 Chapter 48 of the Emancipation of South America by Bartolome Mitre, translated by William Pilling, this LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The first national government of Peru, 1822 to 1823. One of the heaviest charges brought by his contemporaries against San Martín, and which history has repeated, is the precipitated manner of his retirement from Peru. He left his army under the command of a general without prestige. He left the country in the hands of a government which had no authority, and he made no provision for an efficient government. If he had delayed his departure until he had arranged all this, it is probable that he would never have gone at all. The fact is that he left everything in a state of complete disorganization. It was more than abdication. He abandoned the country. Congress, instead of appointing it once an efficient executive, appointed a government junta of three of its own members, two of whom were foreigners. General Lamar, a native of Quito, was president. His colleagues were Don Felipe Alvarado, a brother of the Argentine general, and Don Manuel Salazar Ibaquijano, count of Vista Florida, a citizen of Lima, and a leader of society. The selection pleased nobody. The popular party, headed by Riva Agüero, commenced to conspire. The new government had no support, save in Congress itself. Abandoned by the protector, the only hope of Peru was now in the Liberator. Bolivar no sooner saw the coast clear than he wrote to the new government, offering them a reinforcement of 4,000 men, and promising, if these were not sufficient, six or 8,000 more. Bolivar had not seen that San Martin was eager to open the way for him. San Martin had failed to see that by rousing the national spirit of the Peruvians, he had shut them off from help. Government suspected the intentions of Bolivar, and coldly declined his preferred assistance. The answer was long and coming, and Bolivar in alarm rode to General Castillo, the commander of the Colombian contingent, not to incur any risk of defeat, but rather to retire to Colombia, and afterwards notified these instructions to the government of Peru. Jealousy of foreign influence then induced Congress to decree that all vacancies in the civil, military, and naval services should be filled by Peruvians alone, and then set to work to debate what constitution they should give to the country. The nation was named the Peruvian Republic, the constitution was drawn up on the basis of popular sovereignty, and a special clause was inserted, providing that executive offices should be neither for life nor hereditary, which was directed against Bolivar. The plan drawn up by San Martin for the ensuing campaign depended on the efficient cooperation of two armies, one acting in the south under Alvarado, the other in the center under Arenales. The whole line of the main Cordillera was held by the royalists, but the patriots commanding the sea had the choice of the point of attack. The bulk of the royalists under Cantarac occupied the center of their line from Jaujato, when Caio. Arequipa was weakly garrisoned, Lacerna had his headquarters at Cusco with a reserve at Puno, Olaneta was at Potosi, and Valdeth was fully occupied in Upper Peru by Lanza, the garria chieftain. Consequently a simultaneous attack from the south and center would place the main army between two fires. This plan was adopted by government. The army of the south, consisting of 1700 Argentines, 1200 Chileans and about 1600 Peruvians, with ten light field pieces embarked on transports at Caio in September, Alvarado wished to take the Colombian contingent also, but Castillo refused to go. The expedition did not sail till October, and was 47 days on the voyage, a most unfavorable commencement, which presaged a catastrophe. On the 3rd of December the convoy reached Areca, but Alvarado sent one battalion to Iquiqui, which landed there on the 7th. Miller, with a very small force, had performed wonders in the previous campaign in this district, but Alvarado remained three weeks at Areca without doing anything. He consulted Miller, who told him anything was right if it was only done quickly. He then detached Miller with 120 men further north to make a diversion, and occupied Tacna with a strong vanguard under General Martinez. These long delays had given the royalists time to concentrate their forces, and the indefatigable Valdez, with a flying column of 800 men, descended the hills, crossed the sandy plain, and on the 1st of January 1823, encamped in a fertile valley, about 12 miles from the city. The patriots were so superior in number that his position was one of great peril, nevertheless he put on a bold front, and while Martinez was wasting time in an attempt to surround him, he succeeded in effecting his retreat during the night and the following day, to the foot of the hills at Moquegua. On the 13th of January Alvarado occupied the valley of Locumba, but again, by dilatory movements lost his chance of overwhelming a small force of royalists, which had been detached by Valdez to watch him. Valdez, who was expecting Cantarac with a strong force, allowed Alvarado to occupy the city of Moquegua on the 18th without resistance, but then prepared to dispute his further progress. Beyond Moquegua, the ground rises in abrupt steps, which give great facilities for defense. The royalists skirmishers covered the heights, and detached parties lay in ambush in the hollows. One by one they were driven from these positions, but at Torata Valdez threw up his force in line of battle. On the afternoon of the 19th the two armies faced each other, and the patriots advanced to the attack. A Spanish battalion in skirmishing order covered the center, and at the same moment the heights beyond were occupied by an advanced party of Cantarac's division, whose shouts of Viva Allere re-echoed from the mountain sides. Cantarac strengthened his right flank, and beat back a vigorous attack of the left wing of the patriots, upon which the whole royalist line advanced and drove the Patriot infantry, who had exhausted their ammunition before them in utter rout with great slaughter. The Patriots lost about 500 men killed and wounded, the royalists about half that number. The Peruvian Legion, which was now, for the first time under fire, distinguished itself by its steady behavior. The routed battalions rallied under the fire of their artillery, but during the following night the whole army retreated and encamped next day at Moquegua, 17 miles from the field of battle. The ammunition was nearly exhausted. Alvarado summoned the Council of War, but the advice of his officers was so discordant that before he had formed any resolution the enemy was again in his front on the 21st. Alvarado then took up a strong position, with his left resting upon the suburbs of the city, and his line extending along the ridge of a steep declivity, broken in the centre by a road which was swept by the fire of his artillery. His right rested upon a bare hill. Valdez, with two battalions and two squadrons of horse, seized this hill and turned the right flank of the Patriots, while the rest of the royalist cavalry menaced the left, and Kanderak led the main body against the ridge. Alvarado wheeled back his right wing, and for a short time the Patriots held their ground with great determination, but were at length driven from the position and totally routed with a loss of 700 in killed and wounded and 1,000 prisoners. The mounted grenadiers, led by Laval, made two desperate charges to cover the retreat, but were in their turn overwhelmed by the royalist horse. About 1,000 men reached Iloh with General Martinev, and embarking there returned to Ima. Alvarado went to Ikiki, in search of the detachment he had left there, and on the 14th of February landed a small party on shore, which was all either captured or destroyed by Olanyeta, who had occupied the city. Alvarado then invited Olanyeta to a conference concerning the prisoners, and found this general to be so disaffected to devise Roy and his adherents, whom he styled, quote, traitorous liberals, and, quote, that he declared his intention of separating from them and confining himself to the defense of Upper Peru for the king. Miller, with his 120 men, accomplished more than all the rest of the army. He alarmed all the south, and kept the whole reserve under Karatala in check. Meantime, Alenales lost much time in endeavoring to persuade General Castillo to incorporate his auxiliaries with the army he was organizing for the attack on the center of the royalists. Castillo refused to join at first, on the plea that success was doubtful, and then demanded that a Peruvian should be appointed to command the Allied army. His demand being refused, he then asked permission to retire all together from the country. Government, anxious to free itself from so arrogant an ally, furnished transports, and the Colombian contingent left Peru for Guayaquil, taking with it the Nomancia Battalion, 600 strong, which Bolivar had claimed as being a Colombian corps. This Colombian contingent had cost Peru $190,000 and had been of no service whatsoever. Nevertheless, Alenales, who hoped to make up by speed for posity of numbers, had organized a column of 2,000 men when Martinez arrived with a remnant of the Army of the South. The news brought by him produced great irritation, but by no means disheartened the people who were confident of ultimate success. Their anger was turned against the government. The army encamped at Miraflores was almost in open revolt. Alenales was asked to put himself at the head of the movement but this stout soldier would have none of it and giving up the command to Santa Cruz left Peru forever. The leaders of the army, headed by General Martinez on the 26th of February 1823, presented an address to Congress asking that Riva Agüero might be placed at the head of the executive. The city militia supported them. Congress yielded and on the 27th Riva Agüero was named President of the Republic and afterwards Grand Marshal of the armies, although he was simply a colonel of militia and had never been under fire. Riva Agüero was a true representative of the people and his popularity was enhanced by his activity and by the skills shown in the first measures he adopted. He reorganized the army, making Santa Cruz General-in-Chief and Martinez General of the divisions of the Andes and Chile. He reopened relations with Chile and wrote to Bolivar accepting the help which Congress had refused. Bolivar made a treaty with him in which he promised 6,000 men who were to be equipped and paid by Peru. Chile promised a further contingent of from 2,000 to 2,500 men and 1,500 baskets in addition. San Martín in Mendoza pushed on the organization of an Argentine division which was to operate on the frontiers of Salta under the orders of Urdininea. At the same time news was received that the Peruvian commissioners in London had abandoned their monarchical schemes and had effected a loan of 1,200,000 pounds sterling which was ratified by Congress. Before two months had passed Peru had an army of 5,000 men ready for the field in addition to the Argentine and Chilean auxiliaries who were 2,500 more. Riva Agüero determined upon another expedition to the intermediate ports directed against Arequipa and Puno while another army composed of troops of the four allied nations should advance by Hawcha upon the center. A repetition of the previous plan. Bolivar approved of the plan when his opinion was asked and promised his 6,000 men. Chile again promised a fresh contingent which should be sent to the south of Peru and offered to supply horses for the expedition. The royalists, ignorant of these preparations, made ready on their part for an attack upon Lima. 5,000 Peruvian troops left Cayao in May for the south under General Santa Cruz with Colonel