in its defence. He appointed
himself Colonel of the National Guards, made his eldest brother, Jose
Miguel, a Colonel of the Grenadiers, and his younger brother, Don Luis,
Colonel and Commander of the Artillery. In 1812 Bernardo O'Higgins
joined Carrera, who at first made him Lieutenant-Colonel of the Line,
and afterwards promoted him to the rank of Brigadier-General. In 1813
the three Carreras, with a number of other officers, were captured by
the Spaniards, and O'Higgins assumed command of the army. When the three
Carreras recovered their liberty a dispute occurred concerning the chief
command, and the forces of the opposing parties actually came to blows
on the Plain of Maipu, where an action was fought, and where O'Higgins
was made prisoner. After this a reconciliation was brought about.

There is no shadow of doubt that a number of these patriot leaders may
be ranked among the host of great men, sometimes on account of their
qualities as leaders, sometimes for their statesmanship, but in almost
every instance for their genuine patriotism. Nevertheless, there have
been very few historical characters or temperaments which have been more
difficult to estimate from contemporary accounts of their actions and
motives. Jealousy entered very freely into the patriot ranks, and the
various chroniclers, however honestly they may have written, and however
deep their convictions may have been, were inevitably swayed to a very
great extent by this.

Thus a partisan of the Carreras would have been a strange being,
according to the lights of these times, had he been able to discern a
spot of goodness in the personality of San Martin, and the admirer of
the heroic Cochrane would have had no higher opinion of the Argentine
Liberator. The reverse of the medal was, of course, shown by San
Martin's adherents, who might safely have been trusted to miss no defect
in Cochrane, or in any other of his party. This condition of affairs
prevailed throughout, and extended for the length and breadth of the
Continent. Bolivar, Sucre, and everyone of note, was a hero to his own
followers, and more or less a villain to the rest of the allied, yet
rival, parties. As a rule these prominent leaders suffered rather than
gained from the situation, since the calumnies of the period are more
abundant than the laudations. It is only now that the history of the
early nineteenth century is beginning to be written calmly and
dispassionately, and as a result