_Bolívar's First Expedition. The Cruelty of War_
(1812-1813)
After the entrance of Monteverde in Caracas and the ensuing persecutions,
all Venezuela could be considered as reconquered for Spain, and it seemed
that all was lost for the cause of independence. The disobedience of
Monteverde, who, as we have remarked before, had no instructions to
continue the campaign, had been forgiven and rewarded, for it had been
sanctioned by success. Until the end of 1812, Caracas was treated
high-handedly and was very cruelly punished for all interest it had
manifested in, and all support it had given to, the cause of independence.
Bolívar joined some patriots in Curaçao, where he remained until October
in the company of his relative and loyal friend, José Félix Ribas. He then
sailed for Cartagena, a city of New Granada which at that time was free
from Spain, and offered his service to the Repúblican government of that
city. Bolívar was made colonel under a Frenchman called Pedro Labatut.
In Cartagena, Bolívar continued to write, supporting his idea that the only
salvation for the colonies lay in war with Spain. At the end of that year
he published a memorandum of so great importance that it can be considered
as the first real revelation of his true genius. He explained the reasons
for the defeat of Venezuela, and set them forth as a lesson of the urgent
need of unity and firmness on the part of the American colonies. He
denounced the weakness of the first government, evidenced in the treatment
accorded Coro, which was not conquered immediately, but was permitted to
be fortified so as to defy the whole federation and finally to destroy it.
Recognizing the lack of friendly public opinion, he denounced the junta for
not being ready to free the "stupid peoples who do not know the value of
their rights."
"The codes consulted by our magistrates," he wrote, "were not those
which could teach them the practical science of government, but those
formed by certain idealists who build republics in the air and try to
obtain political perfection, presupposing the perfection of the human
race, in such a way that we have philosophers as leaders, philanthropy
instead of law, dialectic instead of tactics, and sophists instead of
soldiers. With this subversion of things, social order was shaken
up, and from its very beginning advanced with rapid strides towards
universal dissolution, which very soon was effected."
He emphasized the necessity for regular soldiers, trained to fight and
experienced enough to know that a single defeat does not mean the loss of
all hope, and that "ability and constancy correct misfortune." He denounced
the misuse of public funds and declared himself against state paper money
not guaranteed, pointing out that such a currency was a clear violation
of the right of property, since men who had objects of real value had
to exchange them for paper, the price of which was uncertain and even
imaginary. Acknowledging that the federal system was the best, he declared
that it was the most inadequate for the good of the new states. He added
that,
"as yet our fellow citizens are not in a condition fully to exercise
their rights, for they lack the political virtues which characterise
a true republic, and which cannot be acquired under an absolute
government where the rights and obligations of citizens are ignored."
In another part he said,
"It is necessary that the government identify itself, so to speak, with
the circumstances, times and men surrounding it. If they are prosperous
and calm, the government must be mild and protective, but if they are
calamitous and turbulent, the government must show itself terrible and
must arm itself with a firmness equal to the dangers, without paying
heed to laws or constitution, until peace is reestablished."
Bolívar well understood the character of his people when he declared
"Public elections performed by the ignorant peasants and by the
intriguing inhabitants of the city are an obstacle to the practice of
federation among us, because the former are so ignorant that
vote like machines, and the latter are so ambitious that they make
everything into factions. For these reasons Venezuela has never k
a free and reasonable election and the government has fallen into the
hands of men, either opposed to the cause, weak or immoral. Partisan
spirit decided everything and, consequently, it disorganized us more
than circumstances did. Our divisions, and not the Spanish Army,
brought us back to slavery."
Summarizing the causes of the fall of Venezuela, he attributed it in
the first place to the nature of its constitution; secondly, to the
discouragement of the government and people; thirdly, to the opposition
to the establishment of a regular military organization; fourthly, to
earthquakes and superstitions strengthened by those calamities, and fifthly
and lastly to
"the internal dissensions, which, in fact, were the deadly poison which
carried the country to its doom."
Then he appealed with persuasive eloquence to Nueva Granada for help,
arguing that it was indispensable for Nueva Granada to reobtain the freedom
of Caracas, pointing out that as Coro, as an enemy, had been enough to
destroy the whole of Venezuela, so Venezuela as a center of Spanish
power would suffice to recover Nueva Granada for the Spanish crown. The
possession of Caracas by Spain was a danger for all Spanish America. Then
he showed the possibility of a military undertaking, starting from Nueva
Granada, and expressed his faith that thousands of valiant patriots would
join the ranks of the army of liberty as soon as it set foot in Venezuela.
