Antonio Obando

Antonio Obando Salazar (15 January 1788 – 30 December 1849) was a Colombian military officer and politician who fought in the Colombian War of Independence and later served as Secretary of War and Navy during the presidency of Francisco de Paula Santander and was also commander of the New Granadan Army.

Born in the town of Simacota, in the Socorro Province in the Viceroyalty of New Granada, Obando joined the New Granadan independence movement upon the revolt of July 20, 1810 enlisting in the Patriot army. He would later participate in Nariño's Southern Campaign in 1814 fighting in many of its battles and was promoted to captain. He also fought at the Battle of the Palo River in 1815 and was captured by the Spanish at the Patriot defeat at the Battle of Cuchilla del Tambo in 1816. He narrowly avoided execution by the Spanish and was instead forced to serve in the Spanish army, serving for two years until he managed to escape when his unit was stationed in Venezuela joining the Patriot army of General Simón Bolívar fighting in his campaigns against the Spanish in Venezuela. Obando was one of the officers that accompanied General Francisco de Paula Santander when he was sent by Bolivar to Casanare to build an army for the upcoming New Granadan campaign of 1819. Obando was an infantry battalion commander during the campaign and fought in all of the battles in that campaign that allowed for the liberation of much of New Granada where he was promoted to Colonel.

He then fought in the Southern campaigns of 1820–24 against royalist forces and guerillas where he suffered a series of military defeats that brought sharp criticism from Bolivar. Despite this he continued his military career serving in a variety posts, he was a fervent supporter of Vice-president Santander and the 1821 constitution that Bolivar attempted to do away with.

After the dissolution of Gran Colombia, Obando remained in the military, when Santander returned and was elected President of New Granada he was made part of his cabinet serving as his Secretary of War and Navy during his entire term. After the end of Santander's presidency he was made commander of the army in 1837 but resigned from his post a year later.

After resigning from his post he retired from public life and lived on his farm in Tocaima where he later wrote his autobiography. Obando died on 30 December 1849, and received full military honors. Provided by Wikipedia