592 



BOLIVAR. 



bcuten by Moves, in a Iwittle fought in tin- plains ni 

 La Piicrta, near ( 'urn, ami compelled to embark for 

 Cumana, with the shattered remnant of his Corn -s ; 

 so that Caraccas was retaken by the Spaniards in 

 July, 1814, and, before the end of Uie year, the 

 royalists were again undisputed masters of Vene- 

 luela. Once more, therefore, 13. appeared in Car- 

 Uiageua as a fugitive, and proceeded to Tunja, 

 where the congress of New Grenada was sitting, to 

 give an account of his brilliant, but, in the result, 

 disastrous expedition. Notwithstanding his misfor- 

 tunes, ami the ctVurts of his personal enemies, he was 

 treated with great consideration, and received the 

 applause merited by one who had needed only re- 

 Mturces proportionate to his talents to have accom- 

 plished the permanent deliverance of his country. 



When U. arrived at Tunja, the congress was or- 

 ganizing an expedition against the city of Bogota, 

 lor the purpose of compelling the province of Cundi- 

 namarca to accede to the general union of the pro- 

 vinces of New Grenada, and thus put an end to the 

 collision which divided the means and crippled the 

 exertions of the republicans. Every conciliatory 

 measure having failed to effect a union of the pro- 

 vinces, the government had recourse, to arms. B. was 

 intrusted with the. delicate task of commanding the 

 forces of the union upon this occasion x and marched 

 against Santo Fe early in December, 1814, at the 

 head of nearly 2000 troops. He invested the city, 

 drove in the outposts, obtained possession of the 

 suburbs by storm, and was preparing to assault the 

 great square, where the dictator Alvarez and the 

 troops of Cundinamarca were posted, when the latter 

 capitulated, December 12, and became subject, 

 thenceforth, to the general government of New 

 Grenada, which was peaceably transferred to Bogota. 

 The congress passed a vote of thanks to B. for the 

 wisdom and courage with which he had directed the 

 campaign, and brought it so speedily to a happy ter- 

 mination ; and the inhabitants of the city themselves 

 expressed their approbation of his personal conduct. 



Previous to this time, Santa Marta had fallen into 

 the possession of the royalists, in consequence of the 

 incapacity of Labatut ; and the general government 

 justly appreciated the importance of regaining it. B. 

 was accordingly employed upon this service, and was 

 to receive the necessary munitions of war from the 

 citadel of Carthagena ; but the rivalry and jealousy 

 of the military commandant Castillo, the origin of 

 which we have already explained, defeated all his 

 plans. Indignant at Castillo's conduct in refusing 

 him the requisite supplies, B., after the season for 

 acting against Santa Marta to advantage had been 

 wasted in ruinous delays, in vested Carthagena with his 

 troops, hoping to intimidate Castillo into submission, 

 or, if not, to reduce him to reason by force. But, in 

 the midst of these wretched dissensions, wherein both 

 parties listened too much to resentment, Morillo ar- 

 rived at the isle of Margarita with an overwhelming 

 force from Spain ; and B., aware that all further 

 views upon Santa Marta were hopeless, threw up his 

 command, and, finding that he could not be usefully 

 employed at Carthagena, embarked for Jamaica, in 

 May, 1815, to wait for better times. He remained 

 in Kingston most of the year, whilst Morillo was re- 

 ducing Carthagena, and overrunning New Grenada. 

 During his residence there, a hireling Spaniard made 

 an attempt upon his life, and would have assassinated 

 him, if it had not happened that another person oc- 

 cupied B.'s bed at the time, who was stabbed to the 

 heart. 



From Kingston, B. repaired to Aux Cayes, in the 

 island of Hayti, and, assisted by private individuals, 

 and with a small force furnished by Petion, formed 

 an expedition, in conjunction with commodore Brion, 



to join Arismendi, who had raised the standard of in- 

 dependence anew in the. isle of Margarila. Ho 

 arrived in safety at Margarita in May, 1810', and, 

 sailing thence, landed on the mainland near Cumana, 

 but, in a few mouths, was encountered by thn 

 Spaniards under Morales at Ocumare, and compelled 

 to re-embark. .Nothing disheartened by this failure, 

 lie obtained reinforcements at Anx ('ayes, and, in 

 December, 1816, landed once more in Margarita. 

 There he issued a proclamation convoking ilie re- 

 presentatives of Venezuela in a general congress ; 

 and from thence passed over to Barcelona, where he. 

 organized a provisional government, and gathered 

 forces to resist Morillo, wiio was approaching with a 

 powerful division. They encountered each other on 

 the 16th, 17th, and 18th of February, in a desperate 

 conflict, which ended in B.'s obtaining the victory. 

 Morillo retreated in disorder, and was met and de- 

 feated anew by general Paez, with his irresistible 

 Llaneros. B., being now recognised as supreme 

 chief, proceeded in his career of victory, and, before 

 the close of the year 1817, had fixed his head-quar- 

 ters at Angostura. The sanguinary battles of this 

 period, in the most important of which he was 

 engaged in person, belong rather to the history of 

 Colombia (q. v.) than to B.'s own life. He. found 

 time, however, to preside at the opening of the con- 

 gress of Angostura, February 15th, 1819, and to 

 submit a long and elaborate exposition of his views 

 of government. He, also surrendered his authority 

 into the hands of the congress, which required him 

 to resume it, and to retain it until the independence 

 of his country should be fully achieved. B. soon re- 

 orffnniaed his forces, and set out from Angostura, 

 with the purpose of crossing the Cordilleras, and 

 effecting a junction with general Santander, \yho 

 commanded the republican forces in New Grenada, 

 so that the united arms of the two republics might 

 act with the greater efficiency. He succeeded, in 

 July, 1819, in reaching Tunja, which city he entered 

 after a battle on the neighliouring heights, and, on 

 the 7th of August, gained the great and splendid vic- 

 tory of Bojaca, which gave him immediate possession 

 of Santa Fe and all New Grenada. The viceroy Sa- 

 mano fled precipitately before him ; and he was 

 enthusiastically welcomed in Santo Fe as a deliverer, 

 appointed president and captain-general of the repub- 

 lic, and enabled by the new resources of men, money, 

 and munitions of war which he found there, to pre- 

 pare for returning into Venezuela with an army 

 sufficient to insure the complete expulsion of the 

 Spaniards. 



Bolivar's entry into Angostura, after his glorious 

 campaign in New Grenada, was a peculiarly gratifying 

 and affecting spectacle. Its whole population hailed 

 him as the liberator and father of his country. He 

 embraced the favourable moment to obtain the fun- 

 damental law of December 7th, 1819, by which 

 the republics of Venezuela and New Grenada 

 were to be thenceforth united in a single state, 

 under the presidency of B., and by the title of the 

 republic of Colombia. Meanwhile, the seat of go- 

 vernment was transferred provisionally to Rosario 

 de Cucuta ; and B. again took the field, at the head 

 of the most formidable army that had been assembled 

 by the independents. After a series of memorable 

 advantages over the Spaniards, an armistice of six 

 months was negotiated at TrujLUogbetween B. and 

 Morillo, and subscribed, Novembeflf5th, 1820. Mo- 

 rillo soon afterwards returned to Spain, leaving La 

 Torre in, command. At the termination of the armis- 

 ;ice, B. made a great effort to finish the war by- a 

 decisive blow, and attained his object by vanquishing 

 La Torre, in the famous battle of Carabolwy leaving 

 to the Spaniards only the broken fragments of an 



