The Emancipation of South America
by Bartolomé Mitre · English · Gutenberg #48856 · 976,381 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Emancipation of South America
Author: Bartolomé Mitre
Translator: William Pilling
Release date: May 2, 2015 [eBook #48856]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA ***
THE
EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA
“Serás lo que debes ser,
Y sinó, no serás nada.”
SAN MARTIN.
THE EMANCIPATION OF
SOUTH AMERICA
_BEING A CONDENSED TRANSLATION_
BY
WILLIAM PILLING
OF
THE HISTORY OF SAN MARTIN
BY
GENERAL DON BARTOLOMÉ MITRE
FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC
With Maps
LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LTD.
1893
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.
The title of this translation is the second title of the original
“History of San Martin.” This transposition of title is an index to the
relation which the translation bears to the original. This latter is
truly a biography of San Martin, whose life could not be understood
unless very full account were given of the events in which he took so
prominent a part, therefore the biography is also a history.
No man who plays a prominent part in the history of a revolution can
escape becoming involved in disputes with his contemporaries, and in
many intricate questions which are of interest only to a very small
number of their successors. These disputes and these questions greatly
affect the career of a man, but have small influence upon the history of
a Nation. Of such troubles San Martin had his full share, his biographer
has entered fully into them, and with much detail has given proofs of
the correctness of the view he takes of them. These details are, for the
most part, suppressed in the translation, and all matters concerning San
Martin himself are greatly curtailed, while prominence is given to the
events of the times in which the scene passes. The translation is thus
a history in which enter the biographies of the two principal
personages, San Martin and Bolívar.
This translation is intended only for the general mass of
English-speaking readers, to whom minute details are wearisome, and is
thus in every part a condensation of the copious accounts which are
given in the original of the stirring events described. The student of
history will not find in it that ample information which he requires, in
order fully to understand the subject in all its bearings; for him the
original provides a mine of historic wealth, enriched as it is with
notes and with a voluminous appendix.
WILLIAM PILLING.
LONDON, _March, 1893_.
CONTENTS.
.....PAGE
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.....vii
PROLOGUE.....xxvii
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
The Argument of the Book--Synopsis of the South American
Revolution--The Action of America upon Europe--The Colonization
of Spanish America--The Colonization of North America--Colonial
Policy in both Americas--The Emancipation of North America--The
Affiliation of the Revolution of South America--The Moral Revolution
of South America--The Precursor of the Emancipation of South
America--The Races of South America; the Creole--The First Throes of
Revolution--The Growth of the Revolution--Attempts at Monarchy in
South America--Retrospection.....1
CHAPTER II.
SAN MARTIN IN EUROPE AND IN AMERICA.
1778--1812.
His Birth and Parentage--Leaves for Spain--His Career in the
Spanish Army--Africa--France--St. Vincent--Portugal--Cadiz--Society
of Lautaro--Argonilla--Baylen--Tudela--Albuera--Lord
Macduff--London--Buenos Ayres--Outbreak of the Revolution--Experiments
in Government--The Influence of San Martin--Personal Appearance and
Character of San Martin.....31
CHAPTER III.
THE LAUTARO LODGE.
1812--1813. PAGE
The First Triumvirate--Political Parties--The Mounted
Grenadiers--Military School--The Lautaro Lodge--Battle of
Tucuman--Revolution of 8th October--The Second Triumvirate--Military
Plans.....43
CHAPTER IV.
SAN LORENZO.
1813--1814.
Battle of the Cerrito--Meeting of the Constituent
Assembly--Reforms--Spanish Depredations on the Fluvial Coasts--The
Action of San Lorenzo--Battle of Salta--Influence of the
Lodge--Disasters of Vilcapugio and Ayohuma--Argentine Generals--San
Martin takes Command of the Army of the North--Appointment of the
Supreme Director.....53
CHAPTER V.
UPPER PERU.
1814.
The Problem of the Argentine Revolution--The Geography and Ethnology
of Upper Peru--Outbreak and Progress of the Revolution in Upper
Peru--Cruelties of the Spaniards--Composition of the Royalist
Army--Arenales--His campaign from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz--Battle of
La Florida--Results of these Operations.....64
CHAPTER VI.
THE WAR IN THE NORTH.
1814.
The Army of Tucuman--Preparations of Pezuela--Plans of San Martin--The
New Military School--Popular Movement in Salta--Martin Güemes--The
Gauchos of Salta--Operations of the Royalists--The Fall of Monte
Video--Retreat of Pezuela--San Martin’s Secret Plan--His Illness--Is
appointed Governor of Cuyo.....72
CHAPTER VII.
THE CHILENO-ARGENTINE REVOLUTION.
1810--1811.
Chilian and Argentine Society compared--Martinez Rozas--Popular
Excitement--Loss of Power by Governor Carrasco--The South of
Chile--O’Higgins--Deposition of Carrasco--Establishment of a
Junta--Resemblances of the Two Revolutions--Argentine-Chilian
Alliance--Freedom of Commerce--Mutiny in Santiago--Installation
of the First General Congress--Defeat of the Radicals--Rozas at
Conception.....80
CHAPTER VIII.
PROGRESS AND FALL OF THE CHILIAN REVOLUTION.
1811--1814.
The Three Carreras--A New Junta--Dissolution of Congress--Armed
Protest by Rozas--Valdivia--The First Newspaper--Death of Rozas--The
Chilian Flag--Carrera again Dictator--Abascal--Pareja lands at
Valdivia--Battle of San Carlos--Siege of Chillán--O’Higgins
made General-in-Chief--Argentine Auxiliaries--Arrival of
Gainza--Lastra named Supreme Director--Capture of Talca--Mackenna
at Membrillar--Defence of Quecheraguas--Mediation of the British
Commodore--Treaty of Lircay--The Carreras again in Power--Invasion of
Osorio--Siege of Rancagua--Flight of O’Higgins and Carrera.....91
CHAPTER IX.
CUYO.
1814--1815.
The District of Cuyo--Policy of San Martin--Reception of Chilian
Refugees--Trouble with Carrera--Fall of Alvear--Cuyo becomes an
Independent State--Self-sacrifice of the People of Cuyo--Revenues of
Cuyo--Characteristics of San Martin--Anecdotes of San Martin--Royalist
Successes--The Banquet at Mendoza.....108
CHAPTER X.
THE SPY SYSTEM OF THE PATRIOTS.
1815--1816.
The Restoration of Spanish Domination in Chile--Cruelties of the
Royalists--Nationalist Reaction--The Plans of Abascal--San Martin
establishes Secret Agencies in Chile--His Spy System--Preparations
of the Chilian Patriots--Marcó del Pont--Manuel Rodriguez--Brown
and the Argentine Privateers--Loss of the _Uribe_--Capture of the
_Consequencia_--Blockade of Callao--Attack on Guayaquil--Loss of the
_Trinidad_--Return of the Squadron.....117
CHAPTER XI.
THE IDEA OF THE PASSAGE OF THE ANDES.
1815--1816.
Opposition to the Plans of San Martin--He receives Permission to
assume the Offensive--Also Supplies of Guns and War Material--Collects
the Grenadiers--Balcarce Provisional Director--The Lodge in
Mendoza--Tomas Guido.....124
CHAPTER XII.
THE ARMY OF THE ANDES.
1816--1817.
Composition of the Army--Freeing the Slaves--Fray Beltran--The
Arsenal--Powder Factory--Cloth Factory--Pueyrredón elected
President--Declaration of Independence--Interview at
Córdoba--Condarco--Maps of the Passes of the Andes--Concentration of
the Army--The Function of the 17th January, 1817--The Flag of the Army
of the Andes.....126
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PASSAGE OF THE ANDES.
1817.
The Southern Andes--Passes of the Andes--Stratagems of San
Martin--The Pehuenche Indians--Preparations of Marcó--Preparations at
Mendoza--Pueyrredón--Detachments flanking the Main Army--Instructions
from Government--The Sierra of Chacabuco--Occupation of Coquimbo
by Cabot--Capture of Copiapó--Capture of Talca--March of the
Main Army--The Affair at Pichueta--Capture of Achupallas--Juan
Lavalle--Capture of the Guardia Vieja--Putaendo--Defeat of
Atero--Concentration of the Army at the Foot of Chacabuco--The
Judgment of Posterity.....132
CHAPTER XIV.
CHACABUCO.
1817.
The Sierra of Chacabuco--Atero occupies Chacabuco--Maroto appointed
to command the Royalist Army--Moonlight March of the Patriots--The
Royalist Vanguard driven in--Advance of the Main Body--Repulse of
O’Higgins--Soler takes the Position in Flank--Total Rout of the
Royalists--Barañao--Occupation of Santiago--O’Higgins elected Supreme
Director--Marcó taken Prisoner--San Bruno shot--Reception of the News
in Buenos Ayres--San Martin returns to Buenos Ayres.....144
CHAPTER XV.
THE FIRST CAMPAIGN IN THE SOUTH OF CHILE.
1817.
The Mistakes committed by San Martin--Ordoñez--Las Heras marches to
the South--Occupation of Concepcion--The Action of Gavilán--O’Higgins
takes Command--Freyre captures the Forts of Arauco--Treaty with the
Indians of Arauco--Operations against Talcahuano--French Officers--The
Assault of the Morro--Las Heras is withdrawn from the captured
Outwork.....151
CHAPTER XVI.
ARGENTINE-CHILENO ALLIANCE.
1817.
Origin and Results of this Alliance--San Martin in Buenos
Ayres--Carrera’s Trip to North America--His Return and Arrest by
Pueyrredón--The Mission of Condarco to London--Quintana Deputy
Director--Coinage of Chilian Money--“The Legion of Merit”--Guido
as Argentine Representative--Irizarri appointed Chilian Agent
in Europe--Monarchical Ideas--Chilian Jealousy of Argentine
Influence--The Conspiracy of the Carreras--Two of the Brothers
imprisoned at Mendoza--Life of San Martin at Santiago--The
“Tertulias”--Commodore Bowles takes a Secret Agent to Lima.....157
CHAPTER XVII.
CANCHA-RAYADA.
1817--1818. PAGE
The Political State of Chile--Pezuela appointed Viceroy of Peru--His
Policy--Osorio lands at Talcahuano with Reinforcements--The
Patriot Forces--Retreat of O’Higgins--March of Osorio on
Santiago--Proclamation of Independence--Concentration of the
Patriot Army--Affair on the Lontué--Retreat of Osorio--The Halt at
Talca--The Night Attack at Cancha-rayada--Dispersion of the Patriot
Army--O’Higgins wounded--Masterly Retreat of Las Heras--Panic in the
Capital--Return of O’Higgins and San Martin--Reorganization of the
Army--The Camp on the Plain of Maipó.....165
CHAPTER XVIII.
MAIPÓ.
1818.
Confusion of the Royalists after Cancha-rayada--They march on
Santiago--The Plain of Maipó--Position of the Patriots--Desertion
of General Brayer--Battle of Maipó--Results of the Battle--Osorio
collects a Small Force at Talcahuano--Zapiola takes Command in the
South--Osorio evacuates Talcahuano.....174
CHAPTER XIX.
AFTER MAIPÓ.
1818.
Execution at Mendoza of Don Luis and Don Juan José
Carrera--Constitutional Reform in Chile--Tragic Fate of Dr.
Rodriguez--The Secret Correspondence of Osorio--San Martin leaves
for Buenos Ayres--His Arrangements with Pueyrredón--Monarchical
Illusions--Bolívar--Spain.....181
CHAPTER XX.
THE FIRST NAVAL CAMPAIGN ON THE PACIFIC.
1818.
The Naval Resources of Chile--Ships purchased by Government--Affair
of the _Esmeralda_--Blanco Encalada--Another Convoy from Spain--The
Mutiny of the _Trinidad_--The Chilian Squadron leaves Valparaiso--The
Capture of the _Maria Isabel_--Capture of Five Transports--The Return
of the Squadron--Cochrane--The Two Wives.....186
CHAPTER XXI.
THE REPASSAGE OF THE ANDES.
1818--1819.
The Last Campaign in Chile--Another Conspiracy of
Carrera’s--Proclamation to the Peruvian People--Correspondence with
Bolívar--San Martin withdraws a Division to Mendoza--The Tragedy at
San Luis--Definite Arrangements for the Expedition to Peru--Retirement
of Pueyrredón.....194
CHAPTER XXII.
COCHRANE--CALLAO--VALDIVIA.
1819--1820.
The Character of Cochrane--He sails for Callao--The Spanish
Squadron--The First Attack on Callao--Loss of a Fireship--Capture
of the _Montezuma_--Return to Valparaiso--Manufacture of
War Rockets--Second Attack on Callao--Inefficiency of the
Rockets--Guise captures Pisco--Death of Colonel Charles--Capture
of Transports at Guayaquil--Escape of the _Prueba_--Cochrane’s
New Scheme--Valdivia--Capture of the _Potrillo_--Reinforcements
at Talcahuano--Return to Valdivia--Capture of the Southern
Forts--Evacuation of the Northern Forts--Wreck of the
_Intrepido_--Surrender of the City--Repulse at Chiloe--Return.....200
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE DISOBEDIENCE OF SAN MARTIN.
1819--1820.
The Perplexities of San Martin--Popular Sentiment in Spain--The
Expedition assembling at Cadiz--Discontent among the Troops--O’Donnell
crushes the Conspiracy--San Martin summoned to Buenos Ayres--His
Proposal to O’Higgins and Cochrane--The Gaucho Chieftains--San
Martin again ordered to Buenos Ayres--The Plans of Government--The
Duc de Luca--Uprising of the Argentine People--San Martin still
hesitates--Mutiny of the Army of the North--San Martin sends in his
Resignation--Critique on his Behaviour.....210
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE CONVENTION OF RANCAGUA.
1820.
The Spanish Revolution of 1820--Return of San Martin to Chile--Mutiny
of the Detachment at San Juan--The Remnant of the Division crosses the
Andes to Chile--Rout of Cepeda--The Reign of Anarchy in the United
Provinces--The Convention of Officers at Rancagua--The Disobedience
of San Martin endorsed by the Army--Cochrane aspires to the
Command-in-Chief--San Martin appointed Generalissimo--The Presence of
the Army of the Andes a Danger to Chile.....216
CHAPTER XXV.
PERU.
1820.
The Colonial Era in Peru--Lima--The Peruvian People--Viceroy
Abascal--The Native Army--Pezuela--La Serna--Revolutionary
Outbreaks--The Insurrection of Cuzco--Secret
Societies--Correspondence with San Martin--Dissolution of the Native
Army--Olañeta--Camba--Valdés--The Royalist Forces.....223
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE EXPEDITION TO PERU.
1820.
San Martin’s Address to the Argentine People--Composition of
the Expedition--Sailing of the Expedition--Disembarkation at
Pisco--Occupation of Pisco by Las Heras--Proclamation by San
Martin--Pezuela proposes Peace--The Commissioners meet at
Miraflores--Arrange an Armistice--The Terms proposed--Negotiations
broken off--Expedition of Arenales to the Highlands--Re-embarkation of
the Army.....230
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN.
1820--1821.
The Coming Campaigns--The Pageant at Callao--Expedition from
Ancon--Guayaquil--Revolution of Guayaquil--The _Esmeralda_
Frigate cut out by Cochrane--The Expedition lands at
Huacho--Huara--Cavalry Skirmish at Chancay--The Numancia Battalion
joins the Patriots--Discontent in Peru--The Independence of
Trujillo--Torre-Tagle--Junction with Arenales--The Guerillas--The
Provisional Regulation.....235
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE FIRST CAMPAIGN IN THE HIGHLANDS.
1820--1821.
The Natural Division of Peru--The Highlands of Peru--The Flying Column
under Arenales--Defeat of Quimper--The Invasion of the Highlands--The
Battle of Pasco--Retreat of Aldao from Ica--Massacres of Indians by
Ricafort--The Sack of Cangallo and Huancayo--Aldao establishes himself
at Huancayo--Arenales rejoins San Martin.....245
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE ARMISTICE OF PUNCHAUCA.
1821.
Prospects of the Royalists--Spanish Councils of War--Deposition
of Pezuela--Proposals of Peace--The Conference at Retes--State of
the Two Armies--The Royal Commissioner--The Patriot Army moves to
Ancon--Proclamation from King Ferdinand--Effect in Columbia--Effect
in Mexico--Course of the Revolution in Mexico--Iturbide--The “Plan
de Iguala”--Success of the Plan--Fate of Iturbide--The Conference
of Punchauca--Armistice of Punchauca--Interview between San Martin
and La Serna--Mistaken Policy of San Martin--The Conference
renewed at Miraflores--Prolongation of the Armistice--Captain
Basil Hall--Canterac moves to the Highlands--Return of the Patriot
Army to Huacho--La Serna evacuates Lima--Occupation of Lima by the
Patriots--Proclamation and Inactivity of San Martin.....249
CHAPTER XXX.
THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN THE HIGHLANDS.
1821.
Aldao and his Indian Levies--Gamarra takes Command--Is driven out by
Ricafort--Ricafort returns to Lima--Arenales marches from Huara--The
Successes of Arenales cut short by the Armistice--Character of
Arenales--His Expostulations against the Mistaken Policy of San Martin
being unheeded he rejoins him at Lima--Repulse of La Serna by the
Mountaineers of Jauja.....261
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH.
1821.
Conspiracy to capture Callao--Miller sent South with a small
Force--Lands at Pisco--Insurrection at Cuzco--Cochrane applies
to Chile for Aid--Ravages of Fever at Chincha--Cochrane sails
for Arica--Capture of Arica--Evacuation of Tacna--Miller marches
Inland--Capture of Mirave--Occupation of Moquegua--Miller retreats to
Tacna and to Arica--Miller establishes himself at Ica--Loss of the
_San Martin_.....265
CHAPTER XXXII.
PERU INDEPENDENT.
1821.
The Continental Campaign--Lack of National Spirit in Peru--Convention
of Notables at Lima--Declaration of Independence--Capture of Ships
by Cochrane at Callao--Attempted Surprise by Las Heras--Overtures
of Cochrane to La Mar--San Martin appoints himself “Protector
of Peru”--Decree against the Spaniards--Banishment of the
Archbishop--Tragic Fate of José Miguel Carrera.....270
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE PROTECTORATE OF PERU.
1821--1822.
The Captain of the Army of the Andes--Royalist Expedition for the
Relief of Callao--The Defile of Espiritu Santo--Outburst of Enthusiasm
in Lima--Manœuvres in Front of Lima--Retreat of Canterac--Feeble
Pursuit of the Royalists--Capitulation of Callao--Reforms of
San Martin--The Order of the Sun--Deterioration in the Spirit
of the Army--Subsidy from the City of Lima--Conspiracy in the
Army--Monarchical Ideas of San Martin--Monteagudo and the “Patriotic
Society of Lima”--Mission of Garcia del Rio to Europe.....277
CHAPTER XXXIV.
SAN MARTIN AND COCHRANE.
1821--1822.
Mutual Invectives of Two Heroes--San Martin fails to fulfil
his Promises to the Fleet--A Stormy Interview--Cochrane seizes
Treasure--Cochrane pays his Men with Government Funds--And sails
for Guayaquil--Surrender of Two Spanish Frigates to Peruvian
Agents--Cochrane attempts to seize the _Venganza_--Returns to Callao
and Captures the _Montezuma_--Returns to Chile and abandons the
Pacific--The New Peruvian Navy.....287
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE DISASTER AT ICA.
1821--1822.
Royalist Headquarters established at Cuzco--Expedition under Loriga
against Pasco--Defeat of Otero--Burning of Cangallo--San Martin
sends a Contingent to the Assistance of Bolívar--And Summons the
First Peruvian Congress--Torre-Tagle Deputy-Protector--Expedition
to Ica--Rout of the Patriots by Canterac--Barbarous Treatment of
Spaniards by Monteagudo.....292
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE REVOLUTIONS IN QUITO AND VENEZUELA.
1809--1812.
The Northern Zone of South America--The First Outbreak
at Quito--The Revolution at Caracas--Commencement of the
Reaction--SIMON BOLÍVAR--His Appearance and Character--His
Education--His First Visit to Europe--His Second Visit to
Europe--His Life at Caracas--Reception of the Envoys by the British
Government--Bolívar meets Miranda in London--Brings him back with
him to Venezuela--Action of the Regency of Cadiz--The Patriot
Junta sends an Army against Coro--Reception of Miranda--His Plan
for a Constitution--First Congress of Venezuela--Declaration of
Independence--Revolt of the Canarians--Revolt at Valencia--Capture
of Valencia by Miranda--Adoption of a Federal Constitution--General
Discontent--Carora sacked by Monteverde--The Royalists of
Guayana--Destruction of the Patriot Flotilla--The Great
Earthquake--San Carlos burned by Monteverde--Miranda is appointed
Dictator--Successes of the Royalists--Monteverde is repulsed in
an Attack on the Entrenched Camp at Victoria--Insurrection of the
Slaves--Loss of Puerto-Cabello--Miranda treats for Peace--The
Capitulation--Miranda is imprisoned by his Officers--Cruelties of
Monteverde--Death of Miranda.....296
CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE REVOLUTIONS IN NEW GRANADA AND QUITO.
