Page:The History of San Martin (1893).djvu/279



the commencement of the year 1821 the Royalist cause appeared completely lost in Peru. Pezuela, at a council of general officers, declared, without reserve, "the impossibility of continuing the defence of the country."

This speaks highly for the political and military talents of San Martin, who in four short months had achieved this result. That the Spanish leaders, abandoned by the mother country, should raise up the fallen standard of the King, and with resources drawn from the country itself should maintain the struggle for yet another four years, speaks quite as highly for their talents and energy.

When Badajoz was besieged by the French in 1811, Colonel Menacho, who was San Martin's first chief, was in command of the garrison. He died, and in a council of war then held, one officer only voted for holding out. The city surrendered. The following year the Regency, with the approval of the Cortes, declared that in such a case, "if one officer voted for resistance, even though he was a subaltern, the garrison should not capitulate, and the said officer should take the command." The leaders of the Spanish forces in Peru maintained that this decision gave them the right to refuse to surrender. The Liberal ideas brought by late reinforcements from Spain, while they weakened political authority, strengthened the power of the military element.