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Updated: June 19, 2025
Many of these were killed and the rest put to rout, and Barinas was once more in patriot hands. This anecdote will serve to show, better than pages of description, the kind of man that Paez was. When the act became known to the llaneros they proclaimed Paez their general, and were ready to follow him to the death.
At the very first outbreak of insurrection in 1810, Paez took service as a volunteer in the hastily-levied militia of Barinas, and was quickly promoted to the post of sergeant in a corps of lancers.
But this officer, who was well aware of the valor of Paez, and perceived his great influence over the people of Barinas, deemed it very imprudent to take a step that might lead to a general outbreak, and concluded to let his perilous visitor alone. He therefore appeased his soldiers, and Paez was left unmolested in the house of his sisters. The governor, however, only bided his time.
Tobacco had begun to be cultivated within the last ten years, and its exportation had commenced. He pronounces it better than the tobacco of Havana, Santo Domingo, and Margarita, but not as good as that of Barinas. The cultivation of tobacco in Puerto Rico was permitted by a special law in 1614, but the sale of it to foreigners was prohibited under penalty of death and confiscation of property.
Paez was commissioned to get fresh horses with which to advance against Barinas, when Bolivar got in communication with the province of Nueva Granada where Santander, a very able general, had organized an army, which was fighting successfully against the royalists. Bolivar perhaps recalled his promise made to Nueva Granada before leaving Angostura, or perhaps he obeyed a long prepared plan.
He now threatened the possession of Valencia and the security of the troops engaged in the siege of Puerto Cabello. Yanez, at the head of 2,500 llaneros, had destroyed another patriot army and had seized the city of Barinas, leaving his path strewn with corpses and stained with the blood of his victims.
With only one-third this number of men, Ribas encountered and destroyed the enemy on the plains of Los Horcones, which victory, together with that at Niquitao, did much for the success of the whole campaign. Leaving a detachment in Barinas, Bolivar advanced to San Carlos, which he entered on the 28th of July, and then continued onward towards Valencia.
He chose from among them one hundred and fifty picked horsemen, and this band, under the title of "Guides of the Apure," soon made itself the terror of the Spaniards. The following story well shows his intrepid character. After the death of his mother young Paez inherited her property in Barinas, and divided it with his sisters who were living in that town.
At the beginning the Congress was formed of twenty-six deputies, which number was increased to twenty-nine, representing the provinces of Caracas, Barcelona, Cumana, Barinas, Guayana, Margarita and Casanare. This last province belonged to Nueva Granada and the others forming the same vice-royalty were expected to be represented as soon as freed from Spanish domination.
This battle occurred in a town called Niquitao, and is considered one of the most brilliant battles of the War of Independence. Bolivar continued his rapid advance to the city of Barinas, and found it abandoned by the royalists, who had left behind artillery and ammunition.
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