by Arana, Marie
named the new nation Colombia: Constitución Federal.
made himself head of his own army: Sherwell, 33.
the sun was oppressively hot, etc.: Díaz, 98–102, for all subsequent details.
heaving and rippling: Humboldt, Personal Narrative, 451.
A cacophony of bells, etc.: Díaz, 98–102.
Trinity collapsed to its foundations: Heredia, 46.
severed limbs, crushed corpses: Flinter, History of the Revolution, 35.
“I will never forget that moment”: Díaz, 98–102.
More than ten thousand, etc.: Heredia, 46.
Survivors, caked with dust and blood: Mancini, 127.
The looting began almost instantly, etc.: Flinter, History of the Revolution, 34.
Bolívar’s house had been seriously damaged, etc.: Mancini, 118.
dug with their bare hands: Humboldt, Personal Narrative, p. 452.
“On your knees, sinners”, etc.: Mancini, 118. For all subsequent details.
He combed the ruins, etc.: O’L, XXVII, 50–51.
men of means married slaves: Flinter, History of the Revolution, 34. Also O’L, XXVII.
colossal wooden crosses: Flinter, History of the Revolution, 34.
proceeding in devastating opposition: Humboldt, Personal Narrative, 451.
Strange natural phenomena occurred: Ibid., 454.
the loss of life at 30,000: Flinter, History of the Revolution, 34.
as high as 120,000: O’L, XXVII, 49.
the only house that remained standing: Mancini, 118.
crushed in their barracks: Humboldt, Personal Narrative, 451.
there was hardly a brick out of place: Ibid., 454.
the gallows to which dissident Spaniards, etc.: Díaz, 98–102.
he had no trouble recruiting troops: Heredia, 47.
blazing comet: J. Zeilenga de Boer, Earthquakes in Human History (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005), 129.
its epicenter between Memphis and St. Louis, etc.: Ibid., 126–29.
news of the Caracas disaster: When the U.S. Congress learned of the extent of damage in Venezuela, it approved a gift of $50,000 in aid. Many North Americans complained that the country had not provided the same to its own citizens. Ibid., 129.
“The period is portentous and alarming”: Ibid.
hang a ball from a string: E. S. Holden, Catalogue of Earthquakes on the Pacific Coast, 1769–1897 (Washington, DC, Smithsonian, 1898), 33.
a volcano on the Caribbean island: W. A. Garesché, Complete Story of the Martinique and Saint Vincent Horrors (Chicago: Monarch, 1902), 155.
rumblings went on for months, etc.: Holden, 32–33.
forty percent of all U.S. exports: J. H. Coatsworth, “American Trade with European Colonies, 1790–1812,” William & Mary Quarterly, Series 3, 24 (April 1967), 243.
a virtual monopoly in Latin America: T. O’Brien, “Making the Americas,” The History Compass, 2 (2004), 1–29.
In the address, etc.: President Madison’s message to Congress, Nov. 5, 1811, in J. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of Presidents, www.gutenberg.org. Also W. S. Robertson, “The Recognition of the Hispanic American Nations by the United States,” HAHR, 1, no. 3 (Aug. 1918), 239–69.
Congress issued a dry statement: Dec. 10, 1811, ibid., 242.
when John Adams had first heard: Adams to James Lloyd, Quincy, March 26, 1815, The Works of John Adams (Boston: Little, Brown, 1856), X, 140.
Monroe met with Ambassador Orea: Robertson, “Recognition,” 239–69.
republican population decimated: The population of Venezuela in 1810 was estimated at 800,000. The republican population was a small fraction of that. The Caracas population in 1810 was 40,000. Citations for the numbers of dead in the earthquake (throughout Venezuela) range from 20,000 to 50,000. See Bethell, 150.
“not without misgivings”: Austria, 299.
powerful enemies of the revolution, etc.: Parra-Pérez, Historia, 440.
the day after Monteverde readily took: O’L, XXVII, 56.
Many were farm boys, etc.: Becerra, Ensayo histórico, II, 219–20.
Miranda had six thousand, etc.: Heredia, 49. Some sources (e.g., Sherwell, 35) cite up to 12,000 soldiers for Miranda.
defected to the Spanish side: O’L, XXVII, 56.
Even the Marquis del Toro: Archivo General de Indias (Sevilla), Caracas, 385, in McKinley, Pre-Revolutionary Caracas, 211.
massive slave insurrection: Paz del Castillo to Miranda, Caracas, July 5, 1812, Archivo del General Miranda, XXIV, 288. Also G. R. Andrews, Afro-Latin America, 1800–2000 (New York: Oxford, 2003), 59.
something turned in Miranda: “Acta de la decisión,” La Victoria, July 12, 1812, Miranda, América espera, 461.
an act that freed slaves: The Conscription Act, Robertson, Francisco de Miranda, 466.
he had instructed a diplomat: Miranda to L. M. Martín, La Victoria, July 2, 1812, Miranda, América espera, 460.
half the province of Caracas: M. Lucena, “La sociedad de la provincia de Caracas a comienzos del siglo XIX,” in Anuario de Estudios Americanos, XXXVII, 8–11.