Gamarra as chief of the staff. For the first time Peru had an army of her own commanded by Peruvian generals. Before leaving Santa Cruz presented himself to Congress and swore to return triumphant or to die. He did neither the one thing nor the other. Santa Cruz showed more activity than Alvarado had done. On the 17th of June the convoy reached Areca. On the same day Cantarac with an army of 9,000 men rushed down from the highlands and captured Lima. The expedition was thus isolated but the move was a false one on the part of the royalists. Bolivar did not share in the general confidence. He was more clear-sighted than most others as is seen in a notable letter which he wrote at this time to General Sucre. He had concentrated his forces at Guayaquil and on hearing of the disaster of Torata and Moquegua before signing the treaty of which we have already made mention, he at once sent off an expedition of 3,000 men under Sucre with instructions to gain possession of the fortress of Cayao at any cost. Sucre, whom he called, quote, his right arm, end quote, was also named minister with a plenipotentiary to Peru and was sent to prepare the way for the accomplishment of the secret designs of the liberator who saw that Peru would soon be in a condition to welcome him as her savior. The occupation of Lima by the royalists was a mistake. It gave them no military advantage while Cayao and the ocean were held by the patriots. The government fled to Cayao and the army collected under shelter of the guns of that fortress. Sucre was made general-in-chief. Congress dispersed. Some of the members went over to the enemy but a minority who were hostile to Riva Agüero kept together and sent for Bolivar on the 19th of June, 1823, giving him the title of Generalissimo and ample powers for the salvation of the country. Riva Agüero retained the title of president but was sent out of the way to Trujillo. Bolivar accepted the invitation saying that, quote, for a long time his heart has yearned towards Peru. End quote. Pending his arrival, Sucre exercised his powers as his representative. The secret wish of Bolivar was accomplished. He was master of Peru. The viceroy soon perceived the mistake he had made and recalled his army from Lima. On the 16th of July, Canterac evacuated the city and returned to the highlands un molested. On the 20th, Sucre sailed southward with 3,000 Colombians and Chileans and a squadron of Peruvian cavalry, leaving an army of Peruvians, Argentines and Colombians at Lima with orders to occupy Jauja and secure the line of the Apurimac. His intention was to combine the movements of the three armies with Arequipa as the base of his operations and to advance on Cúthco with 8,000 or 12,000 men but when he reached the south coast, Santa Cruz was already far inland. He then landed at Quilca and marched on Arequipa but the same day Santa Cruz had fought a battle of doubtful results on the borders of Lake Diícaca. Santa Cruz had changed the plan. Instead of keeping his army together, he had divided it into two columns directed against Upper Peru. With the first, he landed near Ilo and advanced to Moquegua while the second, under command of Gamarra, landed at Areca and occupied Tacna. Here he remained till the middle of July awaiting the Chilean contingent but as it did not come, he, on the 13th of July, ascended the Cordillera, crossed the Desaguadero by the bridge of the Inca without opposition and on the 8th of August, occupied the city of La Paz. Gamarra, at the same time, marched by the Tacora Road, crossed the Desaguadero lower down and occupied the city of Oruro which is about 170 miles from La Paz. Olanieta, who was retreating towards Potosí with 1,500 men, was almost surprised by Gamarra, of whose movements he knew nothing and withdrew to the south. Gamarra was then joined by Lanza, the guerilla chieftain with 600 men and learned that Urdininea, with the Argentine division, was advancing from Salta but he lost the opportunity of destroying Olanieta, which was part of the plan of Santa Cruz by remaining inactive at Oruro. Santa Cruz, hearing that La Serna was concentrating his scattered divisions at Puno, then turned back to cover the line of the Desaguadero and stationed himself on the left bank at the bridge of the Inca. Valdez advanced against him with 2,000 men but finding the bridge was defended by artillery he withdrew to the town of Thepita. Santa Cruz crossed the bridge and went after him and overtook him in a strong position between the mountains and the lake of Titicaca. By a faint retreat he drew Valdez into the plain where two Peruvian squadrons cut the royalist horse to pieces but the attack upon the infantry was less successful and Knight put a stop to the action. Both sides claimed the victory but Valdez retreated and soon after Santa Cruz returned to his position on the Desaguadero. This was the first and the last battle of the expedition. La Serna joined Valdez at Thepita and crossed the Desaguadero with 4,500 men. Santa Cruz retreated before him and on the 8th of September joined Gamarra to the south of Ururo. He then maneuvered to prevent a junction between La Serna and Olanieta who was returning from Potosí with 2,500 men but La Serna by a flank march over the heights succeeded in effecting the junction on the 14th of September. Santa Cruz thought himself lost and without attempting to bring on an action in which the chances would have been in his favor retreated precipitately. The retreat soon become a flight. Arms and baggage were thrown away and he recrossed the Desaguadero utterly routed without fighting and without even seeing an enemy. He left a company of infantry with two guns to defend the bridge who capitulated to the royalist vanguard at the first summons. Barely 1,000 men reached the coast and the Chilean contingent, who just then arrived, returned at once to their own country. Sucre, seeking to affect a junction with Santa Cruz, had shown in the prosecution of his arduous task both the prudence and the ability of a master in the art of war. At Arequipa he heard of the fight at Zepita and marched on Puno supposing that Santa Cruz was still holding his ground at the bridge of the Inca but was met by the intelligence of the total dispersion of the Patriot army and of the concentration of the royalists. Placing himself so as to cover the flight of the fugitives, he steadily retreated and re-embarked at Quilca. Before the result of the first expedition to the intermediate ports was known, two of the admirers of San Martín had written to him in his retirement at Mendoza telling him that, quote, the hand of San Martín alone can crown his work and give liberty to Peru, end quote. Even Riva Agüero wrote to him, besieging him to return to public life. After the disaster of Torata and Moquegua, the eyes of all Peruvians were turned to their late protector and a multitude of letters to the same effect reached him in his solitude. The new government of Chile wrote to him that posterity would forget his immense services unless he completed his work. After the failure of the second expedition, a council of Peruvian officers headed by General Porto Carrero and Admiral Geis with the authorization of Riva Agüero passed a resolution that all Peruvians of every class called upon their protector to fly to their assistance now that their country was in danger. Guido wrote to him that all patriots looked to him for help. Riva Agüero, who had quarreled with Congress and was opposed to the alliance with Colombia, offered him the supreme power by a special messenger. But San Martin had no faith in Riva Agüero and wrote to him to re-establish the authority of Congress and on his refusal rejected his offers with disdain. Riva Agüero, in his semi-exile at Trujillo, had resolved Congress and on the 19th of July had convened a Senate of his own selection, but he had no support in public opinion. On the 6th of July, thirteen members of the late Congress met at Lima, called up some substitutes, formed themselves into a sovereign Congress, appointed Torre Tagle chief of the executive and on the 8th of August declared Riva Agüero an outlaw. He replied by declaring them traitors and their decrees null and void. He then collected an army of some sort, proposed an armistice to the Spaniards and offered to dismiss the auxiliaries. But the auxiliaries refused to recognize his authority and the Colombian troops called upon him to lay down the command. Then came Bolivar. The castles of Cayao thundered him a welcome. Lima decked herself in flags in his honor. He landed in Peru on the 1st of September. No American ever received so enthusiastic a reception. Congress made an appearance of consulting him, but in reality only awaited his orders. As at Caracas, at Angostura, in New Granada and at Cucuta, he renounced all claim to civil power, placing only his sword at their disposal. Congress paid no attention to these empty phrases, invested him as liberator with supreme authority, both military and civil, and voted him an annual salary of $50,000, which with his usual disinterestedness, he declined to touch. At a banquet which followed, the name of San Martin was not mentioned among the many toasts proposed, whereupon Bolivar, rising to his feet, proposed one himself. Quote, to the good genius of America, which brought General San Martin with his liberating army from the banks of La Plata to the shores of Peru, and to General O'Higgins, who had sent him on from Chile. End quote. Then, as the banquet drew to an end, he proposed another. Quote, that the peoples of America may never raise a throne upon their soil. End quote. At night, as he entered the theater, the whole audience rose to their feet. He occupied the official box with the president under the drapery of the festooned flags of Peru and Colombia. Proctor, an English traveler who was present on this occasion, thus described him. Quote, he is very thin, but his whole person shows great activity. His features are well-formed, but are worn by fatigue and anxiety. The fire of his black eyes draws attention at once. Never did an exterior gave a more exact idea of the man himself. Egoism, determination, activity, intrigue, and the persevering spirit are clearly expressed in his bearing and in each movement of his body. End quote. Bolivar's first care was to put an end to the dispute with Riva Agüero, but finding all friendly overtures unsuccessful, he resolved upon using force. The country seemed on the verge of a civil war. When his own troops mutinied against the ex-president, he disappeared from public life and the danger was averted. Bolivar remained absolute master of Peru. He thought that all America was now his. End of chapter 48. Chapter 49 of the Emancipation of South America by Bartolome Mitre, translated by William Pilling. