1813: José Félix Ribas defeated the Royalists in the Battle of Vigirima

The Battle of Vigirima was a decisive contest for Venezuelan Independence in which the “Farmers' Squad of the Vigirima Valley ranches” fought in the context of the Admirable Campaign and the Realist Army, resulting in a strong victory for the independence side led by José Félix Ribas.

It took place on November 23, 1813, on the land of the Vigirima Valley, 23 km north of the town of Guacara, in the state of Carabobo. With the victory of the Patriots, this battle was planned by the liberator Simón Bolívar from his headquarters in the city of Valencia, having entrusted the direction of the battle to José Felíx Ribas.

The battle of Vigirima was one of Ribas's strongest victories. Which came from Caracas, arriving on November 21 in Guacara, under assignment from Bolívar. In his army, there were about 500 students traveling, the local Second Farmers Squadron, under Colonel Leandro Palacios, 200 cavalry led by Francisco Antonio Paúl, the Girardot Battalion commanded by Luis Lamprea, the Valencia Battalion led by Colonel Manuel Gogorza, the Fifth Battalion of La Unión under José Luciano D'Elhuyar and 200 cavalry commanded by Coto Paul.

There are records that Colonel Andrés Linares Quintero, Carlos Soublett and Manuel Villapol also participated in the battle, totaling 2,000 infants and 300 horses. The realists came from Puerto Cabello on the Patanemo road and, coinciding with the Patriot army, they stood on a mountain range in the Vigirima Valley. At 6 in the morning, Commander D'Elhuyar began the fight for the patriots, on the left flank towards the summit of Vigirima hill, while Ribas attacks the center; the fight went on for six hours but without effective results, probably due to the rugged terrain.

Colonel Villapol was injured when he fell from the top of some cliffs or rocks during the action. Other Venezuelan officers were injured in the crossfire: Francisco Vélez, José María Trujillo, Francisco Marcano and Francisco San Juan, while casualties among the royalists were considerable. On November 24, D'Elhuyar managed to force the realistic left, while Ribas and presumably, with the help of Bolívar, attacked the center. On November 25, Commander Lamprea, head of the Girardot battalion, was in charge of the left, while Lieutenant Colonel D'Eluyar evicted the enemy on the right and both in turn from all his points.

The Valencia battalion and two cavalry squadrons occupied the center under the command of General Ribas, the main point of retreat for the Spaniards, who suffered terrible artillery and enemy infantry fire. For six hours the fire was very vivid on both sides and only the approach of night made it a truce.

The result of the action was the general abandonment by the Spanish of all the points they occupied and their escape from the hills of Vigirima and Patanemo, heading towards Puerto Cabello, persecuted by Union troops. When Bolívar came to the aid of Ribas, he could already see the triumph of the Vigirima mountains. The royalist takeover of Caracas was prevented, forcing them to return to Puerto Cabello, from where they had left from Puerto Rico. The battle of Vigirima, in the Serranía northeast of Guacara and northwest of Mariara, is considered the longest battle of Venezuelan independence.

Those injured in the battle of Vigirima were treated at the homes of Los Wallis and Marques del Toro. Where the Monolith that commemorates this battle is currently located, it is not the site, the battle took place in the part of the hill where today the Bolivarian neighborhood is located, what we called the Vigirimite Guacareños. Many of their dead were buried in the church and others were buried in a mass grave behind the church, where the children's playground, now the headquarters of the Jesús Obrero Institute, later operated.

From Vigirima, Ribas passes to Caracas and is once again in battle at the site of the avocados, the only battle in Venezuela to be won at the tip of a stone, since it had no ammunition, in the mountains of San Joaquín. The injured were taken to the Wallis' house where a small hospital was improvised.

MPPPC