1809--1813.
Excitement in New Granada--Expedition against Quito--Reinstallation
of the late Captain-General of Quito--Massacres by the
Royalist Soldiery--Revolution at Cartagena--Outbreak on the
Plains of Casanare--A Junta established at Pamplona--And at
Socorro--Pacific Revolution at Bogotá--Establishment of a
Junta--Social Anarchy--Proposals to summon a Congress--The State
of Cundinamarca--Nariño appointed Dictator--Congress adopts the
Federal System of Government and retires to Ibague--The Province
of Cartagena declares itself an Independent State--Preparations
of the Royalists--Torices named Dictator of Cartagena--Operations
against Santa Marta--Arrival of a New Viceroy--The First Victory
of the Patriots--Another Insurrection in Quito--Successes of
Montufar and Macaulay--Treachery of the Pastusos--La Vendée of
the Revolution--Installation of a Junta at Quito--Operations in
the South--Quito declares itself an Independent State--Murder
of Ruiz de Castillo--Victory of the Royalists at Mocha--Capture
of Quito--Massacres at Popayán--The Policy of Nariño--The
Congress at Leiva--Dr. Camilo Torres named President--Civil
War--Arrival of another Viceroy--Cundinamarca and Antioquia
declare themselves Independent States--Congress places Nariño
in Command of the Army--Successes of Nariño--His Passage of the
River Juanambú--Dispersion of his Army--He is sent in Irons to
Spain--Operations of Bolívar against Santa Marta--Defeat of an
Expedition from Cartagena--Bolívar conceives the Idea of Reconquering
Venezuela--He crosses the Cordillera--His Memorial to the People of
New Granada--President Torres adopts his Idea.....312
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE RECONQUEST OF VENEZUELA.
1813.
“Pacification” by Monteverde--The Signal for Revolt--Triste--The
Expedition to the Mainland--Cruelties of Zuazola--Defeat of the
Royalists at Maturin--The Island of Margarita--Arismendi--Siege
of Cumaná--Cajigal retreats to Guayana--Mariño named Dictator
of the Eastern Provinces--The Expedition of Briceño--Defeat of
Correa by Castillo--Bolívar’s Commission from the Congress of
Granada--Capture of Mérida and Trujillo--Bolívar fulminates a Decree
of Extermination against all Royalists--Marti Defeated by Rivas--Rout
of Izquierdo--Valencia and Caracas evacuated by Royalists--The Genius
of Bolívar--His Triumphant Entry into Caracas--He proclaims Himself
Dictator--Lays Siege to Puerto Cabello--The Reaction--Second Decree
of Bolívar--Arrival of Reinforcements at Puerto Cabello--Death
of Girardot--Victory of Las Trincheras--Honours to Bolívar at
Caracas--The Order of the “Liberators”--Boves, Morales, and
Yañez--They rouse the Llaneros--Campo-Elias--Defeat of Boves
at Mosquitero--Massacre of Royalists at Calabozo--Repulse of
Patriots at Barquisimeto--Battle of Araure--Effects of the Dual
Dictatorship--Reappearance of Boves on the Scene--The Patriots are
driven from the Plains--General Revulsion of Feeling.....324
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE SECOND FALL OF VENEZUELA.
1814.
Bolívar discloses a New Phase of his Character--The Assembly of
Caracas--His Treaty with Mariño--Defeat and Death of Yañez--Action
at La Puerta--Repulse of Morales at Victoria--Successes of
Rivas--The Massacres of Caracas and La Guayra--Preparations of
Bolívar--His Defence of the Entrenchments of San Mateo--Heroism of
Recaurte--Defence of Caracas by Rivas--Of Valencia by Urdaneta--Action
at Boca Chica--Mariño defeated at San Carlos--First Battle at
Carabobo--Rout of the Patriots at La Puerta--Capitulation of
Valencia--D’Eluyar raises the Siege of Puerto-Cabello--Bolívar
evacuates Caracas--Entrenches Himself at Aragua--Retreats to
Barcelona--Capture of Aragua by Morales--Bolívar is accused of
Treachery--Retires to Curaçoa--Repulse of Morales at Maturin--Massacre
at Cumaná--Rout of the Patriots at Urica--Death of Boves--Capture
of Maturin by Morales--Death of Rivas--The Last Patriot Army under
Urdaneta seeks Refuge in New Granada.....343
CHAPTER XL.
THE DISSOLUTION OF NEW GRANADA.
1815--1817.
The Fall of Constitutional Government in Spain--Jealousy of Native
Troops--Bolívar takes Command of the Army of New Granada--Capture of
Bogotá--Fresh Honours to Bolívar--Bolívar makes War on Cartagena--And
retires to Jamaica--His Memorials--Morillo arrives from Spain with a
Powerful Squadron, and takes Command of the Royalists--Miyares secures
the Isthmus of Panamá--Morillo’s Instructions--Reduction of the Island
of Margarita--Loss of the _San Pedro_--Morillo occupies Caracas--And
sails thence for Cartagena--Cartagena--The Siege of Cartagena--The
Fortress and City are evacuated by the Patriots--Repulse of Calzada
from the Plains of Casanare--Defeat of the Patriots at Balaga--Further
Successes of Calzada--Madrid is defeated by Sámano in the South--Fresh
Disturbances in Venezuela--Offers of Amnesty--Establishment
of Military Rule at Bogotá--Executions--Morillo returns to
Venezuela--Cruelties of Sámano--Death of La Pola--Sámano is appointed
Viceroy by Morillo.....353
CHAPTER XLI.
THE THIRD WAR IN VENEZUELA.
1815--1817.
Position of Affairs in Venezuela--The Fresh Outbreak on the Island
of Margarita--Paez--His First Action--Revulsion of Opinion among
the Llaneros--The Army of the Apure--Successes of Cedeño--Attempt
to assassinate Bolívar--Bolívar goes to Haití--The Expedition from
Cayos--The Landing at Margarita--Bolívar is named Supreme Chief--The
Expedition proceeds to Carúpano--Bolívar proceeds to Ocumare--Defeat
of Bolívar by Morales--Bolívar’s Flight from Ocumare--Successes of
MacGregor--The Army of the Centre--Bolívar returns to Haiti--Defeat of
Lopez by MacGregor--Piar defeats Morales at Juncal--Paez lays Siege to
San Fernando--The Spaniards evacuate the Island of Margarita--Bolívar
leaves Haití with a Second Expedition--Piar marches on Guayana--Forces
the Passage of the Cauca--Occupies the Missions of Coroní--Bolívar
again defeated--And leaves for Guayana--Capture of Barcelona by
the Royalists--The True Base of Operations--Advance of La Torre
from New Granada--Is totally defeated by Paez--And descends the
River to Angostura--Is again defeated by Piar at San Felix--Mariño
summons a Congress--Morillo puts an End to the Farce--Brion forces
his Way up the Orinoco--Flight of La Torre--Conspiracy of Piar and
Mariño--Execution of Piar--Banishment of Mariño.....365
CHAPTER XLII.
THE REORGANIZATION OF VENEZUELA.
1817--1819.
The Expedition of Morillo and Canterac against the Island
of Margarita--The Action at Matasiete--The Massacre at Juan
Griego--Morillo returns to Caracas--Position of Patriots and of
Royalists--The Civil Administration of Bolívar--Rout of Saraza
at Hogaza--The Horse Marines--Bolívar surprises Morillo at
Calabozo--Retreat of the Royalists to Sombrero--Defeat of Bolívar
at La Puerta--Capture of San Fernando by Paez--Defeat of Paez at
Cojedes--Defeat of Cedeño by Morales--And of Morales by Paez--Mariño
takes Cumaná, and refuses Allegiance to the Liberator--Bolívar
raises a New Army, and is reconciled to Mariño--Santander sent
to Casanare--Bolívar’s Idea of a Constitution--The Congress
of Angostura--Bolívar is named President of Venezuela--The
Foreign Auxiliaries--Luis Mendez--Colonel Hippisley--Colonel
Wilson--Campbell--Gilmour--General English--Colonel Elsom--General
MacGregor--General Devereux--Colonel Montilla--Morillo opens the
Campaign--Tactics of Paez--Morillo reoccupies San Fernando--The Affair
of “Las Queseras del Medio”--Bolívar’s New Idea.....380
CHAPTER XLIII.
BOYACA--COLUMBIA--CARABOBO.
1819--1822.
Bolívar joins Santander--The Passage of the Cordillera--The
Expedition halts in the Valley of Sagamoso--Skilful Manœuvres of
Bolívar--He captures the City of Tunja--Battle of Boyacá--Bolívar
occupies Bogotá--His Activity and the Honours paid Him--Founds the
Republic of Columbia--Cruelty of Santander--Bolívar returns to
Angostura--Changes during his Absence--Decrees of Congress--Bolívar
named Provisional President of Columbia--Military Operations on
the North Coast--Arrival of the Irish Legion at Margarita--Paez
retakes San Fernando--The Armistice of Trujillo--Morillo returns to
Spain--Revolution in Maracaibo--Operations of Montilla--Bolívar again
takes the Field--Battle of Carabobo--Bolívar for the Second Time
enters Caracas in Triumph--The Constituent Congress--Bolívar is named
President--Capitulation of Cartagena--The Provinces of the Isthmus
declare their Independence--Fall of Chagres and Portobello--Bolívar
leaves for the South--Activity of Morales--He capitulates--Puerto
Cabello is taken by Paez.....394
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE WAR IN QUITO.
1821--1822.
Operations in the South of Columbia--Sucre--He leads an Expedition to
Guayaquil--His Victory at Yahuachí--His Defeat at Ambato--Arrival of
Murgeón from Spain--Bolívar marches on Quito with a Fresh Army--Battle
of Bomboná--He retreats to Patia--San Martin sends a Contingent to
aid Sucre--Manœuvres of the Opposing Armies--The Cavalry Affair at
Rio Bamba--Battle of Pichincha--Surrender of Quito--Capitulation of
Garcia and of the Pastusos--Prætorianism--Bolívar enters Quito in
Triumph.....406
CHAPTER XLV.
GUAYAQUIL.
1822.
The Meeting and Merging of Two Revolutions--The Protectorate of
Guayaquil--Defeat of the Provincial Army at Ambato--Arrival of
Sucre--The Revolt of Puerto-Viejo--Arrival of Salazar--La Mar takes
Command of the Provincial Forces--The Question of Guayaquil.....414
CHAPTER XLVI.
THE INTERVIEW AT GUAYAQUIL.
1822.
The Influence of Individuals--The Illusions of San Martin--Bolívar
becomes jealous of Argentine Influence--The Entry of Bolívar into
Guayaquil--He annexes the Province to Columbia--The Arrival of San
Martin--The Conference--The Banquet--The Ball--Departure of San
Martin--Result of the Conference--Remarkable Letter from San Martin to
Bolívar.....418
CHAPTER XLVII.
THE ABDICATION OF SAN MARTIN.
1822.
Disturbances in Lima--Banishment of Monteagudo--Return of San
Martin--The First Congress of Peru--The Resignation of San
Martin--Honours decreed to him by Congress--He leaves Peru--His
Illness in Chile--He retires to Mendoza.....426
CHAPTER XLVIII.
THE FIRST NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OF PERU.
1822--1823.
The State of Peru--Appointment of a Junta--Bolívar offers
Assistance, which is declined--The Plan of Campaign--The Army of
the South--Dilatory Movements of Alvarado--The Advance of the
Royalists--Battle of Torata--The Rout of Moquegua--Activity of
Miller--Withdrawal of the Columbian Contingent--Arenales leaves
Peru--Riva-Agüero named President--Preparations for a Fresh
Campaign--English Loan--Despatch of a Peruvian Army to the South
under Santa Cruz--Capture of Lima by Canterac--Sucre brings another
Columbian Contingent to Peru--Bolívar is named Generalissimo--Canterac
returns to the Highlands--Plans of Sucre--Manœuvres of Santa
Cruz--He captures La Paz--Gamarra occupies Oruro--Retreat of
Santa Cruz--Indecisive Action at Zepita--Dispersion of the
Patriot Army--Orderly Retreat of Sucre--Appeals to San Martin
for Help--Reconstruction of Congress--Arrival of Bolívar--His
Reception--His Appearance--He is Master of Peru.....431
CHAPTER XLIX.
JUNIN--AYACUCHO.
1823--1824.
The Day-Dreams of Bolívar--Rivadavia--Treaty between Columbia and
Buenos Ayres--Overtures from Spain to Buenos Ayres--The Mission of
Alzaga to the West and North--Treatment of the Argentine Contingent
by Peru--Mutiny of the Garrison of Callao--Hoisting the Flag of
Spain--Falucho--Dissolution of the Army of the Andes--Monet occupies
Lima and Callao--Treachery of Torre-Tagle--Ships burned by Guise in
Harbour--Bolívar named Dictator--Execution of Argentine Officers by
Monet--Illness of Bolívar--His Preparations--Olañeta rebels against
the Viceroy--Bolívar marches on Jauja--Advance of Canterac--Cavalry
Action at Junin--Rapid Retreat of Canterac--Bolívar returns to
Lima--Movement against him in the Congress of Columbia--The
Spanish Naval Squadron--Manœuvres of Sucre--Advance of Royalists
from Cuzco--Sucre concentrates his Forces--The Royalists gain his
Rear--Victory or Death--Victory of Ayacucho.....443
CHAPTER L.
APOGEE, DECLINE, AND FALL OF BOLIVAR.
1824--1830.
Results of the Victory of Ayacucho--The Twofold Nature of the
Revolution--Assassination of Monteagudo--Bolívar summons a Congress
at Panama--His Theatrical Proceedings--Upper Peru becomes an
Independent State--Tendency of the Policy of Bolívar--He leaves
Lima for Potosí--The Banquet at Arequipa--Bolívar meets Argentine
Envoys at Potosí--His Proposals to them--Opinions of the Press
of Buenos Ayres--He draws up a Constitution for Bolivia--Attempt
to assassinate Bolívar at Lima--Adoption of a New Constitution
by Peru--The Grand Confederation of the Andes--The Nature of the
Proposed Monocracy--Revolution in Venezuela--Bolívar Returns to
Columbia--Revolutions in Peru and Bolívia--The Convention of
Ocaña--Bolívar is again named Dictator of New Granada--Conspiracy
against him at Bogotá--He declares War against Peru--His Monarchical
Proposals--Rebellion at Antioquia--Venezuela becomes an Independent
State--The Constituent Congress at Bogotá--Bolívar resigns--Mosquera
is elected President of New Granada--Pension assigned to
Bolívar.....458
EPILOGUE.
The Verdict of Posterity--The Tragedy of Emancipation--San Martin goes
to Europe--His Return to Buenos Ayres--Bolívar in Retirement--Anarchy
in New Granada--Establishment of the Republic of Ecuador--Death of
Bolívar--His Last Words--Life of San Martin in Exile--His Death--His
Remains are brought back to Buenos Ayres--The Work of the Two
Liberators compared--The Nature of True Greatness.....470
TRANSLATOR’S APPENDIX.
I.--The Spanish Colonial System.....477 II.--Personal Appearance
of San Martin.....478 III.--The Rocket-Tubes at Callao.....478
IV.--Description of a Suspension Bridge.....478 V.--The Ideas of San
Martin.....479 VI.--A Venezuelan Picture presented to the City of New
York.....480 VII.--The Battle of Carabobo.....481
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Alvarado--Arenales--Brown--Cochrane--Güemes--Las
Heras--Lavalle--Miller--Necochea--O’Higgins--Paez.....484
PROLOGUE.
The object of this book is to give a biography of GENERAL JOSÉ DE SAN
MARTIN, combining therewith the history of the emancipation of South
America. It is a necessary complement to the HISTORY OF BELGRANO,
written thirty years ago. These two histories display the Argentine
Revolution in its two principal aspects; one relates the development of
a nation, the other the effect of this development upon the emancipation
of a continent.
This history is based, for the most part, upon documents hitherto
unpublished, some of which are truly posthumous revelations which throw
new light upon mysterious or little known events, or correct errors
resulting from defective information.
I believe I have consulted all the books, pamphlets, newspapers and
fly-sheets which have ever been printed concerning San Martin, and of
manuscripts I have a collection of at least 10,000 documents, bound in
73 thick volumes, which it is my purpose to deposit in the National
Library.
The most important of these sources of information has been the archive
of General San Martin himself, which was placed at my disposal by his
son-in-law, the late Don Mariano Balcarce. I have also consulted the
archives of this city from the year 1812 to the year 1824, without
which it would have been impossible to compile a complete history. The
archives of the Director Pueyrredón, which were given to me by his son,
have also been of great service to me, as also those of General
O’Higgins, Don Tomás Godoy Cruz, General Las Heras, and others. I have
also acquired much verbal information from conversations held with many
of the contemporaries of San Martin, and with some of his companions in
arms.
In addition to consulting all available maps and plans relating to the
campaigns of San Martin, I have inspected in person the routes followed
by the army of the Andes and have made sketches myself of the scene of
memorable events when plans were not forthcoming.
* * * * *
This book will not be the historical monument which posterity will some
day consecrate to the immortal memory of San Martin, but those who do at
some future date erect it, will herein find abundant materials, stones
finished or but roughly cut, with which solidly to lay out the
foundations.
BARTOLOMÉ MITRE.
BUENOS AYRES, 1887.
Here follows, on 25 pages, a list of unpublished manuscripts
consulted in the compilation of this work, which manuscripts will
be deposited in the National Library of Buenos Ayres.
WILLIAM PILLING.
THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.
THE ARGUMENT OF THE BOOK.
Three great names stand forth conspicuous in the annals of America,
those of WASHINGTON, BOLÍVAR, SAN MARTIN. Of Washington, the great
leader of the Democracy of the North; of Bolívar and of San Martin, who
were the emancipators of the southern half of the continent. The story
of the life-work of the latter of these two is the Argument of this
book.
The scene of action passes on a vast theatre, a territory extending for
more than fifty degrees of latitude, from Cape Horn to the Tropic of
Cancer, and occupies twenty years of strife. The starting-point of this
history is the Argentine revolution; it follows the course of this
revolution as it spreads over the continent, and its object is to
explain the laws which governed the establishment of a family of new
Republics, and the fundamental principles from which they sprang.
This argument is dual and complex, for it treats both of political
revolution and of social evolution. It shows how the Argentine
revolution became a propaganda to the world outside, of the principles
upon which it was based, and how under these auspices independent and
sovereign nations sprang into existence, with forms and tendencies in
the same likeness and similitude. It shows the proclamation of a new
international law, which only permits of alliance against an enemy in
the name of a common destiny, and forbids conquests and annexations. It
shows also the failure of the attempt in Columbia to unite the
emancipated colonies artificially into a monocracy in opposition to
natural law and to the new idea of the rights of man inaugurated by the
Argentine revolution.
The two hegemonies, the Argentine and the Columbian, unite to set the
seal upon the emancipation of South America. San Martin and Bolívar
cross the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific by different
routes, giving liberty to enslaved peoples, founding new nations, and
meeting as together they enclose the colonial system in its last
entrenchments, they bring the two opposing systems face to face, the
shock resulting in the triumph of the superior principle.
Thus considered, the history of the emancipation of South America
presents a homogeneous character, with unity of action and with one
dominant idea, which in the midst of accidental deviations reveals the
existence of a law giving one accordant significance to facts
accomplished.
The study of the theatre of the war of independence shows that the scene
passes in two distinct revolutionary areas--one at the south,
comprehending the United Provinces of the River Plate, Chile, and Upper
Peru; the other, at the north, comprehending Venezuela, New Granada, and
Quito. The strife and the triumph proceed simultaneously in each area
until the two revolutions, like to two masses obeying a reciprocal
attraction, converge towards the centre. This plan, drawn up and carried
out by the two great Liberators, emancipates South America by the
combined military action of the revolted colonies, which action has at
once the ideal unity of a poem and the precision of a machine.
The unity of this action is clearly displayed in the general lines of
the life of San Martin, and gives to his historic figure an importance
far transcending both his deeds and his designs. He was born in an
obscure American town, which disappeared as he commenced to figure upon
the scene; thus America in its entirety became his country. He grew up
as a soldier in the Old World, fighting by sea and on land in company
with the first soldiers of the age, and so prepared himself for his
warlike mission, unwitting of his destiny. In the New World he commenced
his career by establishing tactics and discipline as his base of
operations, and from their combination produced his machine of war. He
consolidated the independence of the United Provinces of the River Plate
as the point from which he might start for the conquest of South
America. In command of the army of the North, his name is associated
with the revolution of Upper Peru; as he passed the Andes in prosecution
of his own plan, he became identified with the revolution of Chile, and
after consolidating the independence of this country he initiated the
first international alliance in America. He secured the command of the
Pacific, without which the independence of America was at that time
impossible, and gave liberty to Lower Peru. He then carried the
revolutionary standard of the allies to the foot of Pichincha, where he
met the liberator of Columbia. Under the equator, which divides the two
theatres of the war, he clasped hands with Bolívar. Thus ended his grand
campaign; at the apogee of his power he disappeared from the scene,
knowing that his mission was fulfilled, that his strength was exhausted,
and condemned himself to exile, faithful to the ruling maxim of his
life, _Serás lo que debes ser; y sinó, no serás nada_.[1]
From exile he looked upon the results of his life-work: the definitive
political organization of South America in accordance with geographical
divisions, the foundation of a new constellation of independent States
in obedience to natural laws as by him instinctively foreseen. He saw
without envy that Bolívar, with whom he shared the glory of the
redemption of a new world, wore the crown of the final triumph, though
he knew that both as a politician and as a soldier he was his superior.