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Pietronater. Hunin Ayacuccio, 1823 to 1824. The daydreams of men often mold the course of their lives. The daydream of Bolivar was the unification of South America. It was in pursuance of this dream that he created a great military power and carried his arms in triumph over half the continent. His first step was the creation of Columbia. Then he dreamed of a South American confederation ruled by an international assembly after the manner of the Achaian League of Ancient Greece and at last of a monocracy under the protection of Colombian bayonets. Then the dream became delirium. In the treaties with Chile and Peru, forming an alliance offensive and defensive, it was stipulated by Bolivar, quote, that an assembly should be convened of the American states composed of plenty potentiaries with the object of establishing on a solid basis intimate relations between each and all of them, which may serve as a council when great questions arise as a point of contact in common danger, as an interpreter of treaties in case of a misunderstanding and as an arbitrator and conciliator in disputes and difficulties. End quote. On the field of diplomacy, the liberator of Columbia came for the first time in contact with Don Bernadino Rivadavia, the highest personification of the liberalism of South America. One was at the head of four great states. The other was the constitutional minister of a province. Bolivar aspired to the laurel crown of an American Caesar. Rivadavia to that of a Pacific liberator. Rivadavia was at this time the soul of the provinces of La Plata, which were separated by political shipwreck. The Argentine Republic, exhausted by her great struggle for the independence of America and prostrated by civil conflict, took no more part in the continental war, but her soldiers still fought for her in far off lands. Her integral parts in spite of separation had still cohesion and sought reunion. A center of attraction was wanting to this constellation of 14 wandering stars. Buenos Aires provided that center. Rivadavia welded this province into a state which became the organic cell of national life. On the small theater of the province, the representative system of the Republic was seen for the first time at work in South America. These institutions, which were then a novelty in the world, except in the United States and partially in England, showed to the peoples of South America what the Republican system was. From Buenos Aires they spread over the entire continent. The Argentine Republic was then threatened with the war which broke out two years later. The new Empire of Brazil had occupied by force the Banda Oriental, which was one of the United Provinces. The government of Buenos Aires, inspired by Rivadavia, faced the question with all its consequences. In these circumstances, in January 1823, Don Joaquin Mosquera arrived in Buenos Aires as a minister plenipotentiary of Colombia. Rivadavia was provisionally in charge of the government. He rejected at once the idea of a Congress with power to decide international disputes. The treaty was reduced to a defensive alliance in support of their independence from Spanish or from any other foreign domination. As Rivadavia explained to the legislature, quote, the treaty proposed by Colombia did not fulfill the requisite conditions since it only recognized the existence of governments and not their legitimacy, end quote. The idea of Rivadavia was to complete the triumph of the revolution by a peaceful understanding with the mother country in which all the late colonies should unite. When King Ferdinand in 1820 sent a royal commission to the river plate with the object of, quote, putting an end to differences existing between members of the same family, end quote, the government of Buenos Aires replied that it could listen to no proposition which was not based upon the recognition of independence, which declarations served as a precedent. The treaty with Colombia was signed on the 8th of March, 1823, was ratified by the government of Colombia on the 10th of June, 1824, and by the Argentine Congress on the 7th of June, 1825. Almost simultaneously with Mosquera, there arrived in Buenos Aires two new commissioners from the King of Spain. The Spanish Cortes, reinstalled at Cadiz in 1820, was composed of liberals who saw that these ancient colonies could not be subjected by force and attempted to settle the question by negotiation. These commissioners brought no proper credentials but were simply appointed by the king under liberal pressure to listen to proposals and to arrange provisional treaties of commerce. Their real object was to divide the different republics which were at war with Spain. Buenos Aires was looked upon as the center of the revolutionary spirit. The commissioners were instructed to recognize the independence of the United Provinces and so to separate them from Peru and Colombia. Rivadavia drew up a resolution which was sanctioned at once by the legislature, quote, government shall negotiate no treaties of neutrality, of peace nor of commerce with Spain until after the cessation of war in all the new states of the American continent and not until after the recognition of their independence. End quote. On this basis, an arrangement was drawn up in which a suspension of hostilities for 18 months was stipulated during which time the province of Buenos Aires should negotiate the acquiescence of the other American governments. Meantime, commercial relations were reestablished with Spain, contraband of war being accepted. But it was an illusion on the part of Rivadavia to hope that the question with Spain could be settled by any other mode than by arms. There was yet a further stipulation as France had voted 20 millions of dollars in aid of the restoration of absolutism in Spain in agreement with the Holy Alliance from which England was already separated, the government of Buenos Aires was authorized to negotiate for an equal sum among the states of America, quote, to uphold the representative system in Spain, end quote. Don Felix Althaga was, with this object, appointed plenipotentiary to the governments of Chile, Peru and Colombia. At the same time, General Las Eras was sent as a commissioner to the royalist authorities in Peru to arrange an armistice with them in conjunction with General Arenales, who was at that time in command on the northern frontier. Buenos Aires, in spite of the dangers which surrounded her, thus performed her duty to her sister states, boldly confronting the Alliance of the Absolute Kings and thereby gained the goodwill of England. But the convention was rejected in Chile through the intervention of the Colombian minister. Althaga then went on to Peru and presented it to both presidents, to Torre Tagle and to Riva Agüero. The first made use of it to open a traitorous correspondence with the royalists. The other used it as a plea for arranging an armistice of his own and for sending back the Colombian auxiliaries. But strange to say, it was accepted by Bolivar as a way out of his difficulties. He merely stipulating that it should, first of all, be ratified by the Spaniards. His object was to gain time for the arrival of reinforcements from Colombia. At the beginning of 1824, the situation of the Patriots in Peru was very precarious. The royalists had 18,000 men, flushed with recent victories. The Patriots had only held that number. At this juncture, an event happened which had for a time most disastrous effects upon the fortunes of Peru. Just as the Spaniards were making a last effort to regain the dominion of the Pacific, the Patriots lost the fortress of Callao. While almost simultaneously, President Torre Tagle passed over to the royalists, taking with him a part of the national forces and the Spaniards reoccupied Lima. The Argentine contingent was very discontented. The Perugians were jealous of them and treated them as foreigners, tolerated only on account of their services. They were badly clothed and fed. Their pay was both irregular and insufficient. The government by whose authority they had become an army no longer existed. The general to whom they owed their existence had deserted them. In March 1823, they had applied for protection to the government of Buenos Aires and had been adopted by the province, then the only representative of the nation. Bonivar commenced to prepare for offensive operations by concentrating his forces at Pati Vilca about 140 miles to the north of Lima and withdrawing most of the Colombian garrison from Callao supplied their place with the Rio de la Plata regiment and the 11 battalion of the Andes, putting the whole garrison under command of General Alvarado. On the night of the 4th of February 1824, the rank and file of the garrison mutinied under two Argentine sergeants named Moyano and Oliva and imprisoned their officers. Their first demands were for $100,000 as arrears of pay and that they should be sent back to their own country. While government hesitated to accede to these terms, the spirit of insubordination gained strength among the soldiery. Their own leaders could not prevent excesses. Among other Spanish prisoners in the dungeons was a Colmel Casariego, whom Oliva had known in Chile. The two surgeons took counsel with him and by his advice released the Spanish prisoners and put their own officers in the dungeons. He then persuaded them that their situation was desperate and that their only chance of safety lay in embracing the royalist cause and hoisting the Spanish flag. The troops were reorganized and placed under Spanish officers. Moyano was made a Colmel and Oliva, a lieutenant Colnel. All surgeons and corporals were promoted and a messenger was sent to Canterac placing the fortress at his disposal. On the 7th of February, the flag of Spain was raised on one of the towers. A Negro soldier of the Rio de la Plata Regiment, a native of Buenos Aires known by the nickname of Falucho, refused to mount guard over the flag against which he had so often fought. He broke his musket against the flagstaff and was shot shouting, Viva Buenos Aires. The mounted grenadiers who were encamped in the valley of Canete mutinied also and marched to join their comrades at Cayao on the 14th of February. But when they saw the Spanish flag flying over the walls, they released their officers. 120 of them returned to their allegiance and represented their country in deliberating armies to the end of the war. Thus, by mutiny and by treachery was dissolved the celebrated army of the Andes. As soon as Canterac heard of the mutiny at Cayao, he sent a strong division under monets from the highlands, which joined the division of Rodil in the valley of Ica and marched on Lima. Torre Tagle, who with his minister of war was in secret correspondence with the royalists, joined them with some Peruvian troops and issued a proclamation against Bolivar. The royalists were now masters of the highlands and of all the center and south of Peru and aimed at the dominion of the sea as well. A part of the Peruvian squadron was stationed at Cayao. Admiral Gais, with the protector frigates and four armed boats entered the port under the fire of the forts, boarded the frigate Guayas, formerly Vanganta, and burned her as also the Santa Rosa and some merchant vessels on the 25th of February. The brick of Warbalkarthe was the only vessel saved, but the royalists were expecting two Spanish frigates. Bolivar issued terrible decrees for the evacuation of Lima, which were not obeyed, but on the 10th of February, Congress appointed him dictator. Monet occupied Lima without resistance, but did not remain there. He left Rodil in command at Cayao and returned to the highlands, taking the officers of the former garrison with him as prisoners. These officers, 160 in number, were forced to march on foot up the mountain passes to Hauha. On the third night, as they were passing through a narrow defile, two of them, by preconcerted arrangement, slipped into a ditch where they could not be seen. The two who were next then concealing their retreat so that the evasion was not discovered till they reached the next halt. Monet ordered two of the prisoners to be shot in place of those who had escaped. They were all drawn up in line by General Kamba and told to draw lots which were presented to them in a helmet. Several lots had been drawn blank when two officers stepped forward saying that they were the men who had concealed the escape of the fugitives. With one exception, all the other officers called for the drawing to go on, but Kamba decided that these two should pay the four feet of their lives and they were shot. One of them, Domingo Mian, was a native of Tucumán and of middle age. He drew out from the lining of his uniform coat the medals of Tucumán and Salta, pinned them on his breast and died shouting Viva la Patria. The other, Manuel Prudón, was a native of