SAN LORENZO.
1813--1814.
On the 31st December, 1812, the vanguard of the army sent against Monte
Video, under the command of Colonel Rondeau, completely defeated a
strong sortie of the garrison and laid siege to the city.
On the 31st January, 1813, the general Constituent Assembly met in
Buenos Ayres. The majority were members of the Lautaro Lodge, so there
was no longer that anarchy of opinion which had neutralized the former
Assemblies. For the moment it fulfilled popular aspirations; the nominal
sovereignty of the King of Spain was eclipsed, his name disappeared for
ever from public documents, the escutcheons of Spain were torn down,
titles of nobility, the Inquisition, and judicial torture were
abolished. The effigy of former monarchs was substituted on coins by the
seal of the United Provinces--a sun with rays and a Phrygian cap, within
a wreath of laurel. The colours of the Spanish flag were replaced by the
blue and white of the Patriot cockade, and the last link with the mother
country was broken by declaring the supremacy of the National Courts of
Law. Everything was reformed, even to the prayers of the priests and the
songs of the people, who now in inspired verse saluted,
“A new and glorious Nation,
With a conquered lion at her feet.”[9]
So was inaugurated the sovereignty of the Argentine people; a formal
Declaration of Independence was now all that was wanting for the
establishment of a republic.
The armies in the field swore obedience to the Assembly and marched with
enthusiasm under the new flag upon the fortifications of Monte Video and
upon the entrenchments of Salta; only upon the water did the spirit of
revolution as yet make no progress. The maritime power of Spain seemed
invincible in America; her ships of war dominated the coasts from
California on the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico on the Atlantic. The
sailors of Monte Video dominated the River Plate and its affluents. One
day they bombarded Buenos Ayres, another they spread terror along the
banks of the Uruguay, and sacked defenceless towns on the Parana.
Batteries were thrown up on the banks in front of Rosario and at Punta
Gorda, which only diverted attack from these points to others more
defenceless.
In October, 1812, the towns of San Nicolas and San Pedro, on the western
bank of the Parana, were cannonaded and sacked. Then, with the object of
diverting the attention of the Patriots from the siege of Monte Video,
cutting off all communication by the rivers with the interior, and of
procuring supplies for the garrison of Monte Video, a flotilla was
organised under the command of a noted smuggler, Ruiz by name, on which
was shipped a detachment of infantry, led by a red-haired Biscayan,
named Zabala, a man of colossal stature and of approved valour.
The Government of Buenos Ayres, hearing of this expedition, ordered the
battery at Rosario to be dismantled and the guns to be sent higher up
the Parana, to Punta Gorda, where the garrison was strengthened. The
colonel of the mounted grenadiers also received orders to march with two
squadrons for the protection of the coast from Zarate to Santa Fé.
The Royalist expedition, under convoy of three small ships of war,
concentrated at the mouth of the Guazu, below the delta of the Parana,
about the middle of January, and were there delayed by a north wind, so
that when San Martin reached the coast they were only commencing the
ascent of the main river. Keeping his troops out of sight, San Martin,
disguised in the hat and poncho of a countryman, kept watch upon their
movements from the bank, by day and by night. On the 28th January they
passed San Nicolas, and on the 29th anchored above Rosario, without
having as yet made any attempt to land.
Escalada, commandant of Rosario, collected twenty-two men, carrying
muskets, and thirty horsemen, and with a small gun prepared to make what
resistance he could. At daybreak on the 30th the flotilla cast anchor
inside the island of San Lorenzo, which lies in the middle of the river
about seventeen miles to the north of Rosario. The western bank here
consists of high bluffs, affording no landing-places except where narrow
paths were cut through them to the water’s edge; in front of one of
these cuttings the flotilla anchored. Beyond the low trees which
bordered the edge of the bluff stood the lonely monastery of San Carlos,
a two-storey building with a belfry on the roof.
