Perceiving, to his sorrow, that the country was
temporarily lost in complete anarchy, he sailed to France again without
having descended from the deck of the ship which had borne him out.
The remaining embers of the war had now become localized, and it was
obvious that Spain was at her last gasp. Bolivar came down with his
armies from Quito to Peru to complete the task of the destruction of the
Spanish garrisons. In 1824 the Battle of Junin was fought, which
resulted in a striking victory for the South Americans. The patriot
forces on this occasion made a particularly gallant fight, and the
brilliant cavalry charge made by Suarez is said to have been largely
responsible for the victory.
Bolivar then gave over the command of the army to General Sucre, who on
December 9, 1824, fought the Battle of Ayacucho, completely defeating
the Royalist forces. This proved to be the final action of the war; the
last shred of Spanish authority had been torn from the Continent, the
last of the Spanish garrisons were now ploughing their sombre course
back to Europe, and it was left to Spanish America to shape its own
destiny.
CHAPTER XVIII
BRAZIL: FROM COLONY TO EMPIRE
Until the period of Napoleonic chaos which overwhelmed the two
westernmost countries of Europe, the South American colonies of Spain
and Portugal had continued their existence on similar lines.
Pages:
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264