360 SPANISH AMERICA. 



an error, which has not unfrequently been 

 fatal to the hopes of even the greatest cap- 

 tains. He divided his forces, sending Ur- 

 dineta against Coro, and Marino to San 

 Fernando, on the Apure, whilst only a third 

 part of his army remained under his own 

 immediate command. He thus counter- 

 balanced the error of the royalist general 

 Cagigal, who had persisted in coming to 

 action at Carabobo, without waiting for 

 a numerous body of cavalry under Boves, 

 the junction of which would have given 

 him a greater chance of success. 



The three divisions of the patriot army 

 were, in the course of a few days, separated 

 at the distance of many leagues from each 

 other, when Bolivar was attacked by Boves 

 at La Puerta, a plain about fifty leagues from 

 Caraccas, near the town of Cura. After 

 a hard-fought contest, which lasted for se- 

 veral hours. Bolivar was reluctantly com- 



