_Bolívar's First Victories_
(1813)
The Congress of Nueva Granada had ordered Bolívar to take Trujillo and
there to await new instructions. It was reluctant to permit him to advance,
because the patriots in Nueva Granada found themselves in a difficult
position. Bolívar wrote them, showing the necessity of his advancing
immediately, in order to prevent the enemy from discovering the reduced
size of his army and destroying it. His plan was to advance steadily
against the royalists, to destroy them, and thus secure the freedom of
Nueva Granada. Finally, the Congress yielded.
Bolívar's situation was an exceedingly dangerous one. There was a
good-sized royalist army to his right, while to his left were the old
hostile cities of Maracaibo and Coro. Before him was Monteverde with the
men who had helped him to conquer Venezuela and with an abundant supply
of war material. He became so impatient that he advanced without having
received an answer to his last communication to Congress, crossed the Andes
and, on the first of July, took the city of Guanare. Meanwhile, General
Ribas, following Bolívar's orders, also advanced, meeting a detachment of
royalists sent to cut off Bolívar's retreat. Ribas had less than half as
many men as his opponent, but he was a man of the stamp of his leader, and
on the same day that Bolívar entered Guanare he attacked the enemy. When
his limited supply of ammunition was exhausted, he fought with the bayonet,
and succeeded in completely destroying his foes. This battle occurred in a
town called Niquitao, and is considered one of the most brilliant battles
of the War of Independence.
Bolívar continued his rapid advance to the city of Barinas, and found it
abandoned by the royalists, who had left behind artillery and ammunition.
He ordered his trusted Girardot to continue the prosecution of the enemy,
but they made their escape towards Venezuelan Guiana (Guayana) by means of
one of the tributaries of the Orinoco, leaving behind them a path marked
with crimes and depredations.
Once in possession of Barinas, Bolívar reorganized the province, created
his first troops of cavalry, instilled enthusiasm in the population and
prepared himself for new steps in his brilliant career. To Ribas, he
entrusted the defeat of some 1,500 royalists whose position might hinder
his progress. With only one-third this number of men, Ribas encountered and
destroyed the enemy on the plains of Los Horcones, which victory, together
with that at Niquitao, did much for the success of the whole campaign.
Leaving a detachment in Barinas, Bolívar advanced to San Carlos, which he
entered on the 28th of July, and then continued onward towards Valencia.
While Bolívar was advancing from the western border towards the heart
of his country, very important events were taking place in the eastern
extremity. A young man named don Diego Mariño, after having made
preparations in the Island of Trinidad to fight against the Spanish
domination in his country, entered Venezuela and advanced to the city of
Cumaná. There is a striking similarity in the lives and labors of Bolívar
and Mariño. Both were young, both were animated by the same hatred of
tyranny and the same love for independence; both knew how to arouse
enthusiasm in their followers and both displayed the greatest devotion to
their friends; both were inspired by the same ambition for glory and
honor, and both realized a very important part of the first liberation of
Venezuela.
Monteverde attacked Mariño and met with disaster, being compelled to
withdraw to Caracas, where he learned of the victories of Bolívar in the
West. He immediately prepared to go personally to Valencia to stop the
advance of the independents. There he was informed of the latest triumph of
Ribas.
Bolívar advanced, destroyed in Taguanes a strong army sent to check
him, and continued his march toward Valencia, prepared to meet a strong
resistance on the part of Monteverde. Great indeed was his surprise when he
found that Monteverde had escaped toward Puerto Cabello during the night,
leaving everything to the mercy of the conqueror.
From Valencia, the victor went to Caracas, where he granted an honorable
capitulation to the city, offering passports to the Spanish soldiers and
officers and permitting them to evacuate the town in the most dignified
way. Upon his arrival in Caracas, Bolívar. found that soldiers and
officers, as well as about six thousand persons who considered themselves
guilty, had already escaped to La Guaira, confident that Bolívar would act
as Monteverde had done in the past.
