jose tomas boves
TRANSCRIPT
JOSÉ TOMÁS BOVESJesenia Duque
Background Information:
S
ept/18/1782 (Oviedo) – Dec/5/1814 (Venezuela)
L
ost his father at the age of 4
R
aised by his mother, who had to work as maid and seamstress
Early life:
J
oined the Pla y Portal company (traded between Spain and the Americas)
1
812: Accused of smuggling by patriots, sentenced to prison
I
ntercession of Zuazola (spanish) = was shorten to internal exile in Calabozo.
B
ecame a merchant and true enemy of the republic
O
nce his sentence was over = made business selling food.
In Military:
A
ctivities against the Republic began after Monteverde’s invasion in central Venezuela
M
ay 1812: Joined his forces (took over Calabozo)
J
an. 1813: Named commander of Calabozo
G
eneral Juan Manuel Cagigal saw Boves with leadership skills = Sent him to the Orinoco basin to
form an army.
H
ad unsuccessful attempts to stop Santiago Mariño's infiltrations
A
fter royalist government collapsed = had temporary permission to act at his own preference
In Military:
C
reated army of llaneros, most were pardos.
D
ominated south of Venezuela for the next 2 years .
L
ived among them, exposing himself to the same risks as them, gained their loyalty.
T
hey thought he would be their true Liberator.
H
is army now completely trusted him and called him ‘Taita Boves’(Father Boves)
H
is message was of pure resentment against the Criollos since the colonial era.
In military:
In a matter of months, Boves had proved his skills = had an army of 4,000
men. (“The Legión Infernal”)
M
ost of the men in his army were pardos, and were treated as inferiors in society.
T
hey carried bamboo lance as weapons; they were both light and could be lethal.
BOVES’ VISION:
S
laves: to have freedom and take revenge against their owners
P
easants: to own the property of the criollos
P
ardos: to have social equallity and extermination of the aristocrats
E
veryone: the division of assets and properties of the rich
Battles:
1
814: Went against the republic with his army of llaneros
T
arget: center of Venezuela
B
urned properties of his biggest enemies = created panic towards the
republic
F
eb. 1814: 1st battle against patriots, in La Puerta (San Juan de Los
Morros)
P
atriots were defeated by the llaneros (300 soldiers died)
Battles:
J
une 15, 1814: The two armies met
B
olivar, Mariño, & Elias; fought at the 2nd Battle of La Puerta.
T
hey were annihilated: Elias was killed, Bolivar and Mariño escaped.
T
he loss of this battle = showed that the end of the 2nd Republic would be soon.
BATTLES:
T
wo weeks later: Bolivar and Mariño fought in Valencia for 10 days, they slowly
surrendered.
Boves promised, in the name of the Bible at a church, that if the Patriots
surrendered = No more bloodshed.
T
he agreement was made, but Boves violated his promise.
Battles:
J
uly 16th, 1816: Boves arrived to Caracas
D
idn’t find any of the patriot in the city, decided to ruin it and once
again harass the people.
I
n Barcelona: Boves and Bolivar met.
M
any innocent people were killed by Boves‘ troops, under the
command of Tomas Morales.
BATTLES:
• Bolivar fled to Cumana w/
whatever remained of his forces.
• Many had left, Boves caught up and
managed to kill 1,000 people.
Battle of Urica:
B
oves successfully managed to get Bolivar to scape.
H
eaded towards eastern part of the nation (met General Ribas.)
D
ecember 5th, 1814: Battle of Urica began.
B
oves suffered a serious wound in the battle
Lived to see his army win
Later that day: Jose Tomas Boves died (in Urica)
1782 – 1814:“A demon in human flesh who drowned Venezuela in blood.” - Bolivar