On June 29 they found the Spanish troops who were numerically superior and positioned high up on the ridge of the Cuchilla del Tambo, which they had fortified and was protected by artillery.

The following months would see the arrest and executions of many of the Neogranadine patriots who had spearheaded the revolution in 1810 as well military officers and their supporters by orders of Generals Pablo Morillo and Juan de Sámano and what is known as the Regime of Terror.

Pablo Morillo and his veteran troops besieged and straved in to submission the major port city of Cartagena de Indias between 26 August and 6 December 1815.

During this time, the Republican troops were based in Popayán under the command of General José María Cabal, but he was replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel Liborio Mejía for being over-cautious.

The next day, June 28, they arrived at the village of Pingua where they were sighted by some advanced royal troops, who then received orders from Brigadier Juan de Sámano to fallback towards the fortified positions on the ridge.

One of the republican troops Sub-Lieutenant José Hilario López, who was later president of Colombia, noted in his Memoirs that: “Our column reached the last mamelon which was at a distance of half-range of musket fire from the enemy encampment, and there we placed our two cannons, and awaited for the first section to approach, and that the order for the assault be given by the Commander-in-chief, who was marching on the side of the Tambo.

Verified this, the signal was given, to which we attacked violently the enemy fortifications, where we were greeted with a deadly fire of artillery and musketry; but that’s not why we stopped fixing our flags at the very foot of their entrenchments.”The standard-bearer of the Granaderos de Cundinamarca infantry battalion, Ensign José María Espinosa, noted for his part “Our fire was focused there, which lasted more than an hour without result, and with our ammunition being scarce, the Granaderos de Cundinamarca battalion was given the order to advance.

Our soldiers threw themselves with the greatest courage and reached the foot of the entrenchments, but seeing that we suffered many casualties and began to give way, we were reinforced with the Antioquia battalion, the combat became widespread, as we committed to the attack of the fortifications almost all our troops.”The Republican cavalry armed with carbines was placed on the left flank.

The courage and boldness of the republican troops in the face of overwhelming odds was even recognized by Sámano himself who wrote “It cannot be denied that these wicked people committed themselves with all their spite, reaching less than a block of the entrenchments.

The forerunner to the independence of Ecuador Carlos de Montúfar was not so lucky: he was captured, sentenced to death in Buga and executed shortly after.

It all ended on 10 July, when the Royalist commander Carlos Tolrá attacked the Patriot positions at La Plata and captured President Mejía.

The Spanish Reconquest of New Granada was then completed, with the exception of a few areas in the Casanare Province which remained under the control of the Republicans led by Francisco de Paula Santander.