War of the Supremes The War of the Supremes ( Spanish : " Guerra de los Supremos " , also called the " Guerra de los Conventos " ) was a civil conflict in Republic of the New Granada ( present - day Colombia ) from 1839 to 1841 caused by the ambitions of various regional leaders ( " gamonales " ) to seize power and depose President José Ignacio de Márquez . It was called the War of the Supremos because of the participation of General José María Obando and other revolutionary " gamonales " who called themselves " jefes supremos " ( supreme chiefs ) . Causes of the war . The war began in Pasto , Colombia , after the suppression there of the smaller monasteries . In May 1839 Congress voted to close the monasteries in Pasto and dedicate their income to public education in the province . This was opposed by Ecuador , because the monks there were Ecuadoran . The population of Pasto was devotedly Catholic . On June 30 , 1839 the opponents of the closures revolted , raising the banner of federalism in opposition to the unitary central government . The uprising was supported by General Juan José Flores , president of Ecuador , and by the Catholic Society of Bogotá , formed a year earlier for the political expression of the most conservative sectors of the country . The opposition Santanderista Party condemned the revolt and offered its services to President Márquez to fight it . They wanted Márquez to name José María Obando to pacify Pasto . They hoped that Obando would gain prestige in the fighting that would aid him in the presidential elections scheduled for the following year . Nevertheless , the defense of the government was given principally to Generals Pedro Alcántara Herrán and Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera , members of the governing party ( " Partido Ministerial " , or " Partido de la Casaca Negra " ) . This party was later renamed the Conservative Party of Colombia . Obando , who was friends with the leaders of the revolt but did not support their actions , then went to Bogotá with the object , it was said , of placing himself under government surveillance to establish his noncomplicity . On August 31 , 1839 General Alcántara Herrán defeated the rebels from Pasto at Buesaco . José Eraso , formerly a guerrilla in the service of Obando , was captured . He was famous because Marshal Antonio José de Sucre spent the night before his assassination in Eraso ' s house . Eraso was now supporting the government forces , but at the same time he was informing the Pasto guerrillas of their movements . According to the official account , when he was exposed as a double agent he thought that his arrest was for his participation in the assassination of Sucre nine years before . He immediately confessed to that crime . Still according to the official account , Eraso denounced Antonio M . Alvárez , military head of the Pasto forces just defeated by Alcántara Herrán at Buesaco , and General José María Obando in the assassination of Sucre . On the basis of Eraso ' s declaration , a judge in Pasto ordered the arrest of Obando , the most likely candidate of the opposition party in the upcoming presidential elections . Obando left Bogotá for Pasto , with the declared intention to face the charges against him . Nevertheless , when he arrived at Popayán he headed a short rebellion against the government . This was ended after a few days by an agreement with Alcántara Herrán , and Obando continued his journey to Pasto . The revolt of Obando and Ecuadoran intervention . It is impossible to say whether the charges were cooked up by the government , or whether they were true . Obando decided to escape from Pasto in July 1840 and to enter into open rebellion . Fearing a nationwide revolution , Márquez asked Ecuadoran President Juan José Flores for military aid in suppressing the revolt of Obando . Flores agreed , because he wanted to see Obando punished for the assassination of Sucre ( Flores had been implicated in the plot himself ) , because Alcántara Herrán offered the transfer of some Colombian territory to Ecuador , and because Obando by now was calling for the reestablishment of Gran Colombia , including Ecuador , as a federation . Obando also was calling for a revolution in Ecuador against Flores . The combined forces of Alcántara Herrán and Flores defeated Obando at Huilquipamba . This was a Pyrrhic victory for the government , however , because the opposition now used the Ecuadoran intervention and the promises made to Ecuador as a call for a general uprising against Márquez . They also accused the government of trying to rig the upcoming elections . The conflict becomes national . One after another the Santanderista leaders in the provinces revolted : Manuel González in Socorro , José María Vezga in Mariquita , Juan José Reyes Patria in Sogamoso and Tunja , Padre Rafael María Vásquez in Vélez , Francisco Farfán in Casanare , Salvador Córdova in Antioquia , Francisco Carmena in Ciénaga and Santa Marta , Juan Antonio Gutiérrez de Piñeres in Cartagena , Lorenzo Hernández in Mompós and Tomás Herrera in Panama . The rebel leaders declared their provinces sovereign states separated from Nueva Granada . They assumed the title of " jefes supremos " ( supreme heads ) of their provinces . The revolt had now changed from a religious uprising in a single province to a national conflict over federalism . The Supremos swore that they would not return to Nueva Granada until the country was organized as a federation . Of the 20 provinces in the country , 12 were now totally controlled by the rebels , and four others were partially occupied by them . Bogotá was firmly in government hands , but was largely unguarded because most of the army was engaged in the Pasto conflict . On September 29 , 1840 , the same day Obando was defeated at Huilquipamba , Reyes Patria and Manuel González , Supremo of El Socorro , defeated the only regular government troops in the central part of the country at La Polonia , near Socorro . This victory increased the prestige of the revolutionary forces , whose ranks swelled . González proclaimed himself the supreme head of the independent state formed by the ex - provinces of Socorro , Tunja , Pamplona , Vélez and Casanare , and went with his army to take Bogotá . President Márquez left Bogotá to join with Generals Alcántara Herrán and Mosquera , leaving the vice president , General Domingo Caycedo , in charge of the government from October 5 , 1840 to November 19 , 1840 . González rejected all proposals of compromise . He would have seized the unguarded Bogotá if General Juan José Neira , distinguished in the war of independence , had not rallied the citizens and government forces and defeated González in the Battle of Buenavista ( or La Culebrera ) in October . Neira was gravely wounded in the battle , and died of his wounds a few months later . This unexpected victory allowed the return of Márquez , with Alcántara Herrán and Mosquera not far behind . During the week from November 22 to November 28 , 1840 , called " la Gran Semana " ( The Great Week ) rebel forces again threatened the capital . They advanced as far as Cajicá . Governor Lino de Pombo declared a state of siege and General Francisco Urdaneta , military chief of the garrison , mobilized the entire population for defense . To raise the spirits of the defenders , a procession was held with the statue of Jesus of Nazareth of San Agustín , the same that had led the forces of Antonio Nariño in the War of Independence . General Neira was carried on the shoulders of distinguished gentlemen and crowned with laurel in the Plaza Mayor , in the middle of an uproarious ovation . Meanwhile , the government ' s Division of the South approached , under the command of General Alcántara Herrán , and the rebel army retired to the north . After the defeat of Obando , the only national figure among them , the rebels were unable to unite under a single leader . After their initial successes , this was a major element in their defeat .