The battle came as a result of Bolívar trying to outflank Spanish forces by capturing the provincial capital of Tunja through the Toca road, doing this would enable the Patriots to cut off the Spanish army's supply and communication lines to Santafe de Bogotá, while also allowing the Patriots to gain the lead in the race to capture the lightly defended viceregal capital.

The Royalists however caught wind of this plan and placed their forces on favorable ground in order to block them near a chokepoint between the towns of Tibasosa and Paipa.

After Bolívar's army had crossed the Andes Mountain Range at the Paramo de Pisba in early July 1819 he arrived to the town of Socha, his army of Venezuelan and New Granadan troops as well as a British Legion were in a sorry state, his troops lacked uniforms and had lost all their horses as well as cattle along with some 100 dead, 500 sick, and a loss of a large amount of munitions.

Their assistance would be vital as they would provide food, horses, as well as tend to the sick troops, the women of these villages reportedly tore up their dresses and any clothes they could find in an effort to sew new uniforms for the naked army.

Colonel José María Barreiro commander of the 4,000 strong III Division of Expeditionary Army of Costa Firme, the main Spanish Royalist force in the kingdom, had been garrisoned in the capital of the province, Tunja at the time of the Patriot invasion.

[2] During the following days leading up to the battle small detachments of the Patriot Vanguard clashed with patrolling Royalist troops at the town of Corrales.

From their camp in Bonza, on July 20, after a brief rest, the Patriot army resumed their campaign with Bolívar's main goal being the capture of the provincial capital of Tunja through the Toca road which would enable the Patriots to cut off the royalists' line of communication with Santa Fe, while also allowing them to gain the lead in the race to capture the viceregal capital.

With these completed on July 25, at five in the morning, the army began their crossing of the Chicamocha and decided to ford the river at a site known as Puente de Balsa.

However during the crossing many of the rafts collapsed, and the Patriot army struggled to get across the swollen river and wouldn't do so until 10 am, a delay of 5 hours, which Bolívar worried would allow the Royalists to know their movements.

[4] During the delay, Bolívar dispatched a group of 40 infantrymen of the Cazadores battalion with the mission of conducting reconnaissance as well as stalking royalist troops.

This action stopped the Patriot advance as both sides fought centimeter by centimeter to maintain their position on the hills, the fighting on Picacho hill was especially brutal, with Santander's troops fighting an uphill battle where they suffered tremendously as the Royalists were able to display their superior firepower against them, the clash was so violent that wounded men began rolling down the northern slope, as well as hand-to-hand combat occurring in some occasions.

[12] Seeing that his troops were being pushed back, Barreiro ordered the deployment of two companies from the Numancia Battalion that had been kept in reserve as well as the 4th and 6th companies of the Granadan Dragoons commanded by Colonel Salazar who were ordered to dismount and fight as infantry to stop the renewed attack of the Patriots, also deployed were Colonel Francsico Góngora's Hussars of Ferdinand VII along the main road that bordered the swamp.

The deployment of these units allowed the Royalists to stabilize their line as well as push back the patriots again on the left and center flanks, meanwhile on the right flank of the battle where the narrow path lay that bordered the Vargas swamp, the fight was equally intense, as the troops of the rearguard division, commanded by General Anzoátegui, desperately tried to fend off the onslaught of the Hussars of Ferdinand VII but were slowly pushed back.

Barreiro observing the battle from his command post at the Casa de la seis ventanas, upon seeing his Dragoons plant their standard at the top of Picacho hill reportedly shouted "Long live Spain, not even God can take this victory away from me" and ordered his infantry to conduct a frontal attack along with a flanking maneuver by his reserve cavalry along the main road to finish off the Patriots.

[15] At the foot of Cangrejo Hill, one of the 14 lancers, Sergeant Inocencio Chincá became involved in a prolonged duel with the Spanish Dragoon, Captain Ramón Bedoya.

The fighting was interrupted by a heavy tropical downpour that set in around 6pm, allowing Barreiro to organize his fleeing troops and using the cover of the storm to slip away back to their camp near Paipa.

With the arrival of nightfall and under the cover of the heavy rainstorm Barreiro and his forces withdrew to their original camp near Paipa, while Bolívar remained near Vargas Swamp.

Rondón and Carvajal's efforts had been the saviors of the day, along with actions of the patriot infantry and the british legion had turned what seemed to be a defeat into a narrow victory.

Although victorious, the losses suffered by the Patriots at Vargas left the army nonoperational leading Bolívar to impose martial law in the surrounding area on July 28, ordering the conscription of all males between the ages of 15 and 40 under the penalty of death.

[16] Barreiro would also reorganize his forces and was subsequently bolstered by reinforcements made up of the troops that had still not joined him that were deployed throughout the region prior to Bolívar's invasion.

In this same communication he also reported that"Our cavalry had suffered a horrific fire of which many were victims… Our loss was minor and after the units have passed me their status, I will have the honor of informing Your Excellency.

During this study investigators found what they believe to be a mass grave that fits the description of the one Father Gallo had described in his account that was dug and filled with around 600 bodies.

Bolívar's order to Rondón; "salve usted la patria" is the official motto of National Army of Colombia's cavalry branch.

The bravery displayed by Sergeant Inocencio Chincá during the battle made him a hero of the Colombian War of Independence, as a result the National Army of Colombia's Non-commissioned officer training school is named in his honor.