August 6th, 1813, marks the entrance of Bolívar in Caracas, the end of the
campaign which he had begun with 500 men,--his first campaign as a general,
one in which he fought six pitched battles, covered a distance of 1,200
kilometers, destroyed five hostile armies, captured 50 pieces of artillery
and three ammunition depots, and reconquered all the western part of
Venezuela, while Eastern Venezuela had been recovered by Mariño. All this
was done within ninety days, and established forever the reputation of
Bolívar as one of the most distinguished generals in history.
Caracas received him with the highest honors. The most beautiful young
ladies of the city, dressed in white, brought flowers and branches of
laurel to the conqueror; church bells were rung; flowers were strewn in his
path. Bolívar, with his usual energy, set to work at once to reestablish
order and to arrange to continue operations against La Guaira. He issued
a proclamation announcing the rebirth of the Republic, and expressing his
gratitude to Nueva Granada, to whom Venezuela owed the beginning of this
undertaking. In order to avoid the necessity of fulfilling his decree of
War to Death, he sent messengers to Puerto Cabello to ask Monteverde to
ratify the convention by which he granted life to all Spaniards caught in
Caracas or on their way to La Guaira, but Monteverde refused, explaining
that he did not want to have any dealings with the insurgents.
As soon as the most urgent work of organization was finished, Bolívar, who
had sent cordial congratulations to Mariño, went himself to conduct the
siege of Puerto Cabello.
At that period, when his glory was at its greatest splendor, he made the
first public declaration by which the world could know that he had no
personal ambition. He, who in his youth had enjoyed all the comforts
and pleasures of life; who had had, in various parts of Venezuela,
vast estates, slaves which he had set free, and all kinds of personal
possessions; and who had abandoned everything to devote his life to his
efforts in the service of his country, said these words:
"The Liberator of Venezuela renounces forever and declines irrevocably
to accept any office except the post of danger at the head of our
soldiers in defense of the salvation of our country."
And Bolívar lived up to his words.
Monteverde held many patriots in Puerto Cabello. Bolívar proposed an
exchange of prisoners, but the Spaniard steadily refused all reasonable
demands. The siege of Puerto Cabello was not altogether successful because
the city was open to the sea and the royalist army was able to receive
provisions. A strong expedition commanded by don José Miguel Salomón
arrived from Spain to help Monteverde, and Bolívar realized that he could
not hope to succeed unless the enemy could be drawn out of the city to
fight in the open. Consequently, he ordered his troops to withdraw.
Monteverde came out of the city on the 30th of September, and was attacked
by three independent columns which defeated him completely. They themselves
suffered a distressing loss in the death of Colonel Girardot, who was
killed by a bullet in the forehead while hoisting in a captured position
the flag of independence. Bolívar paid the greatest honor to Girardot, and
took the heart of his young lieutenant to Caracas to receive the homage
of the people. The soldiers and followers of Girardot asked Bolívar the
privilege of being sent to avenge the young colonel. Monteverde had
established himself in a place which he considered impregnable. The
insurgents attacked with all their might, and the enemy was routed.
Monteverde had to withdraw to Puerto Cabello, where he was deposed by his
subordinates and Salomón was elected to take his place. His successor
accepted the exchange of prisoners, and Bolívar, leaving some troops to
continue the siege of the port, went to Caracas, where he had to face new
difficulties.
The communication with Nueva Granada had been cut by the Spanish troops
sent from Maracaibo. In Cúcuta the royalists were committing all kinds of
brutal deeds. It is said that assassinations were committed as the result
of bets. Children under ten years of age had their hands cut off. In the
Orinoco plains, the _llanos_, Boves with his lieutenant, Morales, exceeded
whatever imagination can fancy in the way of bloodthirsty cruelty. Some
independent detachments had been destroyed in the South, and several
fanatical priests were discouraging sympathizers of freedom, declaring that
"The King is the representative of God."[1]
[Footnote 1: It is necessary, at this point, to make very plain the
attitude of the Catholic clergy in the wars of American independence. Of
course, no man of good sense and culture will today pay any attention to
the accusations against Spain, the clergy and the Inquisition, all inspired
by religious hatred, which is one of the worst forms of fanaticism.
