In 1824 he asked the Cabildo for authorization to provide water to the city, but the project was a failure. In 1828, he defended Guayaquil from the Peruvian blockade and, when the plaza was handed over on deposit, he was taken prisoner along with his brothers‑in‑law, José and Francisco de Garaycoa. Between 1829 and 1830, he served as President of the Municipality of
Guayaquil. In October 1831, he sent an exploratory commission to the
Galápagos archipelago to investigate the existence of
orchilla—a plant used for dyeing fabrics that was exported to Mexico—and on November 14, he established the “Colonizing Society of the Galápagos Archipelago” and proclaimed Charles Island as vacant, later renamed
Floreana. In December, he joined General
Luis Urdaneta’s revolution and was elected Commander of Arms of Guayaquil. In January 1832, he formed a “militia corps” to repel the attack of the
Flores Battalion soldiers who had revolted. On the 20th, an expedition to the Galápagos was dispatched under the command of Colonel Ignacio Hernández. In 1833, he briefly served as
Consul General of the United States in Guayaquil and traveled to the Galápagos as governor of the archipelago; there, he carried out his duties “with acumen, sagacity, and great practical spirit.” The vessel
HMS Beagle brought a British scientific expedition under the command of Captain
Robert FitzRoy to the Galápagos on September 15, 1835. Together with the young naturalist
Charles Darwin, they conducted a study of the geology and biology on four of the islands before continuing their expedition around the world. The ship sailed within the archipelago for five weeks, although Darwin stayed onshore for only two weeks. He examined the local animals and plants—observations that later enabled him to formulate the theory of
the origin of species. Villamil resigned as governor of the Galápagos in 1837 because the number of settlers had diminished. In his place, he left General Pedro Mena, who would manage his assets. In 1841, he was called to military service and took part in the
Pasto campaign with General
Juan José Flores. He returned to the Galápagos and, and with the help of his daughter Ana Villamil de Alarcón, moved his cattle to avoid conflicts with the settlers of “Floreana.” At the beginning of August 1842, while in the Galápagos, he learned of a yellow fever epidemic in Panama; thus, he set sail at full speed with the intention of communicating the news so that all ships arriving from the northern coasts—from Mexico, Central America, and Panama—could be quarantined; however, when he reached port, it was too late, as days earlier, on August 31, the English schooner “Queen Victoria,” coming from Veraguas with several ill persons, had already anchored, and shortly afterward the ship "Bruja” also arrived infected. After the revolution of March 6, 1845, he was sent to Manabí to secure the support of Governor
José María Urbina for the movement. He returned to Guayaquil with a “division of revolutionaries.” His first report on the Galápagos read as follows: He participated in the battles at “La Elvira,” losing one of his ships in a shipwreck while transporting troops. Although he claimed compensation from the National Congress, he was only promoted to “General of the Republic” and assigned to the administration of the Customs Office of Manabí, where he also had a romantic liaison with Casimira Chávez, resulting in another daughter. During this period, his daughters Ana Maria and Colombia Villamil married in Montecristi to the brothers
Nicolás Alarcón and Colonel Pedro Alarcón. In 1849, he traveled to California, drawn by the gold rush, and was shipwrecked, saving his passengers in boats that he piloted to port. When General Flores announced his expedition to Guayaquil, he rejoined the armed forces. In 1851, he served as Minister General during Urbina’s administration; during this period, his daughter Maria Bolivia Villamil married the politician and aristocrat
Francisco Pablo Icaza Paredes. As a devout
Mason, he influenced his son‑in‑law to petition the National Congress for the
manumission of slaves. When the matter was brought before the Chamber of Deputies, Dr.
Francisco Xavier de Aguirre Abad opposed it, arguing that the rights of the owners would be harmed, and requested to draft a bill to create funds to purchase the freedom (manumission) of the slaves. This was carried out faithfully, and a tax on testaments was established, the proceeds of which were used to fund the Manumission Boards created in the Republic. Thus Villamil was the driving force behind the termination of slavery in Ecuador, and Urbina was the signatory of the actual decree. In 1853, he served as “
Encargado de Negocios” of Ecuador to the government of the United States. He returned in 1854 and visited the Galápagos with Consul Matheo P. Game in search of commercial deposits of
guano; however, none were found. On October 12, he pressed his complaint to the government and soon obtained a guano concession; however, it was revoked the following year. In 1856, he was elected deputy to the National Congress. In 1857, he became commander general of the
Guayas district. In 1858, he was appointed
chief of the general staff. In 1859, he participated in the defense of Guayaquil during the attack by the combined forces of García Moreno and Flores, and after the battle, he went into exile in Peru. He returned in 1862, afflicted with bronchial asthma and heart disease. In 1866, upon learning of the Spanish navy’s aggression against Chile and Peru, he offered his services to the latter nation, but due to his poor health, he could not travel to Callao as planned. On May 11, the news of the Peruvian triumph reached Guayaquil. He was in his final moments. Moved by the enthusiasm he observed in those around him, he had every detail of the event reported; he assimilated the information, made his observations and forecasts, and the next day, at age 77, he died—not before handing over the last coin in his possession to his granddaughter,
Ana Luz de Ycaza Villamil. In 1863, he published in Lima his famous “Review of the Political and Military Events of the Province of Guayaquil from 1813 to 1824 inclusive,” which has seen several editions.
miniaturadeimagen|Tomb in the General Cemetery of Guayaquil “He died after fifty years of service without a pension for his old age.” His daughters claimed one‑third of Floreana Island from the government, but it was not granted. His grandchildren authorized private parties to harvest the wild cattle from the islands, descended from those brought by Villamil in 1832. In 1850,
Eugène Souville described him in “My Maritime Memories” as: ==See also==