Joaquín París Ricaurte

Joaquín París y Ricaurte (Bogotá, Colombia, August 18, 1795 – Honda, Colombia, October 2, 1868) was a Colombian military officer and politician who fought in the Colombian War of Independence and various civil wars that took place in Colombia during the 19th century. París was later also commander-in-chief of the army and Secretary of War on various occasions.

Born to an aristocratic family in Santa Fe de Bogotá. París joined the Colombian independence movement at the young age of 15 enlisting as a cadet in the Auxiliary Battalion of Santa Fe in 1810. París fought in many of the initial battles of the Colombian War of Independence and was wounded various times and noted for his bravery in battle. During the Spanish reconquest of New Granada in 1816, París was captured by Spanish forces and was sentenced to serve a lengthy prison sentence in Puerto Cabello in Venezuela. He was able to escape as the ship he was transported in was attacked by French pirates who left him on Curaçao. París then sailed to Venezuela and rejoined the war effort under Simón Bolívar’s command.

París played a decisive role in the 1819 New Granada campaign under the command of General Francisco de Paula Santander. He helped raise the Patriot army in Casanare and was eventually commander of the "Cazadores" battalion during the campaign, fighting in all the battles and participated in the bayonet charge across the Boyacá bridge in the Battle of Boyacá which liberated New Granada from Spanish control.

After briefly serving as military governor of Neiva, París participated in the Pasto Campaign of 1822 and fought at the Battle of Bomboná where he was again wounded, losing two fingers as he led the "Bogotá" Battalion in the battle. By 1827 he was promoted to Brigadier General.

París would later serve as Secretary of War in various governments as well as commander of the army, participating the in Colombian Civil war of 1839-1842 as well as the war to put down General José María Melo’s dictatorship in 1854. Although retired, París was once again called back into service to serve as commander of the army during the Colombian Civil War (1860–1862), however by this point he was crippled by his ill health and age, he was defeated and the government was overthrown.

After that París finally retired to his hacienda near Honda where he died at the age of 73 and received full military honors from the Colombian government for his long service to the republic. París is considered one of the military heroes of Colombia's independence and some public schools and military units are named after him. Provided by Wikipedia