In 1814, with King Ferdinand VII back on the Spanish throne, Spain decided to send to its most seditious colonies the strongest expeditionary force that it had ever sent to the Americas, this force was known as the Expeditionary army of Costa Firme (Spanish:
Ejército Expedicionario de Costa Firme). Then Field Marshall
Pablo Morillo later promoted to Lieutenant General, a veteran of the
Spanish struggle against the French, was chosen as its commander with Admiral Pascual Enrile as second in command and commander of the naval forces. The expeditionary force was made up of approximately 10,000 men and nearly 60 ships. Originally, they were to head for
Montevideo in the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, but soon it was decided to send these forces to the
Viceroyalty of New Granada (present-day
Colombia,
Ecuador,
Panama) and
Venezuela. Leaving the port of
Cádiz on 17 February 1815, the force initially landed at
Carupano and the island of
Margarita in April, where no resistance was encountered. After leaving the island, Morillo's troops reinforced existing royalist forces in the Venezuelan mainland, entering
Cumaná and
Caracas in May. A small part of the main corps set off towards
Panama, while the main contingent was directed from
Puerto Cabello towards the Neogranadine coastal city of
Santa Marta which was still in Royalist hands.
Arrival in New Granada – July 1815 The expeditionary forces arrived on the Neogranadine coast on 23 July, arriving in
Santa Marta, there Morillo's forces picked up supplies as well as militia volunteers. Morillo's main objective and main effort would be concentrarted on capturing the republican fortress city of
Cartagena, which was the most important port in all of the colony. Prior to setting out for
Cartagena, Morillo ordered that Brigadier Pedro Ruiz de Porras take 1,000 troops composed of the battalions
Fijo de Puerto Rico,
Granada, and some elements of the
Albuera battalion and a squadron of hussars. This advance force would penetrate the interior of the country and capture the important river port of
Mompox which lay on the
Magdalena River. Another royalist force would also support Morillo's invasion, that being 2,100 Venezuelan royalist troops of the V division under the command Colonel Sebastian de la Calzada who would invade from the east in Venezuela.
Siege of Cartagena By mid August, Morillo and his forces set sail and arrived off Cartagena, the city was defended by some 4,000 troops under the command of General
Manuel del Castillo y Rada amongst the troops were the Honor guard battalion, Militia units, as well as Venezuelan and foreign troops along with a contingent of dragoons and carabiners. There were also between 400 and 300 artillery troops to man the 400 artillery pieces that dotted the impressive fortifications that defended the city. For the next five months, the Spanish laid a brutal siege that devastated the civilian population however the defenders stubbornly held out. By November however the siege began to take a toll on the Spanish and their expeditionary troops began to suffer from tropical diseases, as Morillo had lost his siege train equipment when the ship
San Pedro blew up off the coast of Venezuela earlier that year, he began to order more offensive operations against the fortifications of the city. By early December, Morillo demanded the surrender the fortified city, at a council of war, the defenders of Cartagena decided not to capitulate, but to try to get out of the besieged city by sea and head towards
Jamaica or
Haiti. On the night of 5 December, the Cartagena authorities and some of the defenders set sail on ships, many of them corsairs, others merchant ships, under command of the French corsair
Louis-Michel Aury. Of the nearly 2,000 people who left on 6 merchant ships and 10 armed schooners, only 600 people managed to reach Haiti. Many ships sank, ran aground or returned to port and were captured by the Spaniards. The fortified city finally fell on December 6, 1815.
Cachirí Campaign While Cartagena was under siege, on 18 October 1815, Colonel Calzada's V division began their invasion of New Granada setting out from the town of
Guasdualito, crossing the
Arauca River and penetrated the eastern
llanos of the Casanare Province of New Granada. The only republican army in the vicinity was the Army of the East under the command of Colonel Joaquín Ricaurte who had at his disposal 150 infantrymen and 1,000 cavalry. Ricaurte intercepted Calzada's forces on 31 October in an area called Chire. The republicans were victorious however Calzada's troops were able to escape destruction as Ricaurte's cavalry did not press their attack but instead focused on looting their defeated enemy. Despite escaping total destruction Calzada's forces had suffered 200 dead and around 300 captured and missing as a result of the battle, nevertheless he continued his invasion pivoting northward and crossed the
Cordillera Oriental of the Andes through the Chita Pass into the Tunja Province with aims of marching towards
Cúcuta. By early 1816, the combined efforts of Spanish and colonial forces, marching south from Cartagena and north from Royalist strongholds in
Quito and
Pasto completed the reconquest of New Granada. Colonel
Sebastián de la Calzada won the
Battle of Cachirí in February 1816 and took the Republican capital
Bogotá on 6 May 1816. The Republican government fled to
Popayán, but their last stronghold was also captured after their defeat in the
Battle of Cuchilla del Tambo on 29 June 1816. Captured units of the Republican armies of New Granada were incorporated into the Royalist army and sent to the
Viceroyalty of Peru. == Reign of Terror ==