The Emancipation of South America/Chapter 32
CHAPTER XXXII.
PERU INDEPENDENT.
1821.
On the 6th July, 1821, the Patriots entered Lima; on the 24th June was fought the battle of Carabobo, the Waterloo of the Royalists of Columbia. San Martin's plan of a continental campaign was on the point of realization; he from the south, and Bolívar from the north, converged to a common centre. The only troops which now upheld the standard of the King, were those which still held the Highlands of Peru, the province of Quito, and one isolated fortress, soon about to surrender. On the ocean, only three vessels, the remnant of the naval power of Spain, crushed by Cochrane on the Pacific, wandered to and fro like phantom ships. The definitive triumph was but a question of time. Never before was plan on so vast a scale carried out with such mathematical precision—a plan, nevertheless, sketched out in accordance with the designs of inevitable fate.
As was said by the first captain of the age and as was recorded by an American thinker, "All the great captains who have undertaken great emprises have carried them out in conformity with the rules of art, adapting the force employed to the obstacle to be overcome, knowing that events are not the work of chance, but obey those laws which rule the destinies of men."
When the two liberators of South America violated these laws, one straying from the path, the other blinded by ambition, both fell; one deliberately, as he found himself wanting in strength to complete his mission; the other cast down by the irresistible forces which he had arrayed against himself.
The emancipation of America was no longer in question, the independence of Peru was assured, whatever might be the errors of men or the vicissitudes of the struggle. But this, though clear to the superior minds which presided over the scene, was not perceived by those more immediately concerned. This was more especially the case in Peru, where the idea of the revolution had as yet taken no deep root; that spirit of nationality which would secure the triumph at any cost was not yet aroused. San Martin sought to awaken this spirit by a solemn declaration of independence.
The position of San Martin was complex; before America he stood as a liberator, he was the arbiter of the destinies of Peru; he was a general of two republics who had confided their armies to his care; and as a great leader he was responsible to his conscience. As he entered the "City of the Kings" in triumph he was at the apogee of his glory, but as Rothschild the banker said, it requires ten times more skill and prudence to keep a fortune than to make one.
San Martin wrote to O'Higgins:—
"At last, by patience, we have compelled the enemy to abandon the capital of the Pizarros; at last our labours are crowned by seeing the independence of America secure —Peru is free—I now see before me the end of my public life, and watch how I can leave this heavy charge in safe hands, so that I may retire into some quiet corner and live as a man should live."
His public declarations were also grave and moderate, but the exaggerated importance he gave to the possession of Lima, led him to abandon the Highlands, where lay the decision of the question, and showed that, to some extent, his judgment was warped by success.
At the time of the occupation of Lima, San Martin published in his camp a bulletin written by Monteagudo, which is a declaration of political principles, and gives a reason for the policy which he pursued. Treating of the war as almost at an end, he offers a restricted liberty for the establishment of order, but makes no profession of political faith, national independence being the only point which is definitely established.
On the 14th July, San Martin convened a meeting of the principal citizens of Lima, nominated by the Cabildo. At this meeting the following resolution was carried:—
"The general will is decided for the independence of Peru of Spanish domination, or of that of any other foreign power."
Which declaration was sanctioned by the applause of the people.
On the 28th July the independence of Peru was solemnly proclaimed with imposing ceremony in the great square of Lima, San Martin displaying the new flag of Peru, amid the roar of cannon and the acclamations of the people who, as the procession passed through the main streets of the city, showered flowers and perfumes upon it. Cochrane, who looked on from a balcony of the viceregal palace, was singled out for a special ovation by the populace. Medals commemorative of the occasion were afterwards distributed among the people.
San Martin sent back to Chile the flags captured at Rancagua, and to Buenos Ayres five flags and two Spanish standards, as trophies of the victories of the united army.
While these pompous ceremonies went on, the siege of Callao was vigorously prosecuted by Las Heras, who repulsed several sorties of the garrison, but as he had no siege train, he could not venture an assault. Cochrane offered to land guns from the fleet, but as the garrison had only provisions for two months, more reliance was placed on a strict blockade.
The garrison seeing their situation desperate, resolved to scuttle their ships, and commenced by the corvette San Sebastiano, on which Cochrane wrote again to San Martin urging an immediate assault; then perceiving a gap in the boom which surrounded the remaining ships, he on the night of the 24th July, sent eight boats under Captain Crosbie, who cut out from under the batteries the 34-gun corvette Resolution, two smaller vessels and sundry boats, without any loss on his part.
On the 14th August Las Heras made an attempt to capture the fortress by surprise. He had noticed that the gates of the Castle Real Felipe were frequently left open, and the drawbridges lowered. The distance from his line to the walls was about 3,000 yards, which cavalry could cross at a gallop in ten or twelve minutes. A body of horse supported by infantry made a sudden rush from Bella Vista, the centre of his line, but in spite of their speed, the enemy perceived them in time to raise the bridge leading to the inner fortifications. The cavalry galloped through the streets of the town, sabred stragglers and made several prisoners, among the latter being the wounded general Ricafort.
