Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 6.djvu/118

2.s-l WORKMEN AND HEROES immense mountains." He might well say that, for before him gleamed peaks 21,000 feet high. The army, with all its sufferings, triumphantly crossed the lower passes of the Cordilleras, and entered Chile. This march decided the fate of South America The army encamped upon the Sierra of Chacubuco, from the summit of which the whole of the magnificent country could be seen. Here rose the flag of lib- eration. The flower of the Spanish army, inferior in numbers, was near. On February 1 2th a battle was fought, and the royalists were defeated with a loss of 500 men killed, 600 taken prisoners, and all of their artillery. The way was now open to Santiago, the capital. The army entered the city amid the acclamations of the people. The Chilian assembly met and offered San Martin the office of governor, with dictatorial power. But San Martin was not fighting for power, or honor, but for the liberties of his countrymen, and he nobly declined the office. The guns of Buenos Ayres roared, and the city was turned into a festival, when the news of the triumph of the army of the Andes reached the coast. The Argentine Government offered to bestow on San Martin its highest honors, but the latter declined them, lest his work should be retarded and his motives of life should be misconstrued. It awarded to his daughter a life pension, which he de- voted to her education. Santiago offered to him 10,000 ounces of gold. He refused the splendid purse which he had so well won, but recommended that the money be used for the cause of popular education in the form of a public library. Chile and Argentina now formed an alliance in defence of their liberties. But the royal army was gathering force and unity. On March 31st, it num- bered 5,500 men, and was prepared to make a final stand against the army of liberation. There is a river in Chile which divides the country, named the Maipd, or Maipfi. On its banks the royal army encamped on the first days of April, 1818. The patriot army was close at hand, and each army felt that the battle to follow would decide the fate of the movement for the independence of the South Amer- ican empire. It is April 5, 18 18. The royal army is ready for action, and the patriots occupy the heights of Loma Blanca, overlooking the plains of the Maipu. " Do not await a charge to-day," ordered San Martin; " but charge always within fifty paces!" At the beginning of the action he said, " I take the sun to witness that the day is ours." Just then the sun, which had been clouded, shone from the heavens. The royal army was defeated. That night of May 5th covered their flight, and the War of Independence was won. San Martin began now to plan the liberation of Peru, and to create a navy for the purpose of commanding the ports of the golden mountains and rich plateaus of the incarial realms.