An exploration of women's involvement in the Latin American Wars of Independence

Jacinta García Canedo (Cañedo)

Gender:Female

Ethnic origen: Unknown

Events:

Connections:

Biography:
She and her two sisters fled Mompós, Colombia, after the battle of Chimá (1815?) to escape persecution by the royalists. They sought exile up the slopes of the Cauca valley. One of the sisters (either Juana or Jacinta, it is not specified) died at Zaragoza in the harsh conditions, the survivors then continued on foot through the mountains, almost barefoot. They crossed the river Magdalena and reached Guaduas and returned to Ciudad Valerosa in 1820. (Monsalve, 109)

She was exiled to Maganagué and had all her wealth and personal possessions confiscated. She was taken under guard to Zaragoza, Antioquia. She managed to escape but was recaptured by Coronel Warletta. She avoided prison and managed to escape to Bogotá by walking through mountains, rivers and forests with hardly any provisions. She continued her patriotic activities in Bogotá until 1816 when she fled the city for Honda where she remained in hiding until the triumph of Boyacá. After independence she returned to her native Mompós where she lived until her death at the age of 80. She was the last survivor of the Mompós heroines. (P. Forero, 62-63)

References:

Forero, Paulo E. (1972) Las heroinas olvidadas de la independencia
Monsalve, José D (1926) Mujeres de la independencia