About a hundred men landed, but all the provisions they could obtain
from the peaceful friars were a few fowls and melons; all cattle had
been withdrawn from the coast. As the monastery bell struck half-past
seven, a cloud of dust was seen on the Rosario road. It was Escalada,
with his fifty men and his one small gun. The Spaniards retreated with
drums beating to their boats, and Escalada opened fire upon them from
the edge of the bluff, but was obliged to draw off as the guns of the
flotilla had much longer range than his one piece.
On the night of the 31st, a Paraguayan prisoner escaped from the
flotilla, swimming ashore on a bundle of sticks. From him the Patriots
learned that the whole force of the enemy did not exceed three hundred
and fifty men, that they were mounting two small guns, intending to land
next day in greater force for the purpose of searching the monastery for
treasure which they supposed to be there hidden, and that after securing
the treasure they intended to proceed up the river, passing the
batteries of Punta Gorda by night, if they could not destroy them, and
so cut off the trade with Paraguay.
Escalada sent out messengers with this news, one of whom met San Martin
and his grenadiers, who, following the windings of the river had been
left behind by the flotilla, which was favoured by a southerly breeze.
Fortunately the wind now chopped round to the north and delayed the
intended landing, so that when San Martin, by forced marches, reached
the post-house of San Lorenzo, three miles from the monastery, on the
night of the 2nd February, nothing had yet been done. At the post-house
he found fresh horses waiting for him, sent there by Escalada.
In front of the post-house stood an old carriage without horses. Two
troopers rode up to it, and asked:--
“Who is here?”
“A traveller,” answered a sleepy voice.
Another horseman rode up saying--
“Be careful; this is not an enemy, but an Englishman on his way to
Paraguay.”
The traveller put his head out of one of the windows of the coach, and
thinking he recognized the figure and voice, said:--
“Surely you are Colonel San Martin?”
“If so, you have a friend here, Mr. Robertson,” answered the other.
And so it was; this was the well-known traveller, William Parish
Robertson, who was destined to witness the memorable events of the next
day, and to record what he saw.
The two friends laughed together at their unexpected meeting in the
dark, and San Martin spoke of his project.
“The enemy has double the number of men that we have, but I doubt if
they get the better of us.”
“So say I,” replied the Englishman, offering his visitors wine to drink
to their success, and asking permission to go with them.
“Agreed,” answered San Martin, “but take care; it is no part of your
duty to fight. I will give you a horse, but if the day goes against us
you must run for it.”
Then, giving the order to mount, he put himself with his friend at the
head of the silent troopers, and soon after midnight reached the
monastery, which they entered by a gateway in the rear of the edifice.
All the cells were vacant: not a sound was to be heard in the cloisters.
The gate being shut the troopers dismounted in the large courtyard. The
Colonel enjoined silence upon them, and forbade them to light fires.
“It brought to mind,” says the English traveller, “the Greek host hidden
in the bowels of the wooden horse, so fatal to Troy.”
San Martin, with a night-glass, ascended the tower of the church, and
saw by their lanterns that the enemy was yet there. He then carefully
reconnoitered the country round him, and from information furnished by
Escalada formed his plans.
On the river face of the monastery a level plain, apt for cavalry
manœuvres, extended for three hundred and fifty yards to the edge of
the bluff. Two winding paths, one only of which was practicable for
infantry in formation, led to the beach below. He then withdrew his men
from the courtyard and formed them, holding their horses by the bridle,
behind the cloisters and outhouses, leaving Escalada and his volunteers
within the edifice. At dawn he again mounted the tower. At five o’clock,
as the shades of night melted away, boats laden with armed men, were
seen to leave the flotilla for the shore. At half-past five, two small
columns of infantry marched up the main path.
Then San Martin came down from his post of observation, and, meeting
Robertson at the foot of the stairs, said:--
“In two minutes more we shall be upon them, sword in hand.”
A few paces off his orderly held his charger ready, a fine
cream-coloured horse, fully caparisoned. In a moment he was in the
saddle. Drawing his curved sabre he galloped off to his grenadiers, who
were now to enter into action for the first time, and in a few words
exhorted them to remember his lessons, and, above all, not to fire a
shot, but to trust to their lances and sabres. He put himself at the
head of the second squadron and gave command of the first to Captain
José Bermudez, directing him to attack the flank and cut off the retreat
of the invaders, and added:--
“We will meet in the centre of the enemy’s columns; there I will give
you further orders.”