Buenos Aires and only 24 years of age, he died with the calmness of a martyr shouting Viva Buenos Aires. Bolivar had fallen dangerously ill at his headquarters at Pativilca for six days he lay unconscious. When he was yet in the first stage of convalescence, news reached him of the mutiny of Cayao and of the treason of Torre Tagle. Mosquera went to visit him and found him seated in a rocking chair in the orchard. His head tied up in a white handkerchief. He was deadly pale and his voice was hollow with weakness. What do you think of Domingo, asked Mosquera. Of triumphant, replied he undoubtedly, misfortune only seemed to strengthen his spirits. He retreated with 7,000 men to Trujillo, made the southern provinces of Colombia his base of operations and wrote to Vice President Santander asking for reinforcements. Quote, the interests of all America are at stake, nothing must be trusted to probabilities, still less to chance or fortune. End quote. On the 11th of May, 1824, Congress authorized a levy of 50,000 men and 3,000 men were sent to join him at once. Before the enemy suspected that he was about to move, he had concentrated his army at the foot of the northern Cordillera in three divisions of infantry under Cordoba, Lara, and Lamar and one of cavalry under Nekochea. Sucre was chief of the staff. At this time, Olanyeta, who was in Upper Peru with 4,000 men, refused any longer to obey the orders of the viceroy. He had heard from Buenos Aires that by the help of France, Ferdinand had abolished the constitution of 1820 and was once more an absolute king. Lacerna sent Valdes against him and some severe fighting took place between them, in which Valdes took the advantage when he was recalled by the viceroy. Bolivar took advantage of the absence of Valdes to commence operations and marched on Hawcha by the road which had twice led Arenales to victory, covering his advance by a cloud of Peruvian guerillas under whose protection Sucre marked out the daily route of the army and provided supplies. Bolivar ascended the range at its highest point in the direction of Pascoe, hoping to surprise the enemy, and on the 2nd of August passed 9,000 men in review about 25 miles from that city, on which occasion he was accompanied by Ohigins and by Montaugudo, who had returned from exile. On the 4th, Miller, who had been detached with a party of cavalry, brought word that Canterac was advancing from Hawcha with all his army. To the south of Pascoe, at the headwaters of the Griogrande, commences the Great Lake of Reyes, which lies between the two ranges of the Cordillera and occupies all the low ground as far as the entrance of the valley of Hawcha. On its eastern bank, there runs a level road. On the western bank is another, which leads to Hunin and is much rougher. At the southern extremity of the lake lies the plain of Hunin, broken by numerous hillocks and cut up by streams and marshes filled by the overflow from the lake. On the 1st of August, Canterac had advanced with his cavalry along the eastern row to Reconoiter and learned to his surprise that Bolivar was already on the other side of the lake. He retreated rapidly and rejoined his infantry on the 5th of August. On the 6th, at two o'clock in the afternoon, he found himself face to face with the Patriot army on the plain of Hunin. Their infantry held the heights beyond while their cavalry appeared about to charge him. Bolivar had marched along the eastern slopes of the western range, halting only in strong positions, showing a cautiousness which was not usual with him. On seeing the royalist army, he sent Nekochea in front with 900 horse. The ground was so contracted by a hill on one side and by a marsh on the other that at five o'clock Nekochea had only two squadrons of Colombian horse on the plain when he was attacked by the whole of the royalist cavalry, 1300 strong, led by Canterac in person. The Colombian lancers received the charge with great steadiness but were driven back upon their supports who were still entangled in the defile. The royalist horse, greatly disordered by their rapid advance, entered the defile with the fugitives. Nekochea, pierced by seven lance wounds, was trampled under foot and made prisoner. Honel Suarez with the first squadron of Peruvian hussars had drawn his men into an angle of the marsh and letting the route pass by charged the pursuers in the rear. The fugitives were rallied by Miller who led them again to the charge and drove the royalists from the field. In 45 minutes, the whole affair was over and not a shot was fired. The royalists lost 250 killed by lance and saber, the patriots lost 150 between killed and wounded and rescued Nekochea. The fugitives took shelter under the fire of their infantry which at once retreated. Such was the celebrated action of Hunin which broke the prestige of the royalist army and prepared the way for the final triumph. Bolivar who had seen the route of the first squadrons thought he had lost his cavalry and returned to the infantry who were a league behind. He only learned the defeat of the enemy from a pencil note sent him by Miller after sundown. The hussars who did such good service were afterwards styled the hussars of Hunin in reward for their gallant behavior. Kantarak who was greatly disheartened by their disaster which was chiefly the result of his own precipitated conduct in charging without a reserve overground of which he knew nothing, evacuated the valley of Hauha and retreated so rapidly that in two days he was more than a hundred miles from the scene of the action and his infantry was quite worn out but he did not stop until he had crossed the Apurimak more than 500 miles from Hunin and lost between 2000 and 3000 men by desertion on the way. Lacerna sent him a reinforcement of 1500 men and recalled Valdes to Cusco. Kantarak had fled from his own shadow for he was not pursued. Bolivar rested for three days on the field of battle, took 10 days to occupy the valley of Hauha and remained nearly a month at Huamanga. In September he crossed the river Pampas an affluent of the Apurimak and threatened Cusco from the sources of that river his right flank being covered by a spur from the Cordillera but did not consider himself strong enough to attempt anything more now that the rainy season was at hand. He also learned that alone projected by San Martin had been successfully launched in London and that a million dollars were expected immediately leaving Sukre in command he returned to Lima in October. Before leaving he received notice that on the 28th of July the Congress of Columbia had obligated the law conferring extraordinary powers upon him which he might no longer exercise now that he was in a foreign country. This was the first sign of parliamentary resistance to his autocratic tendencies. The Liberals now formed a powerful party in Congress under the leadership of Vice President Santander who thought more of the interests of New Granada than of those of the Republic at large. Bolivar received the blow with dignity comprehending that he had brought it upon himself by taking charge of the government of a foreign state and notified Sukre that he would only interfere in military operations as president of Peru. Sukre, who was not ambitious and was devoted to Bolivar, advised him to pay no attention to the new law and declared that he himself would have no direct communication with the government of Columbia looking to Bolivar alone for orders. Both kept their promises. Bolivar leaving complete liberty of action to Sukre who followed his instruction except in the conduct of military operation in which he knew that his talents were superior to those of the Liberator. Bolivar again established his headquarters at Pativilka but found matters much changed for the worse. The arrival of the Spanish ship of the line Asia and of the 20 gun Brig Aquiles had given the naval preponderance to the royalists. These ships were joined by a corvette and a brig from Chile and there was one brig already at Cayao which guys had failed to capture. After an exchange of shots with the Spaniards guys with the Peruvian squadron was forced to seek shelter at Guayaquil. A detachment of the Patriot army had been defeated near Lima. Chile remained inactive but Bolivar, still undaunted, collected such forces as he could assemble at Pativilka and urgently requested a further reinforcement of 6,000 men from Columbia in aid of Sukre whose position was very precarious. Bolivar also returned to his old project of an American Congress summoning it to meet on the 7th of December at Panama as the most central point for all the world and addressed circulars to that effect to the governments of Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Buenos Aires, Chile, Brazil and later on to the United States. While occupied in these dreams he heard that the royalists had advanced from Cusco manoeuvring to cut off the retreat of Sukre then there was silence. Eight days afterwards the fate of America was decided at Ayacucho. Upon one point only Bolivar and Sukre were not agreed. Bolivar had left instructions with Sukre to keep his army together at all risks but he, thinking his position a dangerous one spread his troops over the whole district and advanced himself with a light division as far as Mamará on the road to Cusco and from there sent Miller on with the Grenadiers to Reconoiter. When Bolivar heard of these manoeuvres he wrote to Sukre impressing upon the maxim that, quote, union is strength. You expose yourself to the loss of a battle for the sake of occupying some more leagues of territory. The liberty of Peru will not be won by occupying land but by a victory upon it, end quote. Sukre replied saying that he would obey orders but had only just sent off the letter when he received advice from Miller that the enemy was advancing en masse and only 25 miles distant. His army was spread over an extent of 90 miles. Before he could concentrate the royalists were in his rear. As he retreated he received a further despatch from Bolivar authorizing him to fight if he thought it necessary. Sukre had underestimated the strength of the royalists by calling in the outlying divisions. Lacerna had on the 24th of October assembled 1,000 men in three divisions of infantry under Canterac, Valdes and Monet and one of Cavalry which he commanded himself with 10 guns. Sukre had only 7,000 men and two guns. Lacerna maneuvered to cut off Sukre from his base moving in a semi-circle of which the Patriots held the center. Sukre was thus enabled to concentrate his forces and choose for himself the field of battle. He retreated to Amanga but on the 24th of November at the River Pantas he found that the enemy by forced marches was there before him. The river lay between them. Three days were spent in maneuvers after which Sukre crossed the river but on the 2nd of December found the heights of Matara in his front already occupied by the royalists. Wheeling rapidly to his right he passed by a gorge towards the Valley of Acrocos but his rear guard under Lara was overtaken in the pass by Valdes. One Colombian battalion was cut to pieces and two more were dispersed with the loss of a gun on the 3rd of December but the further advance of the royalists was checked by the main body stationed on the heights beyond. The two armies encamped for the night with the gorge between them. The next day Sukre gained the Valley of Acrocos and offered battle. But Lacerna, anxious to cut him off from Hauha marched round the left flank of the Patriots and again gained their rear cutting all the bridges and closing the defiles to prevent their retreat. The people of the valleys rose in favor of the royalists. A patriot column advancing from Hauha to join Sukre was driven back. His sick were killed in the hospitals and he had lost 600 men in the retreat. For him it was now victory or death. He