Nevertheless, there are still fanatics who refuse to open their eyes to the
truth, either because they find their ignorance a very comfortable frame of
mind or because they maliciously devote themselves to the abominable work
of slandering a country and institutions which have played and are playing
a very important historical rôle.
There appears to be only one serious monograph on Simón Bolívar written
in English, and this is an article which appeared in Harper's New Monthly
Magazine, No. 238, V. 40, published in March, 1870. This article was
written by Eugene Lawrence, and pretends to be a eulogy of the Man of the
South. In substance it is nothing more than a superficial synopsis of the
main facts of the public life of Bolívar, and a constant and virulent
attack against Spain and the Catholic Church. It would seem that to the
author Spain is nothing, and has never been anything, but kings and
priests, and that kings and priests are a curse on the population. The
cruelties of the Spanish kings and priests constitute his main subject. As
a matter of fact, in the political revolutions of America, the priests have
been divided and have acted like other men, availing themselves of their
right to their own opinions. The greatest proof that the Church is not to
take any blame or praise for whatever happened in the War of Independence
is that it did not force its dignitaries to take any particular stand. They
did as they pleased. There were priests on the side of Monteverde and there
were priests on the side of Bolívar. Undoubtedly, the former thought
and preached that the will of God was to keep the American countries in
subjection, while the latter might have believed that the independence of
the American countries would satisfy the desires of God. If the Church was
on the side of Spain, the Spaniards certainly failed to reward her. In a
letter to the Governor of Curaçao, Bolívar wrote: "Many respectable old
men, many venerable priests, have seen themselves in chains and in other
infamous ways prisoners, herded with common criminals and men of the lowest
stamp, exposed to the insults of brutal soldiers and of the vilest men
of the lowest station." On the other hand, several priests accompanied
Bolívar, and he always showed the greatest veneration for the Church and
for its members. Speaking, then, of priests exploiting the fanaticism of
the crowd, no sober-minded historian would ever intend an attack against
the Church in general. Furthermore, we must not forget that most of the
enemies of independence were Americans, and that some publicists refuse to
speak of it as a war of independence but term the revolution a civil war.]
Bolívar sent Brigadier General Urdaneta, who had distinguished himself
in the previous campaigns, to take charge of the army of the West.
Campo-Elías, another trusted officer, was sent to the plains, while Bolívar
himself went to Caracas to pay his last homage to the heart of Girardot, an
action by which he not only honored his dead officer, but also showed
his appreciation of the help received from Nueva Granada in the work of
securing the independence of his country. In Caracas, Bolívar for the first
time received officially the name of "Savior of the Country, Liberator of
Venezuela." On receiving the decree conferring these titles upon him,
he said that the title of Liberator of Venezuela was more glorious and
satisfying to him than the crowns of all the empires of the world, but that
the real liberators had been the Congress of Nueva Granada, Ribas, Girardot
and the other men who had been with him throughout the campaign.
Bolívar was very much concerned with the increasing wave of discontent
which threatened to destroy his work. As we said at the beginning, there
was no public opinion to support him. The masses were moved by their
feelings, by early acquired habits, by superstitions or by low
interests, and the _llaneros_ (inhabitants of the plains) would follow
any chieftain who could guarantee them sufficient loot. At only thirty
years of age Bolívar had proved himself as great a statesman as he was a
soldier. He arranged for the organization of all public services, and
when this was attended to, he took care to satisfy the natural pride of
the patriots, by creating an order called "The Military Order of the
Liberators of Venezuela."