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Due to Sovereign Ordinance, on 9 November 1805, he was promoted to navy lieutenant, which is the reason why that year he participated in the combat against the Britons in the Mediterranean.

In Santa Maria, the fleet was acclaimed by the people and after that, the 22 August, in front of the fortified Cartagena of the Indies that never gives up, Morillo started a long and bloody siege. During this time, one third of its population (6,000 people) died of hunger and calamities. On 6 December 1814, the surrender of the city took place. This was considered a great military feat against the American insurgents and Fernando VII gave Morillo the title of Count of Cartagena and the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic. Since the occupation of Cartagena had already been consolidated, Morillo’s fleet blocked the ports of La Dorada and Salgar. This allowed him to get into the New Kingdom of Granada until he arrived to Santa Fe in Bogota, where he gave back the power to the viceroy Samano. In Colombia, ‘Reign of Terror’ is the name given to this historical period, which started with the occupation of Cartagena and finished with the sentences of some members that took part in the insurrection in the New Granada. At the beginning, Pablo Morillo implemented a policy of reprieve, which he later suspended after the shock caused by the news of Arismendi’s betrayal, governor of Margarita Island. Morillo had freed him from the death sentence, but at the same time, he did not want Arismendi to leave. Moreover, he put to the sword the entire Spanish garrison. In retaliation, Morillo started up a military court of justice, named ‘War’ Tribunal (to judge sanguinary acts) and ‘Purification’ Tribunal (to judge misdemeanour). At the same time, the latter was allotted with the opportunity to defend, as it was the custom in Spain. With the establishment of the ‘Kidnapping Committee’ in New Granada and Venezuela —as done in Spain during the Independence War—, properties and goods were confiscated in order to cover the army’s maintenance expenses in their campaign. Nonetheless, they turned out to be insufficient since Morillo suffered from shortage and opposition. A Colombian tradition says that the expression ‘Spain does not require wise people’ was used in order to reject an application for the reprieve that Caldas asked for after being condemned to die by a War Tribunal. Either Morillo or Enrile Acedo were the authors of this sentence, according to tradition, but it is doubted that it had ever been pronounced.[5] It is not clear if the refusal to reprieve the condemned Caldas was stated by Pablo Morillo or Enrile Acedo. It is said that Morillo was for the reprieve and Enrile was against.