drew up his army in the Valley of Ayacucho his flanks resting on the mountain ranges to the east and to the west while the royalists occupied the heights in front. Cordova commanded on the right, Miller in the center and Lamar on the left and a reserve of three battalions was commanded by Lara. On the morning of Thursday, the 9th of December 1824 the sun rose gloriously over the peaks of the eastern Cordillera. Sukre galloped from end to end of his line telling his men that on their valor that day hung the destinies of South America. At nine in the morning the royalists descended from the heights to the attack. At ten o'clock they debouched upon the plane and the left and center advanced in mass led by the viceroy himself. The royalists right under Valdes was the first to engage and drove in the Patriots skirmishers but the Peruvian infantry stood firm and a battalion of Colombians was sent to aid them. Sukre then ordered Cordova to charge with the right wing supported by Miller's cavalry. The young general who was only 25 years of age advanced rapidly in two parallel columns and threw himself with great impetuosity upon the royalist center. Eight squadrons of royalist cavalry who charged him were driven back by the Colombian horse under Silva. Monet whose division had not yet been engaged came to the assistance of the left center but was attacked by the reserve under Lara and driven back in confusion. Three more squadrons were then thrown forward and were exterminated by the Colombian Lancers. Lacerna strove in vain to rally his disordered soldiery. He was born from his horse with six wounds and made prisoner with more than one thousand of his men. Meantime Valdes had turned the left flank of the Patriots and the Peruvian division under Lamar began to give way when the Colombian battalion came to their assistance followed by the Peruvian Hussars and the Argentine Grandiers led by Miller who charged with such fury that the royalist infantry were thrown into confusion and all the guns were captured. It was one o'clock Valdes in despair sat down on a rock waiting for death but his officers forced him away back to the heights where many of the royalist generals were already assembled with such troops as they could collect. Cantarac took the command and capitulated with sucre. The War of Independence was at an end, emancipation was secured. In the words of a poet, quote, we passed one thousand years in one hour at Ayacuccio, end quote. Ayacuccio is known in America as the battle of the generals. Fourteen Spanish generals, with all their subordinate officers, gave up their swords that day. The royalists lost 1,400 killed and 700 wounded. The Patriots 300 killed and 600 wounded. One fourth of all who entered into action were placed or the combat. Ayacuccio crowned the joint work of San Martín and Bolivar. The victories of Chacabuco and Maipo were united to those of Boyacá and Caravovo with the golden link forged at Ayacuccio by the genius of sucre. End of chapter 49. Chapter 50 of the Emancipation of South America by Bartolome Mitre, translated by William Pilling. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Pietronater. Apogee decline and fall of Bolivar, 1824 to 1830. The victory of Ayacuccio put an end to the War of Independence in South America. All the royalist forces in lower Peru capitulated, with the exception of those under command of Rodil, who, with a garrison of 2,200 men, held Cayao for a year longer. Besieged by land and blockaded by sea, he surrendered in January 1826. After the garrison had eaten all the horses, cats and dogs in the place. In Upper Peru, the cities of Cusco, Arequipa and Puno opened their gates to the victor, who crossed the Zaguadero and was received in triumph at La Paz, Oruro, Potosi and Jiquisaca. The royalist army under Olanieta was dissolved by a mutiny, in which the general was killed, and sucre, after overrunning the country, convened an assembly to decide upon its future policy. The Spanish squadron abandoned the coasts of Peru and dispersed in the Pacific. The island of Chiloé was the last position held by the Spaniards, but soon shared the fate of Cayao. The poet of the century, perched in imagination on the summit of Chimborazo, cast his eyes over the New World, and so not one enslaved people. Bolivar was now at the apogee of his glorious career. His name was famous throughout the world. South America acclaimed him as her liberator. The exaggerated honors which were paid to him were bad clouds of impure incense, which could not obscure his real heroism, and which a breath of common sense would have dispersed. He had the power to solve the political problem in a manner which would have made him the equal of Washington, but it was not in his nature to do so. He lacked the moral strength to keep a cool head at the height to which he had attained. As was the case with San Martin, the apogee of his career marked the commencement of his decline. One of the most notable phenomena of the revolution in South America is the contrast between the qualities of the leaders and the instincts of the masses of the people. Emancipation came in the process of natural evolution, organized and directed by popular leaders, who had only one principle in common with those they led, the instinct of independence. They devoted their attention to mechanical facts, and for the most part knew nothing of the hidden forces of the movement they professed to guide. The revolution in South America was twofold in its action, internal and external. One force was directed against the common enemy, the other against the elementary organism of the peoples themselves. The spirit of South America was genuinely democratic, so could not be other than republican. The first development was into anarchy, from which was to arise a new national life. To check this anarchy, monarchical projects were hatched in the United Provinces which resulted in their dissolution. The idea of establishing a monarchy in Peru destroyed the moral power of San Martín. The Empire of Mexico furnished proof enough of the error of this plan. The prolonged dictatorship of Ahiggins in Chile brought him to the ground. The oligarchical theories of Bolivar, which tended to monocracy, were rejected by Congresses of Republicans, and brought about his fall. The liberators, with all their power and all their glory, could not turn the revolution from its natural sphere of action. The day they ceased to go with it, they were cast aside as obstacles to the march of progress. When the independence of America was secured at Ayacucho, the mission of Bolivar as a liberator came to an end. His duty, his honor, and even his interest called upon him to retire from Peru, leaving the redeemed people to work out their own destinies. Monta Rudo was the only one to give him such advice. On the night of the 28th of October 1825, Monta Rudo was assassinated in a lonely street in Lima. His death is a mystery. By some it is attributed to political enmity, by some to private revenge. Bolivar in person conducted the inquiry into this matter, and kept the secret to himself. Among the papers left by Monta Rudo was found an essay upon the necessity of a general federation of the Spanish-speaking peoples of South America, based upon the plan of the Congress of Panama. An alliance of the republics of the new world was proposed, as a counter-poise to the holy alliance of the sovereigns of Europe. Suspicion was thrown upon the designs of the new empire of Brazil. Chile and the Argentine Republic were accused of lukewarmness in the common cause, and it was suggested that an appeal for help should be addressed to Great Britain and to the United States. Bolivar adopted the idea as a development of his own plan, and again summoned a Congress at Panama in the hope of organizing it himself. The United States accepted the invitation to send representatives on condition of being permitted to remain neutral. England also, but only in order to have witness of her own to what went on. Brazil as a mere form, and the Argentine Republic and Chile with reservations. Deputies from Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala were the only ones who attended the Congress. When this shadowy Congress escaped from his influence, Bolivar compared it to, quote, that full of a Greek who standing on a rock pretends to guide the ships sailing around him, end quote. His next step was, for the fourth time, to send in his resignation as president of Colombia. Congress declined to receive it, with unanimity, but in silence. At the same time he sent two commissioners to Vice President Santander to announce his intention of, quote, proceeding to Argentine territory to establish the independence of South America by assisting the patriots, end quote. Santander replied by reminding him that Congress had only authorized him to carry on war outside the territory of Colombia, quote, for the security of the Republic of Peru, end quote. His third theatrical step was to resign the dictatorship of Peru, and to accept it again for reasons directly contrary to those on which he had based his resignation, and with the farcical condition that, quote, the odious word dictatorship, end quote, should be no longer used. Congress also voted him a million dollars as a reward for his services, which he refused for himself, but accepted in the name of various charities to which they were never applied. Note, the amount thus voted was, after his death, paid to the heirs of Bolivar. End of note. The servility of the Congress of Peru was repagnant even to Bolivar and was censured by his Colombian partisans. The General Assembly of the Provinces of Upper Peru, convened by Sucre, went even further than Congress had done. They declared Bolivar to be, quote, the firstborn son of the New World, the savior of the people, end quote. And on the 19th of July, 1825, placed themselves under the protection of his sword and of his wisdom. They declared themselves independent of lower Peru, called their country the Republic of Bolivar, and placed the supreme executive power in his hands so long as he should reside among them, Sucre acting as his delegate in his absence. This assembly then dissolved, and on the 6th of October a constituent assembly was convened, which applied to Bolivar for a constitution and for a garrison of 2000 Colombian troops. In July Bolivar offered to help the Chileans to drive the Spaniards from the island of Chiloé. They declined other help than a subsidy, which did not meet his views as his designs was to bring them under his sway by the help of Colombian troops. From the Congress of Colombia he had procured authority to take the Peruvian fleet and army to Colombia under pretext of defending it from a French invasion, and so brought upon himself an accusation that he wished to oppress her with foreign bayonets. His policy tended to the establishment of a Praetorian Empire, an uncrowned monarchy supported by a standing army. Leaving lower Peru under the rule of a council, he then went to upper Peru. His journey from Lima to Potosí was one triumphal march. The cities presented him with golden keys and with warhorses equipped with golden harness. At Arequipa General Alvarado gave a rural banquet in his honor, at which the Argentine asado was the principal dish. There was abundance of claret to wash down the roast beef, but he asked for champagne, in which he indulged to an extent not usual with him. A toast was given to a deunification of South America, on which he remarked that he would soon tread Argentine soil. Colonel de Hessa, also excited by wine, told him, my countrymen do not welcome dictators to their territory. Bolivar sprang upon the table in a fury and crashing glasses and plates under the heels of his boots shouted, thus will I trample upon the Argentine Republic. An abolition of temper roused by the