attempts to take the highlands, Sucre and the revolutionaries had built an excellent network of spies and a dedicated spirit of liberation. They had also had some luck; in 1821, the Spanish monarch, Fernando VII had sent his own commander, General Mourgeon to lead the royalist defense in Quito. Mourgeon arrived in November only to fall terminally ill in the spring of 1822. At the same time, Sucre was marching his army south to Macará to meet up with Peruvian forces sent by General José de San Martín. From Loja they moved north retaking Riobamba in April. Ambato was retaken soon after and the royalists were soon defeated at the Battle of Pichincha.
During the early years of the Republic of Ecuador the city served as an important cultural and economic center. Several times, Ambato served as the setting for rewriting of constitutions and continued to produce excellent artists and thinkers like Montalvo and Mera.
On 5 August 1949, the city was tragically struck by a devastating earthquake. It is estimated that more than six thousand people died, and thousands more were left homeless and destitute by the disaster. Much of the city's colonial center was completely ruined, including the cathedral that many considered on par with Cuenca's Iglesia de El Sagrario in terms of beauty. The city was rebuilt with significant help from international aid organizations and the Ecuadorian government. The new modernist cathedral was inaugurated on
