One source describes him as “thin, like a sword, and only a little bit taller than Bolívar.” Yet his expressive brown eyes and military bearing commanded attention. He took a keen interest in international politics. Young Sucre used the time to complete his education. Sucre and other Miranda loyalists went into exile on Trinidad, an island governed by the British, whose alliance with Spain made life there uncomfortable for the revolutionaries. With the 1812 failure of the First Republic of Venezuela to economic collapse and an untimely earthquake, Miranda signed an armistice with the royalists, prompting Bolívar and fellow revolutionaries to arrest the generalissimo and hand him over to the Spanish. That said, there is no evidence to suggest either knew of the family connection. Historian Nestor Alexander Quintero-Aldama suggests their mutual affection may have stemmed from a blood relationship they were distant cousins, having in common sixth grandparents. A year earlier Miranda had returned to Venezuela from exile in Britain at the invitation of a delegation led by Simón Bolívar.Īlthough some considered Sucre aloof, a genuine bond of affection existed between him and Bolívar. In 1812, at age 17, he joined the staff of Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda, a legendary commander of revolutionary forces. Commissioned a second lieutenant, the teen commanded artillery at Barcelona, near his hometown of Cumaná. Thus when the Napoleonic wars in Spain created a power vacuum in South America, Sucre joined the Supreme Junta of Caracas, which at the 1810 outset of the Venezuelan War of Independence deposed the royalist regime. Despite their loyal service, Sucre’s ancestors had suffered terribly under royalist governors in the New World. After losing his mother at the tender age of 7, the boy began a free but limited military education. Regardless, Sucre was supremely confident of victory at what would come to be known as the Battle of Ayacucho.Īntonio José de Sucre y Alcala was born in 1795 in Cumaná, Venezuela, to a noble family that had served the Spanish crown for centuries. Worse, they fielded more than a dozen cannons, while he had but one. He knew it would be a hard fight: The Spaniards outnumbered his revolutionaries 3-to-2 and held the high ground. Sucre was memorialized on the currency of Ecuador until the 1990s. This was the right place, the right time, and Antonio José de Sucre was the right man. The veterans among them had no doubt in his abilities. Some of his troops looked anxiously toward him, wondering if he was leading them to victory or destruction. The slender young general stood on a hilltop watching the battle lines form. Bolivar's Boy General: Marshal Sucre Close
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