In 1817, most of
Venezuela was still under Royalist control, except for several sparsely populated area's which were controlled by Patriot guerilla bands. One of the guerilla leaders was
Manuel Piar, who operated in the
Guayana Region. In January 1817, he had already
attacked Angostura, without success. Manuel Pilar left some troops under control of
Manuel Cedeño to further besiege the city. Soon, the city faced serious supply problems. Hunger eventually led the inhabitants and soldiers to kill every animal they could find and eat plants and herbs. On 8 March, the Spanish sent a relief convoy of 35 ships, protected by the gunboat Carmen, from
San Fernando de Apure following the course of the Orinoco. It carried 1,000 to 1,500 soldiers and was commanded by Brigadier
Miguel de la Torre, the new military commander of Angostura and Guayana la Vieja. They arrived at Angostura on 27 March, and De la Torre decided to conquer
Caroní to reopen the supply line to Angostura, but he was decisively defeated in the
Battle of San Félix on 11 April. At 02:00 on 25 April, Piar ordered several columns to attack Angostura, but after four hours of fighting, De la Torre forced them to withdraw with the loss of 7 officers and 78 soldiers. On the 26th and 27th, the Royalist ships in Guayana la Vieja returned to Angostura to defend the Orinoco line of communication and supply. On 4 May, Bolivar, who had landed in Guayana on 21 March, arrived at Angostura with his fleet to collaborate in the siege. He relieved Piar of command of the Guyana Army sending him to
Upata, and put
José Francisco Bermúdez in charge of the forces at Angostura.
Evacuation Finally, on 17 July, General La Torre ordered the entire population, 1,800 civilians and 2,000 soldiers and sailors, to embark on the brigs, schooners, and barges anchored in the port, with their belongings, valuables and archives and head to the
Orinoco delta. Only 300 soldiers in the garrison were healthy, the rest were in hospital. At 10:00 a.m. the last evacuees left the city for Guayana la Vieja, where its garrison was also evacuated (about 600 troops) on 3 August. The Royalists were in a bad condition due to hunger and disease, and their morale was at rock bottom.
Luis Brión's ships, as ordered by Bolívar, did not stop harassing them. In panic, the fugitive ships began to disperse in the delta. The warships containing La Torre, Fitzgerald, their officers and most healthy soldiers managed to escape. They headed to the
Island of Grenada and then to Caracas. Most other ships were captured or lost in the labyrinth of canals and were never heard from again. It is estimated that more than half of the inhabitants and their possessions ended up at the bottom of the river. While the Royalists evacuated, Bermúdez's troops occupied Angostura and Bolívar entered the city on 19 July and found only some starving left behind people. == Consequences ==