Then the wild dream of Bolívar that he could found an empire of
dependent republics under the auspices of Columbia faded away, and gave
place to the Argentine plan of independent republics heralded by San
Martin.
SYNOPSIS OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
It has been said that posterity will look upon the emancipation of South
America as the most important political phenomenon of the nineteenth
century, both in itself and from the probable extent of its future
consequences. The immediate result was to bring into existence a new
group of independent nations, founded on democratic principles, in open
opposition to the right of conquest and to the dogmas of monarchy and
absolutism which yet prevailed in the Old World. These new nations were
organized on the principle of equality, and were emancipated from
privilege, and thus offered an entirely fresh field for experiment in
the development of the physical and moral faculties of man. This
movement thus constitutes one of the most drastic changes ever effected
in the condition of the human race.
The first throes of this revolution were felt at the two extremities and
in the centre of South America in the year 1809. In 1810 all the Spanish
American colonies rose up in rebellion as by one innate impulse, and
proclaimed the principle of self-government. Six years later all, save
one, of these insurrections were quelled.
The United Provinces of the River Plate alone maintained their position,
and after declaring their own independence they gave to the conquered
colonies the signal for the great and final struggle by making common
cause with them.
In 1817 the Argentine revolution drew up a plan for the emancipation of
the continent, took the offensive, crossed the Andes, and liberated
Chile; in union with Chile obtained command of the Pacific, liberated
Peru and carried her arms to the equator in aid of the revolution of
Columbia. This vigorous impulse was felt in the extreme north of this
southern continent, which in its turn defeated and expelled the
champions of the old system, went through a similar evolution, and
crossed the Andes to the point where the two forces united. The
Highlands of Peru became the scene of the final struggle. Then the
Spanish American colonies were free by their own strength, and from the
chaos sprang up a new world.
During the progress of these events, the United States of the North, the
pioneers of the Republican era, recognised the independence of the new
republics (1822), as “an expression of the simple truth,” and declared--
“The peoples of South America have a right to break the chains which
bind them to their mother country, to assume the rank of nations among
the sovereign nations of the world, and to establish institutions in
accordance with natural laws dictated by God himself.”
As a consequence of this recognition the United States, in the year
1823, promulgated the famous Monroe Doctrine which, in opposition to the
Bull of Alexander VI., established a new principle of international law
under the formula--“America for the Americans.”
Free England, who at first looked favourably upon the revolution, began,
in 1818, to lean towards Spain and the Holy Alliance, advocating an
arrangement on the basis of the “commercial freedom” of the colonies.
The diplomatists of Washington interfered in favour of their complete
emancipation, and Lafayette, in support of this idea, declared to the
Government of France:--
“Any opposition which may be made to the independence of the New World
may cause suffering but will not imperil the idea.”
Thus, much before the final triumph, the emancipation of the new
continent was accepted as an accomplished fact, and the attitude of the
United States supported by England turned the scales of diplomacy in its
favour in 1823. When at the Congress of Verona the party of reaction
proposed a contrary policy, Canning, Prime Minister of Great Britain,
wrote to Grenville those memorable words which re-echoed through two
hemispheres:--
“The battle has been fierce, but it is won. The nail is clenched;
Spanish America is free. _Novus sæclorum nascitur ordo!_”
The battle of Ayacucho was the response to these words, and Canning
could then exclaim:--
“I have called a new world into existence to redress the balance of the
old.”
THE ACTION OF AMERICA UPON EUROPE.
The land discovered by Christopher Columbus, which completed the
physical world, was destined to re-establish its general equilibrium at
the moment the base thereof was shaken.
Before the end of the fifteenth century Europe had lost its moral and
political equilibrium. After the invasion of the barbarians, which
imbued it with a new principle of life without destroying the germ of
decay left by the fall of the Roman Empire, its civilization was again
on the point of collapse. Not one homogeneous nation there existed, her
productive energy was exhausted, liberty was but a latent hope,
privilege was the dominant law, politics were founded on the principles
of Macchiavelli, all healthy evolution in the path of progress was
impossible. A fresh invasion from the East advanced under the standard
of the Crescent, and the despotism of Mussulman fanaticism was the last
hope of the people. Europe, shut in between the Danube and the Pillars
of Hercules, seemed lost; the discovery of a new world alone could save
her.
This discovery restored harmony to the discordant elements, gave new
life to Christianity, and saved the liberties of mankind. The
Reformation, which came immediately afterwards, engrafted upon the
consciences of men the germ of the democratic principles of the Bible,
which, transplanted to a new world, later on regenerated the effete
civilization brought from Europe, and spread it as a vital principle of
politics all the world over.
The popular belief that the fountain of eternal youth was to be found on
the new continent discovered by Columbus, was no vain imagination. The
decrepit civilization of the Old World drew fresh youth and strength
from the virgin soil of America, the genius of progress therein latent
developed rapidly in the genial air. The opening of this new and vast
field to human activity, was truly a renovation of social order in
accordance with natural law, and resulted in the organization of a
democracy based upon labour. To this end it was only necessary that the
European, leaving his old traditions behind him, should, on a vacant
continent, work out his own destiny under the guidance of healthy
instinct.
THE COLONIZATION OF SPANISH AMERICA.
In the repartition of the new continent the worst lot fell to the
southern half. Spain and Portugal carried their feudal absolutism to
their colonies, but they could not plant there their systems of
privilege, of aristocracy, or of social inequality. The good and the bad
seed alike were modified by cultivation in a new soil, the natural
product being democracy. The mode of colonization contributed to this
result. The most trustworthy annals of the Indies recognise the fact
that the conquest was achieved at the expense of the conquerors, without
any drafts on the royal treasury. Hence arose that spirit of
self-reliance which they bequeathed to their descendants. A rebel world
grew up under the auspices of absolutism. The colonial constitution,
which inculcated a personal despotism and excluded the idea of a common
country, contributed fatally to this result. Spanish America was looked
upon as the personal property of the Spanish monarch, in virtue of the
Bull of Alexander VI. Thus the colony did not form a part of the nation,
and was united to her only by allegiance to a common sovereign. When the
monarch disappeared, his power lapsed to his vassals; the logical and
legal result being the separation of the colonies from the mother
country.
The government of the colonies was entrusted to the Council of the
Indies, represented politically by a Viceroy, and in law by the
Audiencia, the bounds of whose authority were ill-defined. In municipal
affairs, the Cabildos, derived from the free communities of the mother
country, were nominally the representatives of the people. In them lay
the germs of democracy, as they possessed the right to call public
meetings for the settlement of their own affairs by vote, which right,
for long in abeyance, became an active power when supported by popular
force.
The great extent of the country, the want of moral cohesion, the
admixture of races, the general corruption of manners, the absence of an
ideal, the lack of political and industrial activity, and the profound
ignorance of the masses, all contributed to produce a state of
semi-barbarism by the side of a weakly civilization, and vitiated the
entire social organism. From this embryo was to spring a new republican
world, the product of the germs latent within it.
THE COLONIZATION OF NORTH AMERICA.
North America, more fortunate, was colonized by a nation which had
practical notions of liberty, and by a race better prepared for
self-government. The process commenced a century later. The colonists
easily adapted themselves to a climate similar to that of the mother
country, and founded there a new home to which they were bound by free
institutions. Originally the English colonies were looked upon as Crown
provinces, and were ruled by privileged companies, and by a Council
similar to that of the Indies, the monarch reserving to himself, as in
Spain, the supreme legislative authority and the right of appointment,
without giving any legislative rights. The colonists of Virginia, by
their own energy, soon acquired some political rights, which were
secured to them by royal charters. This example was followed by the
colonists of Maryland. Colonial assemblies absorbed the privileges of
the companies, and the royal charters formed later on the basis of
republican institutions.
After the planters of Virginia and Maryland came the PILGRIM FATHERS of
New England, who, flying from persecution in Europe, sought liberty of
conscience in the New World. Authors of the great revolution, they were
deeply imbued with the republican spirit, and with the democratic spirit
of Switzerland and of the Netherlands, in which latter country they had
seen their ideal of the ruler of a free people in the austere person of
William of Orange, the antetype of Washington. In accordance with these
ideas, they established at once a form of popular government hitherto
unknown, based upon just laws. Finally came the Quakers, who proclaimed
freedom of the intellect as an innate and inalienable right, and drew up
their constitution on the basis of democratic equality, absolute and
universal; in this anticipating the most advanced of the modern era.
Under William Penn they established the representative colony of
Pennsylvania, the nucleus and the type of the great republic of the
United States.
Such was the genesis of democratic liberty, destined to become
universal.
COLONIAL POLICY IN BOTH AMERICAS.
The commercial monopoly which Spain adopted as a system on the discovery
of America, had an influence quite as evil upon herself as upon her
colonies. The intention was that Spain should draw to herself the wealth
of the New World, by keeping in her own hands the exchange of European
manufactures for the products of America. Every industry which might
compete with those of the Peninsula was prohibited in America. At first
Seville, and afterwards Cadiz, was declared to be the only port from
which ships laden with merchandise could sail, or at which they could
land cargoes of colonial produce. All direct trade between the colonies
themselves was forbidden. The restrictive system was completed by
collecting all the merchant vessels into annual or biennial convoys
sailing in charge of ships of war to or from Portobello and Panama.
Merchandise so introduced, was carried across the isthmus and
distributed by way of the Pacific and by land to Potosi, where the
Southern and Atlantic Provinces could supply themselves at prices five
or six hundred per cent. over the original cost. Such a system could
only spring from a mind enfeebled by the possession of absolute power,
and could only be tolerated by a race of slaves.
Before one century had elapsed, the population of Spain was reduced by
one-half, her manufacturing industries were ruined, her mercantile
marine no longer existed, her trade was in the hands of foreign
smugglers, and the gold and silver of the New World went everywhere
except to Spain.[2] When Spain, taught by experience, sought to remedy
the evil, it was already too late, her colonies on the southern
continent were lost to her. Neither force nor love, nor a common
interest, bound the disinherited children to their parent; the
separation was complete, and the independence of the colonies a question
of time and of opportunity.
The colonial system of Spain was not an invention, it was an ancient
tradition, it was the economic theory of the epoch reduced to practice.
England followed the same system, committing even greater errors in the
establishment of privileged companies, such as the East India Company,
giving territories to them on a feudal basis, the monarch reserving
absolute authority over commercial relations.
In practice these errors furnished their own remedies. Tyrannical laws
fell into disuse from the resistance of colonies armed with municipal
rights. Thus the results sought by England were achieved without great
violence and with advantage both to the mother country and to her
colonies. The navigation laws of 1650--1666 gave supremacy to the
mercantile marine of England, and by shutting out foreign competition
from her markets, monopolised the trade with the colonies. This monopoly
in skilful hands, colonized North America and corrected to some extent
the errors of the system. In 1652, under Cromwell, freedom of commerce
was established between England and her colonies, the right being given
to the colonists to tax themselves by the votes of their representatives
and to regulate their own Customs duties. This was almost independence.
Even when their charters were mutilated or abrogated by the Stuarts,
this doctrine was respected by common consent. When England disregarded
it came the revolution.
THE EMANCIPATION OF NORTH AMERICA.
A special question of constitutional law concerning Customs duties, was
the immediate cause of the revolution in North America. The revolution
of South America arose from a question of fundamental principles.
The Stamp Tax imposed by England on her colonies was repealed on the
ground that it was an _internal_ tax, but Parliament sanctioned the
imposition of Customs duties on the ground that they were an _external_
tax, the produce of the colonies being subject to the will of the king.
The colonists protested and took a further step by declaring that the
_Mutiny Act_ had nothing to do with them, as it was sanctioned by a
Parliament in which they were not represented. They called out their
municipal militia, and so in 1774 commenced the great struggle for the
emancipation of America. During ten years their resistance had been kept
within the limits of the laws, but from this moment they took their
stand on the wide basis of natural and ideal right, independent of law
and of tradition.
The Declaration of Independence on the 4th July, 1776, was the
proclamation of an innate universal human right, of a new theory of
government independent of precedent, inspired by natural law, by
philosophy, and by political science. This declaration became, as has
been said,
“The profession of faith of all the liberals of the world.”
The echo of these theories was heard in France, and by her was
transmitted to the Latin nations of both hemispheres. The people
embraced them with enthusiasm. Up to that time two schools of politics
had divided the empire of free thought. The historical school, led by
Montesquieu, looked upon the constitution of England as the finished
work of experience and of human logic. The philosophical school, led by
Rousseau, denied the value of experience and thought to establish
liberty and the sovereignty of the people by seeking “the best form of
association for the defence and protection of each associate against the
force of all, so that each one should obey only himself and remain free
as before.” This second doctrine formulated in the constitution of the
United States, became a new principle in political science, and as such
met with general acceptance throughout the colonies of South America.
The most important feature of the revolution of North America is not the
achievement of her national independence, but her emancipation,
political, intellectual, and moral, in the name of human rights and in
constitutional form. From this moment, English constitutionalism ceased
to be a model, and the English constitution to be an ideal, even among
the English themselves, who have had to recognise their descendants and
political pupils as their masters.
The spirit of free England, anticipating the verdict of posterity,
justified insurrection in America. Statesmen and thinkers such as
Chatham and Burke, sympathised in the movement, declaring, “There is no
monopoly of principle,” but its effect upon France was still more
marked, being the outcome of the reasonings of her philosophers.
Thus it was that America reacted for the second time upon Europe with
most beneficial effect. On the third occasion the part of teacher is
played by South America.
THE AFFILIATION OF THE REVOLUTION OF SOUTH AMERICA.
Hardly was Peru conquered by the Spanish race, than it became the
theatre of civil war. The conquerors, headed by Gonzalo Pizarro,
rebelled against their king in the name of their rights as conquerors,
cut off the head of the king’s representative and burned the Royal
Standard. Hardly had one generation time to grow up in America, ere a
son of Hernan Cortez, in whose veins flowed the blood of the celebrated
Indian Doña Marina, conspired to give independence to Mexico in the name
of the same territorial rights invoked by Pizarro. The far off colony
of Paraguay was from the first a turbulent municipal republic. The
colonists deposed their royally appointed governors with shouts of
“Death to Tyrants,” elected rulers of their own, and did as they liked
for more than twenty-five years (1535-60). These and many other similar
facts, prove that the colonization of South America was imbued from the
commencement with the principle of individuality and with the instinct
of independence, which naturally resulted in emancipation and democracy.
These insurrections were outbursts of Castillian spirit, but early in
the eighteenth century, Creoles begin to call themselves with pride
Americans, and for the first time is heard in Potosi the cry of
_Liberty_. In 1711 the half-breeds proclaimed a mulatto King of
Venezuela. In 1733 the Creoles rose in arms and compelled the abrogation
of the commercial monopoly of the “Compania Guipuzcoana de Caracas.” In
1730 two thousand half-breeds at Cochabamba (Upper Peru), made armed
protest against the poll-tax, and acquired the right to elect Creoles as
officers of justice to the exclusion of Spaniards. In 1765 the Creoles
of Quito rose in armed insurrection against the imposition of direct
taxes. None of these outbreaks had as yet any definite political
character. The embryonic republic of Paraguay gave the first example of
a revolutionary movement based upon the sovereignty of the people.
José Antequera, by birth an American but educated in Spain, appeared on
the scene during a dispute between the governor of Paraguay and the
Cabildo of Asuncion. The people named him governor by acclamation. He
placed himself at their head, in opposition to the theocratic rule of
the Jesuits, who were ruining the country. He fought pitched battles
against the royal troops and was blessed as a saviour, but died on the
scaffold as a traitor to his king.
After his death, his pupil Fernando Mompox organized the popular party
under the name of the _Comuneros_, deposed another governor and
established a governing Junta, but was also overcome.
In 1781 the _Comuneros_ broke out in insurrection in New Granada, but
the movement was suppressed.
These were not events of great historical importance, but they show that
throughout the period of Spanish domination, the rule of the mother
country was irksome to the Spaniards themselves, and was hateful to all
Americans.
THE MORAL REVOLUTION OF SOUTH AMERICA.
There can be no revolution until the ideas of men become the conscience
of the mass, and until the passions of men become a public force,
because “it is man and not events which constitute the world.” The
revolution was accomplished in the man of South America before the end
of the eighteenth century; after that all his actions have one object
and one meaning. Emancipation was no longer an instinct, it became an
active passion.
Spain through jealousy of England joined France in aiding the rebels of
the North, and her recognition of the independence of the new republic
was virtually the abdication of her own authority over the South.
Aranda, one of the first statesmen of his time, advised his sovereign in
1783 to forestall the inevitable future by making one _infante_ King of
Mexico, one King of Peru, and one King of the Mainland, taking to
himself the rank of Emperor. The King of Spain shut his ears to these
counsels.
The revolution of 1789 proved that the ideas embodied in the Declaration
of Independence were of universal application. The monarchs of Europe
took the alarm and formed reactionary leagues. To South America these
ideas were conveyed by educated Creoles, who travelling in Europe
learned them from French writers. “The Rights of Man” was translated,
printed in secret, and circulated through New Granada by Antonio
Nariño. Charged with this as a crime, no proof could be brought against
him as no copy of the book could be found, tortures failing to extract
information from suspects. He was banished to Africa, his property
confiscated, and his original copy of the work was burnt by the public
executioner. From the men of culture the new ideas filtered to the
masses, transforming their minds by the creation of an ideal, which each
one interpreted in accordance with his own talents, interests, or
prejudices.
THE PRECURSOR OF THE EMANCIPATION OF SOUTH AMERICA.
During some years previously an ardent apostle of human liberty had
wandered about the world. He was a dreamer with confused ideas and
undisciplined attainments, a generous minded warrior, above all, a man
of strong will. A soldier of Washington, a comrade of Lafayette, a
general under Dumouriez,[3] a companion of Madame Roland in her prison,
a confidant of Pitt in his schemes of insurrection in the colonies of
Spanish America, distinguished by Catharine II. of Russia, whose favours
he put aside in deference to his austere mission, looked upon by
Napoleon as a lunatic with a spark of the sacred fire, FRANCISCO
MIRANDA, a native of Caracas, was the first to foresee the great
destinies of republican America, and the first to raise the banner of
freedom on the southern continent.
He it was who organised the revolutionary efforts of South Americans in
Europe; establishing an understanding with the Creoles of the colonies.
It was he who towards the close of the eighteenth century founded in
London the political society, the “Gran Reunion Americana,” to which
they were all affiliated. In this society were initiated in the
mysteries of future liberty, O’Higgins of Chile, Nariño of New Granada,
Montufar and Rocafuerte of Quito, Caro of Cuba, who represented the
patriots of Peru, Alvear, an Argentine, and others who later on became
illustrious. Here the two great liberators, BOLÍVAR and SAN MARTIN, took
an oath to work out the triumph of the cause of the emancipation of
South America.
This society was the type of the secret societies which, transplanted to
the theatre of action, impressed its seal upon the characters of those
who directed the revolution of South America. They inoculated it with
the true American idea, which, heedless of frontiers and disregarding
all obstacles, looked upon the enslaved colonies as one, with one
aspiration, with one love, and with one hatred of their common master.
This gave cohesion to the revolution in America, and ensured triumph by
the union of all forces to one common end. Here was the point of contact
of all Creoles, wherever they might work for independence and for
liberty. Here is the explanation of the identity of the original
movements in spite of the isolation of each colony.
Miranda sought to interest the whole world in the cause of independence;
chiefly he sought the help of England. Three times (1790--1801) he
obtained a promise of moral and material support from Pitt, with the
co-operation of the United States. European complications and the
hesitation of the cabinet at Washington, prevented the fulfilment of
these promises. In 1791 he published a letter to the Americans, in which
he attacked the colonial system of Spain, declaring that nature had
separated America from Spain by the interposition of the ocean, thus
emancipating her sons from the mother country, and that they--
“Were free by natural right received from the Creator; that the moment
had arrived for opening up a new era of prosperity; and with the aid of
Providence, to raise up in America a grand family of brothers united by
a common interest.”
Failing in his attempt to secure the help of England and the United
States, Miranda ventured upon the enterprise by himself. In the year
1806 he made two attempts to kindle the fire of revolution in his native
country. He landed on the mainland at Ocumare with two hundred men, and
at Vela de Coro with five hundred. None responded to his call, but the
cry was heard, and its echo resounded through two worlds.
