Having further augmented his force, and
taken the necessary steps to keep alive the war in the districts on the
coast, he marched to the interior, beating several small royalist parties
which he encountered on his route.
Of the Spanish army which had returned from New Granada, a division, under
the brave General La Torre, was destined to act against the patriots in
Guayana. A division of the latter, under General Piar, having obtained a
decisive victory, Bolivar was enabled to invest Angostura, and the town of
old Guyana, which were successively taken on the 3rd and 18th of July.
In Angostura, Piar was found guilty, by a court-martial, of an attempt to
excite a war of colour. Piar (a man of colour himself) was the bravest of
the brave, and adored by his followers; but his execution stifled anarchy
in the bud.
The rest of the year 1817 was actively spent in organizing a force to act
against Morillo, who had lately been reinforced by two thousand fresh
troops from the Peninsula, under General Canterac, then on his way from
Spain to Peru. An abundant supply of arms, received from England, was sent
to the patriot corps on the banks of the Apure.
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