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The Spanish reconquest of Colombia required the capture of Cartagena, a military bastion that had never fallen to the enemy. Pablo Morillo laid siege to the city in mid-August 1815, finally forcing it to surrender on December 6. Though the account of the Colombian defense of the city is well known, Rodolfo Segovia adds considerable information to the Spanish side, with an emphasis on the leadership of Morillo, the composition and actions of his army, and the naval flotilla under the command of Pascual Enrile y Alcedo. Segovia makes extensive use of Spanish military archives, especially related to the naval campaigns of Enrile and the ground campaign of Morillo's army. The author is a good storyteller, with excellent skills at contextualizing and at providing enriching details of the campaign, reminding the reader of the fictionalized accounts by Patrick O'Brian set in the same era.Segovia divides his work into ten chapters that follow a roughly chronological sequence. The opening chapter traces the rise of Morillo and other military officers in the European struggles around the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. The next three chapters set the American stage, focusing upon the movement toward independence, the sovereign state of Cartagena, and the military exploits of Simón Bolívar. These chapters rely upon the extensive use of secondary sources and are especially attentive to the activities of rebel leaders in Mompox, Barranca del Rey, and Santa Marta, locations that will influence the success of the Morillo siege. Events in Venezuela occupy key roles in Segovia's analysis, especially when he compares the Venezuelan War to the Death with the more racially tolerant approach of military and political leaders in Cartagena. The fifth chapter narrates the formation of the expeditionary army in Spain for the subjugation of the newly independent states. Here Segovia begins to add considerable detail based upon primary research, especially on the organization and size of the army and fleet that would transport the army and then lay siege to the city.The core of Segovia's analysis comes in the final chapters, which trace the arrival of the army in Tierra Firme, the march to Cartagena, and the establishment of the siege. Segovia utilizes a traditional military history style of writing, supported by abundant and excellent maps of campaigns, troop movements, and naval encounters. Morillo is judged to be an astute field commander who had carefully considered the failure of earlier assaults upon the fortified city, which he deemed due to an inadequate naval blockade, limited numbers of army forces, and inattention to disease conditions on the lowlands surrounding Cartagena. Segovia's skillful use of military records demonstrates Morillo's purposeful steps to deploy his forces in an arc around the city and to develop sanitary field hospitals on elevated locations to offset poor water conditions and to provide fresh breezes to reduce the threat of yellow fever. Equally clear are tactics utilized by Enrile to close access to the city for corsairs and bongos with local foodstuffs. Segovia methodically traces the military actions, with special attention to the manner by which the Spaniards cut off food supplies to starve the city into submission. Particularly instructive are the coordinated naval and army actions to close the Canal del Estero, through which defenders of the city had their most reliable supply route. Segovia's account of the surrender of the city is somewhat anticlimactic given the level of detail given for other dimensions of the siege.This is a fine work that should stand the test of time. Segovia writes clearly, with literary punctuations that add texture to the military account. The appendix on rebel and royalist actors is especially valuable. One wishes, perhaps, for another chapter that traces Morillo's leadership in the conquest of Bogotá and his brutal suppression of rebel leaders known in Colombia as the “reign of terror.” While Segovia takes pains to demonstrate Morillo's refusal to use War to the Death tactics in the campaign against Cartagena, Morillo's subsequent conduct merits examination, in that most Colombians associate the Spanish general with that brutality

Adversary · Ancient history · Art · Humanities · Independence (probability theory) · Political science · Politics · Siege · Sovereignty · State (computer science) · Surrender · Historical Studies in Latin America · History · History and Politics in Latin America · Law · Social Issues and Policies in Latin America

• Legislaturas revolucionarias

  Open Access•Daniel Gutiérrez Ardila•Estudios de Historia Moderna y…•2017

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