The enemy, about two hundred and fifty strong, had in the meantime
advanced some two hundred and odd yards. They came on quickly to the
sound of drums and fifes, and with a flag, in two parallel columns of
half companies, with two four-pound guns between the columns and a
little in advance. Then was heard for the first time the war clarion of
the mounted grenadiers.
From the right and from the left of the monastery the two squadrons
dashed forward at full gallop, sabre in hand. San Martin led the attack
on the left, Bermudez that on the right. San Martin being nearest was
the first to fall on the enemy. The fire of the two guns failed to check
the onset; the heads of the Spanish columns were thrown into disorder,
but, falling back, opened a heavy fire of musketry. San Martin with his
squadron encountered the column led by Zabala in person; his horse was
killed by the first volley, and a fierce hand-to-hand fight raged round
him as he lay upon the ground caught by the leg by his fallen steed, in
which he received a slight sabre cut in the face. A Spanish soldier ran
forward to bayonet him, but was run through the body with a lance by a
grenadier named Baigorria. Another trooper, named Juan Bautista Cabral,
sprang from the saddle and released his leader from the fallen horse,
and fell himself pierced by two mortal wounds, shouting:--
“I die content! We have beaten the enemy.”
Almost at the same moment, Cornet Bouchard killed the bearer of the
Spanish ensign and captured the flag.
The other column was also driven back by the charge of the squadron led
by Bermudez, and the Spaniards abandoning their guns, retreated to the
bluff, where they attempted to form square under protection of the guns
of the flotilla. Bermudez leading a second charge upon them was mortally
wounded by a cannon-shot, and Lieutenant Manuel Diaz Velez, carried away
by his enthusiasm, fell with his horse over the bluff, with a ball in
his forehead, and two bayonet wounds in his chest, but the Spaniards
were driven headlong to the beach, leaving behind them, besides their
flag, their guns and fifty muskets, forty dead and fourteen prisoners.
Many of those who escaped were wounded, one of these being Zabala, their
leader.
The grenadiers had fifteen killed and twenty-seven wounded, among whom
each of the United Provinces had at least one representative. Lieutenant
Diaz Velez, being taken prisoner, was carried on board the flotilla.
San Martin assisted by Robertson, generously furnished the flotilla with
fresh supplies for their wounded, and arranged for an exchange of
prisoners, giving up those he had captured for three previously taken by
the boats and for his wounded officer; but Velez died in the arms of his
comrades a few hours after. One of these released prisoners was a
Paraguayan named José Felix Bogado; he at once enlisted in the regiment,
and during thirteen years’ service with it, from San Lorenzo to
Ayacucho, won his way up to the rank of Colonel, and then returned to
Buenos Ayres, accompanied by seven of the original troopers of the
corps.
Still covered with the blood and dust of the fight, San Martin signed
the despatch announcing his victory, under the shade of an old pine-tree
which still stands in the garden of San Lorenzo.
The affair of San Lorenzo, though of little military importance, had a
most beneficial effect upon the Patriot cause. The safety of the towns
on the banks of the Parana and Uruguay was secured; communication with
Entre Rios, which was the base of the army besieging Monte Video, was
maintained; the expected supplies to this city were cut off; the trade
with Paraguay was preserved; and above all, a new general given to the
army and new vigour to the spirits of the men.
Three days afterwards, the discomfited flotilla descended the Parana,
laden with wounded instead of plunder, and carried the news to Monte
Video. At the same time San Martin returned to Buenos Ayres, and the
enthusiasm of his reception somewhat deadened the calumnies which
already began to embitter his life.
On the 20th February the Spanish army entrenched at Salta was completely
routed by General Belgrano; the third victory in less than three months.
The revolution of the 8th October and the influence of the Lautaro Lodge
were justified by these results.
When San Martin returned to Buenos Ayres, he found that political
parties, confined within the limits of the capital, weakened by local
animosities, and ultimately enclosed by the four walls of the Lodge, had
degenerated into circles ruled by personal influences, and like most of
the influential men of that day he became imbued with the belief that a
constitutional monarchy backed by Europe was the true solution of the
political problem. Neither he nor they saw that the sentiment of the
people was essentially republican.
