788 



enue of the Venezuelan Government, took i-nn- 

 in. mil in person of ;i fleet which \viis <li>palehed 

 to recapture I'nert.. ( 'alu-llo. Abandoning < 'ara- 

 c&a, accompanied by Sarria, Casafias, Carhajal, 

 an<l Adrian, ho Bailed with his whole foive .,f 

 1.500 men I'm- tlio relief of the famished defender-; 

 of the Castillo. 



Mendoza's Dictatorship. After Urdaneta's 

 departure. Villcgas advised Mendoza to capitu- 

 late to Crespo, whose forces on the night of Aug. 

 J-l had crushed the left wing of the Government 

 jinny at < 'ua, which was commanded by Nativi- 

 dad Mendoza. Every member of the Cabinet 

 except one voted in favor of an honorable peace 

 Dr. Renjifro Palacio, Minister of Public In- 

 struction. The commander, determined to fight 

 till the last, deposed Villegas, and proclaimed 

 himself military dictator, appointing Dr. Palacio 

 Provisional President. The actual members of 

 the Government not only protested, but resisted 

 his authority. Giuseppe Monagas was forcibly 

 expelled from the Governor's palace, Dr. Villegas 

 was placed under a strict guard in his private 

 house, Ybarra attempted to hold the Casa Ama- 

 rilla. Gen. Leopoldo Sarria made efforts to raise 

 troops to upset the dictatorship, and when all 

 failed, the Secretary of State, Urbaneja, of the 

 deposed Cabinet, sent a formal notice to the 

 foreign legations that all legal government had 

 ceased. Crespo took possession of Valencia, and 

 named Mora provisional Governor of CaraboLo. 

 The troops of Mendoza were withdrawn from 

 La Victoria, which was occupied by Crespo. 

 Mendoza exacted forced loans from the banks 

 and mercantile houses. All who criticised his 

 conduct were sent to the Rotunda. He ban- 

 ished the archbishop, sent priests to jail, robbed 

 the richest church in Caracas, and compelled the 

 agents of the wealthy planters to pay blackmail. 

 He levied contributions from the merchants of La 

 Guayra also, and arrested those who refused. The 

 consuls of Germany, Belgium, and other coun- 

 tries were arrested, but were released on the de- 

 mand of American Consul Mr, Hanna, supported 

 by the Spanish, French, and British consul, and 

 the foreign warships in the harbor. After this 

 complication, Gen. Mendoza resigned the dicta- 

 torship. He had exiled Dr. Villegas. and could 

 not restore to him the authority, but he trans- 

 ferred it to Villegas Pulido, a nephew of Dr. Vil- 

 legas. 



1'iilido's Dictatorship. On Sept. 9 the " South 

 Portland," a steamer a_bout to leave with a cargo 

 of arms and ammunition for the Crespists, was 

 ordered to be detained in New York harbor by 

 United States officers on complaint of the Vene- 

 xi irlan Minister at Washington. The captain. 

 however, obtained clearance papers, and slipped 

 out to sea at night. Crespo's cause received a 

 setback by the repulse of Vegas at Guetive by 

 Guevarra. Before the flight of Mendoza Gen. 

 Urdaneta and his lieutenant, Sarria, had en-* 

 countered the forces of Colina at La Vela, and 

 had been utterly routed, leaving 1,500 of their men 

 dead on the field. There were several engage- 

 ments, in which Colina's men took about 750 

 rifles and muskets and 850 prisoners. Urdaneta 

 escaped in a sloop to Hayti. Colina and his army 

 of lancers and riflemen marched on to Valencia 

 to support Crespo, who had ordered a final ad- 

 vance on Caracas. Colina's victory was followed 



by on. achieved by Oen. Manzano over the troops 

 of <M-II. Hallalla at Ospino. Monayas had been 

 defeated, and nothing remained to hinder the 

 triumph of the revolution save the fortifications 

 of Caracas, which Pulido wa* determined to hold. 

 On the report of Renjifro I'alacio, Act ing 

 dent Pulido cancelled the exequatur of United 

 States Consul Hanna for his course in regard to 

 the arrest of foreign consuls, but in the end Pala- 

 cio was removed from office and the action was 

 recalled. Macuto, which fell into Crespo's hands 

 on Sept. 18, and was afterward retaken by tho 

 Government forces, was again captured by Col. 

 IMnaiigo. On Sept. 27 the Government troops 

 sent to attack this position wer- repulsed, and 

 Gen. Ramos, the commander, with 40 others, 

 was made prisoner and 100 men were killed. 

 Gen. Ignacio Pulido, uncle of the Acting Presi- 

 dent, was appointed general-in-chief of the Gov- 

 ernment troops, and he began to intrench the 

 8.000 men to which the army was reduced. Pu- 

 lido's main position was at Los Teques. Gen. 

 Crespo concentrated at that point about 14,000 

 men. After a number of preliminary skirmishes 

 a decisive battle was fought at the village of San 

 Pedro on Oct. 5. After a short and at first fierce 

 engagement, the Government troops wavered and 

 the line was broken by many refusing to continue 

 the fight, and going over to the enemy. The 

 Crespists followed up their advantage, and in- 

 flicted great slaughter with their guns and 

 machetes until the rout was complete. The sol- 

 diers of Pulido threw down their arms and scat- 

 tered in all directions. This fight ended the re- 

 sistance. Villegas Pulido and his whole Cabinet 

 departed quickly for La Guayra, and took ship 

 for Europe. 



Crespo's Administration. On Oct. 7 the capi- 

 tal was occupied by Gen. Guerra, Gen. Rcxlri- 

 guez, and Gen. Fernandez, with 3,000 troops, 

 in a few hours after the flight of the members of 

 the defeated Government. In the interval the 

 lawless element had held possession and com- 

 mitted many acts of pillage, to which the soldiers 

 put a stop. La Guayra was also filled with riot- 

 ers and plunderers until a detachment of Crespo's 

 army arrived, though the looting had been ar- 

 rested to some extent by the United States naval 

 commander, who landed a party of sailors and 

 marines to protect property. On Oct. 9 Gen. 

 Crespo held his triumphal entry into Caracas. 

 The political and military leaders met and form- 

 ally elected and proclaimed him Provisional 

 President. He issued a prcnunciamiento in which 

 he named the following men as members of the 

 Provisional Cabinet : Minister of Foreign Af- 

 fairs, Pedro Ezequiel Rojas ; Minister of the In- 

 terior. Leon Colina ; Minister of Finance, Dr. 

 Juan Pictri ; Minister of War, Guzman Alvarez ; 

 Chief of Police, Gen. Victor Rodriguez ; Chief of 

 Telegraphs, Leopoldo Baptista ; Minister of 1'ub- 

 lic Works, Mufioz Tebar : General-in-Cliief, Ra- 

 mon Guerra ; Minister of Instruction, Silva Gau- 

 dolphy ; Governor of Caracas, Sefior Andrade. 



F.xccpt the garrison of Barcelona, the only 

 Continuistas remaining under arms were scat- 

 tered bands in Los Andes and a small body in 

 the State of Benmidez. These were easily 

 crushed and dispersed, and Gen. Yaguaracuto. 

 who commandeo. under the direction of (Jen. 

 Mcnagas at Barcelona, surrendered and was taken 



