José Tomás Boves had gathered an army in the Southern plains in 1812, composed of
Llaneros, released black slaves, mulattoes, mestizos and Indians whom he treated as equals. He lived among his soldiers, and exposed himself to the same risks in battle as them, thereby gaining their extreme loyalty. Nominally a Royalist, Boves acted independently from Captain General
Juan Manuel Cajigal, ignoring some of his orders. His troops hated the white land- and urban upper classes of Venezuela, and became feared for their summary executions, which became especially notorious for their extreme cruelty, even in a period when such actions were common on both sides of the conflict. After his victory in the Battle of La Puerta, Boves besieged
Valencia on 19 June, bravely defended by
Francisco Espejo, which for 21 days withstood the onslaught until capitulating before the offer of respect for the lives and property of the Valencians. That same day, Boves ordered some 500 Patriot soldiers to be killed, while the women of Valencia were forced to sing and dance, in an orgy of blood that lasted for several days. The news of the terrible murders reached Caracas with the announcement of Boves' advance and Bolívar only had 1,200 soldiers to defend the city, many of them wounded. For fear that the slaves in the city would join Boves, he decided to abandon the city of about 30 thousand inhabitants at that time. == The Exodus ==