_Bolívar Pays His Debt to Nueva Granada. Boyacá, A Dream Comes True_
(1819)
Páez was commissioned to get fresh horses with which to advance against
Barinas, when Bolívar got in communication with the province of Nueva
Granada--where Santander, a very able general, had organized an army, which
was fighting successfully against the royalists. Bolívar perhaps recalled
his promise made to Nueva Granada before leaving Angostura, or perhaps he
obeyed a long prepared plan. The fact is that he decided to do nothing less
than cross the flooded plains, go to the viceroyalty, free that country
from the Spanish domination and return to emancipate Venezuela. The man who
could not consider himself even the equal of Morillo again dreamed of the
impossible, and decided to convert it into fact.
He convoked his officers, communicated to them his plan of leaving some men
to distract Morillo's attention while he, himself, should go quickly to
Nueva Granada and give it freedom, and on May 25, 1819, he started to carry
out his project, one perhaps more difficult than those of Hannibal and
Napoleon.
He left Páez to hold the attention of the royalists, and, besides that
depletion, had to suffer the loss of many of his plainsmen who refused to
accompany him across the Andes. But Colonel Rook, the head of the British
Legion, assured Bolívar that he would follow him "beyond Cape Horn, if
necessary." After spending a month painfully wading through the flooded
plains, he ascended the Andes and crossed them, in spite of inexpressible
suffering. The men had lost most of their clothing in the marshes below;
very few soldiers had even a pair of trousers in good condition. Leaving
the torrid climate of the plains, these men had to climb up the Andes
almost naked, on foot,--because they could not use their horses,--and
to suffer the freezing cold of the summits. Many died, but the faith of
Bolívar sustained the rest. The Liberator himself suffered all the fatigue
of the road. He was worn out, but he was always going forward.
Then he began his fight with the royalists in the land of Nueva Granada.
At this time he had no horses and his men had had to abandon most of the
provisions and ammunition. While in these straits, he learned that a
royalist army of 5,000 well disciplined men was approaching. Bolívar had
three days only in which to get ready, but at the end of that short period
he had arms and horses provided and his men prepared to fight. Then he
attacked the enemy, at first by the system of guerrillas and later in
formal battle, in which his genius succeeded in defeating the disciplined
strength of his foes. On entering the emancipated cities he was received
with the greatest enthusiasm and acclaimed as their liberator. New recruits
joined him everywhere.
These pitched battles would receive greater mention in history were it not
for the fact that another one took place almost immediately afterwards
which, by its magnitude and its results, made the others sink to a
secondary place. The royalists took position in a place called Boyacá. They
were commanded by Barreiro, and formed the vanguard of the army of the
viceroy Sámano. Bolívar attacked them with an army only two-thirds
their size and was victorious. Among the independents was José Antonio
Anzoátegui, a major general, who fought like a hero and succeeded in
breaking the stubborn resistance of the enemy. Death spared him on the
field of battle, but his glorious career ended a few days after the victory
of Boyacá, following a short illness. He was thirty years old. A member of
a very distinguished family, his culture was brilliant, his character was
pure, his loyalty and patriotism were unsurpassed. His loss was equivalent
to a great defeat. Barreiro, the commander of the royalists, fell prisoner
to Bolívar's troops. This battle occurred on August 7, 1819, and was not
only a complete victory for the forces of independence, but also meant
practically the end of the Spanish régime in Nueva Granada.
Regarding the crossing of the Andes and the victory of Boyacá, J.E. Rodó
(Uruguayan), one of the greatest thinkers of recent years, says:
"Other crossings of mountains may have been more adroit and
more exemplary strategy; none so audacious, so heroic and legendary.
Twenty-five hundred men climb the eastern slope of the range, and a
smaller number of specters descends the other side; these specters are
those of the men who were strong in body and soul, for the weak ones
remained in the snow, in the torrents, on the heights where the air is
not sufficient for human breasts. And with those specters of survivors,
the victory of Boyacá was obtained."[1]
One of the elements required for the upbuilding of Colombia--the
independence of Nueva Granada, was created by the victory of Boyacá. This
was by its effects the greatest triumph of Bolívar up to that moment.
The Liberator advanced to Bogotá and was received there in a frenzy of
admiration and love.
The whole march and campaign lasted 75 days. This is the time a man would
require to traverse the distance covered; but it was completed by an army,
fighting against nature and man, and conquering both. Immediately after the
triumph of Boyacá, Bolívar sent troops to the different sections of Nueva
Granada, and felt the satisfaction of repaying this country for what she
had done when she placed in his hands the army with which he first achieved
the freedom of Venezuela. In Bogotá, he obtained money and other[1] very
important resources with which to continue the war in Venezuela. As
elsewhere, he used his marvelous activity in the work of organization, and
in conducting his armies on the field of battle. A great assembly of the
most prominent men of Bogotá conferred upon him the title of Liberator of
Nueva Granada, and bestowed the same title on all the men composing his
army, each one of whom also received a cross of honor called the Cross of
Boyacá. A Vice-President of Nueva Granada was appointed, General Francisco
de Paula Santander, the man who had organized the troops which Bolívar
joined when he invaded the viceroyalty. Bolívar considered all the
inhabitants as citizens of Colombia, without asking questions about their
previous conduct, and issued passports to those who cared to depart.
