PERU INDEPENDENT.
1821.
On the 6th July, 1821, the Patriots entered Lima; on the 24th June was
fought the battle of Carabobo, the Waterloo of the Royalists of
Columbia. San Martin’s plan of a continental campaign was on the point
of realization; he from the south, and Bolívar from the north, converged
to a common centre. The only troops which now upheld the standard of the
King, were those which still held the Highlands of Peru, the province of
Quito, and one isolated fortress, soon about to surrender. On the ocean,
only three vessels, the remnant of the naval power of Spain, crushed by
Cochrane on the Pacific, wandered to and fro like phantom ships. The
definitive triumph was but a question of time. Never before was plan on
so vast a scale carried out with such mathematical precision--a plan,
nevertheless, sketched out in accordance with the designs of inevitable
fate.
As was said by the first captain of the age and as was recorded by an
American thinker, “All the great captains who have undertaken great
emprises have carried them out in conformity with the rules of art,
adapting the force employed to the obstacle to be overcome, knowing that
events are not the work of chance, but obey those laws which rule the
destinies of men.”
When the two liberators of South America violated these laws, one
straying from the path, the other blinded by ambition, both fell; one
deliberately, as he found himself wanting in strength to complete his
mission; the other cast down by the irresistible forces which he had
arrayed against himself.
The emancipation of America was no longer in question, the independence
of Peru was assured, whatever might be the errors of men or the
vicissitudes of the struggle. But this, though clear to the superior
minds which presided over the scene, was not perceived by those more
immediately concerned. This was more especially the case in Peru, where
the idea of the revolution had as yet taken no deep root; that spirit of
nationality which would secure the triumph at any cost was not yet
aroused. San Martin sought to awaken this spirit by a solemn declaration
of independence.
The position of San Martin was complex; before America he stood as a
liberator, he was the arbiter of the destinies of Peru; he was a general
of two republics who had confided their armies to his care; and as a
great leader he was responsible to his conscience. As he entered the
“City of the Kings” in triumph he was at the apogee of his glory, but as
Rothschild the banker said, it requires ten times more skill and
prudence to keep a fortune than to make one.
San Martin wrote to O’Higgins:--
“At last, by patience, we have compelled the enemy to abandon the
capital of the Pizarros; at last our labours are crowned by seeing the
independence of America secure--Peru is free--I now see before me the
end of my public life, and watch how I can leave this heavy charge in
safe hands, so that I may retire into some quiet corner and live as a
man should live.”
His public declarations were also grave and moderate, but the
exaggerated importance he gave to the possession of Lima, led him to
abandon the Highlands, where lay the decision of the question, and
showed that, to some extent, his judgment was warped by success.
At the time of the occupation of Lima, San Martin published in his camp
a bulletin written by Monteagudo, which is a declaration of political
principles, and gives a reason for the policy which he pursued. Treating
of the war as almost at an end, he offers a restricted liberty for the
establishment of order, but makes no profession of political faith,
national independence being the only point which is definitely
established.
On the 14th July, San Martin convened a meeting of the principal
citizens of Lima, nominated by the Cabildo. At this meeting the
following resolution was carried:--
“The general will is decided for the independence of Peru of Spanish
domination, or of that of any other foreign power.”
Which declaration was sanctioned by the applause of the people.
On the 28th July the independence of Peru was solemnly proclaimed with
imposing ceremony in the great square of Lima, San Martin displaying the
new flag of Peru, amid the roar of cannon and the acclamations of the
people who, as the procession passed through the main streets of the
city, showered flowers and perfumes upon it. Cochrane, who looked on
from a balcony of the viceregal palace, was singled out for a special
ovation by the populace. Medals commemorative of the occasion were
afterwards distributed among the people.
San Martin sent back to Chile the flags captured at Rancagua, and to
Buenos Ayres five flags and two Spanish standards, as trophies of the
victories of the united army.
While these pompous ceremonies went on, the siege of Callao was
vigorously prosecuted by Las Heras, who repulsed several sorties of the
garrison, but as he had no siege train, he could not venture an assault.
Cochrane offered to land guns from the fleet, but as the garrison had
only provisions for two months, more reliance was placed on a strict
blockade.
The garrison seeing their situation desperate, resolved to scuttle
their ships, and commenced by the corvette _San Sebastiano_, on which
Cochrane wrote again to San Martin urging an immediate assault; then
perceiving a gap in the boom which surrounded the remaining ships, he on
the night of the 24th July, sent eight boats under Captain Crosbie, who
cut out from under the batteries the 34-gun corvette _Resolucion_, two
smaller vessels and sundry boats, without any loss on his part.
On the 14th August Las Heras made an attempt to capture the fortress by
surprise. He had noticed that the gates of the Castle Real Felipe were
frequently left open, and the drawbridges lowered. The distance from his
line to the walls was about 3,000 yards, which cavalry could cross at a
gallop in ten or twelve minutes. A body of horse supported by infantry
made a sudden rush from Bella Vista, the centre of his line, but in
spite of their speed, the enemy perceived them in time to raise the
bridge leading to the inner fortifications. The cavalry galloped through
the streets of the town, sabred stragglers and made several prisoners,
among the latter being the wounded general Ricafort.
