Bolívar Wins at Boyacá and Opens the Road to Bogotá

On August 7, 1819, combined revolutionary forces under General Simón Bolívar intercepted the royalist army of Colonel José María Barreiro near a bridge over the swollen Teatinos River. The confrontation took place roughly 110 kilometers from Bogotá, in an Andean location known as Casa de Teja. Bolívar had crossed the high Paramo de Pisba the previous month, fighting a narrow engagement at Vargas Swamp before conducting a deceptive night march past Paipa. By seizing Tunja, the patriots secured crucial weaponry and positioned themselves directly across the main royal road leading south toward the viceregal capital.

Observing royalist movements from the heights of San Lazaro on the morning of August 7, Bolívar realized Barreiro was attempting a bypass to reach the capital first. He immediately instructed Brigadier Generals Francisco de Paula Santander and Jose Antonio Anzoátegui to pursue and engage the imperial troops. While the royalist vanguard under Colonel Francisco Jimenez rested near Casa de Teja believing the path ahead was clear, Santander's forward units closed the gap. Clashes erupted around two in the afternoon, forcing Jimenez to pull back across the Boyacá Bridge to establish a defensive posture along the opposite bank.