VENEZUELA. 



781 



hostages, except his son, who had mode his es- 

 cape some weeks Ircfore. Palacip would not 

 yield in < rvspo. hut could not remain ut the head 

 of the Government. Beloctantlrand practically 

 under compulsion he resigned his powers into the 

 hands of Domingo Monagas and Julio P. Sarria, 

 who undertook to continue the fight against the 

 Federalists, each of them honing to succeed to 

 the leadership of the Liberal purl y and to the 

 Presidency. On June 17 Palacio laid down his 

 office, and was taken on a Government man-of- 

 war to Martinique, whence he sailed for Paris. 



Andue/a's Administration. Palacio, on the 

 demand of the men who had stood by him till now, 

 resigned I he Presidency in favor of Dr. Guillermo 

 Tell Yillegas, who was Vice-President of the Fed- 

 eral Council, and as such the regular successor to 

 the President. The first act of the new Govern- 

 ment was to release all the political prisoners. 

 Gen. Monagas and Vice-President Villegas invited 

 Crespo to join with them in the plan that they 

 proposed for the reorganization of the Govern- 

 ment and the election of a President. He refused 

 peremptorily to accept any plan except the con- 

 stitutional procedure as understood by the Legu- 

 listas. A ship was sent to Cura?oa to bring Dr. 

 Rojas Paul to Caracas. Gen. Luciano Mendoza, 

 as commander-in-chief, with Gen. Domingo 

 Monagas, Sarria, the Minister of War, and Dr. 

 Casafias reorganized the military forces for the 

 purpose of giving battle to Crespo if peace could 

 not be arranged. A committee of citizens headed 

 by the Archbishop attempted to effect a com- 

 promise, but Crespo refused to receive them. 

 On June 29 another committee was sent by Mo- 

 nagas, bringing an offer to call Congress together 

 for the election of a President, and meanwhile to 

 withdraw the Government troops from Caracas, 

 to make Crespo's soldiers the Government army 

 and him chief military commander, and to allow 

 him to name four members of the Cabinet. He 

 rejected the offer, which was sanctioned by Ville- 

 gas, insisting that those who had broken the law 

 should suffer the penalty of the law or leave the 

 country. On the following morning Gen. Men- 

 doza attacked Crespo's intrenched position at 

 Guayabo, and Other attacks were made on the 

 center and the right. The Crespists were entirely 

 destitute of powder, and abandoned the position. 

 A heavy fog and rains favored the retreat, and 

 a detachment of 1,000 men, stripping themselves 

 to the waist in order that they might know one 

 another in the fight, got back into the earthworks 

 and in u hand-to-hand combat with machetes 

 made it a drawn battle, in which the attacking 

 party suffered the heaviest losses owing to numer- 

 ous desertions. Crespo was attacked while he was 

 awaiting the return of a commissioner that he had 

 sent to Villegas with the terms on which he 

 would make peace. 



Dr. Rojas Paul arrived in Caracas on July 19, 

 and hostilities were suspended during negotiations 

 for peace. Gen. Sarria. who was particularly ob- 

 noxious to the Crespist party, resigned his place 

 as Minister of War, which was t alien by Gen. 

 Ybarra. Congress was convoked, and the Legal- 

 ist Congressmen who were fighting in the armies 

 of Crespo went to the capital to resume their seats 

 in the Senate and the House. Shortly before 

 Rojas Paul's arrival La Victoria was taken by the 

 revolutionary General Rodriguez, who was pro- 



claimed Governor of the State of Guzman Blanco, 

 as Guerra had Ix-en of Cunibobo after occupying 

 Valencia (Jen. Cnsaflas, 1'alacio's Military Gov- 

 ernor of the State of Bolivar, joined the revolution. 

 Barcelona was the only city still loyal to the Cara- 

 cas Government, and Sarria, who attempted to 

 organize a section of the Liberal party in order to 

 get himself elected President, and was suspected 

 of the intention of reviving the unpopular Godo 

 or Guzmancist party, joined Domingo .Monagas 

 there after being forced to retire from the Minis- 

 try. Gen. Andrew Vclutich with 3,000 men lay 

 encamped before that strongly fortified town, 

 while Gen. Leoncio Quintana, with 1,000 men, 

 and Gen. Martin Vega, with a somewhat larger 

 force, held Gen. Luciano Mendoza beleaguered in 

 Cua. They were re-enforced by a detachment 

 from Los Teques, where Crespo's main army was 

 encamped. Gen. Urdaneta, commanding the 

 forces in the State of Zulia, which the regular 

 bodies of Crespists had long since abandoned in 

 order to join the revolutionary chieftain, would 

 not recognize the new Executive at Caracas. The 

 President of the State, at his prompting, gave 

 notice that none of the customs duties of Mara- 

 caibo would be forwarded to Caracas until a set- 

 tled Government should be established. The 

 courts in Caracas, which had been formerly closed 

 by one of the judges of the Court of Cassation 

 after their release, were reopened. Congress met 

 and appointed election committees, but it was 

 soon apparent that no combination would give 

 the two-thirds majority necessary for the election 

 of a President, as the adherents of Palacio and 

 his successors were too strong in Congress and too 

 determined to accept either Rojas Paul or Crespo, 

 although willing to vote for Fonseca or Dr. \ il- 

 lanucva, two Congressmen who had signed the 

 protest of the 46 against Palacio. On July 19 

 some skirmishing took place between the forces of 

 Quintana and Vegas and Gen. Mendoza at Cua. 

 Crespo, who had retired to Parapara in the moun- 

 tains, advanced again after receiving ammunition 

 from the Orinoco, taking San Juan, Cura, Cagua, 

 and other strategic points in the line of his march, 

 and then La Victoria, and, on July 28, Los Teques, 

 both of which towns were evacuated by the troops 

 of Monagas, making the latter his base of sup- 

 plies. Guerra threw up a half-moon of fortifica- 

 tions around the northern and east ern portions of 

 Caracas, connecting with Crespo's works on the 

 other side. The Crespists were not sufficiently 

 provided with ammunition and improved rifles to 

 force the fighting. Dr. Rojas Paul's pecuniary 

 sacrifices were discontinued after his diplomatic 

 efforts had failed to put an end to the civil war, 

 and he had withdrawn from Caracas, Congress 

 having broken up. On Aug. 10 the Legalists re- 

 captured Bolivar City after a sanguinary battle. 

 The revolutionary chiefs Gonzalez. Gallinde/, 

 Avendano, and Hernandez united their forces, 

 amounting to 4,000 men, at Palo Grande. Gen. 

 Hernandez made a feint with 300 men which drew 

 the commander of the town, Gen. Carrera, with 

 1,000 men, into a place where the cavalry of Gon- 

 zales could fall upon them, and the whole Legalist 

 army surrounded them on the bank of an im- 

 passable lagoon. A corps of sharpshooters, com- 

 manded by a German, picked off the Government 

 generals, all of whom were shot. The fight lasted 

 5 hours, and about 500 fell on each side. The 