opposition of the press of Buenos Aires to his anti-democratic plans. At Potosí he was met by General Alvear and Dr. Diaz Veleth, envoys sent by the Argentine government to congratulate him on his successes. He thanked them, but refused to treat further with them, alleging as an excuse the absence of his minister of foreign affairs. Afterwards, on learning that the Brazilians had occupied two provinces of Upper Peru, he managed to dispense with the aid of this official. When at Arequipa he had offered General Alvarado to send 6,000 men to aid the Argentines in the war with which they were threatened by Brazil. Alvarado had declined the offer. This incident now gave a plausible pretext for his interference in the question. On the 18th and 19th of October he held private conferences with the Argentine envoys, which greatly enlightened them as to his extravagant ideas. Among other proposals, he asked permission to cross Argentine territory with a Colombian army to overturn the despotism of Dr. Francia in Paraguay, which could not be granted, as all Argentine governments had steadily followed a policy of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other nations. He met them again at Chiquisaca, but the interview had no definite result, and the occupation of the province of Tariha, which was formerly one of the United Provinces, by Colombian troops, nearly produced an open rupture. Rivadavia, who was about that time elected president of the United Provinces, looked upon Bolivar and his army as a danger, but the idea of his armed intervention in Argentine affairs was welcomed by the opposition press of Buenos Aires. They echoed his words that, quote, the Argentine republic could not triumph alone over the empire of Brazil and could not even organize itself without the help of the genius of America, end quote. But the liberal press commenced to analyze the tendencies of the proposed monocracy, and their words found echo in the public opinion of Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. Chile was the first state to join the United Provinces in open opposition to his views. Bolivar then returned to Lima, and on the 25th of May, 1826, sent to Upper Peru a draft of a constitution for the Republic of Bolivia. All the works of Bolivar, both political and military, are so impressed with his own character that it has been necessary to invent special words to express them. His system of warfare was a melange of the war-like propensities of the indigenous races with European discipline. With little knowledge of tactics and with less strategy, he gained his victories by audacity, by impetuosity in attack, and by unfailing constancy in defeat. Somewhat after the style of Charles XII. His power was symbolized by a new title involving a permanent dictatorship. He called himself the Liberator. His policy was neither democratic nor aristocratic nor autocratic. The historian has had to invent a word to describe it, monocratic. For the new republic formed in Upper Peru, he invented a new name derived from his own, Bolivia. The constitution drawn up by him for the new state is an amalgam of ancient traditions with modern practice. It has something of the Greek Republic, something of the Roman Caesarism, something of the English monarchy, something of the consular constitution of Napoleon. The base of the system is a president nominated for life, with power to name his successor and elected by a representative assembly, appointed by an electoral body. The legislative power was shared by three chambers, one of which exercised a species of censorship over the other two, like to that of the Council of the Aeropagos of Athens. With some slight modifications, this constitution was adopted by the constituent assembly and Sucre was elected president, but with power subordinate to that of the Liberator when he was there. But Bolivia was too small a sphere of action for Bolivar. For the realization of his plan, it was now necessary to impose the same constitution upon Peru and Colombia, binding the three states together by one supreme authority, vested in his own person as the Liberator. When the Congress of Peru reassembled, there appeared in it a new national party opposed to the dictatorship and to the continued presence of Colombian troops. Government then found that the elections were irregular and 52 of the deputies asked for their own dissolution. At the same time, the discovery of a conspiracy against the dictator sent some victims into banishment and brought others to the scaffold. While preparations were being made for a new election, Bolivar threatened to leave Peru to its fate. With the most abject servility, all classes besought him not to desert them. One high dignitary actually asked him to set his foot on his neck that he might have the honor of bearing the weight of the greatest man of the age. Still he remained obdurate, until a deputation of ladies waited upon him to whom he gracefully yielded and so brought the farce to an end. The Electoral College of Lima met on the 6th of August and within a hedge of Colombian bayonets voted with unanimity the abrogation of the Constitution of 1823 and the adoption of the Bolivian Constitution. The example was followed by the provincial colleges, the new constitution became law and Bolivar was acclaimed perpetual president. Of course he declined the honor but adopted it as soon as it was offered to him a second time. Now for Colombia, but meantime his idea had achieved a further development quote the great confederation of the Andes and quote Bolivia was to remain as one unit, Peru was to be divided in two and Colombia into four states, each one with a president for life, satellites to the central power of the liberator, Sucre pronounced in favor of the new plan, Santander accepted it and the Colombian leaders offered it the support of their swords. On this basis a treaty was signed between Bolivia and Peru giving the two nations one federal congress to which each should send nine deputies. But a special clause was added that at the death of the liberator each republic should be at liberty to withdraw from the union. Quote my funeral will then be as sanguinary as that of Alexander and quote said Bolivar. Much must be forgiven to Bolivar for the good by him accomplished. He did not wish to be a tyrant but he did not understand that a people cannot be at once half free and half enslaved. His plan of a monocracy was a reaction against the revolution and against the independence of the new republics. It was a return to another colonial system even worse than the one which had been destroyed. The paternal government of a distant and hereditary monarch was a less evil than would be a government dependent upon the life of one man. A crown had been offered to Bolivar. He had rejected the idea with scorn but he now demanded a power greater than that of any king. Engaged in these dreams Bolivar had led for two years in Lima the voluptuous life of an Eastern prince when evil news reached him from his native country which he had apparently quite forgotten. The Venezuelans with paeth at their head had risen against the general government and had demanded federal autonomy. In New Grenada the liberal press vigorously attacked the principle of monocracy. In September 1826 he went to Guayaquil and resumed his absolute powers as president of the Republic of Colombia. From there he went on to Bogota and was met by a deputation of the people and of the authorities who assured him quote that he could count upon their obedience under the constitution and under the laws which he had sworn to respect and uphold end quote. He answered angrily that he expected a welcome and not advice. After that he went on to Venezuela where he made terms with paeth and agreed to a reform of the constitutional of Cucuta which in 1821 he had sworn should remain unchanged for 10 years. But public opinion no longer supported him. The liberal press of Bogota under the influence of Santander fiercely attacked his policy. On the 6th of February 1827 he again sent in his resignation. His example was followed by Santander. Congress declined to accept either resignation. But Bolivars was declined by 56 votes against 24 while Santanders was declined by 70 against 4. Both retained their offices but from this time he and Santander became the heads of two antagonistic parties. While affairs were in this state in Colombia the people of Peru and Bolivia aided by the garrisons of Colombian troops deposed their life presidents. Sucre made some attempt to re-establish his power but being attacked by a Peruvian army under Gamarra he withdrew from Bolivia in October 1827 taking the Colombian troops with him. The news of these events was received with rejoicing at Bogota. Santander pronounced his approval of the conduct of the troops. All were tired of Bolivar. Colombia had been an efficient war machine in the hands of Bolivar by which the independence of South America was secured but was an anachronism as a nation. The interests of the different sections were antagonistic and the military organization given to the country only strengthened the germs of disorder. Venezuela and Nugranada were geographically marked out as independent nations. Quito from historical antecedents aspired to autonomy. Had Bolivar abstained from his dreams of conquest and devoted his energies to the consolidation of his own country he might perhaps have organized it into one nation under a federal form of government but that work was not a task suited to his genius. When his own bayonets turned against him he went so far as to despair of the republican system altogether and sought the protection of a foreign king for the last fragment of his shattered monocracy. On the 9th of April 1828 he assembled a convention at Ocania for the reform of the Constitution of 1821. The partisans of Santander were in a majority and the convention was dissolved on the 10th of June by the desertion of the partisans of Bolivar. On the 13th of June a popular junta assembled at Bohota at which General Cordova proposed the re-establishment of the dictatorship in the person of Bolivar. Bolivar accepted the office and suppressed that of vice president. Military rule became dominant. Those who opposed the measure were banished as disturbers of public order. The study of political economy was prohibited in the universities and liberty of the press was suspended. But Bolivar promised to convene another constituent congress a year from that time. According to Gervinus the liberator now tore off the mask and showed the vulgar ambition which lay beneath. Yet he was not a tyrant he was simply a despot driving he knew not wither. The young man talked of the dagger of Brutus but an attempt to assassinate him failed and the principal conspirators died on the gibets. Santander who had joined the conspiracy but had opposed the assassination was sent into exile. The Colombian troops which had mutinied in Peru brought civil war to Guayaquil. Rebellion broke out in the province of Pasto. Bolivar declared war against Peru. Peru sent a fleet and an army and captured Guayaquil. Note admiral guys who commanded the Peruvian fleet was killed in the attack end of note. Their army was defeated by sucre but Bolivar after losing three thousand men in the marshes in an attempt to retake the city made peace. Bolivar had appealed in vain to the ministers of the United States and of Great Britain to interfere for the prevention of anarchy. He now proposed to Colonel Campbell the British charged affair to appoint the prince of someone of the reigning families of Europe king of Colombia. Many of the chief dignitaries of Bohota accepted this idea and came to an understanding on the point with Mrs Campbell and the presson the diplomatic agents of Great Britain and France. But Bolivar three months after he knew of this suddenly told them in September 1829 that the idea could not be carried out and that it was necessary to separate Venezuela from Colombia. The idea of a monarchy found no acceptance with the people. On the 14th of September a rebellion headed by General Cordova broke out at Antioquia but was crushed and Cordova was brutally murdered. At the end of the year Venezuela declared herself an independent republic under the presidency of General Paeth and pronounced sentence of perpetual exile against Bolivar. On the 30th of January 1830 Bolivar convened at Bohota the constituent Congress he had promised and concluded his message, quote I blush to say that independence is the only good thing we have gained by the sacrifice of all else, end quote. He then retired to his country house at Fucha. Nevertheless a party strong both in Congress and among the people desired his reelection and he for some time expected it but seeing that the bulk even of his old friends opposed it he on the 24th of April sent in a formal resignation couched in very simple terms which was accepted. Don Joaquin Mosquera, leader of the liberal party was elected president but Congress decreed that Bolivar, quote was the first and best citizen of Colombia, end quote and assigned him a pension of $30,000 a year for his great wealth had all disappeared. End of chapter 50. Epilogue of the Emancipation of South America by Bartolome Mitre translated by William Pilling. