Bolivar: American Liberator

by Arana, Marie

  “The frost of my years”: SB to Sáenz, Bogotá, 1827, SBC, 1825–27, 438, quoted (in a different translation) in Masur, Simón Bolívar, 625.

  “I am going because you call me,” etc.: Sáenz to SB, Nov. 27 [1827], Lecuna, “Cartas de mujeres,” 334. Quoted also in Murray, For Glory and Bolívar, 51.

  a major earthquake struck, etc.: Nicholas Mill to the Quarterly Journal of Science, Bogotá, Nov. 23, 1827, Royal Institution of Great Britain, XXV (London: Henry Colburn, 1828), 379–82.

  The government palace and the sturdy church, etc.: Gaceta de Colombia, no. 919, DOC, XI, 640–41.

  Clouds of white dust, etc.: Mill, for subsequent details about the earthquake and climate.

  when Bolívar was in his house: Gaceta de Colombia, 640–41.

  he had no doubt that its magnitude: Mill, 382.

  a terrible sickness clawed at his stomach: Ibid., 382. Dr. Mill claims he felt this as well, as did many residents of Bogotá.

  Few were lost, although many were injured, etc.: Gaceta de Colombia, 640–41.

  Tolima sighed a long column of smoke: Ibid.

  “The city is rendered helpless”: SB to Briceño Méndez, Bogotá, Nov. 23, 1827, O’L, XXX, 506–7.

  As he paced the brick floors of La Quinta, etc.: From Rumazo González, quoted in Masur, Simón Bolívar, 625–26.

  eyes appeared clouded with worry: The painter Roulin, who produced an important sketch of Bolívar in Feb. 1828, made these observations. Busaniche, Bolívar visto por sus contemporáneos, quoted in Polanco Alcántara, 876–78.

  within yards of the presidential palace, etc.: Murray, For Glory and Bolívar, 53–58, for many of these details.

  married, outspoken, and a brazen exhibitionist: Rumazo González, quoted in Masur, Simón Bolívar, 625–26; Murray, For Glory and Bolívar, 53–58.

  through unfriendly territory, etc.: Sáenz to Mosquera, Pasto, Jan. 5, 1828, Archivo Central del Cauca.

  burst in on parties to which she hadn’t been invited: BOLANH, 16 (Caracas), 334.

  labeling politicians as, etc.: Sáenz to SB, Bogotá, March 28, 1828, Lecuna, “Cartas de mujeres,” 335; also Murray, For Glory and Bolívar, 59.

  unafraid to stand up to his generals: Murray relays an incident in which Sáenz confronted SB’s minister of war, Col. Heres, refusing to give him a letter he requested. Ibid., 42–43.

  A charming cottage nestled in the hills, etc.: La Quinta has been preserved as a museum and is open to tourists. The description here is taken from numerous public sources. See also www.quintadebolivar.gov.co.

  a mere 25,000 souls, etc.: The Literary Chronicle for the Year 1825 (London: Davidson, 1825), 171. Bogotá’s population was about one third that of Lima, which was 70,000 in 1820.

  Bolívar sent off a letter, etc.: SB to Clay, Bogotá, Nov. 27, 1827, Lecuna, Cartas, VI, quoted in Mallory, Daniel, The Life and Speeches of the Honorable Henry Clay, I (New York: Bixby, 1843), 99.

  “When South America threw off the thralldom of Spain,” etc.: A. Lincoln, Eulogy on Henry Clay, Springfield, Ill., July 6, 1852, in The Language of Liberty: The Political Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2009), 130.

  “Sir . . . The interest which was inspired”: Clay to SB, Washington, Oct. 27, 1828, in Mallory, 99. Also Calvin Colton, Life and Times of Henry Clay (New York: Barnes, 1846), I, 244–45.

