On May 26, 1819 Bolívar gathered with a group of guerrillas that wanted to defeat the Spanish army. They got supplies and they crossed hundreds of miles of plains, swamps, rivers, etc. Many of the men died of hunger, diseases, and other causes on the way there. Crossing plains on August 7, they encountered the royalists and won the battle in Boyacá on August 10. Bolívar then occupied Boyacá, Colombia. Bolívar won the fight of Carabobo in June 1821, and then another in Caracas. A few days later and Venezuela was free of the Spanish royalists, then Bolívar went South and conquered Quito. On July 27, 1822 Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín met in the Guayaquil Conference. They were preparing to march across the Andes to Peru to defeat the Spanish royalists in August of 1824. San Martin resigned his powers in Peru and went back to Argentina. Later he went to Europe. Bolívar launched his campaign and soon he won a small but important battle at Junín. The royalists retreated and eventually lost. 