_(Concluded from page 213.)_
Early in 1818, the supreme chief, after concentrating his forces, marched
rapidly to Calabozo, and arrived before Morillo was aware that he had
quitted Angostura. The Spanish general effected his retreat to Aragua.
The supreme chief came up with him at La Usirrael, but could make but a
slight impression on the enemy, on account of the strength of his
position. Another rencontre occurred at Sombrero. Morillo retired to
Valencia; and Bolivar took possession of the valleys of Aragua. Thence he
detached a strong division to take San Fernando de Apure, in order to
complete the conquest of the Llanos. Upon this the Spaniards advanced.
The two armies met at Semen. Morillo was wounded, and the royalist army
put to flight. The pursuit being indiscreetly conducted by the patriots,
and a fresh royalist division arriving to support Morillo, the fortune of
the day was changed. Each party was alternately defeated, and both
rallied their dispersed corps to reengage at Ortiz.
The division which succeeded in capturing San Fernando had an indecisive
affair at Cojedes. Others of the same character took place at El Rincon
del Toro, and other places. At the close of this campaign, the Spaniards
held Aragua, and the patriots San Fernando. Thus the former possessed the
most fertile provinces of Venezuela, and all New Granada; while the
latter were reduced to the Llanos and Guayana. Arms were sent to General
Santander, who was endeavouring to raise a division in Casanare.
In 1819, the various corps united in San Fernando, where the supreme
chief devoted his labours to the regulation of civil affairs. He invited
the provinces to send deputies to Angostura, to form a general congress,
and then delegated his powers to a council of government to act in his
absence.
With four or five thousand men, the supreme chief opened the campaign
against Morillo, who had six or seven thousand. Twelve hundred British
troops arrived at Margarita from England. They had been
engaged in London by Colonel English, and were equipped and sent out by
Messrs. Herring and Richardson; besides these, eight hundred others also
arrived at Angostura. The latter were engaged by Captain Elsom, and sent
out by Messrs. Hurry, Powles, and Hurry; the greater part were disbanded
soldiers from the British army, reduced on the return of the troops from
France.[4] These volunteers were equipped in the most efficient manner.
With these expeditions large supplies of spare arms were sent to assist
the cause of independence. Bolivar, in his speech to congress, thus
expresses himself on this subject:--
[4] Colonel Macirone also sent out above two thousand men, who
were employed in the capture of Porto Bello and Rio de la Hacha.
This caused a very favourable diversion for Bolivar in Venezuela,
as it distracted the attention of the royalists, and but for the
pusillanimous conduct of Macgregor, who commanded the expedition,
might have proved of lasting advantage.
"For these important advantages we are indebted to the unbounded
liberality of some generous foreigners, who, hearing the groans of
suffering humanity, and seeing the cause of freedom, reason, and justice
ready to sink, would not remain quiet, but flew to our succour with their
munificent aid and protection, and furnished the republic with every
thing needful to cause their philanthropical principles to flourish.
Those friends of mankind are the guardian geniuses of America, and to
them we owe a debt of eternal gratitude, as well as a religious
fulfilment of the several obligations contracted with them."
Bolivar, leaving the army in command of General Paez, repaired to
Angostura. As Morillo advanced, Paez, agreeable to orders, retired
towards the Orinoco, detaching a few guerillas to harass the Spaniards in
the rear.
General Urdaneta was appointed to command the recently arrived British
legion in Margarita, which was to act on the side of Caracas, in order to
draw off the attention of Morillo from the Llanos.
On the 15th of February, 1819, congress was installed at Angostura. The
supreme chief pronounced an eloquent discourse, and resigned his
authority. Congress immediately, and unanimously, elected him president
of the republic.
Early in March, the president rejoined the army, which was very much
reduced by sickness. On the 27th, he defeated the vanguard of the
Spaniards. Adopting a desultory system of warfare, he obliged them to
recross the Apure, having lost half their original numbers.
While Morillo remained in winter quarters, the president traversed the
vast plains of the Apure and Casanare, which are rendered almost
impassable by inundations from the month of May to the end of August. In
Casanare, the president formed a junction with the division of Santander,
two thousand strong. Santander had, from the commencement of the
revolution, dedicated himself with enthusiastic constancy to the cause of
his country. He now expelled the Spaniards from their formidable position
of Paya, and opened the way for the president to cross the terrific
Andes, in effecting which, nearly a fourth of his army perished from the
effects of cold and excessive fatigue.