  Clay had been disappointed: Speech, Lewisburg, Va., Aug. 30, 1826, quoted in Niles’ Register, XXXI, 60–62.

  it was Clay who had argued volubly: Mallory, 145–46.

  usurper and “madman”: Iñaki Erraskin, Hasta la coronilla (Bizkaia: Txalaparta, 2009), 72; also Eduardo Galeano, Faces and Masks (New York: Perseus, 2010), 139.

  had implored him—quite improperly: Clay to J. Q. Adams, Lexington, July 2, 1827, The Papers of Henry Clay, VI, Secretary of State, 1827 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1981), 727.

  “Whether Bolívar is himself the author”: Harrison to the U.S. State Department, Manning, Diplomatic Correspondence, II, 1333–34.

  “The mere hero of the field”: W. H. Harrison, U.S. State Department Archives, Dispatches, Colombia, VI, quoted in Rippy, “Bolívar as Viewed by Contemporary Diplomats of the United States,” HAHR, 15, no. 3 (Aug. 1935), 290.

  “he who has made such liberal sacrifices”: Martin Van Buren to Thomas P. Moore, referring to a comment from Andrew Jackson: A Digest of International Law, IV (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1906), 789.

  Bolívar didn’t want a crown: Repeated often in speeches and letters, and stated strongly to San Martín, but two sturdy references: Bolívar to Páez, Magdalena, March 6, 1826, SBSW, II, 577–78; and Bolívar declaration, Government Palace, Bogotá, Nov. 23, 1826, O’L, XXIV, 512–13.

  “The conduct of Bolívar”: Adams, Memoirs, VIII, 190, quoted also in Rippy, 287–97.

  vastly preferred the British system: Bushnell, The Santander Regime, 348–50.

  superior to the American model: Bushnell, “Simón Bolívar and the United States: A Study in Ambivalence,” Air University Review, USAF (July–August 1986), www.airpower.au.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1986/jul-aug/bushne ll.html.

  federalism would only divide: Belaunde, 174.

  Hadn’t Montesquieu’s Spirit of Laws, etc.: SB, Address, Inauguration of the Congress of Angostura, Feb. 15, 1819, DOC, VII, 141ff. Also SB, Discursos y Proclamas, 75.

  “not one that was written for Washington!”: SB, Address.

  “American hucksters,” etc.: SB to Santander, Potosí, Oct. 21, 1825, SBSW, II, 539–46.

  “The United States seems destined by Providence”: SB to Col. Campbell, British chargé d’affaires, Bogotá, Guayaquil, Aug., 1829, SBSW, II, 731–32.

  had Bolívar written to King George IV: SB to George IV, King of the United Kingdom, Bogotá, Dec. 20, 1827, O’L, XXX, 529–30.

  a close camaraderie, etc.: Rippy, 183.

  the only leader who could purge, etc.: Ibid., quoting Campbell to Dudley, Oct. 14, 1827, PRO/FO, Colombia, XVIII, 42.

  Campbell began hoping out loud, etc.: Ibid., 184–87.

  “I cannot suppose” etc.: Ibid., 185, quoting Campbell to Secretary Aberdeen, Confidential, May 14, 1829, PRO/FO, Colombia, XVIII, 64.

  leaped on the “monarchical project” as proof, etc.: “Probabilidades sobre el establecimiento de la federación,” in DOC, XIV, 167.

  incontrovertible evidence: According to Bushnell, when SB asked his ministers to explore the possibility of obtaining a British protectorate for Greater Colombia, they assumed he meant a return to monarchy, because they assumed Britain would expect Colombia to conform to the “European model.” Bushnell, “Simón Bolívar and the United States.” See also Restrepo, VII, 220–50.

  nation’s best and brightest: SB to Fernández Madrid, Bogotá, Feb. 7, 1828, Lecuna, Cartas, II, 256.

  “In my line of work,” etc.: Santander to Azuero, quoted in Líevano, 466.

