Last military atact to San Felipe

 No one can remember San Felipe flooded by the explosion of the musketry, the screams of the wounded, the smell of spilled blood mixed with gunpowder. Few have those memories passed down from father to son of the days when the city was on fire, besieged by the enemy of the established government. While the War of Independence left the city aside, almost without disturbing its life, the Federal War settled in our streets and for more than fifteen days it terrorized the bulk of the population. The "Most Excellent General José Antonio Páez, Supreme Chief of the Republic" was head of government (this was the official way of addressing the then president), against him and his government the Federal Revolution was raised, whose troops were officially called "factions" and classified as bandits, highway robbers and looters.

According to the written reports, the actions that led to the siege of the city began on August 11, 1862, when that morning the governor of the province, Colonel Joaquín Díaz, was going to Yaritagua to attend to some business. He was in the vicinity of Guama, at around seven in the morning, when he was informed by locals that shots had been heard from earlier in the day from Chivacoa; The governor took 16 men from the police force in Guama and continued to Chivacoa. Upon arrival he saw the barracks on fire and opposition troops cheering the federation. Without taking any action against the occupants, he left and settled in a place near the city called "Corralito", and in the afternoon he moved to San Pablo and asked for help from the military commander of San Felipe and Sucre, the commander Daniel Torréllas who sends a contingent of 25 men to support him. On the 12th, the governor, who remained in San Pablo, sends 2 cavalrymen to Chivacoa to observe the enemy. They soon meet the Federal advance guard and observe the bulk of the military corps that is approaching. This troop enters San Pablo opening fire, the defenders resist briefly because the difference in forces is notable; the invaders are divided into two corps, one that cuts through a flank and the other overwhelms the front, not letting any of the defenders escape, who are killed, wounded, captured or simply flee in terror. The military commander in San Pablo and the governor, as the only survivors of the defense force, are pursued to the Guama river, but manage to flee to San Felipe, where they inform the military commander of San Felipe and Sucre, and try to prepare the resistance to the imminent attack.

The forces carrying out the attack on the city of San Felipe are the troops of General José Desiderio Trías Guzmán and his Commanders, Márquez, Eduvigis Rivero, Saturnino Velásquez, Freites, Sequera, Salas and others, who were summoned to attack this city, possibly with the sole purpose of acquiring war supplies, food and personnel, all under the premise that the city had a small defense body and that its location gave it economic advantages of tactical interest to the invaders.

The governor points out, in his official writings, that from his arrival in the city fleeing from the troops that pursued him from Guama, around ten in the morning, until the arrival of the first bodies of Federal troops, he had only one time to prepare the defense. During that time, he was only able to fortify three blocks with the placement of guerrillas (name given to improvised combat corps or units, made up of up to 20 individuals). That day 12, and the subsequent ones failed to take the city barracks, they even tried to set it on fire. This situation continued for another 14 days. Of the actions carried out at that time, the governor does not make any mention of a military nature, he only refers to the hardships suffered by the body of defenders as a result of the lack of preparation, which led them to resort to eating pack animals (mules and horses). ), and that from time to time hunger was mitigated by “taking a piece of sour lemon and jojota guava to the mouth”; but it was the lack of water that caused the most pain; The governor points out that “the water, sir, we asked heaven for; From heaven it came to us from time to time. The water that the defenders had was taken by the besiegers, but he does not describe the governor in what situation this occurred. So desperate was the scenario that he confesses his determination to set fire to the park rather than leave it in the hands of the besiegers and thus put an end to their hardships while continuing to fulfill his duty.

The siege was lifted on August 26, 1862 at night, when the federation troops found out about the approach of forces loyal to the government, rushed to leave, taking the Boraure road to their headquarters in the town of Sarare.