On the same day, Cochrane made overtures to the governor, La Mar, very
unworthy of his high renown. He had an idea that silver bullion to the
value of thirty millions of dollars was stored up in Callao, besides
much other property belonging to the wealthy Spaniards of Lima. He
proposed that La Mar should surrender the fortress to him and give him
up one-third the treasure, engaging in return to furnish ships in which
he, and any he chose to take with him, might escape with the rest of the
treasure.
Cochrane states in his Memoirs, that he required the money to pay his
crews, and denies that he had any ulterior object, but he himself
acknowledges that if he had gained possession of the forts, he would
have forced San Martin to keep his promise to leave the Peruvians free
to choose their own government.
The logical sequence of the Declaration of Independence, was the
establishment of a National Government in Peru, but it was of prime
necessity that the new government should not only govern but should
carry on the war. There was great difficulty in organizing any such
government, as there was no social nucleus round which the heterogeneous
population might gather, and Peru had not one citizen who possessed
either prestige or moral authority. A deputation from the Cabildo of
Lima waited upon San Martin, praying him to take the reins of government
into his own hands. He answered somewhat enigmatically, that
circumstances had already given him the supreme power, and he should
keep it so long as he considered it necessary for the public welfare.
The Lautaro Lodge, in which the majority were officers of the united
army, then addressed him to the same effect, declaring that the public
safety required him to place himself at the head of an administration.
On the 3rd August, 1821, he issued a decree, whereby he gave himself the
title of “Protector of Peru,” uniting in his own person the supreme
administrative authority, both military and political. No one in the
world, except Cromwell, had ever taken upon himself this title with this
authority. America alarmed, thought he had done so from ambition, and
saw in him a future despot, but she thought wrong; a dictatorship was
necessary, and in taking it he ensured the speedy loss of all his power.
The Protector named Dr. Unanue, a Peruvian of great reputed wisdom but
of no experience, his Minister of Finance; Garcia del Rio, Minister of
Foreign Affairs; and Monteagudo, Minister of War and Marine. Riva Aguero
was named President of the department of Lima, and Las Heras took
command of the army.
La Serna, on receiving official notification of this step, wrote to San
Martin, telling him with some irony that he thought the title of
Liberator suited him better than that of Protector, and that the people
who had so spontaneously sworn to uphold the independence of Peru,
would just as readily swear to uphold the new Spanish constitution.
O’Higgins enthusiastically approved of it, seeing in it the only means
of carrying the great work they had both at heart to a successful
termination.
The first official act of the Protector was to issue a decree against
the Spaniards, drawn up by Monteagudo, and showing evidence of his
intemperate spirit, but it was also in accordance with the calculating
spirit of San Martin.
On leaving Valparaiso, San Martin had published a proclamation to “The
Spanish Europeans resident in Peru,” declaring that he wished to behave
generously to them, providing they made no opposition to the
independence of the country. During the negotiations at Miraflores and
Punchauca, he had endeavoured to propitiate the Spanish civilians, but
when hostilities had again broken out and he was master of Lima, the
splenetic behaviour of the Spanish residents, made him resolve to crush
them.
He now declared that the persons and properties of all Spaniards who
would live in peace and swear the independence of the country, should be
respected; that those who would not trust to this promise, should ask
for passports and should leave the country with their movable goods; but
that those who submitted to the Government and secretly worked against
it, would be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law, and their
estates confiscated; and wound up by saying:--
“I know what passes in the most secret corner of your houses. Tremble,
if you abuse my indulgence. Let this be the last time that I have to
remind you that your destiny is irrevocable and you must submit to it.”
Public safety in no way justified such rigour, which was a violation of
promises given. But there was more in this decree than excessive
severity and intemperance of language, it formed part of a financial
plan. War is war, and the independence of South America was in great
part paid for by Spanish fortunes, wrested from their owners by forced
loans and by confiscations. It was now the turn of the Spaniards of Peru
to contribute their share. San Martin had made use of this system in
Mendoza, he had recommended it in Chile. Sentimental characters do not
lead great causes to victory in the struggle of life. All the same, the
measure was unjustifiable in the absence of any overt act on the part of
the Spaniards.
One result of this new system of persecution, was the banishment of the
Archbishop of Lima, a man of eminent piety and eighty years of age, who,
though a Royalist, had aided San Martin in quieting the city on his
arrival; he had authorized with his presence the municipal council which
had declared the country independent; he had assisted at the _Te Deum_
which celebrated the declaration. Most of the Peruvian clergy were
ardent Patriots, but not so the high dignitaries of the church. San
Martin took advantage of a mere pretext to send him his passport and an
order to leave the country in twenty-four hours.
On the 4th September, 1821, when San Martin was, as Protector of Peru,
in the apogee of his power, his old enemy José Miguel Carrera, died
cursing him in Mendoza. Associated with Artigas, Ramirez, Bustos, and
others of the Gaucho chieftains of the Argentine Provinces, Carrera had
distinguished himself among them for rancorous hatred of Buenos Ayres.
Unfortunate in all his enterprises, he was at length captured, and shot
as a bandit, upon the same bench where his brothers had perished before
him.