  He traveled to outlying villages, etc.: SB to Carabaño, April 12, 1828, SBO, IV.

  full of conviction that, as the highest executive, etc.: Perú de Lacroix, 17.

  “All New Granada”: SB to Arboleda, Bogotá, Jan. 22, 1828, O’L, XXXI, 16.

  he commissioned a British engineer: J. A. Lloyd, “Account of Levellings Carried Across the Isthmus of Panamá,” Nov. 26, 1829, Philosophical Transactions, Royal Society of London, CXX (London: Taylor, 1830), 59.

  wrangling over supremacy in Cartagena for years: See Díaz, 267–69.

  Padilla was a giant of a man, etc.: P. D. Martin-Maillefer, Los novios de Caracas (Caracas: República de Venezuela, 1954), 91; also G. R. Peñalosa, “José Prudencio Padilla,” in Gran enciclopedia de Colombia, IX (Bogotá: Circulo de Lectores, 1994).

  When Bolívar sent his aides to sit in: SB to Wilson, Bucaramanga, March 31, 1828, Lecuna, Cartas, II, 293.

  Bolívar had stated very clearly: Perú de Lacroix, 17. Also Restrepo, IV, 98.

  convention had taken on a possibly explosive dynamic: Rafael Urdaneta, 418.
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  They set up a system of mail, etc.: Perú de Lacroix, 18, 52ff. Information about Bolívar’s habits at Bucaramanga is recorded amply in Lacroix’s account.

  he visited the local church, etc.: Ibid., 94, 67.

  played cards with his aides, etc.: Ibid., 127–40, for subsequent details.

  an expression of soul and energy: English to Greenup, Bogotá, Sept.–Oct. 1827, Boulton El arquetipo iconografico de Bolívar (letter accompanying Rollin sketch).

  He was generally up at five in the morning, etc.: Perú de Lacroix, 201.

  Castillo, a loyal partisan to his cause: Guerra, 276. Castillo was the cousin of Manuel Castillo, SB’s rival in 1813. After refusing to join SB’s Admirable Campaign, Manuel Castillo took hold of Cartagena and defended it against SB and the Spaniards. When Morillo conquered Cartagena, Manuel Castillo was taken into custody and shot. Nevertheless, his cousin proved faithful to SB.

  The Venezuelans, particularly: SB to Ibarra, Bucaramanga, May 22, 1828, O’L, XXXI, 121.

  On the first order of business, etc.: Larrazábal, Vida, II, 425.

  Bolívar’s followers were accused of being tyrants: Ibid., 428.

  In time, a rumor began to spread, etc.: Perú de Lacroix, 31–32.

  demanded that the Liberator be allowed to go: SB to Urdaneta, Bucaramanga, May 8, 1828, O’L, 96.

  “For if he does,” etc.: Larrazábal, Vida, II, 427.

  When Bolívar heard of it, he was appalled, etc.: SB to Arboleda, Bucaramanga, June 1, 1828, Lecuna, Cartas del Libertador, II, 365. Briceño Méndez to SB, Ocaña, April 9, 1828, O’L, VIII, 239.

  Had it come to this?: SB to Wilson, Bogotá, Aug. 21, 1828, O’L, XXXI, 182–85.

  “Do what you must,” etc.: SB to Briceño Méndez, Bucaramanga, June 8, 1828, O’L, XXXI, 139–41.

  “My doctor often has told me,” etc.: Ibid.

  nineteen conventioneers walked out, etc.: Restrepo, IV, 100.

  “The bull is in the arena”: SB to Vergara, Bucaramanga, June 3, 1828, O’L, XXXI, 137–38.

  As he rode on, he got word: SB to Restrepo, Cipaquirá, June 21, 1828, O’L, XXXI, 145.

  The constitution . . . was in tatters, etc.: Herrán, Proclama, June 13, 1828, quoted in Posada Gutiérrez, I, 105–6.

  welcomed euphorically: “All these towns are receiving me with incomparable happiness,” SB reported as he rode to Bogotá. “It is greater than the reception in 1819.” SB to Soublette, June 20, 1828, O’L, XXXI, 144. Also SB to Mendoza, June 28, 1828 O’L, XXXI, 148.

