ORDER OF BATTLE // November 9, 1820
Battle of Camino Real
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
1 sides catalogued · combined 300 estimated
Empire espagnol
300
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Camino Real was the first engagement of the Ecuadorian War of Independence, fought on 9 November 1820 between Royalist forces of the Spanish Empire and Patriot forces of the Free Province of Guayaquil. The Patriot victory in this opening action established the Free Province of Guayaquil's armed campaign against Spanish colonial rule on an immediate military footing, demonstrating that the newly declared province could contest Royalist forces in the field. As the war's inaugural battle, it set the conditions for the broader independence struggle that would follow in the region.
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