He gave the details of the proposed campaign, and finished with a most
eloquent and forceful appeal in the following words:
"The honor of Nueva Granada imperatively requires the punishment of the
daring invaders, their persecution to the last trenches. Her glory will
be the undertaking of going to Venezuela, and freeing the birthplace
of Colombian independence and its martyrs, and that worthy people of
Caracas, whose clamors are addressed to their beloved fellow patriots
of Nueva Granada, for whom they are waiting with deadly impatience as
for their redeemers. Let us hasten to break the chains of those victims
who moan in the dungeons, ever expecting their salvation from you. Do
not betray their confidence, do not be heedless of the lamentations of
your brothers. Be eager to avenge the dead, to bring back to life the
dying, to relieve the oppressed and to give liberty to all."
This noteworthy document was published in Cartagena, on December 15, 1812,
and presents Bolívar as he was in the maturity of his life, as a thinker,
apostle, general, and practical statesman; it shows him as the man destined
to give liberty to five countries. This proclamation is the first full
display of Bolívar's genius.
Bolívar was sent to command a small place where he had to be inactive. He
prepared an expedition against the city of Tenerife, considered one of the
strongest in Nueva Granada and which prevented the free navigation of the
Magdalena River. He left with only 400 men and seized the castle abandoned
by the garrison, thus obtaining some artillery, boats and war material.
Following his success, the government of Cartagena placed him in full
command of his own army and gave him orders to conquer the upper Magdalena.
Bolívar accomplished this with only 500 men, freeing the east bank of
the river. When he arrived at Ocaña, he was received amidst the greatest
enthusiasm. He had won five victories in five days.
The Congress of Nueva Granada was holding its meetings in the city of
Tunja. Bolívar got in touch with it and received instructions to lead an
expedition against Cúcuta and Pamplona. He started out with 400 men and
a few spare rifles to arm patriots who might join the ranks. With the
greatest alacrity he advanced, defeating several detachments on the way. He
finally attacked the city of Cúcuta, where 800 royalists were awaiting the
attack of his men. On the 28th of February, after a bloody fight, Bolívar
took the city and considerably increased his supply of war implements.
The royalists occupying Pamplona and neighboring towns evacuated their
possessions upon learning of the defeat of the royalists of Cúcuta. On
sending communications to the governor of Cartagena, Bolívar dated them in
the city of "Cúcuta delivered" (libertada). His habit of adding the word
"libertada" to the cities captured from the royalists contributed greatly
to his later receiving the name of "Libertador," by which he is most
generally known in history.
As soon as he entered Venezuelan territory, he declared that on that very
day Venezuela had returned to life. Addressing the soldiers, he said:
"In less than two months you have carried out two campaigns and have
begun a third one, which commences here and which must end in the
country which gave me life."
He regarded his two previous campaigns merely as an introduction to the
third, and most important for him, whose supreme ambition was to obtain
once again the freedom of Venezuela. At the close of the address to the
soldiers, we find these words:
"All America expects its liberty and salvation from you, brave soldiers
of Cartagena and of the Union." (The Union of Nueva Granada.)
These words indicate that he was thinking not in local terms, but in terms
of Greater America.
The government of the Union promoted him to the rank of brigadier general
and conferred upon him the honorary title of citizen of Nueva Granada. He
asked immediate authority to use the troops of the Union to continue
his march, until he could recover the ruins of Caracas. To convince the
government he repeated the arguments put forth in the proclamation of
Cartagena, tending to prove that the freedom of Venezuela was essential
to the continued liberty of Nueva Granada. He insisted so eloquently
on receiving permission to advance, that at last he obtained it, with
authorization to occupy the southwestern provinces of Venezuela: Mérida and
Trujillo. In thanking the executive power for this privilege, he evidenced
his confidence in his future triumph by the following words, addressed to
the president:
"I ask Your Excellency to send the answer to this communication to
Trujillo: I shall receive it there."
Bolívar started his campaign from San Cristóbal on the 15th of May, 1813,
with 800 men. The royalists had 15,000 and sufficient resources to equip
6,000 additional men. The work of the young warrior seemed a dream; perhaps
no wise general would have undertaken that campaign, but Bolívar was above
common wisdom; he had the power of making the most beautiful dreams come
true. Among the men who accompanied him were many who have received the
greatest honors history can confer. Two of them may be noted here, for we
shall have occasion to mention them again very soon; they are Atanasio
Girardot and Antonio Ricaurte.
Upon his approach to Mérida, the royalists, numbering 1,000, left the city,
and Bolívar took it on the 30th of May without any opposition. He was
received with enthusiasm as the liberator of Venezuela. The general began
at once to attend to the organization of the emancipated territory, and
to increase the strength of his army. He sent some men to attack the
retreating Spaniards, and Girardot to occupy the province of Trujillo. The
royalists escaped to Maracaibo and, on the 14th of June, Bolívar was in
Trujillo, reorganizing the province. From there he sent Girardot to pursue
the royalists.