  Bolívar may have had enemies, etc.: These, according to SB after the fact, were a mere dozen, but they had been given great power by Santander. SB to Carabaño, Aug. 9, 1828, O’L, XXXI, 178–79.

  “Colombians, . . . I won’t even utter the word ‘liberty’ ”: SB to the Republic of Colombia, Bogotá, Aug. 27, 1828, SB, Proclamas y Discursos, 305–6.

  “Santander will leave the country”: SB to Briceño Méndez, Bogotá, Sept. 5, 1828, O’L, XXXI, 199–201.

  Among her guests at those ribald affairs, etc.: Murray, For Glory and Bolívar, 72.

  “Paula, Padilla, Páez!” etc.: Paula is Francisco de Paula Santander. Sáenz to SB, Bogotá, March 28, 1828, Lecuna, “Cartas de mujeres,” 335.

  “We adored her,” etc.: Boussingault, 213.

  The festivities were open to the public, etc.: The entire account of this event is in Cordovez Moure, Reminiscencias (Bogotá: Epigrafe, 2006), 569–71. Also in Herrán to Restrepo, Bogotá, Aug. 5, 1828, Archivo General de la Nación, Bogotá, Sección República, Historia, IV, 170–75; and Murray, For Glory and Bolívar, 62.

  An officer improvised a firing squad: This was the Irish colonel Richard Crofton, head of the Granaderos, who, according to Posada, was a coarse and vulgar man. Posada Gutierrez, I, 121.

  the opinion of General José María Córdova: Córdova to SB, Bogotá, Aug. 1, 1828, PRO/FO, Colombia, XVIII, 56.

  despised her since the ship’s voyage: Córdova was a ladies’ man, and some have conjectured that he and Manuela had a brief, ultimately bitter romantic brush on that voyage. About the voyage: Córdova to SB, Quito, May 19, 1827, O’L, VII, 369–73; also Murray, For Glory and Bolívar, 49. About the possible flirtation: L. F. Molina, “José María Córdova,” Gran enciclopedia de Colombia, Sección militar.

  “I know you’re angry with me,” etc.: Sáenz to SB, [n.p., n.d.], Lecuna, “Cartas de mujeres,” 334.

  “I’ll suspend the commanding officer,” etc.: SB to Córdova, Bogotá, July, 1828, Lecuna, Cartas, II, 419.

  kept a close catalog of every penny: He was well known for the trunks of secondhand clothes he took along in his travels with SB. He stashed SB’s old caps, torn epaulettes, threadbare shirts, faded jackets; and SB would dispense them to soldiers or officers who needed them. Aristides Rojas, Obras escojidas, 606; S. Vergara, Diccionario biográfico de los campeones de la libertad (Bogotá: Zaragosa, 1870), 431.

  began to speak openly of “tyrannicide”: Mijares, The Liberator, 535. Boussingault, III, 224–25.

  the country needed to move on, etc.: González, Memorias, 117.

  “Off with the Tyrant’s head!”: The full verse, written by L. Vargas Tejada, Santander’s intended deputy: “Take the first and last letter from Bolívar, and we’re left with ‘Oliva’ [olive branch]. In other words, cut off the Tyrant’s head and feet in order to enjoy a lasting peace.” Mijares, 535.

  Florentino González: Bernardina Ibañez was the younger sister of Santander’s longtime mistress, Nicolasa. That Florentino González was about to marry Bernardina can be found in Lecuna, Catálogo, III, 283. Having such intimate relations with sisters, we can assume that González and Santander knew one another before González called on him specifically to discuss the conspiracy. See Santander’s testimony, Dec. 13, 1828, O’L, XXVI, 545.

