In the field, it may be said, he was an invaluable aid to
General Bolivar. In the campaigns against Morillo, the Spanish
commander-in-chief, his daring activity and success were striking, and to
him was largely due the winning the last great battle of the war, that of
Carabobo.
In this battle, fought on the 26th of June, 1821, Bolivar had about
sixteen hundred infantry, a thousand or more of them being British, and
three thousand of llanero cavalry under Paez. The Spaniards, under La
Torre, had fewer men, but occupied a very strong defensive position. This
was a plain, interspersed with rocky and wooded hills, and giving abundant
space for military movements, while if driven back they could retire to
one strong point after another, holding the enemy at disadvantage
throughout. In front there was only one defile, and their wings were well
protected, the left resting upon a deep morass. A squadron of cavalry
protected their right wing, and on a hill opposite the defile--through
which ran the road to Valencia--was posted a small battery.
This position seemed to give the royalists a decisive superiority over
their patriot antagonists, and for twenty days they waited an attack, in
full confidence of success.
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