Battle of Urica

The Battle of Urica was a battle of the War of Venezuelan Independence, fought in the village of Urica (in modern-day Anzoátegui) on 5 December 1814, between the forces of Republican general in chief José Félix Ribas and Royalist caudillo José Tomás Boves. Although Boves died, the Royalists won the battle.

Prelude
Shortly after the Battle of the Magueyes, Republican general José Francisco Bermúdez and his defeated army joined Ribas in Maturín. Boves linked up with forces commanded by his lieutenant, Francisco Tomás Morales, in Urica.

Ribas for the Republicans commanded a force of 2,000, including José Tadeo Monagas, Pedro Zaraza, Manuel Cedeño, and Francisco Parejo. The Republican force deployed in three columns at dawn on December 5 on a plain near the town of Urica.

The battle
Boves led the first attack, targeting Bermúdez's column. This attack was repulsed, and heavy artillery fire inflicted casualties on the Royalist forces. Ribas ordered an attack and successfully encircled Boves' column on the Royalist right.

Boves, finding his column surrounded, led an attack by 400 cavalry in an attempt to break the Republican lines, but was killed in the fighting. The remaining unengaged Royalist columns encircled the Republicans, sealing a Royalist victory, although with heavy casualties on both sides.

Aftermath
Boves' death had far-reaching consequences. He was succeeded by Morales, but in the long run the llaneros he had led joined the Republican cause under the leadership of José Antonio Páez following efforts by the Republican criollo elite to attract mixed-race and lower class Venezuelans to the cause of independence.