  González was pale: V. Pérez Silva, in the Introduction to González, 3.

  volcanic, gifted with words: Larrazábal, Vida, II, 447.

  Pedro Carujo, a young, etc.: Posada Gutiérrez, I, 113.

  Horment, a French liberal: Cordovez Moure, Reminiscencias, 1129–30.

  to kill Bolívar at a masked ball, etc.: Ibid., 744–45; Larrazábal, Vida, II.

  The second plan to murder him, etc.: Posada Gutiérrez, I, 114; also Bolívar to Montilla, Sept. 21, 1828, O’Leary, Ultimos años, 215–17; also “Testament of an eyewitness, 1828,” O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación, 409–15 (cited hereafter as “Testament”).

  one friend, one aide, etc.: Mijares, 536.

  Carujo prepared six assassins, etc.: “Testament”; also Mijares, 536.

  called off at the last minute by Santander: “Testament.” González paid a visit to Santander on Sept. 17 or 18, just days before the planned assault, and evidently it was then that Santander responded generally to the plot. That Santander knew about the general plot and that he responded specifically to the Sept. 21 plan: González, 117, 123.

  “so that no one will say”: “Testament”; also Posada Gutiérrez, I, 113; González, 119.

  set for late October: For Oct. 28, the birthday of Saint Simón. On that day, Santander would have been well on his way to his diplomatic posting in Washington. González, however, claims that the coup was set for Sept. 28, which makes little sense, since Santander told him that he wanted to be long gone when it happened. Santander was still in Bogotá, hardly ready to leave and somewhat unwell, on Sept. 25.

  Their plan was to storm the palace in full force, etc.: Some conspirators were told (and they believed) that they were only going to apprehend Bolívar. It became evident during the trial that this was why some had been persuaded to join. See also Sept. 26–Nov. 13, 1828, O’L, XXVI, 460–503.

  An army captain had just reported, etc.: González, 125.

  a woman had been emboldened to go directly, etc.: Sáenz to O’Leary, Paita, Aug. 10, 1850, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación, 416–23.

  in the house of Santander’s deputy, etc.: “Testament.” One of the ministers was Castillo, one of three ori
ginal targets, along with Bolívar and Urdaneta. González, 127.

  rain had drenched the city: Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación.

  slick with mud: Posada Gutiérrez, I, 121.

  the moon was bright and full: NASA, Moon Phases, http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/phases1801.html; also Posada Gutiérrez, I, 115; also Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación.

  That night, everyone in Bolívar’s circle was ailing, etc.: This and all following details and quotations from Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación.

  Peruvian generals: These were generals Gamarra and Santa Cruz.

  it’s time for a palace coup: The ensuing account and all quotations: Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación.

  Despite the few guards: “Testament.” There were only thirty to thirty-five for the entire palace that night.

  Colonel Guerra had assured him, etc.: Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación.

  He asked Manuela to read to him, etc.: Ibid.

  in his nightshirt: Boussingault, III, 232. Boussingault claims this information is from Manuela’s lips. Sáenz, in her testimony to O’Leary, says only that he was undressed.

  His only pair of boots, etc.: Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación, and subsequent details.

  “There appeared in the doorway,” etc.: González, 127.

  “He’s not here,” etc.: Boussingault, III, 226.

  Carujo and his sharpshooters, etc.: González, 130–31; also Boussingault, III, 232.

  The conspirators had daggers in hand, etc.: Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación.

  She crossed her arms, standing her ground, etc.: Boussingault, III, 227.

  “He’s safe!,” etc.: Ibid.

  “I didn’t come here to fight women”: Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación; also González, 131.

  as cannon fire exploded outside, etc.: González, 131.

  the sharp clatter of boots, etc.: Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación.

  “What’s going on?”: Posada Gutiérrez, I, 120.

  he saw his pastry cook, etc.: Sáenz to O’Leary, O’Leary, Bolívar y la emancipación.