[1] As of January 1, 1810 at the rank of colonel, Sámano was in command of the Auxiliary Battalion of Santa Fe de Bogotá, the main military force tasked with protecting the viceregal capital.

Sámano had planned to put down the revolt and was awaiting the order to be given by the Viceroy, however his second in command Sergeant Major José María Moledo, who together with other officers such as Lieutenant Antonio Baraya not only sympathized with the revolution, but took an active part in it.

With the revolution crushed in the Quito province Governor Toribio Montes, decided to launch an offensive against the patriots of New Granada who since 1810 controlled large swaths of the old viceroyalty.

The junta decided to capitulate, however prior to this Colonel Rodriguez took his garrison force and withdrew north to Cauca valley while some government officials fled east to La Plata which lay across the Andes.

[3] Sámano and his forces entered the city on July 1, without encountering resistance, there he proclaimed the authority of the Spanish Constitution of 1812, and also received a promotion to brigadier.

By July 18 he captured the city of Cali, by this point Rodriguez had dissolved his force allowing his troops to take which ever path they wanted, however a size-able portion still remained united under Colonel Ignacio Torres.

This decision ended up being a tactical blunder by Sámano as: "if he had only deployed a column of 400 men to march north, he would have taken over the rich province of Antioquia without firing a shot, but, given the weakness of the patriots in the region, he considered the campaign over.

Nariño was accepted by both Cundinamarca and the United Provinces who made him a lieutenant general and commander of the army of the Union with around 2,000 troops including infantry, cavalry, and artillery at his helm.

Samano soon received information of 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 his second-in-command Lt.

Colonel Ignacio Asín to defend Popayán from the north while he would block Nariño from the east at the strategic bridge over the Palacé river with 600 troops.

The victory allowed the Patriots to capture the city, however Nariño was worried about the possibility of Asin's forces joining up with Samano's to conduct a counterattack.

Nariño then ordered Cabal to conduct reconnaissance on Samano's forces that had marched from El Tambo and made camp at the Calibio Hacienda.

Cabal who was near the area conducting reconnaissance on his foe informed Nariño of this and requested permission to attack confident of its success, this request was denied and Nariño ordered Cabal to withdraw to the main patriot camp as he wished to present battle with Samano at full strength as Colonel Rodriguez's troops marching down south had still not arrived.

On January 13, Rodriguez and his troops finally arrived, Nariño was now ready to do battle with Samano at the Calibio Hacienda which lay some 8 km from his camp at Bajo Palacé.

The bloody three-hour-long battle ended in a complete defeat for the royalists who lost 400 dead and wounded as well as the loss of almost all of their weapons and the capture of 300 men, then they undertook a disastrous retreat to Pasto.

When news reached Quito of the disaster at Calibío, Montes was infuriated and revoked Sámano's command and replaced him with Field Marshal Melchor Aymerich.

His command in Pasto was restored, and on June 29, 1816, he won a decisive victory at the Battle of Cuchilla del Tambo over the rebel Liborio Mejía.

In August 1817 Sámano was named viceroy, governor and captain general of the reborn Viceroyalty of New Granada, and president of the Audiencia of Bogotá.