Secret societies have been at times the only means of organization left
to an enslaved people, but they have never accompanied the development
of revolutionary ideas; as a general rule they have produced nothing
beyond abortive conspiracies; among a free people they are impotent.
Thus the continuance of the secret and irresponsible influence of the
Lautaro Lodge, could have no other effect than to weaken the power of
the General Assembly, its own creation.
Within the Lodge itself there soon arose two distinct parties, one
strove only for democratic independence, the other was a personal party
with Alvear at its head, which presently absorbed the whole society.
The dream of Alvear was military glory and a dictatorship. His friend
Carrera was at this time (May, 1813), both a dictator and a general in
his own country; he took him as his model, but was clear-sighted enough
to see that their circumstances were not identical.
In June, 1813, the army of the North a second time invaded Upper Peru
under the orders of Belgrano, but was badly beaten at Vilcapugio on the
1st October, and almost destroyed at Ayohuma on the 14th November. The
remnant retreated to its former position, and Belgrano requested to be
relieved of the command.
The United Provinces had not at this time any general conspicuous for
military genius. The laurels gained by Don Antonio Gonsalez Balcarce at
Suipacha were blighted at the Desaguadero. His brother, Don Martin
Balcarce, was in Chili in command of Argentine auxiliaries. The victory
of Don José Rondeau, in front of Monte Video, was the first and last of
his career; he lacked the qualities of a commander-in-chief. Belgrano
was wanting both in technical knowledge and in warlike instinct, but was
the best of them all. Of the generals of division, none had as yet shown
any capacity for separate command. The revolution which had been so far
opposed by mediocre generals and badly-organized troops, had now to
contend against skilful generals and well-disciplined troops.
Alvear applied for the command of the army of the North. San Martin, who
considered the expedition against Monte Video of more importance,
willingly gave place to him, but Alvear, ever vacillating and loth to
leave the field of politics, changed his mind and recommended San Martin
for the post. San Martin was anxious to free himself from the trammels
of party in order to gain freedom of action in the course he had marked
out for himself; he accordingly accepted the command of a reinforcement
for the army of the North, and received instructions to assume the
command-in-chief if he should deem it advisable.
This reinforcement consisted of the 7th battalion of infantry, 700
strong, two squadrons of the mounted grenadiers, and 100 artillerymen,
and reached Tucuman before the close of the year 1813. Soon after San
Martin and Belgrano met at Yatasto on the road to Salta, and swore
friendship to each other, an oath most faithfully kept by both.
These two celebrated men had never met before, but had for some time
corresponded. San Martin presented himself as a subordinate, but
Belgrano looked to him as a master in the art of war, and regarded him
as his successor. After some delay, due to the reluctance of San Martin
to supersede his friend, he at length assumed the command on receipt of
positive orders to that effect from Government, Belgrano remaining with
him in command of a regiment. Belgrano died in the belief that San
Martin was the tutelar genius of South America, and San Martin to the
end of his days honoured the memory of his illustrious friend as that of
one of the purest patriots of the New World.
On the 22nd January, 1814, the executive power was concentrated in one
person, who took the title of Supreme Director. Don Gervasio Antonio
Posadas was selected by the Lodge to fill this post, and was duly
elected by the General Assembly. No one was more surprised than himself
at this appointment, for which his only special recommendation was that
he was the uncle of Alvear, who for the present contented himself with
the command of the army of the capital, until such time as he could take
command of the army of Monte Video, and there achieve such military
glory as should entitle him to supreme power.
The first care of San Martin, on assuming command of the army of the
North, was to insist upon the regular payment of his men. There existed
in the army chest a sum of thirty-six thousand dollars, drawn from Upper
Peru, which Government had directed should be paid over to the General
Treasury. San Martin disobeyed the order and applied the money as he
wished, giving Government at the same time his reasons for so doing.
Government approved of his conduct as justified by necessity, for the
army was at the time in the last stage of destitution.