[Footnote 1: J.E. Rodó--Bolívar.]
After Boyacá, the campaigns of Bolívar were very swift, very successful and
on a very different footing from his past campaigns. His enemies henceforth
had to give up calling him the chieftain of rebels and bandits, and to
treat him as an equal. He, however, by word and act showed to the world
that he was not their equal, but very far their superior. After Boyacá
"victory is always true, and grows, and spreads as the waters of a flood,
and from peak to peak of the Andes, each mountain is a milestone of
triumph."[1]
[Footnote 1: J.E. Rodó--Bolívar.]
The royalists retreated from Bogotá, and Sámano fled to Cartagena. As for
Bolívar, he soon returned to Venezuela, leaving the business of Nueva
Granada in the hands of Santander, recommending him to respect the rights
of everyone, because, as he said, "Justice is the foundation of the
Republic."
In Angostura, there had arisen dissensions, and opposition to the
vice-president, and even to Bolívar, himself. Some wanted him to be treated
as a deserter because he had undertaken the campaign of Nueva Granada
without the permission of Congress; some pronounced him defeated; some
declared that he was fleeing to safety. Mariño, who had been called to
occupy his seat in Congress, seconded by Arismendi, was the center of ill
feeling against Bolívar. The vice-president was forced to resign, and
Arismendi was elected in his stead. His first action was to appoint Mariño
head of the army of the East. The substitution of a military president for
a civilian was a vicious precedent which, unfortunately, has been followed
in many instances by the Spanish American countries. Arismendi proved,
nevertheless, a good vice-president, and retained the cabinet appointed
by Bolívar. Affairs were in this condition when news arrived of Bolívar's
victory in Boyacá.
The Liberator had learned of the disturbances in Angostura on his way
to Venezuela. He received also at this time the distressing news of
the execution, ordered by Santander, of Barreiro and the other Spanish
prisoners taken in Boyacá. Bolívar had proposed to the viceroy an
exchange of prisoners, but the viceroy had not even answered Bolívar's
communication. The Liberator had never agreed that the cause of freedom
should be stained by the blood of prisoners, except in those very
exceptional cases, already mentioned, when the War to Death decree was
in effect. On some occasions, individual chieftains had not hesitated to
commit crimes as heinous as those of the royalists. Though at times Bolívar
had to ignore such actions, lest he be left alone by his followers,
whenever he could prevent them, he did. He had recommended justice to
Santander, who, though otherwise a distinguished officer, an able general
and patriot, marred the fame he had acquired by this stupid act of cruelty,
an act not to be justified even by the fact that Barreiro had ordered,
without any form of law, the execution of many prisoners of war. Once, when
a priest was imploring that the lives of prisoners be spared, Barreiro
answered: "I am shooting them as I should shoot Bolívar were he ever to
fall into my hands." Santander published a proclamation in which he tried
to vindicate his conduct, but history has been just in its severity,
condemning him unreservedly.
Once back in Angostura, Bolívar feigned ignorance of what had happened,
and comported himself with much prudence and circumspection. Arismendi
presented his resignation with words of modesty, and promises which he
fulfilled thereafter. On December 14, Bolívar appeared before the Congress,
and in an address gave a short report of his victory in Nueva Granada,
voicing his constant aspiration for the union of Venezuela and Nueva
Granada to form the republic of Colombia. He said:
"Its aspiration (that of Nueva Granada) to join its provinces to those of
Venezuela is ... unanimous. The New Granadians are entirely convinced of
the enormous advantages which would result to both countries from the
creation of a new republic composed of these two nations. The union of
Nueva Granada and Venezuela is the only purpose I have had since my first
battles; it is the wish of the citizens of both countries, and it is the
guaranty of the freedom of South America.... It behooves your wisdom to
decree this great social act and to establish the principles of the pact on
which this great republic is to be founded. Proclaim it before the whole
world, and my services will be rewarded."
The vice-president endorsed the proposition of Bolívar with eloquent words,
incidentally praising the victorious general and his troops. Among the
persons who came to compliment him was an old foe named Mariano Montilla, a
colonel in the army. Bolívar knew well how to discover real qualifications
even in the hearts of his enemies, and he availed himself of this
opportunity to establish strong bonds of friendship between himself and his
former foe. He gave Montilla full powers to go to Cartagena, still in the
hands of the Spaniards, with instructions to take it. Montilla proved
worthy of Bolívar's trust. After fourteen months' siege, he captured
Cartagena, as we shall see later.
On the 17th of December, 1819, Congress decreed the creation of Colombia
by the union of Venezuela, Nueva Granada and Quito into a single
republic. Bolívar was then elected president. Don Antonio Zea was elected
vice-president for Venezuela, and Santander for Nueva Granada (also called
Cundinamarca). No vice-president was elected for Quito. The organization of
Quito was deferred until the army of freedom should enter that city.
The dream of Bolívar had come true again, and his prophecy made in Jamaica
in 1815 had become a reality.