"
Several proofs are recorded of his clemency in spite of his threats; but
at last, when he saw that there was no other way to bring the royalists to
terms, he ordered that war be waged mercilessly.
CHAPTER V
_Bolivar's First Victories_
(1813)
The Congress of Nueva Granada had ordered Bolivar to take Trujillo and
there to await new instructions. It was reluctant to permit him to advance,
because the patriots in Nueva Granada found themselves in a difficult
position. Bolivar wrote them, showing the necessity of his advancing
immediately, in order to prevent the enemy from discovering the reduced
size of his army and destroying it. His plan was to advance steadily
against the royalists, to destroy them, and thus secure the freedom of
Nueva Granada. Finally, the Congress yielded.
Bolivar's situation was an exceedingly dangerous one. There was a
good-sized royalist army to his right, while to his left were the old
hostile cities of Maracaibo and Coro. Before him was Monteverde with the
men who had helped him to conquer Venezuela and with an abundant supply
of war material. He became so impatient that he advanced without having
received an answer to his last communication to Congress, crossed the Andes
and, on the first of July, took the city of Guanare. Meanwhile, General
Ribas, following Bolivar's orders, also advanced, meeting a detachment of
royalists sent to cut off Bolivar's retreat. Ribas had less than half as
many men as his opponent, but he was a man of the stamp of his leader, and
on the same day that Bolivar entered Guanare he attacked the enemy.
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