“As much as I desire liberty”: Miranda to John Turnbull, Dover, Dec. 6, 1798, in Archivo del General Miranda, XXIV, 207.
fragrant gardens, well-kept houses, etc.: Flinter, History of the Revolution, 50, for all subsequent details.
“The graveyard of Spaniards”: Ibid.
to attend his own wedding: Madariaga, 170.
Taking advantage of his absence, etc.: Lecuna, Crónica, I, xxi.
urging the renegades to reconsider: Ibid.
most of the republican munitions, etc.: SB’s report to Miranda, Puerto Cabello, quoted in full in O’L, XXX, 517.
the captain in charge of defending: Parra-Pérez, Historia, p. 489.
five hundred of Monteverde’s troops: Ibid., 490.
chatting breezily of Jefferson: Pedro Gual, Testimonio y declaración, Quinta de la Paz, Bogotá, Feb. 15, 1843, published in Robertson, Francisco de Miranda, 470.
“Generalísimo, At one o’clock”: SB, Escritos, IV, 85, in Puyo Vasco and Gutiérrez Cely, Bolívar día a día, I, 126. Also Yanes, 46.
“You see, gentlemen”: Miranda to his men (Sata y Bussy, Roscio, Espejo, Gual), as recorded by Gual, Testimonio, in Robertson, Francisco de Miranda, 471.
retinue of five ragged officers, etc.: Lecuna, Crónica, I, xxii.
They stole along the coast: SB, in his report to Miranda, O’L, XXX, 517.
a swarm of Spanish ships, etc.: Communication of Luis Delpech, Feb. 27, 1813, as given to the British by Tomás Molini, PRO/FO: Spain, 151.
“my spirits are so low”: SB to Miranda, Caracas, July 12, 1812, SBO, I, 35.
crushed under the ruins: O’L, XXX, 528.
“Venezuela is wounded in the heart”: Miranda to his men, in French, as recorded by Gual, Testimonio, in Robertson, Francisco de Miranda, 471.
next morning, before dawn: Ibid., 472.
“They’ve probably stormed the plaza by now”: Ibid.
did not dare raise the possibility, etc.: Heredia, 52.
suggested that the generalísimo convene, etc.: Mancini, 137.
He wanted nothing more: Heredia, 52.
The republic was in extremis, etc.: Mancini, 136.
Casa León happily volunteered: Heredia, 53.
republicans launched a modest attack: Yanes, 47.
charter a ship for his evacuation, etc.: Austria, 316–22; Mancini, 139.
22,000 pesos: M. M. Las Casas, Defensa Documentada del Comandante de La Guaira 33, in Lecuna, Catálogo, I, 239; and Austria, 150.
proof incontrovertible: Masur, Simón Bolívar, 145.
The pact did seem to ensure: O’LB, 37.
made to give up their arms: Heredia, 54.
banner of independence was lowered: Rafter, Memoirs of Gregor M’Gregor, 47.
had not confided his plans: Fermín Paúl, as quoted in Pereyra, 500.
no provision in the capitulatio
n for their safe passage: Rafter, 47.
why hadn’t he passed the scepter: Lecuna, Crónica, I, xxiv.
less than three hundred of Monteverde’s: Lynch, Simón Bolívar, 62.
a city of fourteen thousand: J. Kinsbruner, “The Pulperos of Caracas and San Juan During the First Half of the 19th Century,” Latin American Research Review, 13, no. 1 (1978), 65–85.
in hopes of reconstituting the army, etc.: Lecuna, Crónica, I, xxv.
no vessel could leave: O’L, XXVII, 74. Also P. Briceño Méndez, Relación histórica (Caracas: Tipografía Americana, 1933), 10, quoted in Lecuna, Catálogo, I, 254.
suffocating heat, etc.: Mancini, 136, for subsequent details.
The sea, ruffled: Mancini. Also Lecuna, Catálogo, I, 252.
Miranda’s baggage had been sent: Robertson, Francisco de Miranda, 473.
22,000 pesos: Las Casas, Defensa Documentada.
Gual stubbornly doubting, etc.: Gual, Testimonio, in Robertson, Francisco de Miranda, 472–73. Pedro Gual was the nephew of Manuel Gual, the rebel in the Gual-España conspiracy.
had already communicated with Monteverde: M. Picón Salas, Miranda (Caracas: Aguilar, 1955), 247. Also Parra-Pérez, Historia, II, 443; Baralt and Díaz, Resumen, I, 102–3; and Gual, Testimonio, in Robertson, Francisco de Miranda, 472–73.
sought out Las Casas and Peña: O’LB, XXVII, 38.
contempt for his countrymen: “He preferred his real countrymen, the English and French, saying that [Venezuelans] were brutes, incapable of following commands, and that they had better learn how to handle a gun before donning epaulettes, &c.” Conversation in Edificio Guipuzcoana, Austria, 159–60.
charge him with treason, etc.: Lecuna, Crónica, I, xxv–vi.
