This Wednesday marked the 205th anniversary of the Battle of Las Trincheras de Aguas Calientes (The Hot Water Trenches), a military action ordered by the Liberator Simón Bolívar between the forces of volunteers from New Granada and the royalist supporters of the Spanish Crown:
“Are met 205 years of the Battle of Las Trincheras, where the Patriot Army, commanded by the officer Luciano D ‘Elhuyar and under precise instructions from our Liberator, defeated the troops of Monteverde in Valencia. A triumph that culminated with the takeover of Fort San Felipe”, highlights the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, on his Twitter account.
After the Admirable campaign of Simón Bolívar, western Venezuela was in the hands of the independence forces, which caused the royalists to launch an offensive against the city of Valencia, with 1,600 men commanded by Monteverde, as refer historical sources.
The battle was fought on October 3, 1813. Among the volunteers were Atanasio Girardot, Antonio Ricaurte, Hermógenes Maza, Francisco de Paula Vélez and Luciano D’Elhuyar:
“The victory at Trincheras raised the enthusiasm and the moral of the Liberator Army to continue the emancipation eagerness. The soldiers who fought under the orders of D Elhuyar were called ‘Corageous Hunters”, as refers the Society for the Dissemination of the Military History of Venezuela.