England, on the death of Pitt, abandoning his projects for the
emancipation of the colonies of Spanish America, attempted to conquer
them for herself, and was twice defeated at Buenos Ayres in 1806 and
1807. Miranda was pleased at this defeat, and in 1808 wrote to
congratulate the Cabildo of Buenos Ayres. At the same time he wrote to
the Cabildo of Caracas, giving notice of the invasion of Spain by
Napoleon, advising them to take charge of the government and to send
deputies to London to arrange the future course of the New World. At the
same time he published in London a pamphlet written in English by an
Englishman, in which from the defeat of the English was drawn a lesson,
based upon the opinion of General Auchmuty, that the Creoles would only
make alliance with England on condition of their own independence.
Miranda translated this pamphlet into Spanish, and added a sketch of a
constitution for the new States proposed, the dominant idea of which was
a federal republic on a basis of independent Cabildos.
As the victory of Buenos Ayres made a great noise in the world, and more
especially in the hearts of Americans, this propaganda fell in with the
new sentiment of nationality, disclosed in the words of Don Cornelio
Saavedra in his address to the Patricios[4] of Buenos Ayres in 1807:
“Those born in the Indies, whose spirits are undaunted, are in no way
inferior to the Spaniards of Europe, and in valour give place to none.”
THE RACES OF SOUTH AMERICA.--THE CREOLE.
Five races, which for historic purposes may be looked upon as three
only, peopled the Southern Continent at the outbreak of the War of
Independence: the European Spaniards, the Spanish-American Creoles, and
the half-breeds; also the indigenous Indians, and the negroes from
Africa. The Spaniards formed a privileged class, and by reason of their
origin enjoyed both political and social pre-eminence. The Indians and
the negroes formed the servile class. The half-breeds, derived from a
mixture of three races, formed an intermediate class, and in some places
were in a large majority. The Creoles, direct descendants of Spaniards,
of pure blood, but modified in character by contact with the
half-breeds, were the true sons of the soil, and constituted the basis
of society. Generally the most numerous, they were always the civilising
force of the colony. They were the most energetic, the most intelligent
and imaginative; and with all their inherited vices and their want of
preparation for freedom, were the only ones animated by an innate
sentiment of patriotism.
Those born in South America thus formed a race apart, an oppressed race,
who saw in their ancestors and in their contemporaries not fathers and
brothers, but masters. The colonial system placed, to a certain extent,
all natives of the soil upon the same level, and drew a broad line of
distinction between the Spanish-American colonists and their mother
country. Spain, by reason of distance, yielded to her colonists greater
freedom and more municipal rights than she gave to her own sons in their
own land, but her absolute government could not bind her colonies to her
by the tie of nationality. Men of Spanish birth looked upon the
colonies as feudal territory, over which they, as beings of a superior
race, were the natural lords, and thought that if only a shoemaker
remained in Castile, this shoemaker had the right to govern all America.
The natural aspiration of slaves is for freedom, and that of oppressed
races who know their own strength is to assume their place in the human
family. In this double aspiration lay the germ of revolution in America.
In 1780 the indigenous race under Tupac-Amarú, a descendant of the
Incas, rose _en masse_ in Peru against their oppressors, but were
naturally defeated. They possessed no great social force, and did not
represent the cause of civilized America. The day of the Creoles had not
yet come, but they saw nothing to admire, to love, or to respect in
Spain. An absolute King, generally an imbecile, was the sole point of
contact between them. Their mother country was to them neither a country
nor a mother. The instinct of independence became a passion, even more
vehement in those who resided in Spain than in those who had never left
their own hearths. Thus it was that the leaders who did most for the
revolution came from Spain.
In the struggle each race took its own special part. The Creoles formed
the vanguard and directed the movements. The indigenous races formed the
first line in Mexico, but elsewhere they were only useful as
auxiliaries. In South America the half-breeds formed the rank and file
of the armies of the revolution. The Argentine _gaucho_, with the
fatalism of the Arab and the strength of the Cossack, gave the type to
the cavalry, renowned for the impetuosity of their charge from La Plata
to Chimborazo. The _llaneros_[5] of Venezuela, half-breeds for the most
part, formed the famous squadrons of Columbia, whose feats were
celebrated from the Orinoco to Potosi. The _rotos_[6] of Chile, mostly
of Indian blood, formed with Argentines in solid battalions, who
measured their strength with Spanish regiments, victors over the
soldiers of Napoleon in the Peninsula. The manumitted negroes gave their
contingent to the American infantry, showing the warlike qualities of
their race. In Upper Peru the indigenous races kept alive for ten years
the flames of insurrection when the patriot armies were defeated. The
_cholos_ of the Highlands of Peru espoused the cause of the king, and
were highly esteemed as infantry by the Spanish generals, more
especially on account of the extraordinary rapidity of their marches.
The Creole of South America is a sturdy off-shoot of that civilizing
Indo-European race to which is reserved the government of the world. It
is his mission to complete the democratization of the American continent
and to found a new order of things destined to live and progress. He has
impressed the peculiarities of his character upon the new nationalities.
When the revolution broke out in 1810, it was said that South America
would become English or French; when it triumphed, that the continent
would sink back into barbarism. By the will and the work of the Creole,
it became American, republican, and civilized.
THE FIRST THROES OF REVOLUTION.
The initial outbreaks of the year 1809, were in some parts of a more
radical character than were those of the following year, when the first
political formula of the rebellion was merely a demand for relative and
provisional independence, for a compromise between democracy and
monarchy upon the basis of autonomy.
The doctrine that on the disappearance of the monarch his sovereignty
reverted to his people, was for the first time boldly proclaimed in
Mexico. From this it was deduced that they had the right to appoint
governing Juntas for their own security, and owed no allegiance to those
established in Spain at the time of the French invasion. Hence arose
disputes between the Creoles and the Spaniards, and between the
Audiencia and the Viceroy, which at the end of 1809 changed the movement
into a conspiracy for independence.
In Quito the commotion assumed more definite forms. The colonial
authorities were overturned and a governing Junta was set up, which took
to itself the attributes of sovereignty and raised troops for its own
defence. They exhorted the peoples of America by a proclamation to
follow the example, announcing that “law has resumed its authority under
the equator,” and that “the rights of man were, by the disappearance of
despotism, no longer at the mercy of arbitrary power.” The authors of
this premature revolution were overcome and put to death in prison.
In Upper Peru, the city of Chuquisaca was the first to move. In May,
1809, the Creoles, at the instigation of the Audiencia, tumultuously
deposed the constituted authorities, and set up an independent
government. In July the city of La Paz followed the example. Under the
name of the _Junta Tuitiva_, an independent government composed
exclusively of Americans was established, which raised an army, and hung
on a gallows those who denied its authority. Both these revolts were
suppressed by the combined arms of the neighbouring Viceroyalties of
Peru and La Plata. The leaders of the insurrection of La Paz died either
on the field of battle or on the gallows. One of the latter before being
thrown off cried out:--“The fire which I have lighted shall never be
quenched.” Their heads and limbs were nailed to the posts which mark out
the public roads in that country, but before they had rotted away the
fire was again burning in Upper Peru.
By the quelling of these conspiracies it was thought that the danger was
averted, but as was said by the Viceroy of Peru fifty years before, on
the first revolt of the Comuneros of Paraguay, “it was but a covering up
of the fire with ashes.”
THE GROWTH OF THE REVOLUTION.
In the year 1810 the drama of revolution unfolded itself upon a vast
continental scene, with a unity of action which from the first attracted
the attention of the world. All the Spanish American colonies with the
exception of Lower Peru, arose in rebellion simultaneously, and
proclaimed one political doctrine. Some historians have thought that
this movement was the result of an external impulse, and that the
subsequent separation was as the falling of unripe fruit. Others, better
informed, look upon this separation as a necessity: “The union of Spain
with America, possible under an absolute _régime_, was incompatible with
representative government and with the political equality of the
citizens.” The truth is that the South American revolution was inspired
by an innate sentiment of patriotism, in obedience to conservative
instinct, and by its nature tended to independence.
The divorce of the colonies from the mother country took place at a
critical moment, when their union was hurtful to them both. If America
was not prepared for self-government, and if her attempts at
self-government almost exhausted the forces already weakened by the
struggle, what would then have been her condition had she remained under
the rule of unnatural laws which condemned her to a lingering death, a
prey to vices inoculated by an evil system?
It cannot be denied that without the invasion of Spain by Napoleon in
1808, and the consequent disappearance of the dynasty of Spain, the
revolution would have been delayed; but this does not imply that America
was not ripe for emancipation, the opportunity was nothing more than the
spark setting fire to the combustibles already prepared for burning.
The Provisional Government established in Spain anticipated the
complaints of the colonists, and recognised by its acts the justice of
their cause, fomenting their resistance as much by its concessions as by
its refusals. The Regency of Cadiz called upon Americans to join the
national Cortes, thus raising them to the rank of freemen, but at the
same time gave them only one deputy, chosen by itself, for each million
of inhabitants, while to the natives of the Peninsula, for the most part
under the yoke of the foreigner, it gave one deputy for each hundred
thousand. The essential difference lay in the divergence of their
political opinions. The Regency maintained “The American dominions are
an integral part of Spain,” from which it deduced the right of Spain to
rule America in the absence of the sovereign. Americans, as we have
already seen, maintained that the crown was the only link between them.
Take away this fundamental divergence of opinion, and the reason for the
revolution disappears, the insurrection loses its legality, and the
question becomes one of national representation, having no relation
either to independence or to autonomy.
The colonial authorities were deposed without resistance by the force of
public opinion, and new ones were instituted without any rupture of
relations with the mother country, though all foresaw the logical end of
the process. In answer to this moderate policy, the Regency refused to
the colonies that freedom of trade which it had proposed to give them,
avoided the mediation of England, and, without attempting to arrive
peacefully at an understanding, stigmatised the Americans as rebels and
declared war against them, punishing as high treason in them that which
the Spaniards themselves had done in Spain. It was then (1811) that
Venezuela declared herself independent, and gave herself a republican
constitution.
South America was ill-prepared for the struggle; she had neither
soldiers nor politicians, she had to improvise all she needed. Spain in
alliance with England and supported by the first nations of the world,
was mistress of the seas, her armies triumphant in Europe, were
stronger than before the French invasion, nevertheless South America
unaided accepted the challenge, and triumphed all alone.
The meeting of the Cortes and the promulgation of the Constitution of
1812, instead of reconciling the mother country with her colonies,
fanned the flames of insurrection, and by concessions encouraged the
spirit of independence. When in 1814 the King was restored, America was
still governed in his name, and the movement having been crushed in
Venezuela the revolution was placed in a false position. The refusal of
America to surrender without conditions to absolute power, was replied
to by the proclamation of a war of reconquest, and amicable arrangement
was no longer possible.
In 1820 despotism triumphed in Europe under the banners of absolute
kings allied against the liberties of the people, but in South America
the cause of independence, fostered by the example of the United States,
was successful. From this epoch the reaction of American thought is felt
in the Parliament of England, and influences even Spain herself, where
the armies collected to stamp out revolution in America, turn against
the absolute king and re-establish a constitutional _régime_. This is a
critical moment: upon the triumph or the defeat of revolution in South
America depend the destinies of two worlds.
Five years later on, victory crowned her efforts, America is republican,
independent, and free. From this moment the current of history, which
has for three centuries carried despotism from the East to the West, now
turns back; the action of the principles of American regeneration flows
from West to East and spreads over Europe until stopped by the barrier
of Islamism. Greece cries out for emancipation, and Europe instead of
joining to crush her aspirations, runs to help her. Portugal becomes
free by the example and influence of her American colonies, who send
back to her her absolute kings, transformed into constitutional rulers.
In France the revolution of 1789 revives in a compromise between
monarchy and a republic, its champions being a comrade of Washington and
an emigrant prince who had studied American democracy at close quarters.
Take away the South American revolution of the year ’10, suppose it to
be suppressed in 1820, or eliminate the final triumph of 1825, and the
republic of the United States remains the sole representative of
liberty; and the world, even with the help of free England, lies
grovelling under the sway of absolutism.
ATTEMPTS AT MONARCHY IN SOUTH AMERICA.
Had the idea of Aranda been adopted in 1783, it is probable that a
bastard monarchy would have been established in America, upon which time
would have impressed the seal of democracy. Had the King of Spain
removed his throne to America in 1808, as did he of Portugal, it is
possible that the course of the revolution might have been changed under
dynastic auspices, delaying the advent of the republic and perchance
accelerating constitutional stability. These two opportunities being
lost, the revolution could only develop in accordance with its own
nature and become essentially a republican movement.
The Pilgrim Fathers of New England and the Quakers of Pennsylvania
carried with them the seed of republicanism. The Cavaliers who colonized
Virginia became republicans by founding a new country of a distinct
type, which produced Washington. The Spanish colonists of South America
brought with them no such ideas but only germs of individualism, from
which time developed desires for independence and for equality. The
indigenous races knew nothing of any form of government except monarchy.
The Creoles were born republicans. The idea of establishing a monarchy
never sprang from a Creole brain, and when proposed was looked upon by
them only as a compromise or as an artificial expedient when it was not
folly. In 1808 the English constitution was the ideal of thinkers
trained in the school of Montesquieu. In 1810 the _social contract_ of
Rousseau was their gospel, and the revolution of that year assumed
spontaneously a popular form, producing municipal republics, whereby the
course of opinion became exclusively democratic.
When early reverses damped the republican hopes of Argentine leaders,
they looked to the establishment of a monarchy under the protection of
the Great Powers as a means of securing independence and constitutional
freedom. In 1814 it was proposed to crown an Infante of Spain King of La
Plata. In 1816 that same Congress which declared the independence of the
Argentine Provinces, embraced the idea of crowning a descendant of the
Incas at Cuzco, and uniting Peru and the River Plate under his rule, a
proposition quenched in ridicule. The same Congress, in 1819, after
swearing to and promulgating a republican constitution, sought in Europe
for a king, lowering their character in the eyes of the world, and
bringing accusations of treachery upon themselves from their own
countrymen.
This reaction took place precisely at the time when the perseverance of
the republicans had gained for them universal sympathy, when the United
States threw her shield over the infant peoples to protect them from the
attacks of the Holy Alliance, and when England, after declaring that she
would not recognise “the revolutionary governments of America,” became
convinced of her mistake. The agents of this policy were men such as
Rivadavia, who stands in America second alone to Washington as the
representative statesman of a free people; such as Belgrano, the type of
republican virtue; and such as San Martin, who, a republican at heart,
had no faith in democracy, yet founded republics which by natural law
became democracies. When San Martin ignored this law, his career as a
liberator came to an end. So also, later on, fell Bolívar in the
attempt to convert democracy into monocracy. The only American liberator
who in his folly crowned himself emperor--Iturbide in Mexico--died on
the scaffold, a presage of the sad end of another emperor, whose corpse
was sent back to Europe as a protest against the imposition of monarchy.
The Empire of Brazil is apparently a proof of the possibility of
establishing monarchy in America, but the contrary is the fact. Brazil
is a democratic empire, founded upon the principle of the sovereignty of
the people, without any privileged class or hereditary nobility, and has
nothing monarchical about it except the name.
RETROSPECTION.
When the war was over and the continent at peace, Bolívar exclaimed, “I
blush to say it, independence is the only good we have achieved at the
cost of all else.” Even at this price independence was solid gain, for
it was life. The continuance of the colonial system was death by
decomposition. Independence was, moreover, the establishment of the
democratic republic, a system under which all losses may be retrieved.
South America has no reason to complain of the task allotted to her in
working out the destiny of humanity.
In the first decade of this century the republic of the United States
was a sun without satellites. The apparition of a group of new nations
from the colonial nebula of the South, formed, for the first time in the
political world, a planetary system of republics governed by natural
laws. An entire continent, almost one half the globe, extending from
pole to pole and washed by the two greatest of the oceans, became
republican.
At that time there were but two republics in the world--in Europe,
Switzerland; in America, the United States. The influence of the latter
was not yet felt, but the new system of republics soon became a power of
the first rank.
The republics of South America were strong enough to conquer their
independence, but they lacked the elements of self-government. They had
passed at one bound from slavery to freedom, and it took them more than
one generation to eradicate evils produced by three centuries of
misgovernment. In the war they had expended not only their blood, their
treasure, and their vital energy, but also their intellectual strength.
Wealth came to them with independence, but the want of the elements of
self-government made them an easy prey to anarchy and despotism, from
which the conservative instinct at length saved them. Still they suffer
the evils of inexperience, but nothing is lost while republican
institutions, the great work of the revolution, are preserved.
No people so ill-prepared for the change could have done better. Even
the United States passed through a critical period of transition, which
imperilled their existence as an organised nation. The republics of
South America have suffered greatly from misgovernment, but the
instincts of the people have ever been superior to the incapacity of
their rulers. Had they continued subject to Spain, they would have died
of inanition; had the English invasion been successful, they might now
be colonies of England, such as Australia and Canada, and might possibly
be richer in material wealth than they are, but they would not be
independent nations, charged with the mission of creating new elements
of progress; they would but feebly reflect a far-off light. South
America would but exist as an appendage of Europe, and Europe would be
subject to the Holy Alliance of absolute kings.
If South America has not realised all the hopes awakened by the
revolution, still it cannot be said that she has faltered in her course.
She has resolved for herself the problem of life, educated herself in
the hard school of experience, and by sorrow has purged away her vices.
Giving the lie to sinister presage, which condemned her to absorption by
inferior races, the energetic Creole has assimilated them, giving them
freedom and dignity, or, when necessary, has suppressed them. With help
from the most superior races of the world, acclimatized upon her
hospitable shores, the reins of government have been secured to him. Her
regenerated population doubles itself in twenty or thirty years; before
the end of the next century South America will number four hundred
millions of freemen, North America five hundred millions, and all
America will be Republican and Democratic.
To these great results, following the example of Washington and equal to
Bolívar, will have contributed, with such talents as he possessed, the
founder of three republics, the emancipator of one-half of South
America, whose history will now be told.
CHAPTER II.
SAN MARTIN IN EUROPE AND IN AMERICA.
1778--1812.
Jose de San Martin was born on the 25th February, 1778, at the town of
Yapeyu in Misiones, and was the fourth son of Captain Don Juan de San
Martin who was at that time Lieutenant-Governor of the Department of
Yapeyu. When he was eight years old the family went to Spain, and he
became a pupil in the Seminary of Nobles at Madrid, where he remained
only two years, and learned little beyond the rudiments of mathematics
and something of drawing. Before he was twelve years old, he joined the
“Murcia” regiment as a cadet. The uniform of this regiment was white and
blue, the same colours the mature soldier afterwards carried in triumph
over half a continent.
His first campaign was in Africa, where he received his baptism of fire
in battle against the Moors. When in garrison at Oran in 1791, the city,
at that time besieged by the Moors, was destroyed by an earthquake. In
1793 he joined the army of Aragon, and served under Ricardos against the
republicans of France on their own territory. This experience was of
great value to him, as Ricardos was the best tactician among the Spanish
generals of that day. After two successful actions at Masden and
Truilles, Ricardos was forced to retire to the foot of the mountains,
where he maintained his position for twenty days against the constant
attacks of the enemy, and San Martin so distinguished himself that he
was promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant.
In the following May, after the death of Ricardos, the “Murcia” formed
part of the garrison of Port Vendres, which, after beating off two
attacks of the French, was forced to retreat to Collioure and there
surrendered. San Martin gained another step by his conduct in these
affairs.
In 1795 the peace of Basilea freed the young lieutenant from his
_parole_. In the following year his father died, and the treaty of San
Ildefonso brought Spain as an ally of the French republic into collision
with Great Britain. On the 14th February, 1797, the “Murcia,” on board
the Spanish Mediterranean squadron, took part in the disastrous affair
off Cape Saint Vincent. On the 15th August, 1798, San Martin was marine
officer on the _Santa Dorotea_, when that ship was captured after a
desperate defence, by the English 64-gun ship _Lion_, and being thus for
the second time debarred from active service, he devoted his leisure to
the study of mathematics and drawing.
In the year 1800 at the head of a company of his old regiment, he took
part in the serio-comic war with Portugal known as the “War of the
Oranges,” and was present at the siege of Olivenza. After the Peace of
Amiens in 1802, his regiment was employed in the blockade of Gibraltar
and Ceuta, and in 1804 we find him in garrison at Cadiz, as second
captain of a light infantry regiment, where his conduct during a
pestilence was as honourable to him as had been his conduct in the
field.
By the Treaty of Fontainebleau, in 1807, France and Spain divided
Portugal and her colonies between them, and a column of 6,000 Spanish
troops under Solano invaded Portugal. The regiment to which San Martin
was attached, captured the town of Yelves, but took no further part in
the campaign.
The _émeute_ of the 2nd May at Madrid, gave the signal for an outbreak
of popular indignation, against the usurpations of Napoleon. The news
reached the army of Solano when on the march for Cadiz. Solano was at
first undecided what course to adopt, but his appointment as
Captain-General of Andalucia and Governor of Cadiz being confirmed by
the French, he on the 28th May issued a proclamation condemning the
insurrection. The people flocked in crowds to the palace, shouting for
an immediate attack upon the French squadron lying in the harbour; in
the confusion some shots were fired. San Martin, who was officer of the
guard, withdrew his troops into the house and closed the door. It was
blown in by a cannon-shot, but time had been gained for the escape of
Solano across the roof to a neighbouring house, where, however, he was
soon afterwards found and cruelly butchered.