He put his troops on alert, etc.: Austria, 160.
“Too soon!” Miranda growled: Carlos Soublette, SBC, I, 246. Also see letters between Soublette and Restrepo, BANH, nos. 77, 23, and for all subsequent details.
encountered a party of couriers, etc.: Austria, 160–61.
“It’s no small surprise to me”: Parra-Pérez, Historia, 441.
The USS Matilda: Slatta and Lucas de Grummond, Simón Bolívar’s Quest for Glory, 66.
succeeded in evading capture: Lecuna, Crónica, I, xxvi.
hastily improvised a disguise: Larrazábal, Correspondencia, I, 132.
thrust into the dank crypts: Becerra, 294.
hustled onto a shabby little boat: Letter from Miranda to the president of the Spanish courts, June 30, 1813, in Becerra, 300–7.
“Miranda by a shameful”: Scott to James Monroe, Nov. 26, 1812, State Department MSS, Bureau of Indexes and Archives, Consular Letters, La Guayra, I; in Robertson, Francisco de Miranda, 468.
labeling him an outright coward: Baralt and Díaz, 124.
the reward of money: Miranda to Nicholas Vansittart, La Carraca, May 21, 1814, and April 13, 1815.
“Proto-leader”: From Rumazo González, “Francisco de Miranda: Protolíder de la independencia americana.”
skilled at plotting grand schemes, etc.: Robertson, Francisco de Miranda, 488.
hatching of revolutions: Ibid.
opportunity to clear his honor: SB to Miranda, Caracas, July 12, 1812, SBO, I, 34.
“a loathsome leader, despot”: SB, Manifiesto, Valencia, Sept. 20, 1813, O’L, XIII, 366.
“To the last hour of his life”: Wilson to O’Leary, London, March 4, 1832, O’L, I, 75.
“General Bolívar invariably added”: Wilson to O’Leary, London, July 14, 1832, O’L, I, 76.
kind man with a large heart: Larrazábal, Correspondencia, I, 137.
flung alkali against the walls: Sherwell, 37.
pulled from a fleeing boat: Larrazábal, Correspondencia, I, 133.
Six of the most respected: E.g., Montilla Mirés, Paz Castillo, who were SB’s cronies, ibid.
“eight monsters”: Gil Fortoul, Historia constitucional, I, 196.
One thousand five hundred: Ibid., 197.
offering himself as a guarantee, etc.: Larrazábal, Correspondencia, I, 137–38.
“Here is the commander”: Gil Fortoul, Historia constitucional, I, 193.
August 27, Bolívar sailed: Zerberiz to Monteverde, Guayra, Aug. 28, 1812, ibid., 138.
face turned a deathly white: Masur, Simón Bolívar, 150.
CHAPTER 6: GLIMPSES OF GLORY
Epigraph: The art of victory is learned in failures: SB, in Larrazábal, Vida, I, 580.
Storms bedeviled his journey, etc.: SB to Iturbe, Sept. 10, 1812, Curaçao, O’L, XXIX, 13.
they confiscated his baggage, etc.: Ibid.
beginning to see his straitened circumstances: Ibid., 14.
he had secured a loan: O’L, XXVII, 83.
he seemed more deliberate, judicious, mature: Mancini, 187.
words were as valuable as weapons: SB arrived in Cartagena in mid-November (O’L, I, 85) and decamped to his first military assignment on Dec. 1 (Mancini, 187). It is very possible that he actually wrote the Cartagena Manifesto in Curaçao or even on board the ship.
Bolívar lodged in a modest house, etc.: German Arciniegas, Bolívar, de Cartagena a Santa María, 10.
illusions of grandeur: J. de la Vega, La federación en Colombia (Bogotá, 1952), 106–10.
Manuel Rodríguez Torices: Although Rodríguez was his surname, it was a common enough name that he was referred to by his matronymic, Torices. This is also true for the del Toros, who were also surnamed Rodríguez.
hotbed of pirates and opportunists: Isidro Beluche Mora, “Privateers of Cartagena,” Louisiana Historical Quarterly, 39 (January 1956), 74–5, 79.
wealth and abounding whiteness: According to Restrepo (in Liévano Aguirre, 93), New Granada had 887,000 whites; Venezuela had 200,000. New Granada had 140,000 free blacks and pardos; Venezuela had 431,000. New Granada had 313,000 indigenous and mestizos; Venezuela had 207,000. New Granada was thus overwhelmingly white in comparison with neighboring Venezuela. As Liévano says, in New Granada: “the classes had more in common . . . more sympathy than hatred.”