On the 11th of July, the president attacked the royal army at Gamarra.
After a long engagement, the Spanish general Barrero retired, and did not
again offer battle, except in positions almost inaccessible. Bonza was
invested by the patriots for some days in sight of both armies. The
president, by a flank movement, brought the Spaniards to action on the
25th of July, at Bargas. The Spaniards, though superior in numbers, and
advantageously posted, gave way, and the president obtained a complete
victory. His inferior forces, however, and the nature of the country, did
not allow him to make the most of this glorious success; but he obtained
a thousand recruits, and marched to interpose between the defeated
Barrero and the viceroy Samano, who, with all the disposable force south
of Bogotá, was about to support Barrero. The result of the president's
daring and masterly movement was the battle of Boyaca, fought on the 7th
of August, and which has been called the _birth of Colombia_. In this
battle, the English troops, under the command of Major Mackintosh,
greatly distinguished themselves. The gallant major was promoted by the
liberator on the field. In three days afterwards the president entered
Bogotá in triumph, and, within a short period, eleven provinces of New
Granada announced their adhesion to the cause of independence.
Bolivar repaired to Angostura, where he once more resigned his authority
to the representatives of the people, and laid on their floor the
trophies of the last campaign. On the 25th of December, 1819, congress,
at the suggestion of the president, decreed that thenceforth Venezuela
and New Granada should form one republic, under the denomination of
COLOMBIA. At the same time it conferred upon Bolivar the title of
LIBERATOR OF COLOMBIA, and re-elected him president of the republic.
In March, 1820, he arrived at Bogotá, and occupied himself until August
in the organization of the army cantoned at various points between
Cucuta and San Fernando de Apure.
The Spanish revolution, which originated in the Isla de Leon, inspired
the South Americans with new hopes. These were raised still higher by the
solicitude of Morillo to negotiate an armistice; but Bolivar, refusing to
treat upon any other basis than that of independence, marched to the
department of the Magdalena, reviewed the besieging force before
Carthagena, and reinforced the division of the south, destined to act
against Popayan and Quito. The president drove the Spaniards from the
provinces of Merida and Truxillo, and established his winter headquarters
at the latter town. On the 26th of November, the president concluded an
armistice of six months with Morillo, who engaged that, on the renewal of
hostilities, the war should be carried on, conformably to the practice of
civilized nations.
In the beginning of the year 1821, the liberator went to Bogotá, to
attend to the affairs of the south; when hearing of the arrival at
Caracas of Spanish commissioners to treat for peace, he returned to
Truxillo; but no terms were then agreed upon. In the meanwhile, the
province of Maracaybo shook off the Spanish yoke. Morillo having departed
for Europe, General La Torre, a brave and very superior man, succeeded to
the command of the royal army, and made strong remonstrances against the
movement in the province of Maracaybo, which he deemed an infraction of
the armistice, and hostilities in consequence recommenced. The liberator
concentrated his forces in Varinas; he detached a division to the coast
under General Urdaneta, and another to the east, under General Bermudez,
to divide the attention of the enemy, and marched himself against
Caracas. On the 24th of June, the liberator attacked and defeated the
Spaniards, who had taken up a strong position at Carabobo. The numbers on
both sides were nearly equal. This battle decided the fate of Colombia.
The victorious liberator entered Caracas on the 29th. On the 2nd of July,
La Guayra also surrendered to him.
Leaving a besieging division before Puerto Cabello, the liberator went to
Cucuta, where he resigned once more the office of president of the
republic, which, in admiration of his disinterestedness, instantly
re-elected him.
When the province of Guayaquil declared itself independent, it solicited
the assistance of Bolivar against the Spaniards in Quito. A small
division was accordingly sent there.
The liberator, having signed the constitution sanctioned by congress,
obtained leave to direct the war in the south. In January, 1822, he put
himself at the head of the army in Popayan, and sent a reinforcement to
General Sucre in Guayaquil.