On the same day, Cochrane made overtures to the governor, La Mar, very unworthy of his high renown. He had an idea that silver bullion to the value of thirty millions of dollars was stored up in Callao, besides much other property belonging to the wealthy Spaniards of Lima. He proposed that La Mar should surrender the fortress to him and give him up one-third the treasure, engaging in return to furnish ships in which he, and any he chose to take with him, might escape with the rest of the treasure.
Cochrane states in his Memoirs, that he required the money to pay his crews, and denies that he had any ulterior object, but he himself acknowledges that if he had gained possession of the forts, he would have forced San Martin to keep his promise to leave the Peruvians free to choose their own government.
The logical sequence of the Declaration of Independence, was the establishment of a National Government in Peru, but it was of prime necessity that the new government should not only govern but should carry on the war. There was great difficulty in organizing any such government, as there was no social nucleus round which the heterogeneous population might gather, and Peru had not one citizen who possessed either prestige or moral authority. A deputation from the Cabildo of Lima waited upon San Martin, praying him to take the reins of government into his own hands. He answered somewhat enigmatically, that circumstances had already given him the supreme power, and he should keep it so long as he considered it necessary for the public welfare. The Lautaro Lodge, in which the majority were officers of the united army, then addressed him to the same effect, declaring that the public safety required him to place himself at the head of an administration.
On the 3rd August, 1821, he issued a decree, whereby he gave himself the title of "Protector of Peru," uniting in his own person the supreme administrative authority, both military and political. No one in the world, except Cromwell, had ever taken upon himself this title with this authority. America alarmed, thought he had done so from ambition, and saw in him a future despot, but she thought wrong; a dictatorship was necessary, and in taking it he ensured the speedy loss of all his power.
The Protector named Dr. Unanue, a Peruvian of great reputed wisdom but of no experience, his Minister of Finance; Garcia del Rio, Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Monteagudo, Minister of War and Marine. Riva Aguero was named President of the department of Lima, and Las Heras took command of the army.
La Serna, on receiving official notification of this step, wrote to San Martin, telling him with some irony that he thought the title of Liberator suited him better than that of Protector, and that the people who had so spontaneously sworn to uphold the independence of Peru, would just as readily swear to uphold the new Spanish constitution. O'Higgins enthusiastically approved of it, seeing in it the only means of carrying the great work they had both at heart to a successful termination.
The first official act of the Protector was to issue a decree against the Spaniards, drawn up by Monteagudo, and showing evidence of his intemperate spirit, but it was also in accordance with the calculating spirit of San Martin.
On leaving Valparaiso, San Martin had published a proclamation to "The Spanish Europeans resident in Peru," declaring that he wished to behave generously to them, providing they made no opposition to the independence of the country. During the negotiations at Miraflores and Punchauca, he had endeavoured to propitiate the Spanish civilians, but when hostilities had again broken out and he was master of Lima, the splenetic behaviour of the Spanish residents, made him resolve to crush them.
He now declared that the persons and properties of all Spaniards who would live in peace and swear the independence of the country, should be respected; that those who would not trust to this promise, should ask for passports and should leave the country with their movable goods; but that those who submitted to the Government and secretly worked against it, would be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law, and their estates confiscated; and wound up by saying:—
"I know what passes in the most secret corner of your houses. Tremble, if you abuse my indulgence. Let this be the last time that I have to remind you that your destiny is irrevocable and you must submit to it."
Public safety in no way justified such rigour, which was a violation of promises given. But there was more in this decree than excessive severity and intemperance of language, it formed part of a financial plan. War is war, and the independence of South America was in great part paid for by Spanish fortunes, wrested from their owners by forced loans and by confiscations. It was now the turn of the Spaniards of Peru to contribute their share. San Martin had made use of this system in Mendoza, he had recommended it in Chile. Sentimental characters do not lead great causes to victory in the struggle of life. All the same, the measure was unjustifiable in the absence of any overt act on the part of the Spaniards.
One result of this new system of persecution, was the banishment of the Archbishop of Lima, a man of eminent piety and eighty years of age, who, though a Royalist, had aided San Martin in quieting the city on his arrival; he had authorized with his presence the municipal council which had declared the country independent; he had assisted at the Te Deum which celebrated the declaration. Most of the Peruvian clergy were ardent Patriots, but not so the high dignitaries of the church. San Martin took advantage of a mere pretext to send him his passport and an order to leave the country in twenty-four hours.
On the 4th September, 1821, when San Martin was, as Protector of Peru, in the apogee of his power, his old enemy José Miguel Carrera, died cursing him in Mendoza. Associated with Artigas, Ramirez, Bustos, and others of the Gaucho chieftains of the Argentine Provinces, Carrera had distinguished himself among them for rancorous hatred of Buenos Ayres. Unfortunate in all his enterprises, he was at length captured, and shot as a bandit, upon the same bench where his brothers had perished before him.