United States or Japan ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
He was very jubilant, though, I remember, about his party's success, telling me that in a short time General Canterac would be master of Callao, and that the Patriots had nowhere the slightest chance of victory. "What will be done with me?" I asked. "I shall send you with our sick to the hospital at Jauja. The air there is bracing, and will help you to recover more quickly."
"I think it is," replied the man, with a significant smile. "General Canterac is marching on Lima at the head of a Spanish army." "How many men has he?" "Nine thousand, perhaps ten horse, foot, and guns. The advance-guard is not far off." "Thanks, Sanchez. Let the men assemble, Barros: a dozen to stay here, the rest to follow me. Has Cerdeña sent word to Lima? Good. He knows his business.
Thus they talked during the afternoon, and early in the evening Colonel Miller ordered that every one not on duty should turn in at once; which we took to be a sign that something was going to happen shortly. At ten o'clock the column was roused. The men assembled silently, and a whisper went round that Canterac had begun his retreat.
The ground was so broken that we could only go at a foot-pace, and I began to think the major might be right. As we entered the defile there came a great shout of "Viva el Rey!" from the plains ahead, and the next instant the Royalist horsemen, thirteen hundred strong, and led by Canterac himself, dashed madly to the attack. "Viva! viva!" they yelled, cutting and thrusting with sabre and lance.
Another affair like the one at Ica would send them flying to Canterac in scores. The great thing with some of them is to be on the winning side." As soon as San Martin had left Peru, Bolivar sent a message, offering the aid of his troops; but the government declined all assistance.
While the royalists under their able and vigilant leader, Jose Canterac, continued to strengthen their grasp upon the interior of the country and to uphold the power of the viceroy, the President chosen by the Congress had been driven by the enemy from Lima. A number of the legislators in wrath thereupon declared the President deposed.
The capital, as I have said, was in possession of the Patriots; but a Royalist garrison still held Callao, and the Royalist general, Canterac, with a small army, had just swooped down from the mountains to help his friends.
"You won't be quite so eager presently," growled the tough old major. "Look at the ground; see the defile between the swamp and the hills. Canterac can cut us to pieces there, and he's soldier enough to know it." "No, no, major; his cavalry aren't a patch on ours. We've never had a chance to show our mettle before."
In spite of the temporary successes of Canterac, Peru, the last of the mainland provinces, was lost to Spain in 1825, and the other European powers did not now delay their recognition of the American republics. In April of that year France recognised the virtual independence of her own revolted colony of Hayti. The Eastern question advanced more slowly.
For more than an hour we awaited fresh orders, the colonel on horseback fuming impatiently, until at last the word came to march. "An hour thrown away," muttered the colonel angrily. "Canterac will laugh in our faces." To our disgust, we found that the column was attached to the main army, and that we had to move step by step to the will of the chief.
Word Of The Day