434 



C A R A C C A S. 



Caracca*. lute independence of die colonies. The professions of 

 ^-nr-^ attachment to Ferdinand VII., and the sentiments of 

 loyalty which pervaded their early proclamations, were 

 intended to deceive those who were more moderate 

 in their views; while severe invectives against the 

 old government were mixed up with those loyal pro- 

 fessions, in order to influence the passions of the low- 

 er orders. After thus preparing the mind of the 

 public for some great change, the congress of Vene- 

 zuela assembled on the 1st of July 1811, and resol- 

 ved to renounce all allegiance to the Spanish king, 

 and to declare their provinces independent of every 

 foreign power. 



In consequence of this resolution, which was not 

 promulgated till some days after it was formed, many 

 individuals, who held public situations, resigned their 

 offices, others retired from the country, while the 

 Spaniards and Canary Islanders formed conspiracies 

 against the new government. Upon the discovery 

 of these plots, many of the ring-leaders were executed 

 in Caraccas, while others were confined in unhealthy 

 prisons, and denied all communication with their 

 friends. These examples of cruelty alarmed the 

 peaceable inhabitants, numbers of whom sold their 

 property, and fled to the United States, or to some 

 of the neighbouring islands. 



The junta of the Caraccas, which had been formed 

 merely for temporary purposes, perceived the neces- 

 sity of assembling a general congress ; and the first 

 act of this assembly was to place the legislative and 

 executive powers in the hands of three individuals, 

 who appeared qualified for this high trust by their 

 abilities and their moderate views. The measures of 

 the government were now carried on with great acti- 

 vity and zeal, but were sometimes interrupted by the 

 interference of an assembly called the Patriotic So- 

 ciety,* who met regularly to discuss political sub- 

 jects, and who appear to have been influenced by the 

 greatest hostility to the British government. 



The city of Coro having refused to join the 

 standard of the insurgents, the Marquis del Toro 

 was sent against them with an armed force, but the 

 Coreans quickly repulsed him with considerable loss. 

 The town of Valencia, which stands upon the lake 

 of the same name, formerly called Tacarigua, imitated 

 the loyalty of the Coreans, and having been joined 

 by an entire battalion of Pardos or people of colour, 

 they openly proclaimed Ferdinand the Seventh. In 

 consequence of this declaration, General Miranda 

 marched against that city with the Caraquenian army, 

 amounting to about 2600 men. Having passed the 

 mountains of San Pedro, and descended into the val- 

 leys of Aragoa, he advanced without any molesta- 

 tion to La Victoria, from the heights of which he 

 descended into the immense plains of Valencia. Se- 

 veral small gun-boats, equipped by the Valencians, 

 were stationed on the lake, and concealed among the 

 bushes and reeds which grow upon its banks ; and 

 when the Caraquenian army came to the village of 

 Mariara, where the road follows the margin of the 

 lake, they received some unexpected and well-direct- 

 ed shots from the gun-boats. The resistance of the 



gun boats, however, was very feeble, and Miranda Caraecas. 

 marched without opposition to the Morro, which is s -" Y"~*' 

 a round height and pass that commands Valencia. 

 At this pass the Valencians resolved to try their 

 strength; but after opposing a brave resistance to the 

 enemy, they were compelled to retire with the loss of 

 their chief engineer, and several pieces of cannon, 

 From the entrance of the city, where they had rallied, 

 the Valencians were driven into the great square, 

 where, after a second stand, they were routed with 

 the loss of all their artillery. The spirits of the Va- 

 lencians, however, were not subdued by these dis- 

 asters ; a shower of balls was discharged from the 

 flat roofs and strongly grated windows of the adjoin- 

 ing houses ; and in attempting to force their way in- 

 to the houses, and to take possession of the barracks, 

 where the battalion of Pardos were posted, the Ca- 

 raquenians were every where repulsed. After ha- 

 ving kept possession of the town for ten hours, they 

 were forced to abandon it, with the loss of all their 

 artillery, several prisoners, and two hundred men 

 killed or severely wounded, and never halted till they 

 reached Guacara, which is more than four leagues . 

 from Valencia. The number of Valencians who were 

 armed did not exceed seven hundred men. 



The army of Miranda, receiving reinforcements 

 from various quarters, was, in less than a fortnight, 

 enabled to advance upon Valencia, while, from the 

 desertion of the whites, the Valencians were reduced 

 to less than 500 armed men. On the 8th of August 

 he attacked the Valencians in the valley of Palotal, 

 and on the heights of El Puto and Agua Blanca, 

 which were taken after an obstinate resistance. The 

 Caraquenian light infantry followed the Valencians 

 into the city, which they had defended by forming 

 new ditches and intrenchments in the principal streets 

 which led to the great square, and after being attack- 

 ed on eight different points at the same time, they 

 were at last closely hemmed in. Their strength be- 

 ing now greatly weakened by desertion, and being 

 without water and provisions, they surrendered at dis- 

 cretion on the 13th August, and the flotilla of gun- 

 boats, which had been equipped upon the lake, was 

 also given up. 



While the Caraquenians were thus establishing 

 their power in Valencia, an army of Coreans had ad- 

 vanced for its relief, as far as San Felipe on the west, 

 while the Guyanese, who had also remained steady 

 to the mother country, had extended their troops 

 nearly to Calvario on the west. In this state of af- 

 fairs the government of the Caraccas adopted a sys- 

 tem of severity and vigilance suited to the dangers 

 that menaced them : They instituted a tribunal of 

 vigilance, which paid domiciliary visits, and ordered 

 arrests upon the slightest suspicion; the theatre was 

 shut, and all balls and concerts, and even private 

 parties, were at an end. The people were regularly 

 trained to the use of arms, and it became the fa- 

 shion for persons of the greatest distinction to sleep 

 at the barracks : a law was passed for the abolition of 

 torture, and the liberty of the press was established. 



It would be out of place here, even if we were 



" About six months after the arrival of General Miranda, he was elected president of this club, and he is said to have im- 

 mediately introduced four Mulattoes as members. 