This tragedy was never effaced from the memory of San Martin, and
without doubt greatly affected his policy on many subsequent occasions.
In spite of his love of liberty he ever after looked with horror upon
mobs, and upon governments who relied upon them. He considered that
intelligence supported by orderly strength should hold the government of
the world. Nevertheless his reason and his heart must have told him that
the cause of Spain was just, and that the executions on the Prado of
Madrid on the 2nd May were more barbarous and less justifiable than was
the murder of Solano.
About this time it is said that Miranda visited Cadiz in disguise, but
for this report we can find no foundation. He was the founder and
organiser of the secret societies to which South Americans throughout
Europe were already affiliated, but Spain was the last country in Europe
in which such societies were established. Cadiz being the one port open
to American trade, became naturally at this time the centre of the
revolutionary propaganda.
In the early years of the nineteenth century an association styled
“Sociedad de Lautaro,” or “Caballeros Racionales,” had ramifications all
over Spain, and was affiliated with the “Gran Reunion Americana”
established in London by Miranda. This society had in Cadiz alone in the
year 1808 more than forty members, some of them grandees of Spain. Those
of the first grade were pledged to work for the independence of America;
those of the second swore “to recognise no government in America as
legitimate unless it was elected by the free and spontaneous will of the
people, and to work for the foundation of the republican system.” Of
this society San Martin became a member. An American by birth, a
revolutionist by instinct, and a republican by conviction, he was,
perchance, without knowing it, an adept of Miranda, and was destined to
make the dream of the master a reality, when the bones of that master
lay rotting on the mud banks upon which his eye might at this time often
rest.
At the same time with San Martin three other members joined the lodge;
Alvear, who was his confidant till he became jealous of his fame; José
Miguel Carrera, who was to die cursing him; and, most modest of all, the
naval lieutenant Matias Zapiola, who was afterwards his right arm on
many a hard-fought field. San Martin was the least brilliant and the
poorest of them all; his comrades recognised the superiority of his
talents as a soldier, and said that he did the thinking for them all,
but in the great revolutionary drama that all foresaw they assigned to
him only the place of a stern warrior; Alvear and Carrera, the most
arrogant and the most ambitious, were to be the heroes.
The general rising in Spain found San Martin in his place as an officer
of light infantry under the command of Colonel Menacho. He was soon
promoted, and his regiment joined the second division of the army of
Andalucia, commanded by the Marquis of Coupigni. When the French under
Dupont crossed the Sierra Morena, he was placed in charge of the line of
the Guadalquivir. On the 28th June, 1808, he led a mixed column against
the advanced guard of the enemy, and charged a detachment of cavalry
with such impetuosity at the head of twenty-one hussars, that he killed
seventeen of the enemy, took four prisoners and all their horses, and
retired in triumph, in the face of very superior numbers. This action
was greatly applauded by the whole army, a badge of honour was given to
all who charged with him, and he was appointed captain in the Bourbon
regiment “on account of distinguished conduct in the action at
Argonilla.”
This small triumph was the precursor of one of the greatest victories of
the epoch. Before one month had elapsed, the imperial eagles of Napoleon
were beaten by an army of recruits inspired by patriotism, and Captain
San Martin was mentioned with distinction in the order of the day of the
battle of Baylen.
The road to Madrid being opened by this victory the army of Andalucia
entered the capital in triumph, and San Martin received, with his
commission as lieutenant-colonel, a gold medal for his conduct in the
battle.
He was afterwards present at the disaster of Tudela, and in the retreat
to Cadiz, and in 1810 was appointed aide-de-camp to the Marquis of
Coupigni. In 1811 he took part in the bloody battle of Albuera, where
the French were defeated by an allied army under General Beresford, the
same who five years previously had capitulated to Liniers at Buenos
Ayres. The same year he joined the Sagunto regiment, the escutcheon of
which was a sun with this motto “Hœ nubila tolunt obstantia
solvens”--dissipates clouds and removes obstacles. This was the last
Spanish standard under which San Martin fought, and its symbol was
identical with that of the flag of the as yet unthought of army of the
Andes.
The prophecy of the dying Pitt was realised. Napoleon had stirred up
against himself a national war and was irremediably lost. Spain allied
with Great Britain, in saving herself, saved Europe from his brutal
domination, and the American Creole having paid with usury his debt to
the mother country could now honourably leave her. San Martin had fought
under her flag for twenty years, he had seen the strategy of great
generals, had learned the tactics of every arm in the service; the pupil
was now a master able to give lessons. He turned his eyes to his own
country, and seeing her in difficulty resolved to return and consecrate
his life to her service.
The confidant of his projects and sentiments on this occasion was a
singular personage. Lord Macduff, afterwards Earl of Fife, was a Scotch
noble descended from that Shakespearean hero who slew Macbeth. He was in
Vienna when the Spanish insurrection broke out in 1808, he came over at
once and enlisted as a simple volunteer. As such he took part in most of
the great battles of the time, in one of which he was seriously wounded,
and was given the rank of a General of Spain for his services. Then it
was that San Martin and Macduff became acquainted; their generous
natures had a profound sympathy each for the other, their friendship was
enhanced by the dangers they shared, and continued so long as both
lived. By his help and by the interposition of Sir Charles Stuart, a
diplomatic agent in Spain, San Martin obtained a passport for London,
and received from his friend letters of introduction, and letters of
credit of which he made no use.
In London he met his comrades Alvear and Zapiola, and other South
Americans who were there at the time. All belonged to the secret society
founded in London by Miranda, in which Bolívar had just taken the oath,
before leaving for Venezuela in company with the illustrious master. San
Martin and his two comrades were initiated in the fifth and last grade,
and in January, 1812, embarked on the _George Canning_ for the River
Plate. On the 9th March they reached Buenos Ayres, accompanied by
various officers who came to offer their swords in the cause of
independence.
The moment was a critical one in the history of the American
revolution; the serious work was just commencing; the real struggle
between Patriots and Royalists was yet to come, and the discordance of
the various elements of society only now became apparent.
The Argentine revolution had provoked insurrection in Chile, both by
diplomacy and by example. Her first army of volunteers had marched to
Upper Peru with the object of striking the enemy in the centre of his
power; and in November, 1810, had won the first victory of the war at
Suipacha, but was eight months later defeated at Huaqui, and compelled
to retreat to Tucuman. Buenos Ayres had attempted to gain command of the
rivers by arming a small squadron, which was destroyed by the enemy in
the Paraná. A Portuguese army of four thousand men held the line of the
Uruguay. Paraguay had commenced a system of isolation, almost of
hostility.
The movement in Chile, at first successful, was in 1812 threatened by an
expedition from Peru, and the young Republic unfortunately put her trust
in José Miguel Carrera, who, with some attractive qualities, possessed
no solid talents, either military or political.
In this same month of March an earthquake destroyed the city of Caracas.
Reaction triumphed over Miranda in Venezuela; only in New Granada did
the revolutionary cause maintain a footing for some time longer. In 1815
all the insurrections in South America had been suppressed, save only
the Argentine revolution, which was never overpowered.
Meantime the viceroyalty of Peru, holding a central position, with a
strong army and the command of the sea, was the centre of reaction; and
the masses of the people not yet implicated in the revolution, began to
look unfavourably upon it, as their eyes were opened to the perils it
invoked and to the sacrifices it involved.
The Argentine revolution had as yet no fixed plan. In so rudimentary a
state of society the actual leaders had but little power to direct the
latent strength of the people, and even among themselves opinions were
divided, some believing that the centralisation of power in the city of
Buenos Ayres was the only means of ensuring the success of the
revolutionary movement, while to others decentralization seemed the one
necessary condition of national life. The revolution arose in the
cities; its legality was based upon municipal rights, and could not long
maintain its original form. It could only live by a wider popularity
based upon the sovereignty of the people at large. Fortunately the men
at this time at the helm were the most intelligent, energetic, and
foreseeing who ever acted together on this stage.
The first Executive Government, installed on the 25th May, 1810, was a
Junta, in imitation of those established in Spain to resist the
domination of the French. Modified a year later by the admission of
deputies from the provinces, it became a many-headed monster, useless
alike for debate and for administration. It was succeeded by a
Triumvirate under the name of “The Executive Government,” which, by the
aid of those men, saved the State from shipwreck.
Such was the situation of THE UNITED PROVINCES OF THE RIVER PLATE when
SAN MARTIN landed on Argentine soil.
Twenty-six years before, while yet a child, he had left his native land;
now he returned in the ripeness of manhood, tempered in the struggles of
life, tutored in the art of war, initiated in the mysteries of secret
societies formed for the propagation of the new ideas of liberty. The
new champion brought to the American cause tactics and discipline
applied both to politics and to war; and, in embryo, a vast plan for a
continental campaign which should embrace half a world and should result
in its independence.
It has been said that San Martin was not a man but a mission, and, in
truth, seldom has the influence of one man upon the destinies of
humanity been greater than was his. He was at once the arm and the head
of the Argentine hegemony; he combined the evolutions of armies with
those of nations, marking each evolution with some achievement either
political or military; obtained great results with the least possible
means, and without waste of strength; and showed how a people may be
redeemed without being oppressed. His character is even yet an
historical enigma.
The grandeur of those whose names attain immortality is measured not so
much by their deeds or by their talents as by the effect their memory
has upon the consciences of men, causing them to vibrate from one
generation to another in sympathy with an idea or with a passion. The
moral grandeur of San Martin consists in this: that nothing is known of
the secret ambitions of his life; that he was in everything
disinterested; that he confined himself strictly to his mission; and
that he died in silence, showing neither weakness, pride, nor bitterness
at seeing his work triumphant and his part in it forgotten.
San Martin was a man of stalwart frame; his face was the reflex of his
mind, a fiery spirit hidden under a studious reserve of manner, which at
times exploded. His head, which was of medium size, he carried very
erect. His thick black hair he always wore cut short; the straight high
forehead indicated the presence of a strong and healthy brain. The
darkness of his complexion was deepened by exposure; his large black
eyes were fringed by long lashes and overhung by heavy eyebrows, which
met when he frowned; these eyes were the characteristic feature of his
face, disclosing the intensity of his nature, but hiding his purpose.
His nose was long, aquiline, and prominent; mouth small, with firm red
lips; teeth strong and white. His chin and jaw showed strength of will
and the absence of animal passions. His voice was rough, his gestures
simple, and his whole person inspired at once respect and sympathy.[7]
San Martin gave verbal orders with great precision, and in ordinary
conversation was fond of a joke. He wrote laconically in a style of his
own, and was much given to reading French authors. Very reserved and of
warm affections, he was a great observer of men, studying how he might
best avail himself of such talents as they possessed. Haughty by nature,
unobtrusive both by temperament and by system, he forced upon himself a
stoical disregard of injuries. He was studiously moderate, and patient
in the elaboration of his plans. A slave to duty himself, he was
tolerant of human frailty in others, but could be severe when severity
was requisite. He was, as with truth and with posthumous justice he has
been styled by Vicuña Mackenna, “the greatest of the Creoles of the New
World.”
[Illustration: I.--MAP OF THE VICEROYALTY OF LA PLATA AND OF THE KINGDOM
OF CHILE, EXCLUDING UPPER PERU AND SOUTHERN PATAGONIA.]
CHAPTER III.
THE LAUTARO LODGE.
1812--1813.
The Provisional Junta, which was established at Buenos Ayres on the 25th
May, 1810, was a simple evolution of historic and municipal rights, and
was legalised by the election of deputies to it from the Cabildos. This
body was subsequently reconstructed, but this measure and the creation
of Provincial Juntas were retrograde movements, arising from a latent
tendency to decentralisation, in which lay the germ of the federal
system of a later day. The next step was the creation of a Triumvirate,
which, being a more centralised form of government, responded to the
immediate needs of the revolution, and was a necessity of the time.
In the Junta the conservative and revolutionary elements of society were
both represented, but the Triumvirate represented no party, and was
merely an anonymous Dictator. The revolution had as yet no defined
policy, and thus afforded no basis for the development of the democratic
idea.
A Legislative Assembly was convened, formed of deputies from the various
provinces, which drew up a constitution which virtually gave back the
executive power to the Cabildos. This Assembly was dissolved by the
Triumvirate, a measure greatly applauded by the public, but which
attacked the fundamental principle of government.
The Triumvirate then drew up and decreed a constitution of its own,
providing for the periodical election of the Executive by a mixed
assembly of notables and of representatives of different towns, who
should also act as a legislative council until the convention of a
National Congress.
These measures were far from satisfying the requirements of the
democratic party, who called for the immediate convocation of a National
Congress, which would give form and life to the Republic, though
government was still carried on in the name of the King. The Triumvirate
opposed the convocation of a Constituent Assembly, considering the time
for this had not yet come. Hence came about a fourth political
evolution, more dangerous and more important than any of the others.
San Martin returned to his native country a man unknown, but with a
certain repute as a brave soldier and a skilful tactician. His comrade,
Alvear, on the contrary, came of a family already well known in the
River Plate. Ambitious of glory and of power, and of a brilliant
imagination, he was a great contrast to San Martin, and assumed an
attitude of protection to him, recommending him to the Government of the
United Provinces as a good soldier.
Eight days after his arrival San Martin was confirmed in his rank as a
lieutenant-colonel, and was entrusted with the organization of a
squadron of cavalry, in which Alvear held the rank of major and Zapiola
that of captain. This was the origin of the famous regiment of mounted
grenadiers, which fought in all the battles of the War of Independence,
which gave to America nineteen generals and more than two hundred
officers, and of which, after shedding its blood and spreading its bones
across the continent from La Plata to Pichincha, a remnant returned
under the command of a trooper who in thirteen years had fought his way
up to the rank of colonel, and brought back their old standard with
them.
The experience of San Martin in Spain had taught him that success is not
possible in a long war without a solid military organization. He had
seen the Spanish armies, ever routed in spite of their heroism, when
remoulded under English discipline triumph over the first soldiers of
Europe. He knew that Spain, once free from war in the Peninsula, would
send her best troops and her best generals to America. Coolly he studied
the situation, and came to the conclusion that the war was but
commencing, that the armies of the revolution had no consistence, that
there was no plan of operations and no preparation for future
emergencies. He said nothing of this publicly, but quietly set to work
to found a new military school. Under his command the first squadron of
the mounted grenadiers became the school of a generation of heroes. He
did as Cromwell did in his day; he made one regiment the model for an
army. Under strict discipline, which did not repress individual energy,
he formed soldier and officer alike, one by one, instilling into them a
passion for duty and that cool courage which is the secret of success.
His first work was to instruct the officers, who under his guidance
became the monitors of the future school. To the companions of his
voyage he added men who had already seen service in the war, preferring
those who had risen from the ranks, but took none of higher rank than
lieutenant. To them he added cadets, chosen from respectable families of
the city of Buenos Ayres. He was their master both in tactics and in the
use of arms, and taught them both to study and to manœuvre with heads
erect. Their nerves he tried by nocturnal surprises, those who failed
being dismissed, as he wished “to have only lions in the regiment.”
He also established a sort of vigilance committee among them, and in
extreme cases gave permission to fight duels. On the first Sunday in
each month he presided at a meeting of this committee. In an adjoining
room each officer wrote on a blank ticket an account of any misconduct
he had observed. These tickets were folded and dropped into the hat of
the Major, and were then inspected by himself. If among them was any
accusation, the accused was sent from the room while the matter was
discussed. A committee of inquiry was named and directed to report at a
special meeting, where each officer gave his opinion in writing, and a
secret ballot decided whether the accused should remain in the corps or
not. In the first case the president, in the name of the committee and
in their presence, gave a full apology to the accused; in the second, a
special committee was appointed to wait upon him and procure his
resignation, he being at the same time notified that if he continued to
wear the uniform he would be forcibly stripped of it by the first
officer he met.
This tribunal had a concise and severe code which classified
transgressions worthy of punishment, from the act of ducking the head in
danger to that of refusing to fight a duel, be it just or unjust; also
striking a woman, even if insulted by her; and included all sorts of
personal misconduct.
The troopers were all carefully selected, short men not being admitted.
He subjected them to strict discipline, and armed them with the long
sabre of Napoleon’s cuirassiers, telling them that with this weapon they
could split like a melon the head of any _Goth_[8] they met. In their
first skirmish they gave practical proof of the truth of this lesson.
Finally, he gave to each trooper a war-name, forbidding him to answer to
any other.
Other squadrons were formed on the model of this one till a regiment was
embodied, and Government sent San Martin his commission as colonel with
these words:--
“Government sends you a commission as colonel of the mounted grenadiers,
and hopes that by the continuance of your steadiness and zeal you may
present the country with a corps capable alone of securing the liberties
of your fellow-citizens.”
Meantime San Martin had married Doña Maria de los Remedios Escalada, a
beautiful girl of one of the first families of the city.
San Martin made no pretence of being a politician, but among friends he
spoke plainly his opinions:--
“Until now the United Provinces have fought for no one knows what,
without a flag, and without any avowed principles to explain the origin
and tendency of the insurrection. We must declare ourselves independent
if we wish to be known and respected.”
With these ideas he did not hesitate to join those who desired the
convocation of a Constituent Congress, but he saw the necessity of
establishing some powerful nucleus of political force which should bring
superior intelligence to influence popular movements, preparing among a
few that which should be the apparent will of all. This idea he, aided
by Alvear, carried into effect by the installation of the celebrated
secret society known as THE LAUTARO LODGE, which exercised so great and
so mysterious an influence upon the destinies of the revolution.
This Lodge was established in Buenos Ayres about the middle of the year
1812. Its members were of all political parties, but the majority were
of the party at that time dominant in the State. The society was
organised in various grades; in the first, neophytes were initiated
according to the ritual of the Masonic lodges which were introduced into
Buenos Ayres prior to the outbreak of the revolution; in the higher
grades they were initiated into the higher purposes of the society, and
behind these was hidden the central lodge (Logia Matriz), in which lay
the supreme power of the society.
The declared object of the Lodge was:--
“To work systematically for the independence and happiness of America,
proceeding with honour and justice.”
Thus membership was exclusively confined to men of American birth. By
its constitution, if any of the brotherhood was elected supreme ruler
of the State, he could take no important step without consulting the
Lodge; he could not appoint a diplomatic agent, general-in-chief,
governor of a province, judge of an upper court, high church dignitary,
nor general officers, and could not punish any member of the
brotherhood, by his own authority. It was a law of the Society that all
members should mutually assist each other in all the exigencies of civil
life; that at the risk of life they should uphold the decrees of the
Lodge; and should inform it of anything which could influence public
opinion, or affect the public security. To reveal the secret of the
existence of the Lodge “by word or by sign” was punishable by death by
such means “as might be found convenient.” This penalty, was, however,
only intended to have a moral effect. By an addition to the
constitution, it was arranged that when any brother of the _Logia
Matriz_ was named general of an army or governor of a province, he
should have power to establish an affiliated society, with a smaller
number of members.
The Society failed to secure the adhesion of the members of the then
Government, but most of the popular leaders joined the Lodge, and its
ramifications soon extended to all classes, the most notable adherent
being Dr. Don Bernardo Monteagudo, who had great influence among the
younger citizens.
Very exaggerated ideas have been held as to the influence of the Lautaro
Lodge. Events have been attributed to its action and it has been held
responsible for executions and crimes with which the Society had nothing
whatever to do. It has been made the scapegoat of all the mistakes and
errors of the epoch. The Lodge of Lautaro was not a machine of
government or of speculative propaganda, it was an engine of revolution,
of war against a common enemy, and of defence against internal dangers.
In this sense it greatly contributed to give tone and direction to the
revolution, concentrating the forces of government, giving unity and
regularity to political evolutions, and a vigorous impulse to military
operations. Under its auspices was created the first popular Assembly
which gave form to the sovereignty of the people; to it was due that
spirit of propaganda which characterized the Argentine revolution, and
the maintenance of the alliance with Chile, which gave independence to
half the continent; but there was danger in the secrecy of its debates,
and in the irresponsibility of its collective power, which was manifest
when it became a tool in the hands of personal ambition. The limited
sphere in which its influence was felt proves that the Argentine
revolution was impelled by forces of much greater power, and obeyed
general laws over which it had no control.
The Portuguese army, then holding the left bank of the Uruguay, had
agreed to retire within the frontier in pursuance of an armistice
arranged, on the 26th May, 1812, by the interposition of the English
minister, between the United Provinces and the Court of Rio Janeiro. The
Spanish flag yet floated on the walls of Monte Video, but the road was
now open and a strong patriot army was concentrated on the right bank of
the Uruguay.
