Admirable Campaign

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Carabobo
colour_scheme=background:#eeddbb


caption= Route of the Admirable Campaign
partof=the Venezuelan War of Independence
(Bolivar's War)
campaign=
date=June 24, 1813
place= Today Venezuelan states of Tachira, Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo, Portuguesa, Cojedes, Carabobo, Aragua, and the city of Caracas
result= Patriot victory
combatant1=Patriots
combatant2=flagicon|Spain|1785 Royalists
commander1=Simón Bolívar
commander2=flagicon|Spain|1785 Juan Domingo Monteverde
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=|

The Admirable Campaign ( _es. Campaña Admirable) was a military action led by Simón Bolívar in which the provinces of Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo and Caracas were liberated. Its objective was to free Venezuela from Spanish control, which was accomplished in conjunction with Santiago Mariño's simultaneous campaign in the east.

After the loss of the First Republic, Bolívar had gone to New Granada where he joined the army of the United Provinces, which was in the process of fighting with cities that did not recognize its authority. On 28 January 1813 Bolívar captured Ocaña, a city which was on the main roads to Venezuela. The expedition was formed by two divisions, a vanguard led by Colonel Atanasio Girardot and a rear under Colonel José Félix Ribas. At the same time Domingo de Monteverde was moving troops to western Venezuela in preparation for an invasion of New Granada, threatening the newly independent states there.

From Ocaña Bolívar moved against royalist areas of New Granada, taking the boarder city of Cúcuta in the Battle of Cúcuta on 28 January. Here Bolivar asked United Provinces for aid and permission to enter Venezuela through a document named the "Cartagena Manifesto" ( _es. Manifiesto de Cartagena). The United Provinces regarded his petition favourably taking into consideration the numerous actions that he executed for the Neogranadan government. As soon as government authorization was given, the campaign started its march into Venezuela on 16 February. The expedition marched through San Cristóbal, La Grita, Mérida and Trujillo. It is from this city that Bolívar issued his "Decree of War to the Death." In the Decree Bolivar announced that the patriot army will treat Spaniards and Criollos differently: "Spaniards and Canarians, count on death, even if indifferent, if you do not actively work in favor of the independence of America. Americans, count on life, even if guilty." The Decree would remain in force, technically, until the treaty signed with Pablo Morillo at Santa Ana de Trujillo on 26 November 1820 regularized the rules of engagement.

The last major engagement of the campaign was the Battle of Los Horcones on 22 July. After that the expedition occupied the cities of Valencia and La Victoria in early August. Loosing on two fronts, the royalist government surrendered on 4 August. Bolívar's forces had a triumphal entrance into the city of Caracas on 6 August, bringing and end to the campaign and reestablishing the Venezuelan republic.