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Piotr Natter. Posterity has pronounced judgment upon the two liberators of South America upon Saint Martin and upon Bolivar. They were both great men, the greatest after Washington that America has produced, both fulfilled their mission. The one gave the first signal for a continental war the other carried it to a glorious termination. Without Saint Martin at the south and Bolivar at the north it is impossible to conceive how the forces of the revolution could have worked together towards one end. Neither is it possible to conceive how one could have completed the task without the other. Nevertheless, as politicians both went astray neither reached the level of the public opinion of their day and both failed to comprehend the instincts of the masses they led. They were military leaders only and knew not how to direct the organic evolution of the peoples. Time which dissipates false and enhances true glory has thrown much light upon matters which during their lifetime seemed obscure. Are now seen clearly against the horizon of history. They stand forth as symbols of the epoch which gave birth to a new republican world, the greatest political phenomenon of the 19th century. The Argentine Republic and Chile led by Saint Martin were victorious in the south and carried their arms from sea to sea and from the temperate zone to the equator. There the entire forces of the revolution of South America joined hands. There the two liberators embraced and separated forever. Colombia led by Bolivar gave victory to the revolution in the north, secured the independence of Peru and Bolivia and guaranteed that of the other republics of the southern continent. Saint Martin yielded the completion of the task to Bolivar and by his abdication gave high example of civic virtue. Bolivar crowned the work, the triumph belongs to both. Their fate was equal, both died in exile. The fate of the emancipators of South America is tragical. The first revolutionists of La Paz and of Quito died on the scaffold. Miranda, the apostle of liberty, betrayed by his own people to his enemies, died alone and naked in a dungeon. Moreno, the priest of the Argentine revolution and the teacher of the democratic idea, died at sea and found a grave in the ocean. Hidalgo, the first popular leader of Mexico, was executed as a criminal. Belgrano, the first champion of Argentine independence who saved the revolution at Tucumán and Salta died obscurely. While civil war raged round him. O'Higgins, the hero of Chile, died in exile, as Carrera, his rival, had done before him. Iturbide, the real liberator of Mexico, fell a victim to his own ambition. Montufar, the leader of the revolution in Quito and his comrade via Vicencio, promoter of that of Cartagena, were strangled. The first presidents of Nugranada, Lothano and Torres felt sacrifices to the restoration of colonial terrorism. Piar, who found the true base for the insurrection in Colombia, was shot by Bolivar to whom he had shown the way to victory. Rivadabia, the civil genius of South America, who gave form to her representative institutions, died in exile. Sucre, the conqueror of Ayacucha, was murdered by his own man on a lonely road. Bolivar and San Martin died in banishment. San Martin, when he saw that his life's work was accomplished, left Mendoza for Buenos Aires, where he was received with indifference and contempt. Neither country wife nor home was left to him. There was not even a place in the Argentine army for the men who had led the armies of three republics to victory. At the close of the year 1823, he took his orphaned daughter in his arms and retired into exile. In Europe, he found himself penniless. Five years later, he returned to Buenos Aires, seeking to end his days in his native country. The war with Brazil had just concluded. On the 12th of February 1829, the anniversary of his triumphs at San Lorenzo and at Chacabuco, the ship which carried him anchored in the roadstead, and he was greeted with this contemptuous denunciation in the city press. General San Martin has returned to his native country after five years' absence, but after knowing that peace was concluded with the Emperor of Brazil. His answer had been given 2000 years before by the mouths of Scipio, when he was insulted by his fellow countrymen on the anniversary of one of his great battles. On such a day as this, I saved Rome. San Martin did not repeat the same words but Martin did not repeat this answer. He returned in silence into exile. His reply was given from the tomb many years later. I desire that my heart may rest in Buenos Aires. Bolivar, after his last resignation, was accepted, retired to the neighborhood of Cartagena and there heard of the death of Sucre, who had written to him two years previously that unless they withdrew in time, they would lose their heads. He was dying, but still indulged in ambitious designs. He had prophesized anarchy and it came. He looked on complacently and even encouraged it, but was greatly mortified by a notification from his friend Mosquera that Venezuela demanded his banishment as a condition of peace. Quote, no, no, I will not go dishonored. End quote he exclaimed. His partisans said that he alone could restore quietude and they seemed right. Part of Venezuela and Nugrenada rose in arms to demand the re-establishment of his dictatorship. Quito and Guayaquil separated from Colombia and in May 1830 formed themselves into an independent state under the name of the Republic of Ecuador. At Bohota, the government of Mosquera was upset and civil war broke out. The friends of Bolivar, triumphant in the capital under Urdaneta, called upon him to put himself at their head and to re-establish the Union of Colombia. He was weak enough to accept the invitation. Death saved him from the disgrace of becoming a leader in an internecine war between states to which he had given independence. His sickness increasing, he retired to Santa Marta to breathe fresh sea air. At the Quinta of San Pedro, seven miles from that city, he breathed his last. Seated in an armchair to receive extreme action, his last words addressed to the Colombian people, which had been written down to his dictation, were read over to him. Quote, My wishes are for the happiness of my country. If my death weaken the divisions and help to consolidate Union, I shall go to the tomb content. End quote. He added in a hoarse voice, quote, Yes, to the tomb, to which I am sent by my fellow citizens, but I forgive them. Oh, that I could take with me the consolation of knowing that they will keep United's. End quote. These were the last sensible words that he was hard to speak. The lyrium supervened, and he died on the 17th of December 1831 at the age of 47 years, four months and 23 days. In October 1832, San Martin, then resident in France, was attacked by cholera. He was living in great poverty on the proceeds of the sale of the house, given him by the Argentine Congress after the victory of Maipo. He thought he was to die in a hospital. The Spanish banker Aguada, who had been a comrade of his independence war, came to his assistance, saved his life, and relieved his distress. He gave him the small country house of Grandbourg, on the banks of the Seine, close to that old Elm, which, according to tradition, was planted by the soldiers of Henry IV when besieging Paris. There, surrounded by trees and flowers, which he tended himself, he passed many quiet years, complaining sometimes of the increditude of men, deploring the sad state of the peoples for whom he had done so much, but never despairing of their destiny. Once only did his old enthusiasm blaze out. He thought the independence of honour of his country were threatened by France and England in the questions of 1845 to 1849, and came from his seclusion to show that America could not be conquered by Europe. Subsequently, in his will, he left his sword to the Argentine dictator. As a proof of the satisfaction with which I, as an Argentine, have seen the firmness of General Rothas in defending the honour of the Republic against the unjust pretensions of the foreigners who sought her cumulation, end quote. As the end approached, his eyes were obscured by cataract. Reading, which was with him a passion, was forbidden him. He went to Boulogne to breathe the sea air, as Bolivar had done. On the 13th of August 1850, as he was standing on the beach, gazing with dim eyes over the channel, he felt the first mortal symptoms. He pressed his hand to his heart, and with a feeble smile, said to his faithful daughter, quote, Ser Lorage, who men oport. End quote. On the 17th of the same month, he died in her arms at the age of 72 years and six months. Chile and the Argentine Republic have raised statues to him. Peru owes him one, which she has decreed. The Argentine people, now united and consolidated as he desired, brought back his mortal remains to his own country, and in May 1880 laid them to rest in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires, as those of the greatest man among them. In San Martín and Bolivar were combined in unequal proportions the two elements which make history, the active elements which produces immediate effect in deeds, and the passive element from which springs the future. The effect of their combination marks the presence and influences posterity. The political work of Bolivar died with him. That of San Martín lives after him. South America has organized itself as foreshadowed by his genius, within the geographical lines he drew out with his sword. The Argentine Republic instructed her general, quote, that no idea of oppression or conquest carried her arms beyond her territory, that the independence of the United Provinces was the purpose of the campaign, end quote. Thus, when Chile was free, alliance was made with her on the basis of their mutual independence. Nations were emancipated and left to work out their destinies themselves. This was the work of San Martín as a liberator and has produced an international equilibrium in South America to which Europe has not yet attained. A very different plan was followed by Bolivar. Under his leadership, frontiers disappeared. Venezuela, New Granada and Quito became one giant nation, powerful for war, but intrinsically weak from lack of geographical and social cohesion. Bolivar freed Peru from Spain only to make her a parasite of Colombia and of Upper Peru