In Buenos Ayres public spirit revived on the discovery of a vast
conspiracy of European Spaniards under Alzaga, which was to have broken
out on the 5th July, in concert with the forces in Monte Video and the
Spanish squadron in the roadstead, aided by the Portuguese army, which
had not yet retired. The Triumvirate punished the conspirators with
great severity, and the base of operations was solidly secured.
In the North the situation was less promising. The Royalist army, after
completing the subjugation of Upper Peru, advanced in triumph to the
heart of the United Provinces, and invaded the Province of Tucuman. The
relics of the Patriot army were in retreat, under command of Belgrano,
and it was only hoped that they might reach Cordoba in safety. At this
critical juncture Belgrano, disregarding the positive orders of
Government, turned on the enemy, who were double in number to his own
forces, and completely routed them on the 24th September, near to the
city of Tucuman, capturing flags and cannon, and thus saved the
Argentine revolution.
By the constitution drawn up by the Triumvirate, it was established that
one of their number should retire every six months. On the expiration of
the first six months, they convened another Assembly to elect one in
place of the outgoing Triumvir. This Assembly, repeating the errors of
the previous one, took upon itself the attributes of a representative
body. Government dissolved it as it had the former one, and called upon
Don Juan Martin Pueyrredon to fill the vacant chair; but the national
spirit was no longer confined within the limits of the municipality of
Buenos Ayres, and demanded the immediate convocation of a National
Congress, elected by the people. The Triumvirate proposed that a third
Assembly should devote itself to drawing up a plan for the election of
the Congress. This Assembly accordingly met on the 6th October, in the
midst of the excitement caused by the news of the victory of Tucuman,
and elected as Triumvir a nominee of the Executive. Public opinion saw
in this only a continuance of the provisional system and was greatly
incensed, both against the Triumvirate and against the Assembly.
Behind the popular movement was the Lautaro Lodge under the direction of
Monteagudo, who secured the concurrence of San Martin and his
grenadiers, as also that of Alvear. This movement was much more
carefully prepared than that of the 25th May, 1810, or than that of the
5th and 6th April, 1811. The leaders drew up a plan of operations,
defining the parts to be played by the people, by the corporations, and
by the troops. They chose beforehand the members of the future
Government, and even made a programme of the policy they should pursue.
At half-past eleven on the night of the 7th October the troops of the
garrison commenced to defile into the Plaza Victoria, and took up
positions in front of the Cabildo. The grenadiers, with sabres sheathed,
were headed by San Martin and Alvear; after them came Colonel Ortiz
Ocampo with the 2nd regiment, and Lieutenant-Colonel Pinto with the
cavalry. At daybreak on the 8th, the bell of the municipality was rung
and the people commenced to assemble. Soon three hundred persons, among
whom were the principal members of the religious orders, occupied the
galleries of the Chamber and presented to the Cabildo a petition with
more than three hundred signatures, asking--
“Under protection of the military for the suspension of the Assembly and
the deposition of the Triumvirate, so that the Cabildo, reassuming the
authority delegated to it by the people on the 22nd May, 1810, might
immediately create a new Executive encharged to convene a truly national
Assembly.”
The Cabildo acceded to everything, declaring by proclamation that the
Assembly when convened should have supreme power within limits defined
by the towns, in order to draw up a Constitution. They also appointed an
executive, consisting of Don Juan José Passo, Don Nicolas Rodriguez
Peña, and Don Antonio Alvarez Jonte, under the rules of the Provisional
Statute. All which was submitted to the people and approved of by
acclamation.
This revolution, which was municipal in its form, was essentially
national and democratic in its tendency. The principle of the
sovereignty of the people was recognised by calling a general Congress;
the old traditions, which gave supremacy to the capital, were set aside;
and the first bold step was taken in the path of independence.
The new Triumvirate lost no time in setting about their appointed task;
the Constituent Assembly was speedily convened, the victorious army of
Tucuman was strongly reinforced, and another army was despatched to
besiege Monte Video.
Thus in the space of seven months from the arrival of San Martin in
Buenos Ayres the aspect of affairs was completely changed. Government
was consolidated, its policy defined, public spirit was aroused, and the
revolution, with two armies, boldly displayed the flag of independence.
But the military situation was precarious, everything depended upon the
result of a battle.
Monte Video was a fortress of the second class, was defended by 335
guns, of which 175 were in battery, was garrisoned by more than 3,000
troops and by 2,000 militia, and was further protected by a squadron of
14 ships of war, mounting 210 guns, and by a flotilla, while the United
Provinces had not even a gunboat. Here was the centre of reaction and
the natural base for any expedition from the Peninsula, while the state
of relations with Brazil increased the danger from this quarter.
The Royalist army, beaten at Tucuman, had been strongly reinforced, and
lay entrenched at Salta, waiting the arrival of another army from Upper
Peru.
Government summoned a council of military chiefs--of whom San Martin was
one--and of influential citizens, to aid the Cabildo in devising
measures to meet these threatening dangers. It was decided that Monte
Video must be taken at any cost, and that Belgrano should be instructed
to drive the enemy from Salta, in order to open the road to the centre
of the Spanish power at Lima.
CHAPTER IV.
SAN LORENZO.
1813--1814.
On the 31st December, 1812, the vanguard of the army sent against Monte
Video, under the command of Colonel Rondeau, completely defeated a
strong sortie of the garrison and laid siege to the city.
On the 31st January, 1813, the general Constituent Assembly met in
Buenos Ayres. The majority were members of the Lautaro Lodge, so there
was no longer that anarchy of opinion which had neutralized the former
Assemblies. For the moment it fulfilled popular aspirations; the nominal
sovereignty of the King of Spain was eclipsed, his name disappeared for
ever from public documents, the escutcheons of Spain were torn down,
titles of nobility, the Inquisition, and judicial torture were
abolished. The effigy of former monarchs was substituted on coins by the
seal of the United Provinces--a sun with rays and a Phrygian cap, within
a wreath of laurel. The colours of the Spanish flag were replaced by the
blue and white of the Patriot cockade, and the last link with the mother
country was broken by declaring the supremacy of the National Courts of
Law. Everything was reformed, even to the prayers of the priests and the
songs of the people, who now in inspired verse saluted,
“A new and glorious Nation,
With a conquered lion at her feet.”[9]
So was inaugurated the sovereignty of the Argentine people; a formal
Declaration of Independence was now all that was wanting for the
establishment of a republic.
The armies in the field swore obedience to the Assembly and marched with
enthusiasm under the new flag upon the fortifications of Monte Video and
upon the entrenchments of Salta; only upon the water did the spirit of
revolution as yet make no progress. The maritime power of Spain seemed
invincible in America; her ships of war dominated the coasts from
California on the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico on the Atlantic. The
sailors of Monte Video dominated the River Plate and its affluents. One
day they bombarded Buenos Ayres, another they spread terror along the
banks of the Uruguay, and sacked defenceless towns on the Parana.
Batteries were thrown up on the banks in front of Rosario and at Punta
Gorda, which only diverted attack from these points to others more
defenceless.
In October, 1812, the towns of San Nicolas and San Pedro, on the western
bank of the Parana, were cannonaded and sacked. Then, with the object of
diverting the attention of the Patriots from the siege of Monte Video,
cutting off all communication by the rivers with the interior, and of
procuring supplies for the garrison of Monte Video, a flotilla was
organised under the command of a noted smuggler, Ruiz by name, on which
was shipped a detachment of infantry, led by a red-haired Biscayan,
named Zabala, a man of colossal stature and of approved valour.
The Government of Buenos Ayres, hearing of this expedition, ordered the
battery at Rosario to be dismantled and the guns to be sent higher up
the Parana, to Punta Gorda, where the garrison was strengthened. The
colonel of the mounted grenadiers also received orders to march with two
squadrons for the protection of the coast from Zarate to Santa Fé.
The Royalist expedition, under convoy of three small ships of war,
concentrated at the mouth of the Guazu, below the delta of the Parana,
about the middle of January, and were there delayed by a north wind, so
that when San Martin reached the coast they were only commencing the
ascent of the main river. Keeping his troops out of sight, San Martin,
disguised in the hat and poncho of a countryman, kept watch upon their
movements from the bank, by day and by night. On the 28th January they
passed San Nicolas, and on the 29th anchored above Rosario, without
having as yet made any attempt to land.
Escalada, commandant of Rosario, collected twenty-two men, carrying
muskets, and thirty horsemen, and with a small gun prepared to make what
resistance he could. At daybreak on the 30th the flotilla cast anchor
inside the island of San Lorenzo, which lies in the middle of the river
about seventeen miles to the north of Rosario. The western bank here
consists of high bluffs, affording no landing-places except where narrow
paths were cut through them to the water’s edge; in front of one of
these cuttings the flotilla anchored. Beyond the low trees which
bordered the edge of the bluff stood the lonely monastery of San Carlos,
a two-storey building with a belfry on the roof.
About a hundred men landed, but all the provisions they could obtain
from the peaceful friars were a few fowls and melons; all cattle had
been withdrawn from the coast. As the monastery bell struck half-past
seven, a cloud of dust was seen on the Rosario road. It was Escalada,
with his fifty men and his one small gun. The Spaniards retreated with
drums beating to their boats, and Escalada opened fire upon them from
the edge of the bluff, but was obliged to draw off as the guns of the
flotilla had much longer range than his one piece.
On the night of the 31st, a Paraguayan prisoner escaped from the
flotilla, swimming ashore on a bundle of sticks. From him the Patriots
learned that the whole force of the enemy did not exceed three hundred
and fifty men, that they were mounting two small guns, intending to land
next day in greater force for the purpose of searching the monastery for
treasure which they supposed to be there hidden, and that after securing
the treasure they intended to proceed up the river, passing the
batteries of Punta Gorda by night, if they could not destroy them, and
so cut off the trade with Paraguay.
Escalada sent out messengers with this news, one of whom met San Martin
and his grenadiers, who, following the windings of the river had been
left behind by the flotilla, which was favoured by a southerly breeze.
Fortunately the wind now chopped round to the north and delayed the
intended landing, so that when San Martin, by forced marches, reached
the post-house of San Lorenzo, three miles from the monastery, on the
night of the 2nd February, nothing had yet been done. At the post-house
he found fresh horses waiting for him, sent there by Escalada.
In front of the post-house stood an old carriage without horses. Two
troopers rode up to it, and asked:--
“Who is here?”
“A traveller,” answered a sleepy voice.
Another horseman rode up saying--
“Be careful; this is not an enemy, but an Englishman on his way to
Paraguay.”
The traveller put his head out of one of the windows of the coach, and
thinking he recognized the figure and voice, said:--
“Surely you are Colonel San Martin?”
“If so, you have a friend here, Mr. Robertson,” answered the other.
And so it was; this was the well-known traveller, William Parish
Robertson, who was destined to witness the memorable events of the next
day, and to record what he saw.
The two friends laughed together at their unexpected meeting in the
dark, and San Martin spoke of his project.
“The enemy has double the number of men that we have, but I doubt if
they get the better of us.”
“So say I,” replied the Englishman, offering his visitors wine to drink
to their success, and asking permission to go with them.
“Agreed,” answered San Martin, “but take care; it is no part of your
duty to fight. I will give you a horse, but if the day goes against us
you must run for it.”
Then, giving the order to mount, he put himself with his friend at the
head of the silent troopers, and soon after midnight reached the
monastery, which they entered by a gateway in the rear of the edifice.
All the cells were vacant: not a sound was to be heard in the cloisters.
The gate being shut the troopers dismounted in the large courtyard. The
Colonel enjoined silence upon them, and forbade them to light fires.
“It brought to mind,” says the English traveller, “the Greek host hidden
in the bowels of the wooden horse, so fatal to Troy.”
San Martin, with a night-glass, ascended the tower of the church, and
saw by their lanterns that the enemy was yet there. He then carefully
reconnoitered the country round him, and from information furnished by
Escalada formed his plans.
On the river face of the monastery a level plain, apt for cavalry
manœuvres, extended for three hundred and fifty yards to the edge of
the bluff. Two winding paths, one only of which was practicable for
infantry in formation, led to the beach below. He then withdrew his men
from the courtyard and formed them, holding their horses by the bridle,
behind the cloisters and outhouses, leaving Escalada and his volunteers
within the edifice. At dawn he again mounted the tower. At five o’clock,
as the shades of night melted away, boats laden with armed men, were
seen to leave the flotilla for the shore. At half-past five, two small
columns of infantry marched up the main path.
Then San Martin came down from his post of observation, and, meeting
Robertson at the foot of the stairs, said:--
“In two minutes more we shall be upon them, sword in hand.”
A few paces off his orderly held his charger ready, a fine
cream-coloured horse, fully caparisoned. In a moment he was in the
saddle. Drawing his curved sabre he galloped off to his grenadiers, who
were now to enter into action for the first time, and in a few words
exhorted them to remember his lessons, and, above all, not to fire a
shot, but to trust to their lances and sabres. He put himself at the
head of the second squadron and gave command of the first to Captain
José Bermudez, directing him to attack the flank and cut off the retreat
of the invaders, and added:--
“We will meet in the centre of the enemy’s columns; there I will give
you further orders.”
The enemy, about two hundred and fifty strong, had in the meantime
advanced some two hundred and odd yards. They came on quickly to the
sound of drums and fifes, and with a flag, in two parallel columns of
half companies, with two four-pound guns between the columns and a
little in advance. Then was heard for the first time the war clarion of
the mounted grenadiers.
From the right and from the left of the monastery the two squadrons
dashed forward at full gallop, sabre in hand. San Martin led the attack
on the left, Bermudez that on the right. San Martin being nearest was
the first to fall on the enemy. The fire of the two guns failed to check
the onset; the heads of the Spanish columns were thrown into disorder,
but, falling back, opened a heavy fire of musketry. San Martin with his
squadron encountered the column led by Zabala in person; his horse was
killed by the first volley, and a fierce hand-to-hand fight raged round
him as he lay upon the ground caught by the leg by his fallen steed, in
which he received a slight sabre cut in the face. A Spanish soldier ran
forward to bayonet him, but was run through the body with a lance by a
grenadier named Baigorria. Another trooper, named Juan Bautista Cabral,
sprang from the saddle and released his leader from the fallen horse,
and fell himself pierced by two mortal wounds, shouting:--
“I die content! We have beaten the enemy.”
Almost at the same moment, Cornet Bouchard killed the bearer of the
Spanish ensign and captured the flag.
The other column was also driven back by the charge of the squadron led
by Bermudez, and the Spaniards abandoning their guns, retreated to the
bluff, where they attempted to form square under protection of the guns
of the flotilla. Bermudez leading a second charge upon them was mortally
wounded by a cannon-shot, and Lieutenant Manuel Diaz Velez, carried away
by his enthusiasm, fell with his horse over the bluff, with a ball in
his forehead, and two bayonet wounds in his chest, but the Spaniards
were driven headlong to the beach, leaving behind them, besides their
flag, their guns and fifty muskets, forty dead and fourteen prisoners.
Many of those who escaped were wounded, one of these being Zabala, their
leader.
The grenadiers had fifteen killed and twenty-seven wounded, among whom
each of the United Provinces had at least one representative. Lieutenant
Diaz Velez, being taken prisoner, was carried on board the flotilla.
San Martin assisted by Robertson, generously furnished the flotilla with
fresh supplies for their wounded, and arranged for an exchange of
prisoners, giving up those he had captured for three previously taken by
the boats and for his wounded officer; but Velez died in the arms of his
comrades a few hours after. One of these released prisoners was a
Paraguayan named José Felix Bogado; he at once enlisted in the regiment,
and during thirteen years’ service with it, from San Lorenzo to
Ayacucho, won his way up to the rank of Colonel, and then returned to
Buenos Ayres, accompanied by seven of the original troopers of the
corps.
Still covered with the blood and dust of the fight, San Martin signed
the despatch announcing his victory, under the shade of an old pine-tree
which still stands in the garden of San Lorenzo.
The affair of San Lorenzo, though of little military importance, had a
most beneficial effect upon the Patriot cause. The safety of the towns
on the banks of the Parana and Uruguay was secured; communication with
Entre Rios, which was the base of the army besieging Monte Video, was
maintained; the expected supplies to this city were cut off; the trade
with Paraguay was preserved; and above all, a new general given to the
army and new vigour to the spirits of the men.
Three days afterwards, the discomfited flotilla descended the Parana,
laden with wounded instead of plunder, and carried the news to Monte
Video. At the same time San Martin returned to Buenos Ayres, and the
enthusiasm of his reception somewhat deadened the calumnies which
already began to embitter his life.
On the 20th February the Spanish army entrenched at Salta was completely
routed by General Belgrano; the third victory in less than three months.
The revolution of the 8th October and the influence of the Lautaro Lodge
were justified by these results.
When San Martin returned to Buenos Ayres, he found that political
parties, confined within the limits of the capital, weakened by local
animosities, and ultimately enclosed by the four walls of the Lodge, had
degenerated into circles ruled by personal influences, and like most of
the influential men of that day he became imbued with the belief that a
constitutional monarchy backed by Europe was the true solution of the
political problem. Neither he nor they saw that the sentiment of the
people was essentially republican.
Secret societies have been at times the only means of organization left
to an enslaved people, but they have never accompanied the development
of revolutionary ideas; as a general rule they have produced nothing
beyond abortive conspiracies; among a free people they are impotent.
Thus the continuance of the secret and irresponsible influence of the
Lautaro Lodge, could have no other effect than to weaken the power of
the General Assembly, its own creation.
Within the Lodge itself there soon arose two distinct parties, one
strove only for democratic independence, the other was a personal party
with Alvear at its head, which presently absorbed the whole society.
The dream of Alvear was military glory and a dictatorship. His friend
Carrera was at this time (May, 1813), both a dictator and a general in
his own country; he took him as his model, but was clear-sighted enough
to see that their circumstances were not identical.
In June, 1813, the army of the North a second time invaded Upper Peru
under the orders of Belgrano, but was badly beaten at Vilcapugio on the
1st October, and almost destroyed at Ayohuma on the 14th November. The
remnant retreated to its former position, and Belgrano requested to be
relieved of the command.
The United Provinces had not at this time any general conspicuous for
military genius. The laurels gained by Don Antonio Gonsalez Balcarce at
Suipacha were blighted at the Desaguadero. His brother, Don Martin
Balcarce, was in Chili in command of Argentine auxiliaries. The victory
of Don José Rondeau, in front of Monte Video, was the first and last of
his career; he lacked the qualities of a commander-in-chief. Belgrano
was wanting both in technical knowledge and in warlike instinct, but was
the best of them all. Of the generals of division, none had as yet shown
any capacity for separate command. The revolution which had been so far
opposed by mediocre generals and badly-organized troops, had now to
contend against skilful generals and well-disciplined troops.
Alvear applied for the command of the army of the North. San Martin, who
considered the expedition against Monte Video of more importance,
willingly gave place to him, but Alvear, ever vacillating and loth to
leave the field of politics, changed his mind and recommended San Martin
for the post. San Martin was anxious to free himself from the trammels
of party in order to gain freedom of action in the course he had marked
out for himself; he accordingly accepted the command of a reinforcement
for the army of the North, and received instructions to assume the
command-in-chief if he should deem it advisable.
This reinforcement consisted of the 7th battalion of infantry, 700
strong, two squadrons of the mounted grenadiers, and 100 artillerymen,
and reached Tucuman before the close of the year 1813. Soon after San
Martin and Belgrano met at Yatasto on the road to Salta, and swore
friendship to each other, an oath most faithfully kept by both.
These two celebrated men had never met before, but had for some time
corresponded. San Martin presented himself as a subordinate, but
Belgrano looked to him as a master in the art of war, and regarded him
as his successor. After some delay, due to the reluctance of San Martin
to supersede his friend, he at length assumed the command on receipt of
positive orders to that effect from Government, Belgrano remaining with
him in command of a regiment. Belgrano died in the belief that San
Martin was the tutelar genius of South America, and San Martin to the
end of his days honoured the memory of his illustrious friend as that of
one of the purest patriots of the New World.
On the 22nd January, 1814, the executive power was concentrated in one
person, who took the title of Supreme Director. Don Gervasio Antonio
Posadas was selected by the Lodge to fill this post, and was duly
elected by the General Assembly. No one was more surprised than himself
at this appointment, for which his only special recommendation was that
he was the uncle of Alvear, who for the present contented himself with
the command of the army of the capital, until such time as he could take
command of the army of Monte Video, and there achieve such military
glory as should entitle him to supreme power.
The first care of San Martin, on assuming command of the army of the
North, was to insist upon the regular payment of his men. There existed
in the army chest a sum of thirty-six thousand dollars, drawn from Upper
Peru, which Government had directed should be paid over to the General
Treasury. San Martin disobeyed the order and applied the money as he
wished, giving Government at the same time his reasons for so doing.
Government approved of his conduct as justified by necessity, for the
army was at the time in the last stage of destitution.
CHAPTER V
UPPER PERU.
1814.
