Juan José Reyes-Patria Escobar

Juan José Reyes-Patria Escobar (1785-1872) was a Colombian politician and military leader.

Early life
Juan José Reyes-Patria Escobar was born in July 1785 in Santa Rosa de Viterbo (Boyacá). He was the son of the landowner Manuel Ignacio de los Reyes Forero and María de la Luz (Cruz) Escobar y Torres. He was formally educated in Tunja, Boyacá, where wealthy families sent their children to school, and dedicated himself to trade between Sogamoso, Boyacá and Cúcuta, Boyacá. Trade between the towns of Sogamoso and Cúcuta, while lucrative, was also difficult and risky. Geographically, abysses were frequent sites of theft with robbers willing to keep everything or part of the traded goods. Caravans of muleteers were equipped with weapons were formed to defend their belongings.

Career
Commercial and travel activity were conducive to open the mind to new ideas from European enlightenment. When the cry of the Independence of 1810 was given and all of Spanish America rebelled against the mother country, Juan José Reyes entered to serve the armies of the First Republic participating in various war actions. He entered the Colombian patriotic army arriving as a lieutenant in 1814, and subsequently becoming captain in 1818, lieutenant colonel in 1819 , colonel in 1828, and general in 1852. Reyes-Patria served under the command of Custodio García Rovira and Antonio Baraya until the Reconquista, when he had to take refuge in Casanare and Apure with José Antonio Páez and Ramón Nonato Pérez. He fought in Gámeza, Boyacá and Pantano de Vargas, organized by the Vargas battalion by order of Simón Bolívar and was sent to Barinas, Venezuela.

On July 11, 1819, Gámeza was the scene of one of the epics of the feat that conquered freedom for Colombians. This battle is commemorated by the inhabitants of Gámeza in a special way every July 11. In the main park of the municipality there is a monument to Reyes Patria and the indigenous chieftains Gamza and Siatoba. Simón Bolívar bestowed him with surname of Reyes Patria in honor of his heroism in the development to create New Granada.

Reyes-Patria was military commander of Ocaña, Santa Marta, and La Guajira, and governor of Riohacha between 1821 and 1824, governor of Casanare in 1828 and fought for the federal cause in the Colombian civil wars of 1840, 1851 , 1854 and 1860.

Personal life
Patria-Reyes was married to Micaela Valderrama Suárez and had six children. His descendants include Domingo Tibaduiza. In 1863, General Reyes Patria, took refuge in the meekness and goodness of his home, to live the memories of his heroic and sacrificed existence for the sake of freedom, from which he left a writing with the name of "My memories." In the town of Corrales, Colombia, the old general and hero of the independence, changed his life as a regular revolutionary for that of a fervent Catholic dedicated to the study of the Bible and philosophy. Reyes-Patria lived in a historical home in Corrales, which is today being converted into a genealogical museum for the people of Tundama Province.

Death
He died in the town of Corrales, Boyacá on December 10, 1872. His mortal remains are kept in a marble cenotaph.