e failed did not deter him from having a vote taken under military
auspices, on the strength of which, on February 12, 1818, he declared
Chile an independent nation, the date of the proclamation being changed
to the 1st of January, so as to make the inauguration of the new era
coincident with the entry of the new year. San Martin, meanwhile, had
been collecting reinforcements with which to strike the final blow. On
the 5th of April, the Battle of Maipo gave him the victory he desired.
Except for a few isolated points to the southward, the power of Spain
had fallen.

Until the fall of Napoleon in 1815 it had been the native loyalists who
had supported the cause of the mother country in the Spanish dominions.
Henceforth, free from the menace of the European dictator, Spain
could look to her affairs in America, and during the next three years
dispatched twenty-five thousand men to bring the colonies to obedience.
These soldiers began their task in the northern part of South America,
and there they ended it--in failure. To this failure the defection of
native royalists contributed, for they were alienated not so much by the
presence of the Spanish troops as by the often merciless severity that
marked their conduct. The atrocities may have been provoked by the
behavior of their opponents; but, be this as it may, the patriots gained
recruits after each victory.

A Spanish army of more than ten thousand, under the command of Pablo
Morillo, arrived in Venezuela in April, 1815. He found the province
relatively tranquil and even disposed to welcome the full restoration
of royal government. Leaving a garrison sufficient for the purpose
of military occupation, Morillo sailed for Cartagena, the key to
New Granada. Besieged by land and sea, the inhabitants of the town
maintained for upwards of three months a resistance which, in its
heroism, privation, and sacrifice, recalled the memorable defense of
Saragossa in the mother country against the French seven years before.
With Cartagena taken, regulars and loyalists united to stamp out the
rebellion elsewhere. At Bogoth, in particular, the new Spanish viceroy
installed by Morillo waged a savage war on all suspected of aiding the
patriot cause. He did not spare even women, and one of his victims was a
young heroine, Policarpa Salavarrieta by name. Though for her execution
three thousand soldiers were detailed, the girl was unterrified by her
doom and was earnestly beseeching the loyali