he made a feudal territory dependent upon himself. He tried to establish a monocratic empire in opposition to natural laws and to the tendencies of the revolution, to bring back the colonial system in defiance of the democratic instincts of the people. In Bolivia, the two systems met face to face. The Argentine Republic, true to her principles, yielded her historic rights over that territory and recognized the independence of Upper Peru, but she barred the further progress of Bolivar who sought to impose his own system on Paraguay. The ephemeral structure of the monocracy fell to pieces by its own weight and the whole of the continent became definitely organized on the geographical system represented by Bolivar. The glory of Bolivar is imperishable and his action as a liberator was more decisive in his day, but none of his designs or of his ideas survived him. The work of San Martin remains an enduring monument to his memory. The chief characteristic of San Martin was his disinterestedness. He struggles, destroys, and rebuilds as he can. He commands, obeys, abdicates, and condemns himself to eternal silence and eternal exile. Seldom has the influence of one man had more decisive effect on the destinies of a people. The greatness of those who attain to immortality is not measured by their talents, but by the effect exercised by their memory upon the conscience of humanity, making it vibrate from generation to generation with a passion or with an idea. Of such was San Martin, whose influence still lives, not by reason of any genius he possessed, but by reason of his character. San Martin conceived great plans, political and military, which appeared at first to be folly, but when believed in became facts. He organized disciplined armies and infused into them his own spirit. He founded republics, not for his own aggrandizement, but that men might live in freedom. He made himself powerful, only that by this power he might accomplish his destined task. He abdicated and went into exile not from egoism or from cowardice, but in homage to his own principles and for the sake of his cause. He is the first captain in the new world, the only one who has given lessons in modern strategy on a new theater of war. With all his intellectual deficiencies and his political errors, the revolution of South America has produced no other who was his equal. Faithful to the maxims of his life he was that which he ought to be, and rather than be which he ought not to be, he preferred to be nothing. For this his name shall be immortal. End of the epilogue. Biographical notes of the emancipation of South America by Bartolome Mitre, translated by William Pilling. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Piotr Natter. Alvarau was in the year 1827 banished from Peru in consequence of the jealousy of the Peruvians of their Argentine allies. In 1829 he was for a month governor of Mendoza but was driven out by Aldao. In 1831 he was for a short time governor of Salta and again in 1855. He died in that city in the year 1872. Arenales. This stout old soldier was from 1824 to 1827, governor of Salta, where the remnants of the royalist army of Olañeta surrendered to him in 1825. He died in Bolivia in the year 1831. Brown. William Brown was born at Foxford County, Mayo, Ireland in the year 1777 and made his first appearance in the river plate as the master of a trading brig which was wrecked at Ensanada. He afterwards established the first regular sailing packet between Buenos Aires and Montevideo but two years later adopted a career more in accordance with his daring genius. In 1814 he took command of the first naval squadron fitted out by the government of Buenos Aires. His first exploit was the capture of the island of Martín García after which he attacked and defended the Spanish fleet stationed at Montevideo and this subsequent blockade of that port compelled the garrison to surrender to General Alvear who was then besieging the city. After his cruise in the Pacific, recounted in Chapter 10, he went to the West Indies where his ship was seized and confiscated by the British naval authorities on the plea that he was a pirate. After a vain attempt to procure redress in England he returned to Buenos Aires where he lived quietly till in January 1826 he again took command of the Argentine squadron and drove off the Brazilian fleet which was blockading Buenos Aires. During this and the following year he fought several desperate actions against greatly superior forces and invariably came off with honor. In 1842 he was in command of the Argentine squadron which totally destroyed the Uruguayan flotilla at Costa Brava which was led by Garibaldi and afterwards blockaded the port of Montevideo till in August 1845 his ships were confiscated by the British and French naval squadrons without any declaration of war. After that he lived in retirement in his country house in the suburbs of the city of Buenos Aires till the 3rd of May 1857 when he died surrounded by his family and was buried at the cemetery of the Recoleta where a fine monument to his memory was afterwards erected by his widow. Cochrane, the eldest son of the 9th Earl of Dandoneld was born at Ennsfield, Lancashire on the 14th of December 1775. After leaving Chile he entered the service of Brazil and again distinguished himself by deeds of daring which were as ill-requited as were his exploits on the Pacific. In 1825 he returned to England where he found his popularity had grown during his absence but soon after joined in the struggle for the independence of Greece when for the first time in his career he found no opportunity of distinguishing himself. At the accession of William IV he received tardy and imperfect preparations for the injustice from which he had suffered. His rank in the British Navy was restored to him and in 1831 he succeeded his father in the heirldom of Dandoneld. In 1841 he became vice admiral of the Blue during the Crimean War he presented to the government a plan for the total destruction of the Russian fleet which was not accepted. He died at Kensington on the 30th of October 1860 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Guemes was governor of Salta from May 1815 to May 1820. In the former year he made himself master of the city and province of Hohui also and refused to recognize the authority of the national government and even went so far as to harass the march of the army of the North which was then retreating from Upper Peru under command of General Rondo. But the citizens of Hohui refused to obey him and he was outlawed by Rondo who seized the city of Salta but came to a peaceable understanding with him in the following year. In 1821 he led an expedition from Salta against Tucumán in conjunction with another expedition from Hohui but was defeated. On his return he found the citizens of Salta in insurrection against him but their army passed over to him and he easily re-established his authority. In June of that year the city of Salta was captured by a party of royalists under Valdez. After nightfall he rode with a small escort into the principal square not knowing what had occurred and was received by a volley. He was severely wounded but kept his seat in the saddle and returned to his encampment. Where he died 10 days afterwards. Las Eras was in April 1824 elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in succession to Don Martín Rodríguez under whose beneficent rule the country had made great progress. Las Eras followed in the steps of his predecessor but was in March 1827 deposed by the National Constituent Congress which assumed the powers of a sovereign Congress and decreed the federalization of the province. Las Eras refused to listen to those of his friends who wished him to resist this unconstitutional proceeding and retired into private life. He died in Chile in the year 1867 in the 86th year of his age. La Valle after the conclusion of the War of Independence returned to Buenos Aires and commanded a division in the Argentine army which was sent against Brazil in the year 1826. At Itutáingo he again displayed the same reckless daring for which he was distinguished in Chile and in Peru. In November 1828 he returned to Buenos Aires after the conclusion of the War in command of the First Division of the Army and encamped to the north of the city. On the 1st of December he had it a revolt by which Don Manuel Dorrego who was then governor was deposed and was named provisional governor in his stead. On the 9th of the same month he completely defeated the government forces at Navarro and on the 13th ordered the summary execution of Dorrego who had been taken prisoner the day previous. On the 26th of April in the following year he was attacked at the Puente Marques by greatly superior forces under Rothas and Lopez but maintained the unequal fight till sundown. He eventually came to terms with Rothas and retired to Montevideo. Some years afterwards he joined the Argentine refugees in that city in a conspiracy against the dictatorship of Rothas and in 1840 had it an expedition into Argentine territory where after several defeats he was on the 9th of October 1841 killed by a scouting party of government troops near to the Bolivian frontier. Miller was born at Wingham Kent in the year 1796. For four years he served in the Royal Artillery under Wellington in Spain. In the year 1817 he went out to Buenos Aires with the intention of engaging in commercial pursuits but was diverted from that intention by an English lady then resident in that city who said to him quote where I a young man I would never abandon the profession of arms for one of mere money making. End quote. He was presented to Don Juan Martín Pueyrredón who gave him a letter of introduction to General San Martín who gave him a commission in the artillery under Colonel Plaza with whom he was present at the disaster of Cancer Ayada. In 1826 Miller returned to England and met with a very flattering reception. In 1844 and again in 1851 he represented the British government in the Sandwich Islands. In the latter year he returned to Peru where he enjoyed the title of Grand Marshal of Ayacucho and died on board HMS Nayat at Caillau on the 31st of October 1861 and was buried in the English cemetery. Before his burial two bullets were extracted from his body which showed the marks of 22 wounds. Necochea was banished from Peru in 1826 at the same time as Alvarado and other Argentine officers but afterwards returned to Lima and died at Miraflores near to that city in the year 1849. He also was a Marshal in the Peruvian army. O'Higgins never returned to Chile after his banishment and died at Lima on the 24th of October 1842 in the 73rd year of his age. In the year 1869 his remains were taken back to his native country and in 1872 an equestrian statue of him was erected in the Great Square of Santiago. Paeth In the year 1831 Paeth was elected first constitutional president of the independent Republic of Venezuela and remained in office for four years. In 1838 he was again elected president and was presented by Congress with a sword of honor. He also, in the same year, received another sword of honor from William IV, King of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1842 he brought back the remains of Bolivar from New Granada and buried them with great pomp at Caracas, the natal city of the Liberator. In 1843 he again retired into private life but in 1850 took part in a revolutionary movement brought on by the Mao administration of President Monachas in consequence of which he was banished from the country and retired to the city of New York where he died in the year 1874. His remains were some years afterwards taken back to his native country and re-interred with the honors due to his illustrious services. End of Biographical Notes End of the Emancipation of South America by Bartolome Mitre