He and his fellow Venezuelan revolutionaries: O’L, XXVII, 86.
assumed that their military experience: Masur, Simón Bolívar, 156.
General Labatut knew these men too well: Ibid., 98.
on the deck of the USS Matilda: “Généalogie et Histoire de la Caraïbe,” 87 (Nov. 1996), 1786, http://www.ghcaraibe.org/bul/ghc087/p1786.html.
eluding enemy cannons: Yanes, 55.
presumptuous letters to President Antonio Nariño: O’L, XXVII, 96–97.
On December 1, 1812: Mancini, 187.
published General Monteverde’s official proclamations: R. Domínguez, Don Vicente Texera (Caracas: Lit. Vargas, 1926), 83, LOC. Also Parra-Pérez, Historia, 469.
“I am . . . a son of unhappy Caracas,” etc.: SB, “Memoria dirigida a los ciudadanos de la Nueva Granada” (Cartagena Manifesto), Dec. 15, 1812, SBO, I, 43–50.
Andrés Bello later compared him: Bello, “Alocución a la Poesía,” SB, Obras Completas, III (Santiago: Ramírez, 1883), 38.
met with landowners from the Valle: M. A. Suárez, “Movimiento independentista,” in Becas culturales (Bogotá: Observatorio del Caribe Colombiano, 2006), 77.
She wrote a letter on his behalf: Lenoit to Loperena, Salamina, Nov. 3, 1812, ibid., 78. Also P Castro, Culturas aborigenes cesarences e independencia (Bogotá: Casa de la Cultura, 1979), 203–6.
the scant seventy men under his command: O’L, XXVII, 99.
came from the dregs of society, etc.: Mancini, 442.
They took off on ten champanes, etc: All details about the Magdalena River campaign are taken from O’L, XXVII, 99–101; and Lecuna, Crónica, I, 6–9.
He summoned the townspeople: SB’s speech to the people of Tenerife, Dec. 24, 1812, SB, Escritos, IV, 127–30.
“Wherever the Spanish empire rules”: Ibid.
by hand and ax: D’Espagnat, Souvenirs de la Nouvelle Grenade, in Mancini, 440.
the widow Loperena and other wealt
hy: Suárez, Movimiento independentista, 78–79. Also Castro, 212–15.
“every defensive action,” etc.: SB, “Memoria dirigida,” SBO, I, 43–50.
five hundred punishing kilometers: O’L, XXVII, 102.
the entire length of the river: SB, Oficio al Congreso, Jan. 8, 1813, O’L, XIII, 133.
The operation had taken him fifteen days: Ibid.
Bolívar’s name was known and admired: Lecuna, Crónica, I, 9.
“I was born in Caracas”: Revista de la Sociedad Bolívariana de Caracas, 38, nos. 129–32, (1981), 21.
sacking, plundering, and sending its governor: Marcucci, Bolívar, 85.
accused Bolívar of insubordination: Lecuna, Crónica, I, 9.
even making a trip to the capital: Larrazábal, Correspondencia, I, 155.
As the mill of souls ground on: Lecuna, Crónica, I, 31.
confiscated the Creoles’ land: Ibid., 1–25.
An official who arrived from Madrid: Refers to Pedro Urquinaona. From W. S. Robertson, “Bibliografía General,” The American Historical Review, 22, no. 4 (July 1917), 893.
appalled by Monteverde’s reign of terror: P. Urquinaona, Relación documentada del origen y progreso del trastorno (Madrid: Impresa Nueva, 1820), 2nd Part, 119.
“Happiness. Prosperity. Liberty,” etc.: Gaceta de Caracas, III, Dec. 6, 1812.
“pompous and extravagant promises”: Ibid., Oct. 4, 1812.
they had insulted the king by seeking help: Ibid.
a wanton truculence, etc.: Mijares, 220–21; Heredia, 154; Baralt and Díaz, II, 114–15.
lop off their ears, etc.: Gazeta de Caracas, IV, Sept. 16, 1813.
“If it were possible”: Mijares, 250.
Even Franciscan priests: Heredia, 135.
“spare no one over the age of seven!”: Ibid.
a well-born Granadan with a large ego, etc.: Ducoudray, I, 39.
in charge of his uncle, José Félix Ribas: SB’s second in command; O’L, XXVII, 103.
President Torices instructed him to join: Ducoudray, I, 40.
made their way through February rain: O’L, XXVII, 104.
Spanish general Ramón Correa: Son-in-law of failed Captain-General Miyares: Heredia, 127.
Bolívar was joined by Castillo, etc.: Restrepo, I, 199.
Correa’s troops were double the force: Ibid., 200.