Divergence: 7 August 1819 - Royalist victory at the Battle of Boyaca.
- without a loss, the Viceroy does not flee -
- which makes it that much harder for Bolivar's forces to seize the densely-populated eastern highlands, the gold-mining regions of the Choco, Antioquia, and the Upper Magdelena Valley -
- which means Bolivar couldn't yet rest and construct an independent republic.
December 1819 - the British Parliament opens debates on whether or not to continue to permit British soldiers to go be slaughtered in wars between Spaniards {reference: 6,000 Britons had joined Bolivar's army}, when they could be used far more handsomely in Canada or India - which would certainly help the East India Company, which was relying more and more on Parliament.
January 1820 - Spanish military units in Spain revolt {both OTL and ATL}
Febuary 1820 - the King of France intervenes in Spanish affairs when it is clear to him that the King of Spain cannot settle it himself.
- feeling very much like "here we go again," Britain rallies its army to deal with what appears to be a once-more-expansionist France. among those summoned are Erasmus Alvey "Ras" Darwin, a chemist by inclination.
- Britain orders its soldiers in South American to return home; most obey.
- Bolivar and other rebel leaders do not forget this betrayal and abandonment.
- his numbers dropping from desertion and Britain and disease (in OTL and ATL a great many were felled by dysentery and "black vomit"), Bolivar has no choice but to continue to retreat back through the cold highlands, which cuts down further on his llaneros.
- in the USA, the House of Representatives fails to pass a resolution recognizing the emerging South American republics (failed by a narrow margin)
9 April 1820 - rebel leader San Martin dies of disease.
- without a clear leader, San Martin's underlings fall into disagreements, and are - certainly by 1821 - defeated.
2 August 1820 - "no choice left. Indios independents." -S.Bolivar.
{reference: in OTL, he wrote, "Is it not useful that the slaves should acquire their rights on the battlefield and that their number should be lessened by a process both necessary and legitimate?" the alternative, he felt, would be the slaves outnumbering everyone else by too large a margin}
November 1820 - Spain spreads a policy throughout its non-European holdings: the policy, minor before Bolivar arose, and major now, is to encourage rural and city priests to encourage ideas of Divine Right to Rule and otherwise tying religion to monarchy. this policy would later be something Spain would regret.
- on the run, Simon Bolivar and his remaining loyalists flee to Peru, meeting up with recently-turncoated General Pedro Antonio Olaneta in Upper Peru. (some suggest it was Bolivar who convinced him to switch sides)
- battle wounds turn septic, killing Colonel Carlos Medinaceli and Victory de la Serna.
1821 - the army of Bolivar and Olaneta establish a refuge at Lake Titicaca, from which they carve out what would become an independent nation.
- irony that it was revolt-prone Upper Peru which became the only nation in South America to gain its independence so early.
meanwhile, in Europe, the flashpan war was winding to a close, Britain victorious. Ras Darwin returned to England with distinction and decorated, and with a Flemish girl at his side.
- unfortunately, one of Ras' close friends did not survive: John Lizars (who in OTL performed the first oviotomy and wrote 'The Use And Abuse Of Tobacco')
- Ras kept a close eye on his younger brother Charles when he (Ras) returned to attending the Shrewsbury Anglican Church, now with wife in tow. Ras planned for Charles to follow him into the army if the boy did not want to join their father in medicine.
in the same year, the region of Bahia in Brazil experienced another revolt. {in OTL, they happened there most of all - when they happened at all}. Bolivar's letters suggesting alliance between his nation and Bahia are rejected with great force and vhelmence.
8 January 1823 - birth of Alfred Russel Wallace in Wales near the Osk River. {OTL and ATL}