In the month of March, the liberator moved against the province of Pasto,
the inhabitants of which country are surpassed in bravery by no people in
the world, but who adhered with blind attachment to the ancient regime.
The liberator, having overcome the obstacles presented by nature in the
valleys of Patia, and the formidable river Guanabamba, arrived in front
of Bombona. The _Pastusos_ (inhabitants of the province of Pasto) had
here taken up a strong position, supported by the Spanish troops. They
were vigorously attacked; but every charge made in front was repulsed. It
was not until the rifle battalion, commanded by the able Colonel Sands,
outflanked the _Pastusos_, that victory declared for Bolivar; but his
army had suffered so severely, that, instead of immediately following up
the fugitives through a hostile country, it fell back a short distance.
Whilst these operations were going on, Sucre liberated the provinces of
Loja and Cuenca, and, on the 24th of May, gained the victory of
Pinchincha, which gave independence to Quito. In the same year Carthagena
and Cumaná, surrendered to the liberating forces in Venezuela.
The liberator entered Quito on the 16th of June. His attention was soon
attracted to the discontents which had arisen at Guayaquil, where the
Colombians had become unpopular. His excellency proceeded to that town,
and, under his auspices, the provisional government annexed the province
to Colombia.
One of the results of the interview which took place between the
protector of Peru and the liberator of Colombia was the sending of an
auxiliary force of two thousand Colombians to Lima; but the junta, which
proceeded to the protectorate, ordered the Colombian troops to return to
Guayaquil. The president Riva Aguero, who succeeded to the junta, applied
for an auxiliary Colombian division of six thousand men, and invited
Bolivar to take the command of all the military forces in Peru. The
Colombian troops were sent to Lima. General Bolivar obtained leave from
the congress at Bogotá to go to Peru--the grand scene of his subsequent
triumphs.
The person of Bolivar is thin, and somewhat below the middle size. He
dresses in good taste, and has an easy military walk. He is a very bold
rider, and capable of undergoing great fatigue. His manners are good, and
his address unaffected, but not very prepossessing. It is said that, in
his youth, he was rather handsome. His complexion is sallow; his hair,
originally very black, is now mixed with gray. His eyes are dark and
penetrating, but generally downcast, or turned askance, when he speaks;
his nose is well formed, his forehead high and broad, the lower part of
the face is sharp; the expression of the countenance is careworn,
lowering, and sometimes rather fierce. His temper, spoiled by adulation,
is fiery and capricious. His opinions of men and things are variable. He
is rather prone to personal abuse, but makes ample amends to those who
will put up with it. Towards such his resentments are not lasting. He is
a passionate admirer of the fair sex, but jealous to excess. He is fond
of waltzing, and is a very quick, but not a very graceful dancer. His
mind is of the most active description. When not more stirringly
employed, he is always reading, dictating letters, &c., or conversing.
His voice is loud and harsh, but he speaks eloquently on most subjects.
His reading has been principally confined to French authors; hence the
Gallic idioms so common in his productions. He is an _impressive_ writer,
but his style is vitiated by an affectation of grandeur. Speaking so well
as he does, it is not wonderful that he should be more fond of hearing
himself talk than of listening to others, and apt to engross conversation
in the society he receives. He entertains numerously, and no one has more
skilful cooks, or gives better dinners; but he is himself so very
abstemious, in both eating and drinking, that he seldom takes his place
at his own table until the repast is nearly over, having probably dined
in private upon a plain dish or two. He is fond of giving toasts, which
he always prefaces in the most eloquent and appropriate manner; and his
enthusiasm is so great, that he frequently mounts his chair, or the
table, to propose them. Although the cigar is almost universally used in
South America, Bolivar never smokes, nor does he permit smoking in his
presence. He is never without proper officers in waiting, and keeps up a
considerable degree of etiquette. Disinterested in the extreme with
regard to pecuniary affairs, he is insatiably covetous of fame. Bolivar
invariably speaks of England, of her institutions, and of her great men,
in terms of admiration. He often dwells with great warmth upon the
constancy, fidelity, and sterling merit of the English officers who have
served in the cause of independence, under every varying event of the
war. A further proof of his predilection towards England is that he has
always had upon his personal staff a number of British subjects.
--_Memoirs of General Miller_.
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Fine Arts.
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