The military policy of the United Provinces had three distinct ends:
first, to construct a new nation within the geographical limits of the
old Viceroyalty of the River Plate; second, to aid in the establishment
of other South American nations, who would be their natural allies; and
third, to carry their arms beyond their frontiers for the removal of
obstacles to their expansion. Hence the expeditions to Paraguay and
Monte Video, the aid given to the insurgents in Chile, and the war waged
with the Viceroyalty of Peru. The army of the North, as the embodiment
of this threefold policy, was styled “The Auxiliary Army of Peru,” and
its mission was to incorporate the Provinces of Upper Peru as a portion
of the old Viceroyalty, to capture Lima, the centre of Spanish power in
South America, and to bring Lower Peru into an alliance similar to that
already contracted with Chile.
For four years Upper Peru had been the battlefield of the Patriots and
Royalists; it was now completely in the power of the latter. The four
provinces known as Upper Peru are shut in by mountain ranges, and have
no fluvial communication with either ocean. Situate within the tropics,
their high tablelands and intervening valleys furnish at once examples
of perpetual winter and perpetual spring, and yield all the natural
products of the globe.
Upper Peru is divided by two spurs from the Andes into three districts.
The western range runs parallel to the Pacific Ocean from the desert of
Atacama--which is a high tableland--to the first valleys of Lower Peru
on the coast, cutting off an arid and thinly-peopled district. The
central plain, well peopled but inclement, is the natural road from the
Argentine Republic to Lower Peru, and was the theatre of operations
during the preceding campaigns. The eastern range, with lofty peaks
covered with perpetual snow, looks down upon a truly intertropical
paradise. At its foot extends to the west the smiling valley of Clisa,
where stands the city of Cochabamba, with easy access over the hills to
the central plateau, and to Chuquisaca by valleys on the south-east.
Behind Cochabamba and to the east of the range lies the Valle Grande,
which collects the mountain streams and delivers them to the Amazon.
More to the north-east lies Santa Cruz da la Sierra in the midst of a
vast grassy plain, which slopes gradually away to the confines of
Brazil, Paraguay, and the Argentine Chaco.
The social organization of Upper Peru was a continuation of the system
of the Incas, complicated by the antagonism of races. Europeans had
established themselves in six cities, whose former inhabitants, driven
out to the ice-covered hills or to the torrid valleys, worked as serfs
for their lords and masters as cultivators of the soil or as miners. The
lower class in these cities consisted of half-breeds, and formed the
greater part of the population. All the rest of the country was peopled
exclusively by two indigenous races, who paid a capitation tax, and had
no civil rights. The language of the conquerors was unintelligible to
the mass of the people.
In this country the first rebellion against the domination of Spain was
quenched in blood in 1809, but news of the revolution of Buenos Ayres in
1810 rekindled the smouldering embers. The movement was supported by
Argentine troops under Balcarce, who won the first victory of the war at
Suipacha, but was afterwards totally defeated on the Desaguadero. The
Patriots of Cochabamba being thus left alone, fought another battle by
themselves at Sipe-Sipe on the 13th August, 1811, but were defeated.
The repulse of the second invasion under Belgrano in 1813 was another
great disappointment to them, but still the spirit of the people was not
crushed. There was, however, no cohesion among them; they had the
courage to resist and to die on the field of battle or on the scaffold,
but they were unable to concert any plan of action; thus these
successive disasters greatly weakened the ties which bound them to the
Patriots of Buenos Ayres, but vain were the efforts of the Spaniards to
overcome the passive resistance of the people. Heads of rebels were
exposed along the public roads, the properties of such as had fled were
confiscated and sold, towns were sacked, military commissions terrorized
the country, prisoners taken in the last campaign were sold as slaves to
the owners of the vineyards and plantations of Peru, but still
insurrectionary movements constantly broke out; even the Indians, armed
with nothing more than clubs, slings, and arrows, braved death with the
utmost stoicism, certain that they would be avenged. The Spanish
general, unable either to retreat or to advance, established his
headquarters at Tupiza; and while a portion of his army kept open
communications in the rear, his vanguard advanced to Salta, constantly
harassed by the country people, who rose in arms on the retreat of the
Patriot army to Tucuman.
The army which had twice defeated the armies of the United Provinces was
almost entirely composed of natives of the Highlands of Lower Peru. They
were men inured to hardships and privations, untiring on the march,
faithful to their flag, obedient to their officers, and undaunted under
fire. They were half-breeds, who spoke the same language as the people
of the country in which they fought. The climate of this country was the
same as that of their own, and they were accustomed to the peculiar
requirements of mountain warfare. All this gave them great advantages
over the Argentine troops on that field of action, and the remembrance
of defeats disheartened the Patriot army.
Belgrano after the rout of Ayohuma had left Colonel Don JUAN ANTONIO
ALVAREZ DE ARENALES as governor of Cochabamba and commandant of the
Patriot forces in the rear of the enemy, and Colonel Don Ignacio Warnes
as governor of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, under the orders of Arenales.
Only men of their stamp could have undertaken the desperate enterprise
of keeping alive the flames of insurrection in the mountains of Upper
Peru after such disasters.
Arenales is one of the most extraordinary characters of the Argentine
revolution. Born in Spain and educated in Buenos Ayres, he embraced with
ardour the American cause, and took a prominent part in the insurrection
at Chuquisaca in 1809. Taken prisoner, he was sent to Peru, and remained
in the casemates of Callao till set at liberty by the Cortes of Cadiz in
1812. At the time of the battle of Tucuman he was in Salta, and there
headed a patriotic movement which was immediately quelled. Previous to
the battle of Salta he had joined the army of Belgrano, and accompanied
it to Upper Peru. To austere manners, tenacity of purpose, and untiring
activity he added the virtues of a good citizen, great talents as an
administrator, inflexible will, and a brain fertile in warlike
stratagems. His face never displayed any signs of either pleasure or
pain, and his stern look and voice joined to his lion-like head, marked
him as one born to command; but under all lay a warm heart, more anxious
to do right than to win glory.
Warnes was of English descent, but was born in Buenos Ayres, and in 1807
had distinguished himself in defence of his native city.
San Martin, on learning from Belgrano the character of Arenales, at once
opened communications with him, and on two occasions sent him arms and
ammunition, with officers, to aid him in his operations.
While Belgrano was in Upper Peru, Colonel Landivar, a Spaniard, was made
prisoner at Santa Cruz de la Sierra. This man had been one of the most
merciless agents of Goyeneche, and he was kept for trial by the
General, “not for having fought against our system, but for the murders,
robberies, burnings, violences, extortions, and other excesses
perpetrated by him in contravention of the laws of war.” It was proved
that he had executed fifty-four prisoners of war, whose heads and arms
had been cut off and nailed to posts on the public roads. The accused
alleged that he had only ordered the execution of thirty-three
individuals, and that in obedience to express orders from Goyeneche,
which he produced in evidence. The defence was ably conducted by an
officer of the Grenadiers, who pleaded that the prisoner having acted
only in obedience to the orders of his superior could not be looked upon
as other than a prisoner of war. The Court pronounced sentence of death,
which sentence was laid before San Martin on the 13th January, 1814, who
at once signed it without consulting Government.
This trial gives an idea of the mode in which war was waged in Upper
Peru. The cruelties of the Spaniards produced reprisals on the part of
the insurgents, which so filled the land with bloodshed that “the
inhabitants looked calmly upon these scenes; no one hesitated to risk
his own life, and all sought to shed the blood of those of the other
party.” Such was the war into which Arenales now entered as leader of
the fifth insurrection of Cochabamba.
The Royalist army being in possession of the central plateau the
position of Arenales at Cochabamba was untenable, but the road by the
Valle Grande was open to him; he could join Warnes at Santa Cruz de la
Sierra, and communicate with the Argentine Provinces by the Chaco, and
from Santa Cruz he could march over well-wooded plains to Chuquisaca.
On the 29th November he commenced his retreat with sixty musketeers,
four small guns, a few cavalry, and a crowd of countrymen armed with
clubs and slings, who covered his flanks and rear. In the valley of
Misque he attempted to make a stand, but was forced across the
Cordillera to the head waters of the eastern streams. Overtaken at
Chillán, he beat off his pursuers, and reached the Valle Grande, where
he recruited his forces, forming an infantry battalion of one hundred
and sixty-five men, and two squadrons of cavalry, and was joined by some
guerilla chiefs.
The insurrection spread, and Pezuela despatched Colonel Blanco with six
hundred men and three light guns, to subdue it. On his march Blanco met
with six heads nailed to posts, a gage of defiance from the guerillas
who swarmed in the adjacent valleys.
On the 4th February the two armies met. The Patriots had at first the
advantage, till a part of their raw troops were seized with panic; the
Royalists captured their guns and remained masters of the field. Blanco
shot his prisoners, and cut off the heads of three leaders, after which
he retreated to Chillán for reinforcements.
Arenales retreated to the frontier of Santa Cruz, taking his arms and
spare ammunition with him on mule-back. Reinforced by Warnes he halted
at Abapo on the Rio Grande, and in March had two hundred and four
infantry and four small guns. Warnes refused to recognise his authority,
and took up a position for himself at Horcas with a thousand men,
advancing his outposts to Herradura and Petacas, passes of the
Cordillera considered impregnable, as they were nothing more than
flights of stairs cut in the sides of the mountain.
At the same time the Indians of the Chaco along the banks of the river
Pilcomayo rose up in favour of the Patriots; guerilla chiefs aroused a
part of the Province of La Plata; and the towns in Blanco’s rear were
again in insurrection. Pezuela despatched Colonel Benavente with five
hundred men, against this new insurrection; but in spite of sundry
advantages gained by both columns, Benavente was so weakened that he was
soon reduced to inaction, and Blanco, whose troops suffered greatly from
fever, was forced to evacuate the Valle Grande early in April and to
retreat to Misque.
Arenales, while encamped at Tumina, received information that Blanco,
resuming the offensive, had forced the passes of Herradura and Petacas,
and had dispersed the division under Warnes. He at once marched towards
the scene of action, and met Warnes at the head of only three hundred
men. The latter, learning wisdom by his reverses, placed himself under
his orders. Blanco had in the meantime taken the city of Santa Cruz, and
was now coming in search of them with six hundred men, of whom one-half
were regular infantry.
On the 24th May the Royalists came in sight, and the Patriots retreated
by a narrow defile, leaving a small party to draw on the enemy. At dawn
on the 25th they reached the town of LA FLORIDA, on the river Piray.
Arenales took up a position on the right of this small river, in an open
space where the bank was about two yards high. Below, the river spread
out, while in front lay a wide plain. His flanks were protected by dense
brushwood; the town was behind him. He planted his guns on the open,
placed his cavalry in ambuscade on each flank, with Warnes in command on
the right and De la Riva on the left. At the foot of the bank he opened
a trench, concealed by sand and brushwood, where he stationed his
infantry, kneeling, and awaited the attack. His entire force numbered
about eight hundred men.
Just before noon the same day a dropping fire was heard in the woods in
front. It came from the outpost, who were retreating before the enemy.
Soon after that the Royalist column debouched from the wood, preceded by
skirmishers. Blanco drew up his men on the plain, with strong cavalry
reserves on the flanks, and opened fire with his four-pounders. Then, as
the infantry advanced firing, the Patriot guns opened upon them. When
the skirmishers entered the river, the entrenched infantry poured in a
volley, and, springing from their shelter, charged through the smoke
with such impetuosity that, aided by the cavalry on the left, they
completely routed the enemy, Colonel Blanco remaining dead upon the
field.
Arenales headed the pursuit in person with so little caution that he was
attacked by a group of fugitives, who left him for dead with fourteen
wounds, three of them in the face. His men rushed in and saved him,
carrying him on their shoulders back to the camp.
Two flags, two guns, two hundred muskets, one hundred killed, and
ninety-nine prisoners, were the trophies of this victory, while the
Patriots lost only one man killed and twenty-one wounded, including
their leader.
Such was the action of La Florida, which saved Santa Cruz de la Sierra
and compelled the retreat of the Royalist army from Salta. It gives the
name to one of the principal streets of Buenos Ayres. For it Arenales
was raised to the rank of general, and a badge of honour was decreed to
the troops engaged.
Arenales was no sooner well of his wounds than he marched with his
division and reoccupied the Valle Grande, routing a Royalist force of
two hundred men at Postrer Valle on the 4th July, but was on the 5th
August himself defeated at Sumapaita. Afterwards reinforced by Padilla
with a body of Indian slingers, he forced Benavente to retreat from
Tomina, and again reoccupied the Valle Grande.
Eighteen months he maintained this extraordinary war at a cost to the
enemy of 1,300 men in killed, wounded, and missing, entering Cochabamba
at last in triumph, and joining the Argentine army with 1,200 men.
Over the vast plains of La Plata the revolutionary spirit had spread
almost unopposed, but where mountain ranges marked out the limits of
Upper Peru the movement could only advance by force of arms. The map of
the old Viceroyalty did not coincide with that of the social revolution
of the United Provinces. Upper Peru had been the high road from Buenos
Ayres to Lima in time of peace; it now remained for San Martin to decide
whether the same road was strategically the proper road to Lima or not,
in time of war.
CHAPTER VI.
THE WAR IN THE NORTH.
1814.
The Army of the North when reinforced, barely numbered 2,000 men, mostly
recruits, among whom desertion was frequent. Disorganized, short of
officers, and badly clothed, it was quite incapable of making head
against the enemy. Jujui and Salta were held by the victorious
Spaniards, who threatened the whole of the northern frontier. San Martin
was more especially troubled by the lack of officers and the general
want of discipline in the troops.
Pezuela, the Spanish general who had defeated Belgrano at Vilcapugio and
Ayohuma, had established his headquarters at Tupiza on the frontier of
Upper Peru, and ordered a levy of two to three thousand men in the
Highlands of Lower Peru. He also formed two battalions out of
contingents from the nearer valleys of Chichas and Ciuti, raising his
army to about four thousand regulars. His vanguard under Ramirez, one
thousand five hundred to two thousand strong, with eight guns, occupied
Jujui, and his cavalry scoured the country as far as Salta. San Martin’s
outposts also reached almost to this city, and at this time the men of
the city and of the country round about, rose _en masse_ and formed a
sort of vanguard to the Army of the North.
San Martin had at that time no regular plan, he neither knew his own
resources nor the designs of the enemy, and confined his efforts to the
reorganization of the army. After consultation with Colonel Dorrego, who
commanded the advanced posts, he determined to confide these positions
to the district militia and to concentrate his regular forces in
Tucuman. In carrying out this plan he received most valuable assistance
from the devotion of the country people, who masked all his movements
and prevented the enemy from discovering anything either of his
intentions or of his strength.
His first step was the construction of an entrenched camp to the north
of the city, which put a stop to desertion, and he increased the number
of his troops by recruiting. Here he stood on the defensive and limited
his efforts to aiding the popular movements in Salta, Cochabamba, and
Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
In this entrenched camp, which is known to history as the citadel of
Tucuman, he established a school of instruction, holding up the mounted
grenadiers as a model for the rest of his force. Belgrano was a most
docile pupil, but Dorrego, though his talents were highly esteemed by
San Martin, was sent off to Santiago del Estero for insubordinate
conduct. Belgrano soon afterwards left the army, giving as his last
advice to his friends the maxim, “that war must be waged not with arms
alone but with the force of public opinion,” which maxim was at that
time exemplified by facts, for the Royalist armies held only the ground
on which they stood, and their movements were paralyzed by the popular
insurrections all around them.
In the Province of Salta the revolutionary movement was most pronounced.
The first popular manifestation in the city produced the organization of
the civic militia. In 1810 the urban guard was raised by the voluntary
enlistment of youths of respectable families. Then arose spontaneously
among the peasants of the campaña, a corps of cavalry, with the
instincts of the Cossacks, and the qualities of the Mamelukes, headed by
a chieftain who made his name famous for deeds of prowess.
MARTIN GÜEMES had first borne arms against the English in the reconquest
of Buenos Ayres in 1806 and in the memorable defence of 1807. He with
his men, formed the vanguard of the first Patriot army which invaded
Upper Peru. His horsemen penetrated as far as Potosi, and covered every
movement of the Patriots. At Suipacha he did good service. In 1811 he
escorted the prisoners of the campaign to Buenos Ayres, where he was
appointed to the general staff with the rank of captain. In 1813 he took
part in the second siege of Monte Video, and was absent from his native
province at the time of Belgrano’s expedition, but when San Martin took
command of the army he was at Santiago del Estero on his way back.
The insurrection of Salta in the face of the victorious enemy, was
carried out with equal deliberation and courage. The population
emigrated _en masse_, the peasants abandoned their huts and the towns
were left desolate. In the capital even the tongues were taken from the
church bells, lest the enemy should use them to celebrate their
victories. Two old friars alone remained in each convent to administer
the sacraments to the sick and aged who could not go away.
When the Royalist vanguard occupied the city of Salta a lieutenant,
named Ezenarro, was detached with thirty men to occupy a district
thirty-two miles to the south in the valley of Lerma. The first Sunday
after his arrival, one of the men of the place after morning mass,
said:--
“We must rise against this canalla.”
“With what arms?” asked another.
“With those we take from them,” said yet another.
A proprietor, named Luis Burela, put himself at their head, surprised
the guard, disarmed Ezenarro and his men, and sent them prisoners to
Tucuman. Then, with the arms they had captured, they marched to within
ten miles of Salta, where they were met by a company of Spanish troops,
whom they charged at once, and completely routed, taking most of the men
with their leader prisoners, and sending them also to Tucuman. Another
proprietor, named Pedro Zabala, followed the example of Burela, armed
his peons and some volunteers and took the field.
So began the resistance to the enemy, in which the whole people speedily
joined, so that Salta became a bulwark to the United Provinces
impregnable to Royalist arms, solely by the force of public opinion
roused to action.
The Province of Salta, which at that time formed a part of the
jurisdiction of Jujui, enters within the first spurs of the Andes which
branch from the second of the two ranges which enclose Upper Peru, and
has the same physical characteristics, plains, mountains, and an
intermediate tropical zone. Its possession was thus of great importance
to the invaders, as it was the gate to Argentine territory. The
occupation of Jujui opened the road to the plains and valleys of Salta,
but even the occupation of Salta itself did not secure their position.
The agricultural lands, from which alone supplies could be drawn, lay in
valleys to the south of the capital, and it was this part of the
Province the guerillas undertook to defend. The nature of the country
eminently adapted it to guerilla warfare. The inhabitants were a
hard-working race of men, strong, active, and inured to hardships,
individually brave, and with a natural instinct for the class of warfare
they waged. They were horsemen, accustomed to go either up or down hill
at full speed, whose ordinary equipment enabled them to gallop unharmed
through thorny brushwood. They were good marksmen, either from the
tree-tops or from horseback, or on foot from behind their horses if need
were. San Martin made no mistake when he entrusted to them the task of
keeping the Royalists at bay while he was engaged in the reorganization
of the regular army at Tucuman. He had seen in Spain what might be
accomplished by this class of irregular troops.
Pezuela, deceived by false despatches which San Martin caused to fall
into his hands, believed that these raw levies were the vanguard of the
Patriot army advancing on Salta, and in consequence lost much valuable
time waiting for reinforcements.
In March the Royalist vanguard advanced from Salta into the valley of
Lerma, in search of supplies, under the command of Colonel Saturnino
Castro, a native of Salta, who had the repute of being the first cavalry
officer of the Royalist army of Peru, and whose valour had decided the
day at Vilcapugio. The guerillas, who became known to history as the
GAUCHOS of Salta, greatly harassed the progress of the expedition,
swarming in the woods along the line of march, cutting off stragglers,
driving in small detachments, and firing upon the main body from any
convenient shelter.
On the 24th, videttes on the Guachipas River at the end of the valley,
descried fifty-six of the enemy, under Captain Fajardo, approaching
them. Captain Saravia collected thirty men armed with short muskets, and
a group of peasantry with clubs and pikes, charged upon them and
completely routed them, killing eleven including the captain, and making
twenty-seven prisoners, while he had only three men killed and one
wounded.
Meantime Güemes had entered the Sierra to the east of Salta, and on the
9th and 18th, two parties of his Gauchos surprised two detachments of
the enemy. On the 29th he came so close to the city that Castro sallied
out against him for about a league with eighty men, but was completely
routed, with the loss of half his force.
For this feat Güemes was named Commandant-General of the Vanguard, and
on the recommendation of San Martin, was raised to the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel.
Güemes then occupied the approaches to the city and harassed the
garrison by daily attacks upon the suburbs. Being reinforced from Jujui,
the Royalists then organised two expeditions of 500 men each. One,
composed of a battalion of infantry and a squadron of light horse under
Colonel Alvarez, marched early in June into the valley of Lerma. At the
town of Sumalao, Alvarez found the vanguard of the Guachipas awaiting
him. The Patriot outposts were driven in, but the main body sheltered by
trees and broken ground, poured so heavy a fire upon him that he was
forced to return to the city, with many killed and wounded, and with the
loss of all the supplies he had seized.
The other column, also composed of infantry and cavalry, was under the
command of Colonel Marquiegui, who like Castro was a native of Salta,
and of great repute for skill and knowledge of the country. This column
marched to the east and was met by Güemes in person, who made so
stubborn a resistance that it was also forced back to the city, and the
siege was re-established.
