Juan Domingo de Monteverde

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Juan Domingo de Monteverde y Rivas (b. 1773 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain - d. 1832 San Fernando, Cádiz, Spain) was a Spanish soldier, governor and Captain General of Venezuela from June 1812 to August 8, 1813. Monteverde was the leader of Spanish forces in the South American Wars of Independence from 1812 to 1813. Monteverde led the military campaign that culminated in the fall of the First Republic of Venezuela in 1812. One year later in 1813, Monteverde was defeated by Simón Bolívar during the Admirable Campaign.

Monteverde was born in the Canarian town of San Cristóbal de la Laguna on 2 April 1773. With well won prestige and the rank of Frigate Captain, he arrived at Coro in March 1812 with two hundred thirty soldiers "with Spaniards and residents of Coro, a priest named Torellas, a surgeon, ten thousand cartridges, a howitzer, and ten hundredweights of food." Monteverde's military force was not prepared to begin a successful military campaign.^[1] The scarcity of resources is understandble, considering how Spain found itself fighting against the Napoleonic forces in order to regain control over its own territory; many resources were thus used in this military campaign.

However, there was a crucial factor which aided Monteverde and the realist cause: the social dissatisfaction of the people with the new rulers, which would later instigate Bolívar to begin a "Social War". Monteverde departed toward Siquisique with 1550 men with soldiers and officers amongst them. En route to Caracas, during the process of Reconquest, volunteers added more and more to Monteverde's forces, forcing the Patriots, directed by Francisco de Miranda, to retreat. In June, Monteverde arrived in the proximity of La Victoria y San Mateo.

His successful advance was helped by the social support offered it by the lower classes, which viewed the new aristocratic or so-called Mantuan rulers as their enemies. This was reinforced by the earthquake of 26 March 1812, the capture of the plaza of Barquisimeto by an integrated military force of Pardos, Zambos, and Mulattos, and the fall of the plaza of Puerto Cabello under the then-Colonel Simón Bolívar, an advance which culminated in the capitulation of Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda to Monteverde and the Spaniards on 25 July 1812 after the Battle of San Mateo.

After the fall of the first republic, Miranda was imprisoned and sent to Puerto Rico and later Cádiz, and the majority of Patriot officials were forced to go into exile. In 1813, Santiago Mariño decides to invade Venezuela from the east, successfully capturing the port of Güiria, which was unprotected by Loyalist forces, and later the plaza of Maturín, which Monteverde attempted but failed to retake. Bolívar began his Admirable Campaign, entering through the Andes. Worried about Bolívar's presence in the Andes, Monteverde established the main branch for his forces in Valencia, a location in the plains at which the paths of Barinas, the Andes, and Maracaibo merge. His right flank was fortressed in the castle of Puerto Cabello and his rear was supported in Maracay and La Victoria. The positioning of Monteverde's military forces were comparable to those of Miranda in 1812. Nevertheless Monteverde lost a large part of the popular support that he had managed to build the previous year: the people who had taken him from Coro to the capital abandoned him in the face of Mariño in Maturín and Bolívar in Valencia because Monteverde did not meet or allow the completion of popular goals and expectations in 1813.

Monteverde was wounded in action during Las Trincheras on 3 October 1813, and near the end of the same year, he was deposed by his own officers in Puerto Cabello. Field Marshal Juan Manuel Cajigal, nominally chief of José Tomás Boves, assumed the Captaincy General of Venezuela. Monteverde moved to Puerto Rico and in 1816 returned to Spain. Monteverde died in Cádiz on 19 September 1832 with the rank of Brigadier.

Contents 1 Major Battles in Venezuela 2 See Also 3 References 4 External Links

[edit] Major Battles in Venezuela

• Siege of Puerto Cabello (July 1812) (Victory)
  
• Battle of San Mateo (25 July 1812) (Victory)
  
• Battle of Araure (5 December 1813) (Defeat)
  
• Battle of Alto de los Godos (25 May 1813) (Defeat)
  

[edit] See Also

• Royalist (Spanish American Revolutions)

[edit] References

• Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Spanish-language Wikipedia article. Retrieved on 6 January 2008. The following references are cited by that Spanish-language article:
  • Dictionary of Venezuelan History: Domingo de Monteverde (Spanish)

[edit] External Links

• Birth, Death, and Rule
  
• Battles
  
• Alto de los Godos (Spanish)
  
• Battle of San Mateo (Spanish)
  
• Short Biography (Spanish)
  
• Bolívar and the Social War (Spanish)
  
• Dictionary of Venezuelan History: Domingo de Monteverde (Spanish)
  

Preceded by Fernando Miyares y Gonzáles

Capitan General of Venezuela 1812-1813

Succeeded by Juan Manuel Cajigal