By: Gloria García.
The story of María Antonia Ruiz and Englishman John Runnel during the 1819 Battle of San Juanito reveals how courage, strategy and international cooperation helped shape Latin American independence.
In September 1819, while the wars of independence were transforming Latin America, an extraordinary story unfolded in what is now Colombia’s Valle del Cauca region. On a rural estate near the city of Buga, an Afro-Colombian woman and an Englishman joined forces in a battle that would help shape the future of South America. Image of the flags of the United Kingdom and Colombia taken from shutterstock.com
Their names were María Antonia Ruiz and John Runnel.
The battle took place on September 28, 1819, at the San Juanito estate, close to where Buga’s cemetery stands today. It became one of the key military victories that secured independence in southwestern Colombia and allowed Simón Bolívar’s patriotic army to continue south toward Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
Spanish royalist troops were strongly positioned in the region. Among them were the feared Hussars of the King, elite cavalry soldiers known for their skill with horses and swords.
At the center of the patriotic strategy was John Runnel, an Englishman who had joined the independence cause in Spanish America. Because of his military knowledge and leadership, General Joaquín Ricaurte y Torrijos gave him the rank of colonel and entrusted him with an important role during the battle.
Runnel organized the patriotic troops with discipline and tactical precision. He placed riflemen in strategic positions and directed the attack against Spanish soldiers who had fortified themselves inside the estate house and sugar mill.
María Antonia Ruiz attacking on horseback. Artwork by Jorge Restrepo.But the defining moment came from María Antonia Ruiz.
The Afro-descendant woman carried a painful memory. Years earlier, her son Pedro José Ruiz had been executed by Spanish authorities alongside Ecuadorian hero Carlos Montúfar in Buga’s main square.
Driven by courage and grief, María Antonia mounted a strong mare while carrying a burning torch. Protected by the rifle fire arranged by John Runnel, she rode directly toward the thatched roof of the sugar mill where the royalist soldiers were hiding.
Moments later, flames spread across the house.
The fire created panic among the Spanish troops and forced them to abandon their position. That daring act helped secure the patriotic victory and became a decisive turning point in the battle.
Together, María Antonia Ruiz and John Runnel embodied two powerful forces behind Latin America’s independence: the bravery of Afro-descendant communities and the international support that connected Europe with the liberation struggles of the Americas.
Their story also represents something larger than war. It became an early symbol of cultural exchange, cooperation and mutual understanding between Colombia and the United Kingdom.
More than two centuries later, their legacy still reminds us that freedom was built by people from different worlds fighting for the same dream.