Pezuela had drawn in his reserves and advanced to Jujui. Thence he sent
orders to Colonel Marquiegui to march with one hundred infantry and one
hundred and fifty horse, by the north-eastern frontiers of Tucuman and
Santiago del Estero, to the rear of the advanced guard of the Patriots
on the river Pasaje. Marquiegui carried out his instructions with great
skill, captured several forts, and learned from prisoners that the army
of San Martin consisted only of three thousand recruits, and that the
vanguard which gave them so much trouble, was nothing but a swarm of
undisciplined Gauchos; but he also learned that the object of the
campaign, which was the relief of Monte Video, was now impossible, that
city having already fallen.
When news of this expedition reached Tucuman, Güemes was immediately
reinforced by one hundred infantry and one hundred mounted grenadiers,
and Marquiegui retreated, marching one hundred leagues in a semicircle,
but was prevented from carrying off either horses or cattle.
This was the last attempt at invasion; five thousand men were not enough
to capture Tucuman, much less to conquer the country. Pezuela withdrew
his troops beyond the frontier, and sent off a strong detachment to
Cuzco to crush an insurrection which had broken out in that city.
The object of the Royalist invasion was, by a powerful diversion, to
compel the Argentine Government to withdraw their army from the Banda
Oriental for the protection of the northern provinces, but meantime that
government had armed and equipped a small naval force, which, under the
command of an Irishman named BROWN, had, on the 16th May, defeated and
almost destroyed the Spanish squadron stationed at Monte Video, which
city soon after surrendered to the Argentine army then besieging it
under the command of Alvear.
Before the conclusion of these events, the General of the Army of the
North had disappeared from the theatre of war. San Martin, after careful
study of the question, had clearly discerned that the road by Upper Peru
was not the true strategical line of the South American revolution. His
idea was to carry the war to the West, to pass the Andes, to occupy
Chile, to secure the dominion of the Pacific, and to attack Lower Peru
on the flank, continuing military operations to the North merely as a
subordinate detail of the main design.
This plan, the merits of which were not appreciated by his
contemporaries until it was crowned with victory, is looked upon by
posterity as not merely the most simple, but as the only possible plan
which could give the desired result. It was then held to be folly,
whilst in reality the folly lay in persevering in the attempt to reach
Lima with insufficient means and by an impracticable route. Knowing that
it would be looked upon as folly, San Martin kept his idea to himself,
as _his secret_, as he himself styled it in confidential intercourse,
waiting to disclose it for the day when he should hold in his hand the
thunderbolt which was to shatter the power of Spain in America. Three
months after taking command of the Army of the North, he wrote to his
friend, Don Nicolas Rodriguez Peña:--
“Don’t flatter yourself with thinking of what I can do here. I shall do
nothing, and nothing here pleases me. Our country can do nothing more
here than act on the defensive, for which war the brave Gauchos of
Salta suffice, if aided by two squadrons of regular troops. To think
otherwise is to throw men and money into an abyss. I have already told
you _my secret_. A small, well-disciplined army in Mendoza, to cross to
Chile and finish off the Goths there, aiding a government of trusty
friends to put an end to the anarchy which reigns. Allying our forces,
we shall then go by sea to Lima. This is our course, and no other.”
This idea, which was a secret in 1814, and which would, if divulged,
have caused its author to be looked upon as a lunatic, is the idea which
has given San Martin his place in the history of the world, and which
finally changed the destinies of South America.
With such plans in his head, San Martin could not rest content with the
command of the Army of the North. Further, his rival, Alvear, after
crowning himself with the laurels of victory at Monte Video, aspired
also to those of Peru. Doubtless, with his enterprising character and
sparks of genius, he would have broken the routine of the previous
campaigns, and San Martin was willing to yield his post to him, asking
for himself, as for a resting-place, the government of the obscure
province of Mendoza, by which he threw dust in the eyes, not only of the
enemies of America but also in those of his own friends, imitating the
tactics of William the Silent, to whose character his own bears some
analogy.
In addition he was, towards the end of April, attacked by an affection
of the lungs, which obliged him to leave Don Francisco Fernandez de la
Cruz in command of the army, and to retire, by the advice of his
physician, to the Sierra of Cordoba, in search of a drier climate.
On the 10th August, 1814, the ex-General of the Army of the North was
appointed Governor of Cuyo. From that moment he lived only for his idea.
Mendoza was the starting-point in the realization of his plans; it was
the soil whence sprang the legions which were to liberate America.
CHAPTER VII.
THE CHILENO-ARGENTINE REVOLUTION.
1810--1811.
In September, 1814, San Martin took charge of the Government of Cuyo.
The revolution in Chile had then lasted four years and was about to
succumb, a prey to intestine discords and to the arms of Peru. In order
to understand what followed we must first know what preceded the
appearance of San Martin upon the scene.
Never were two peoples more analogous and less alike than the peoples of
Chile and of the United Provinces. Both countries were situate at the
southern extremity of the new continent, under the same degrees of
latitude, but while one was shut up between the mountains and the sea,
the other spread over vast plains. The first was agricultural, the
second pastoral and commercial. Chile possessed a territorial
aristocracy, and a population of half-breeds, whose relations were
somewhat feudal in character. The Argentine people were by nature
democratic. Both people sprang from the same origin, and were in
temperament alike.
The colonization of Mexico and Peru was an imitation of the feudal
system of Europe; the labour of an enslaved race was utilized for the
production of the precious metals. The colonization of the River Plate
and of Chile was effected by the colonists themselves. Assimilating in
some degree the indigenous races, they conquered their territories from
a warlike people, and, in so doing, developed their own aptitude for
war, while they supplied themselves with the first necessaries of life
by their own labour.
While the colonists of the River Plate crossed immense deserts and
reached the Pacific by way of Upper Peru, the colonists of Chile crossed
the Andes from Arauco and established themselves to the east of the
Cordillera at Mendoza, opening for themselves a road to the Atlantic.
Thus the city of Mendoza, capital of the Argentine Province of Cuyo, was
a bond of union between the two countries.
During the colonial epoch Chile had vegetated in obscurity amid peace
and plenty, but the Provinces of the River Plate had lived in a state of
almost constant warfare with their neighbours the Portuguese, with the
English, and with the Indians, which gave them some knowledge of their
own strength, and inoculated them with new ideas. These ideas filtered
across the Cordillera to Chile, and there smouldered till, in the year
1810, the flames of revolution burst out in both countries almost
simultaneously.
The kingdom of Chile, as it was called, was colonized under the auspices
of Peru, but was, in 1778, separated from this Viceroyalty and placed
under the orders of a governor, who was at the same time President of
the Real Audiencia. These two authorities, with the Cabildos granted to
some cities, constituted the whole political, judicial, and municipal
system of the colony. The separation from Peru inspired the colonists
with instinctive ideas of independent autonomy, till the death of the
then governor, Muñoz Guzman, on the 10th February, 1808, plunged the
hitherto pacific colony into a fever of expectancy.
The Home Government followed no fixed system in the appointment of the
superior authorities in the colonies. Their nomination came from the
Crown direct; sometimes vacancies were provided for beforehand,
sometimes the colonists were empowered to make a provisional
appointment; but, latterly, that power was, as a rule, vested in the
Audiencia. In 1806 all this was changed by Royal decree, which enacted
that, in case of a vacancy, the military official of the highest rank
then in the colony should assume the vacant post. On the death of Muñoz
Guzman, the Audiencia of Chile raised its own President to the vacant
office. The officers stationed on the frontier of Araucania protested
against this appointment, and proclaimed Colonel Don Francisco Garcia
Carrasco Provisional Governor and Captain-General, and the Audiencia was
forced to yield.
The new Captain-General took with him to the capital, as his secretary
and councillor, a man who had for many years resided at Concepcion, who
had great influence in the south and was highly thought of throughout
the country. This was Dr. Don Juan Martinez de Rozas, an Argentine, born
in Mendoza, who was at that time forty-nine years of age. He was a
graduate of the University of Cordoba, and a fellow-student with Dr.
Castelli, through whom he afterwards entered into political relations
with Belgrano. In various official positions in Chile he had gained
experience of public affairs, and his wife was a daughter of one of the
principal families of the South. Of a passionate character, he was at
the same time prudent, was well read in the current literature of the
day, and was the leading spirit in a group of men who discussed among
themselves the future destinies of America.
The new Captain-General was a man of limited intelligence, violent in
his proceedings, and with no firmness of character. Thus he soon made
himself hated, and was despised by all. His one passion was
cock-fighting, his greatest pleasure was in listening to jokes, and his
affections were concentrated upon a domestic of African race, through
whose hands all favours were bestowed. The whole aim of Rozas was to
make him an instrument for social and political reform. To this end he
strove to raise the Cabildo of Santiago into a position analogous to
that of Buenos Ayres, and to use it as a counterpoise to that of the
Audiencia. The Governor, by his advice, added twelve new members to this
body, influential citizens, most of whom were men of advanced opinions.
The immediate result of this innovation was to inoculate this assembly
with revolutionary ideas.
Ferdinand VII. being now a prisoner of Napoleon, the Creoles thought
that the time had come to replace the colonial system by a government of
their own, but the Spaniards, who thought only of preserving their own
privileges, protested against the idea. The two parties soon came into
collision. The Governor cancelled the decree which added twelve members
to the Cabildo, and quarrelled first with the Audiencia and then with
Dr. Rozas.
The Spaniards strove to reconcile him with the Audiencia, and advised
him to fortify the hill of Santa Lucia which commands the city, and to
arm their partisans; but finding their counsels set at nought, they
denounced him to the Viceroy of Buenos Ayres as unfit for the post he
held. He, on his part, appealed for help both to the Viceroy of Buenos
Ayres and to him of Peru.
At the same time several leading Chilians, aided by young Argentines
resident at Santiago, opened communications with the popular leaders of
Buenos Ayres. Carrasco then tried what intimidation would do. On the
25th May, 1810, the same day on which the Viceroy of Buenos Ayres was
deposed by the people, he ordered the arrest of three of the principal
citizens of Santiago, as advocates of revolutionary ideas. The municipal
authorities protested, and convened an open Cabildo, which cited the
Governor before them. He thought at first of resistance, but 3,000 men
filled the Plaza. He could not depend upon the troops, and at the
request of the Audiencia he presented himself, amid the shouts of the
populace who clamoured for his deposition.
A new Procurator, elected by the Cabildo, the previous one being among
the prisoners, opened the case by declaring that it was the will of the
people that the prisoners should be set free, and that the Cabildo would
remain sitting till it was done. This was the first time that such a
thing as “the will of the people” had been heard of in Chile, and the
speech of the new tribune was loudly applauded.
Carrasco yielded, and decreed not only the liberation of the prisoners,
but also the dismissal from their posts of those who had aided in the
arbitrary measure. He also accepted the control of an Assessor, without
whose authorization his judicial acts should, in future, be invalid.
These decrees were endorsed by the Audiencia, which was a virtual
dismissal from office of the last Governor and Captain-General of Chile.
From that day the latent spirit of revolution gained ground, but the
efforts of the Patriots were as yet limited to theoretical discussions.
Their head-quarters were in Santiago, the warlike Province of Concepcion
was their base, and their teaching came from Buenos Ayres, “the Athens
of the New World,” as it is styled by a Chilian historian. The growth of
public opinion in Santiago, and the news constantly arriving from Spain,
more especially that of the battle of Ocaña, kept the interest alive.
The south of Chile, whose capital was Concepcion, virtually formed a
distinct country. The people called themselves “Penquistos,” to
distinguish themselves from their northern neighbours, who styled
themselves “Chilians.” Their troublesome neighbours, the Indians of
Araucania, had accustomed them to war; their pastoral and agricultural
pursuits made them strong and hardy. Their society included a class of
free peasantry, among whom the army of the frontier found recruits, and
from whom sprang the most distinguished leaders on both sides in the war
which followed. The man of most influence in this district in 1809 was
Dr. Rozas, who, after his quarrel with Carrasco, returned to Concepcion
and began openly to work for independence.
He advised that Chile, without renouncing her allegiance to her captive
sovereign, should provisionally appoint a National government, after the
example set by the Provinces of Spain, which idea he advocated in a
manuscript circular, for at that day there was no printing-press in
Chile.
Among the co-workers with Rozas was a wealthy proprietor of the South
named DON BERNARDO O’HIGGINS, son of the celebrated Viceroy of the same
name. Educated in Europe he spoke English, and was, by reason of his
Irish descent, partial to the institutions of England. A disciple and
confidant of Miranda he had been affiliated in his lodge, swearing as
did San Martin and Bolívar to work for the liberty of the New World.
Carrasco kept the prisoners in gaol in spite of his promise to the
Cabildo, and issued a decree establishing a special Junta to keep watch
over the advocates of the new ideas. The excitement in Santiago
increased, and eight hundred armed citizens demanded the institution of
a governing Junta, in imitation of that established in Buenos Ayres on
the 25th May. The Audiencia prevailed upon Carrasco to resign his power
into the hands of the Count de la Conquista, a Chilian noble, who was
eighty-five years of age. The Patriots were not satisfied, but as they
succeeded in surrounding the new Governor by councillors in whom they
could trust, they for a time acquiesced.
About the end of July an emissary from Belgrano and Castelli crossed the
Andes. The Patriots, stimulated by the news he brought, determined to
persist in their previous design, and induced the Count to convene an
open Cabildo on the 18th September. To ensure their triumph the Cabildo
called out the city militia, and the proprietors of Santiago filled the
suburbs with their armed tenantry. They were also joined by some
officers of the garrison. In spite of the protest of the Audiencia, the
Count laid down his baton of command, and the Cabildo appointed a
governing Junta of seven members, of whom Dr. Rozas was one, the Count
being named President.
The new Government was accepted by the whole country, but nothing was
changed until the arrival of Dr. Rozas, who on the 2nd November entered
the capital in triumph, between lines of troops, amid salvoes of
artillery, the clang of bells, music, and loud acclamations. All that
night the city was illuminated and fireworks blazed in his honour. Never
had Santiago witnessed such an ovation.
The Chilian revolution resembled that of Buenos Ayres, in that it was
Parliamentary and legal, initiated and carried out within the precincts
of the municipal forum; and that it triumphed by the force of opinion,
without violence, in the name of the public weal. Both followed the same
formula, the resumption of their own rights, without a rupture with the
mother country and protesting fidelity to the legitimate sovereign. The
first was an aristocratic revolution, the second was democratic and
radical; but, both were essentially American and obeyed the same
historic law. Thus from the beginning, the two nations were bound
together by fraternal ties and by a common cause.
The news of the installation of the Junta of Chile was received in
Buenos Ayres with transports of joy, and the thunder of their guns on
the 11th October, reverberated in the hearts of the Chilian people.
Buenos Ayres proposed at once an alliance offensive and defensive,
assuring the Chilians that England would recognise any constitution they
might give themselves, now that Spain had fallen. Rozas, in return,
presented a plan for a vast continental confederation, which idea found
an eager advocate in Alvarez Jonte, the Argentine envoy, who as a
practical exposition of it, asked Chile for an auxiliary force in aid of
the Argentine Government against the reactionary movement which had its
headquarters in Monte Video.
The Cabildo opposed the project, but Rozas had the majority of the Junta
with him, and in 1811 a decree was published for the despatch of an
auxiliary force of 500 men, and authorizing the Argentine envoy to
enlist 2,000 recruits. This sealed the alliance of the two countries and
united their destinies for good or evil. Of the promised contingent, 100
dragoons and 200 infantry reached Buenos Ayres on the 14th June, 1811,
and met with an enthusiastic reception.
The Patriot party soon became divided into two factions. The Radicals,
who aimed at independence, were headed by Rozas, and had in their front
line the Argentine residents. The death of the Count de la Conquista in
February, 1811, left Rozas at the head of affairs, but his power was
more apparent than real. Against him, at the head of the Moderate party,
was ranged the Cabildo, sustained by the Creole aristocracy, whose timid
temporising policy almost placed them in line with the party of
reaction. The Royalist, called the Goth or Saracen party, recognized the
leadership of the Audiencia, accused Rozas of personal ambition and even
of aspiring to the crown. Rozas had no such ambition and lacked even the
spontaneous courage of the man of action. Through all this opposition he
carried on his plan of reform, of which freedom of commerce was the most
important feature. This was proclaimed in February, 1811, with the
result that in a few months the revenue was doubled and was soon after
quadrupled. He also raised troops and summoned a general Congress of
Deputies from the Provinces, whose election was based upon the
limitations established by municipal precedent.
The 1st April was the day appointed for the elections. That same day a
part of the garrison of Santiago mutinied under Colonel Figueroa, who
was a friend of Rozas. At first the daring Royalist was successful, and
occupied the Plaza, placing himself under the orders of the Audiencia,
who however, declined all responsibility. Rozas, who alone of his
colleagues preserved his presence of mind, ordered the rest of the
troops to march against the mutineers. The two forces met in the Plaza
and opened fire on each other simultaneously, at close quarters. The
affair soon ended in favour of the Patriots, young Manuel Dorrego, of
Buenos Ayres, at that time a student of the University, particularly
distinguishing himself in the fight.
Figueroa took refuge in a convent, where he was captured by Rozas at the
head of a party of citizens, was tried that same night, sentenced to
death “as a traitor to his country and the government,” and was shot the
next morning at four o’clock. The bodies of five of the mutineers who
had been killed, were hung on a gallows in the Plaza on the afternoon of
the 1st, and next day proclamation was made that all who conspired
against the State would be similarly punished.
Immediately afterwards the Audiencia was dissolved, and with it
disappeared the last semblance of monarchical authority in Chile.
Meantime the elections passed off quietly in the rest of the country. In
the Centre the Creole oligarchy triumphed, the great proprietors being
elected by their tenants without opposition; but in the South and in
some of the northern districts, the Radicals were successful.
Following the example of Buenos Ayres, the Deputies were incorporated
with the executive, in spite of the just protest of the Cabildo, which
revenged itself by procuring the election of twelve deputies for the
capital in place of the six it ought to have had according to the
electoral census.
On the 6th May the interrupted election took place in Santiago. The
candidates of Rozas being defeated from this day his power waned.
Congress met on the 4th July. Out of forty members Rozas could only
count upon thirteen votes. On the same day the Junta resigned, and the
“High Congress” assumed the executive power. Rozas in an eloquent
speech gave a sketch of his policy, which he recommended for their
adoption, and was listened to with deep attention by the whole Assembly;
for the moment all the discordant opinions vibrated in harmony.
It is an interesting question whether this early establishment of the
Parliamentary system was of benefit or was an evil to Chile. The Chilian
historian, Vicuña Mackenna, considers it premature. He says, “the
dictatorship of a Cæsar rather than that of a Cicero” would have been
preferable for a people without constitutional education. Gervinus
thinks that it assured to Chile, later on, that tranquillity so wanting
in the other republics of South America. Lastarria, more philosophical
than either, observes that the establishment of the doctrine of the
sovereignty of the people, even under such restrictions as placed them
in the hands of a few only, was the true way to weaken colonial
prejudices and to arouse the idea of the dignity of man. The fact is
that it was the natural outcome of the feudal character of Chilian
society. In the Parliamentary drama the people played the part of the
Greek chorus, which repeated the words of the principal actor. Chile
soon remedied the error, copied from Buenos Ayres, of incorporating
Congress with the Executive, which shows the existence of a hidden force
neutralising the effect of an evil example.
The revolutions of Holland and the United States had shown the world
that a regulating Congress was compatible with a dictatorship; and even
in South America it was seen later on that no dictatorship, however
powerful, could disregard the will of the people from whom its authority
was derived. In Chile less than in any other colony was this possible;
nevertheless it is certain that Rozas convened this Congress in
obedience to a solemn promise exacted from him by O’Higgins as a
condition of his support.
The Moderate party, which had a large majority in Congress, knew not
what use to make of their power; they were without experience, without
plans, and had no fixed ideas; most of them desired only peace and
security for their properties. The minority had clearer views; they
aimed at raising their leader to the head of the State, and at
independence.
On the 27th July an English ship of war reached Valparaiso, whose
captain was commissioned by the Viceroy of Peru, with credentials from
the Regency of Spain, to receive the subsidy which Chile was expected to
contribute for the maintenance of the war in the Peninsula. One million
six hundred thousand dollars had been deposited in the treasury for this
purpose. The Moderates and the Royalists were for paying the amount at
once, but O’Higgins, speaking for the Liberals, said:--
“Although we are in a minority we shall know how to supply that defect
by our energy and our courage; we are sufficient to oppose effectually
the delivery of this money, of which our country threatened with
invasion has need.” This bold protest decided the question in the
negative.
The Liberals afterwards proposed the appointment of an Executive of
three; one for each of the three territorial divisions of the country,
the North, the South, and the Centre. The Moderates accepted the idea
but put off the election. The Liberals then attempted to intimidate
Congress by popular tumults, sadly compromising their leader by these
sinister manœuvres. Congress showed more firmness than could have
been expected from its composition, and the defeated minority seceded
from the Assembly. The majority then named three of their own party as
the Junta, and R
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