Pedro Alcántara Herrán Biographic data . Alcántara was born in Bogotá , Viceroyalty of the New Granada , on October 19 , 1800 . He died in Bogotá on April 26 , 1872 . He was also the son - in - law of Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera . Early life . Alcántara initiated his education in the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé in Bogotá , but he dropped out of school at the age of 14 to join the revolutionary army in 1814 . Military career . Alcántara enlisted in the revolutionary army of General Simón Bolívar as a teenager . He fought in several battles , and in the battle of Cuchilla del Tambo he was captured by the Spanish forces . He was court - martialed and sentenced to death by the military court . His death sentence was commuted in exchange for serving in the Spanish Army , which he did for five years . Later , he escaped and rejoined the revolutionary army of General Antonio José de Sucre with the rank of captain . Alcántara joined the armies of the southern campaigns in Nueva Granada and Perú . He fought in the battles of “ Bomboná ” ( April 7 , 1822 ) , “ Battle of Junín ” ( August 6 , 1824 ) , and “ Ayacucho ” ( December 9 , 1824 ) , the last of the greatest battles of the independence war against Spain . Because of his valor and heroic actions in combat , General Bolívar promoted him to the rank of General in 1828 . Later , he was commissioned as Military Chief of the province of Panamá . Alcántara ’ s best military performance was during the war of 1839 , defending the government of José Ignacio de Márquez against the revolt of General José María Obando , due to the administration ’ s closure of the Catholic convents in the city of Pasto . This victory propelled him to the political arena and he was nominated as presidential candidate by President Márquez . Diplomatic career . Alcántara also served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States , Ecuador , the Holy See , and Costa Rica . Political career . As stated above , Alcántara was proclaimed as a presidential candidate by President Márquez . He faced two opponents , Eusebio Borrero and Vicente Azuero . However none of the three obtained a majority of the popular vote , and thus the election of a President was left to Congress . In 1841 , Congress elected General Alcántara as President and General Domingo Caycedo as Vice - President . The Presidency . Alcántara was elected President by Congress in 1841 , for a four years period , but he was not able to be inaugurated as he was still commanding the government troops in the war against the southern revolt . He was supposed to be inaugurated on April 1 , 1841 , as provided by the Constitution , but in his place the Vice - President Domingo Caycedo was inaugurated . Due to the fact that the civil war that started in 1839 had escalated and spread to the Northern provinces , General Alcántara commissioned General Caycedo to lead the government troops in the northern campaign . Thus , Juan de Dios Aranzazu , President of the “ Consejo de Estado ” assumed the presidency from July 5 , until October 19 , 1841 , when General Caycedo returned to the presidency . General Alcántara returned triumphant to Bogotá on May 19 , 1842 , and is sworn in as President .