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:

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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