha he went to Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, accompanied by 30 cavalry troops. There he volunteered for the service of Viceroy Antonio José Amar y Borbón
Antonio José Amar y Borbón
Antonio José Amar y Borbón Arguedas was a Spanish military officer and colonial official. From September 16, 1803 to July 20, 1810 he was viceroy of New Granada . During his mandate he faced the beginning of the independence movement...
to fight against the insurgents.
As a colonel, Sámano was in command of the Auxiliar Battalion in Bogotá at the time of the Florero de Llorente (Cry of Independence) on July 20, 1810. His second in command was José María Moledo, who together with other officers not only sympathized with the revolution, but took an active part in it. That night Sámano remained in his quarters, guarded by Moledo and Baraya, who had sworn allegiance to the rebel junta in Bogotá. In the early morning of July 21, Colonel Sámano took an oath before the president of the Junta, José Miguel Pey. Pey ordered that he be relieved of his command of the Auxliar Battalion. Lieutenant Colonel Moledo was named to replace him.
Sámano was issued a passport so that he could leave New Granada. He returned to Spain, where he was commissioned to pacify the region of Quito
Quito
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
and Guayaquil
Guayaquil
Guayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port...
. From Quito he directed the military operations against the rebels in New Granada. In 1813 he was named by Governor Toribio Montes to lead an expedition to recover the southern part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. He got as far as the city of Popayán
Popayán
Popayán is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between Colombia's Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range...
, which he occupied on July 1, 1813. There he proclaimed the authority of the Constitution of Cádiz
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
. He was promoted to brigadier.
Sámano was defeated by Antonio Nariño
Antonio Nariño
Antonio de la Santísima Concepción Nariño y Álvarez was an ideological Colombian precursor and one of the early political and military leaders of the independence movement in the New Granada - Early political activity :Nariño was born to an aristocratic family...
in the Battle of Alto Palacé on December 30, 1814, and again in the Battle of Calibío on January 15, 1815. He fled with a reduced group of soldiers to Pasto. There he was replaced by Field Marshal Melchor Aymerich, because, according to Governor Toribio Montes, though Sámano was loyal to the Crown and had much military experience, more audacious tactics were needed for a royalist victory.
He returned to Quito, where he was given command of another expedition to New Granada. His command in Pasto was restored, and on June 29, 1816 he won a decisive victory at Cuchilla del Tambo
El Tambo
El Tambo may refer to:* El Tambo, Cauca, Colombia* El Tambo, Nariño, Colombia* El Tambo Canton, Ecuador* El Tambo, Chile, city in the O'Higgins Region* El Tambo District, Huancayo province, Peru* Tambo District, La Mar, Peru...
over the rebel Liborio Mejía
Liborio Mejía
Liborio Mejía Gutiérrez was a Colombian colonel and politician during the struggle for Independence from Spain, and in 1816 Liborio Mejía became president of the United Provinces of the New Granada making him the youngest person to ever hold the presidency of Colombia at the age of 24...
. Two hundred fifty were killed, and the Royalists took 300 prisoners and all of the rebels' arms and equipment.
On July 1, 1816 Sámano's troops again occupied Popayán. Among the patriots taken prisoner was José Hilario López, who unexpectedly escaped execution and later became president of New Granada (1849-53). Sámano ordered the execution of rebel leader Carlos Montúfar.
After promoting him to field marshal, Morillo gave Sámano command of Bogotá as commanding general of New Granada. He arrived in Bogotá on October 23, 1816, where he began a program of repression without the approval of Viceroy Francisco Montalvo y Ambulodi
Francisco Montalvo y Ambulodi
Francisco José Montalvo y Ambulodi Arriola y Casabant Valdespino was a Spanish soldier, colonial administrator and politician. From May 30, 1813 to April 16, 1816 he was governor and captain-general of New Granada , and from April 16, 1816 to March 9, 1818 he was viceroy of the colony...
. He founded three tribunals: the Permanent Council of War, empowered to issue death sentences against the rebels; the Council of Purification, authorized to judge rebels not meriting the death penalty; and the Junta of Confiscation, intended to seize the possessions of others compromised in the rebellion.
Among the rebels executed were Camilo Torres
Camilo Torres
Camilo Torres may refer to:*Camilo Torres Restrepo, liberation theologian, priest and guerrilla member in Colombia during the 1960s*Camilo Torres Tenorio, political leader of Colombia's independence struggle against Spain in the 1810s...
, Francisco José de Caldas
Francisco José de Caldas
Francisco José de Caldas was a Colombian lawyer, naturalist, and geographer who died a martyr by orders of Pablo Morillo during the Reconquista for being a precursor of the Independence of New Granada ....
, Joaquín Camacho
Joaquín Camacho
José Joaquín Justo Camacho Lago was a Neogranadine statesman, lawyer, journalist and professor, who worked for the Independence of the New Granada, what is now Colombia, and participated in the Open Cabildo which declared the Act of Independence, of which he was also a signer...
, Frutos Joaquín Gutiérrez, Antonio Villavicencio
Antonio Villavicencio
Antonio Villavicencio y Verástegui was a Neogranadine Lieutenant statesman and soldier, born in Quito, and educated in Spain. He served in the Battle of Trafalgar as an office in the Spanish Navy...
, Antonio Baraya, Liborio Mejía
Liborio Mejía
Liborio Mejía Gutiérrez was a Colombian colonel and politician during the struggle for Independence from Spain, and in 1816 Liborio Mejía became president of the United Provinces of the New Granada making him the youngest person to ever hold the presidency of Colombia at the age of 24...
, Jorge Tadeo Lozano
Jorge Tadeo Lozano
Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Viscount of Pastrana was a Neogranadine scientist, journalist, and politician who presided over the Constituent College of Cundinamarca and was elected President of Cundinamarca in 1811....
, Policarpa Salavarrieta
Policarpa Salavarrieta
Policarpa Salavarrieta , also known as La Pola, was a Neogranadine seamstress who spied for the Revolutionary Forces during the Spanish Reconquista of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. She was captured by Spanish Royalists and ultimately executed for high treason...
and Antonia Santos.
As viceroy
In August 1817 Sámano was named viceroy, governor and captain general of the reborn Viceroyalty of New Granada, and president of the Audiencia of Bogotá. By royal decree he was granted the Grand Cross of the Order of San Hermenegildo, for his services to the Crown. He took formal possession of his new offices on March 9, 1818. He founded the Academy of Medicine in Bogotá. However, the Audiencia formally complained of his administration to Madrid.On August 9, 1819, news of the defeat of support troops under José Barreiro in the Battle of Boyacá
Battle of Boyacá
The Battle of Boyacá in Colombia, then known as New Granada, was the battle in which Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish Monarchy, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years....
arrived in the capital. Sámano quickly fled to Cartagena de Indias, where they refused to recognize his authority. (He was unpopular there because of his reputation for repression.)
He sailed for Jamaica, but soon returned to Panama. He remained there without administrative or military control until his resignation. In August 1819, old and sick, he resigned as viceroy. He remained in Panama until his death in July 1821, awaiting permission to return to Spain.