Second Battle of La Puerta

Overview

The Second Battle of La Puerta was fought between Royalists of the Spanish Empire and the Second Republic of Venezuela on 15 June 1814. It was a crushing defeat for the Republicans and a turning point in the war that led to the fall of the Second Republic of Venezuela.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Second Battle of La Puerta was a crushing defeat for the Republican forces of the Second Republic of Venezuela, who fielded roughly 3,000 troops against a Royalist force of 7,500 under José Tomás Boves and Francisco Tomás Morales. Republican casualties reached 1,000, and the engagement directly precipitated the collapse of the Second Republic of Venezuela. Commanders Simón Bolívar, Santiago Mariño, Manuel Cedeño, and José Tadeo Monagas were unable to reverse the outcome against the numerically superior Royalist army. The battle stands as a decisive turning point in the Spanish American wars of independence, halting the Republican consolidation of Venezuela and restoring Royalist control over the territory.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (6)