On the next day Bolívar took an action which has been the subject of many
debates, and which some writers consider is the one stain in the career of
the great man of the South. We must devote a few lines to frank discussion
of this subject, not neglecting to declare immediately that in our minds
there has never been the slightest doubt that Bolívar was right in his
conduct, and that a different action would have been the height of folly.
Bolívar proclaimed "War to Death to the Spaniards," considering the conduct
of Monteverde, the savage crimes committed in the interior cities of
Venezuela, the many instances in which the Spanish authorities had shown an
utter disrespect for the sanctity of treaties and the lives and properties
of enemies who had surrendered, and even of peaceful natives, these acts
coupled with documents like the proclamation published by a Spanish
governor of a province in which he stated that his troops would not
give quarter to those who surrendered. The documents proving that this
proclamation had been issued were received by Bolívar in Trujillo. In
Bolívar's mind this idea was a permanent obsession: "Americans are dying
because they are Americans, whether or not they fight for American
freedom." He took into account the long list of crimes committed, the
harmless citizens, women and children who had died, the barbarous
asphyxiation of the prisoners in Puerto Cabello, the horrors committed on
the peaceful inhabitants of Caracas, and even the atrocities perpetrated by
the royalist armies in Mexico and other parts of the continent. He recalled
the leniency and mercy of the first independent government of Venezuela
and the cruelty of the Spanish authorities, and thought, not only of the
reprisals necessary to punish and, if possible, to stop these cruel deeds,
but also of the salutary effect of a rigorous attitude on hesitating men,
and the necessity that those who had not taken part on one side or another
should declare themselves immediately, whether they sympathized with and
were ready to help the cause of liberty, or favored a foreign régime.
He was still in Mérida when in a proclamation he spoke of avenging the
victims, and threatened with war to death. But Bolívar was not only a man
of genius but one of equanimity, poise, deep thought and attention. He did
not want to carry out his threats immediately, but decided to think at
length over the transcendent step he was considering. The night of the 14th
of June was a night of torture for the Liberator. On the morning of the
15th he himself wrote the decree of _War to Death_, and then called for an
assembly of his officers to hear their opinions of this decree. Not one
of them dissented. At the close of the meeting Bolívar signed the
proclamation, in which these terrible words appeared:
"Spaniards and Natives of the Canary Islands:[1] Be sure of death even
if you are indifferent. Americans: Be sure of life even if you are
guilty."
[Footnote 1: Many of the natives of the Canary Islands had distinguished
themselves by their cruelty against the independents in Venezuela.]
The law of war is a terrible law, and Bolívar could not but take this step,
unless he preferred to wage a losing fight.
As a measure of legitimate reprisal and as a measure of wisdom in warfare,
the War to Death decree is fully justifiable.
Regarding it as a reprisal, let us mention only two or three facts. When
Monteverde learned of the asphyxiation of the prisoners in Puerto Cabello,
he wrote to the commander of the port:
"I strongly recommend that your activity on this point be not slackened
(the expulsion of foreigners from Puerto Cabello), nor on that of the
safe-keeping of the prisoners in the dungeons. If any one is to die,
that is his fate."
On the plains some towns were entirely destroyed by bands of assassins.
Women and children were the victims of the royalists in a number of cities.
There were occasions where men and women of all ages had their ears cut
off, were skinned alive, or in other ways cruelly tortured. A Spaniard
called Boves distinguished himself among the worst criminals. He
systematically organized the work of destroying Americans. His theory was
that no American should live, and he simply destroyed them mechanically,
for he thought that that was the only thing to do with them. Bolívar,
himself, in a letter sent to the governor of Curaçao on October 2, 1813,
makes the most eloquent exposition of facts, and shows clearly the reasons
he had for the decree of War to Death.
Still, Bolívar did not carry out the decree of War to Death immediately,
nor did he do so constantly. Whenever he found any opportunity to exercise
mercy, he did so; and when he was forced to let the severity of this law
fall upon his enemy, there was generally an immediate reason for his
action. In San Carlos, a few days after the issuance of this decree, when
addressing the Spaniards and the Natives of the Canary Islands, he said:
"For the last time, Spaniards and Natives of the Canary Islands, listen
to the voice of justice and clemency. If you prefer our cause to that
of tyrants, you will be forgiven and will enjoy your property,
and honor; but if you persist in being our enemies, withdraw from our
country or prepare to die."
Several proofs are recorded of his clemency in spite of his threats; but
at last, when he saw that there was no other way to bring the royalists to
terms, he ordered that war be waged mercilessly.