José María Cabal Barona (Guadalajara de Buga, 25 May 1769 – Popayán, 19 August 1816) was a Neogranadine military and political leader who fought in the Colombian War of Independence.

However, the campaign stalled at the Battle of Ejidos de Pasto due to tactical errors and miscommunication, leading to the defeat of the patriot army and the capture of General Nariño by royalist forces.

Cabal recaptured Popayán shortly afterward and was preparing an offensive to retake Pasto when news arrived of the invasion of the Spanish Expeditionary Army in the northern part of the country.

Skeptical of the prospects for success against a larger and more formidable foe, he proposed dispersing the army into guerrilla units to wage a protracted war of attrition.

José María Cabal Barona was born on May 25, 1769, in his family's Hacienda "La Concepción del Alisal" near the town of Guadalajara de Buga in the Viceroyalty of New Granada in the Spanish Empire.

[5] Cabal and the other members that were arrested, left Santafé towards the end of 1795 and were transported to Cartagena de Indias where they were put on the Spanish Frigate Palas and departed the port on November 24.

[9] As result of his travels, Cabal had collected a large number of new plants that he introduced to New Granada, and dedicated himself to agricultural work and scientific studies for the time being.

Despite dedicating his time to tending to his hacienda as well as his studies in botany and mineralogy, Cabal soon became entangled in the unstable political situation that was developing in New Granada.

In the capital Santa Fe on July 20, 1810 a popular revolt ended up deposing Viceroy Antonio Amar y Borbón and replaced him with a governing junta.

[10] The junta soon began a military campaign to liberate the southern cities of Pasto and Quito, and deployed forces to secure the Pacific coast of the province fearing that a royalist threat from the south could jeopardize their existence.

President Caycedo would lead this southern campaign himself, and departed with the Patriot troops on July 22, leaving Cabal in charge in his absence as well as assuming military control of Popayán.

Patriot forces were also deployed to the Pacific Coast under the command of Captain Jose Ignacio Rodriguez who defeated a small Spanish flotilla at the Battle of Iscuande in January 1812.

Cabal then undertook the task of organizing a new expedition to capture Pasto, rescue Caycedo, and, if possible, continue south to Quito to assist the patriots there who were under the threat of Spanish forces led by Governor Toribio Montes, and colonels Juan de Sámano, and Melchor Aymerich.

However, instead of fulfilling his part of the agreement and withdrawing his forces from the city as stipulated, Macaulay issued an ultimatum on August 11, this time far harsher than the previous one.

[23] The only troops who were able to escape the disaster were Colonel Cabal and a column of 117 soldiers, along with Captain Pedro Murgeitio, Majors José María Quijano, Mariano Matute, and Rafael Cuervo.

Cabal was one of the first officers to depart the capital, doing so on July 22 with around 200 men in the direction of Ibague as Nariño had given him orders to secure the vital Quindio Road, the main route to enter central New Granada from the south.

He successfully captured Popayán on July 1 as the city's small garrison, under Colonel Rodriguez, had withdrawn north to the Cauca Valley [33] Samano continued his offensive into the valley in pursuit of Rodriguez's forces, on July 18, he captured Cali and made his way up to the town of Cartago where a small force 150 patriot troops under the command of French cavalry officer Lt.

The army remained in the town for the next two months, training and preparing themselves for the arduous crossing across the Andes via the Guanacas road, which would allow them to approach Popayán from the east.

Cabal interceded on their behalf and recommended that Nariño send them back to Santafé to face a military tribunal, where they were more likely to receive a fair trial.

Sámano soon received information about his enemy’s movements and decided to split his army in two, sending 1,000 men north to the town of Quilichao under the command of Lt.

In the meantime, Nariño ordered Cabal to conduct reconnaissance on Sámano’s forces, which had marched from El Tambo and made camp at the Calibío Hacienda.

However, Nariño denied the request and ordered Cabal to withdraw to the main Patriot camp, as he wished to present battle against Sámano with his full strength, particularly since Colonel Rodríguez’s troops marching south had not yet arrived.

[37] On January 13, Rodríguez and his troops finally arrived, and Nariño was now ready to engage Sámano at the Calibío Hacienda, located about 8 km from his camp at Bajo Palacé.

Cabal’s actions during the battle contributed significantly to the victory, as his attack surprised the Royalists and caused a decisive imbalance on their left flank from which they could not recover.

This counteroffensive would be right around the corner as the governor of Quito Toribio Montes was preparing an army to invade the valley that would be led by Colonel Aparicio Vidauzárraga.

Colonel Vidauzárraga, who had taken control of Popayán after the retreat of the patriot army, after months of preparations and the arrival of reinforcements from Quito and Peru began his counteroffensive to invade the Valley at the end of June 1815 with about 2000 troops along with artillery.

The patriot vanguard fought with the enemy for two hours until the Socorro battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Monsalve ordered his forces to withdraw to Quilichao.

Encouraged by this small victory, the royalists continued their advance northwards and around noon on July 4, 1815, Colonel Vidauzárraga's forces arrived on the opposite side of the Palo River.

[49] The battle soon concluded with a simultaneous bayonet charge by the three front line battalions Cundinamarca, Socorro and Antioquia supported by artillery which forced the royalist to retreat across the swollen river, where many drowned in the process.

The remnants of the northern army initiated a strategic retreat to the eastern plains of New Granada, led by the recently promoted General Serviez in April.