[2] After an earlier defeat in a naval engagement on the Magdalena River, the Liberal rebels skirmished with the Conservative government around Piedecuesta in late October.

At the start of November 1899, Liberal troops under General Benjamín Herrera seized Cúcuta from the Conservative garrison under Luis Morales Berti, providing a strategic base of operations for the rebels in Santander.

This setback ensured that the Conservative government maintained control over the Magdalena River, a strategic source of transportation and trade that linked Bogotá to the outside world via the Caribbean.

[4] Paulo Emilio Villar, a Liberal doctor and the nominal architect behind the revolution, planned to attack Bucaramanga in order to secure the garrison's 8,000 rifles and 1,000,000 cartridges.

[9] Holding Cúcuta and Bucaramanga would grant the rebels significant control over the north of Santander and allow them to link up with sympathetic elements in Venezuela, under the Liberal president Cipriano Castro.

Uribe demanded that Peña Solano and Villamizar surrender, suggesting they negotiate terms at the hacienda of Zapamanga in nearby Florida.

[20] On the night of 12–13 November, the scattered Liberal forces slept in their positions on the outskirts of Bucaramanga, periodically exchanging fire with the Conservative defenders.

[22] The Conservative defenders, protected behind the city walls, entrenched in defensive works, and armed with Mauser rifles, were able to repel the Liberal attack on Bucaramanga.

Bucaramanga's sacristan, Florentino Gómez, had telephoned the attacker's positions to the Conservative command from his observation post in the church tower.

[24] The Liberals lost 1,000 killed and 500 wounded at Bucaramanga, including generals Agustín Neira, Juan Francisco Gómez Pinzón, and Cándido Amézquita.

[25][26] Liberal General Gratiniano Bueno was wounded and taken prisoner, where Minister of War Aristides Fernández [es] sentenced him to death without a trial.