Many city leaders opened their cities to his informal army , and several '' mantuanos '' ( among them the '' Marqués '' of Casa Leon ) became his collaborators . This movement was reinforced by the earthquake on 26 March 1812 and the loss on 30 June of Puerto Cabello under the then-Colonel Simón Bolívar to royalist prisoners who managed to take over San Felipe Fort . Monteverde 's vanguard under Francisco Marmól entered Barquisimeto on 2 April after the city defected to the royalist side on 31 March . Eventually he had an army large enough to march on Valencia , the site of a royalist uprising the previous year . After winning a battle against republican troops defending the city on 3 May , he was welcomed by the city . His next goal was Caracas . In June , Monteverde arrived in the proximity of La Victoria and San Mateo , forcing Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda to retreat . Monteverde 's advance culminated in a capitulation agreed between Miranda and Monteverde on 25 July 1812 after the Battle of San Mateo . ( Miranda never signed the final version , but it had been approved by his representatives in the negotiations . ) After the fall of the first republic , Miranda was imprisoned and sent to Puerto Rico and later Cádiz . The majority of the patriot officials chose to go into exile , which was an option offered to them under the capitulation . In 1813 , Santiago Mariño decided to invade Venezuela from the east , successfully capturing the port of Güiria , which was protected by a very small loyalist force , and later the plaza of Maturín , which Monteverde attempted , but failed to retake . Bolívar began his Admirable Campaign , entering through the Andes . Worried about Bolívar 's presence near the llanos , Monteverde established the main branch for his forces in Valencia , a location in the plains at which the paths of Barinas , the Andes , and Maracaibo merge . His right flank was fortressed in the castle of Puerto Cabello and his rear was supported in Maracay and La Victoria . The positioning of Monteverde 's military forces were comparable to those of Miranda in 1812 . Nevertheless , Monteverde lost a large part of the popular support that he had managed to build the previous year : the people who had taken him from Coro to the capital abandoned him in the face of Mariño in Maturín and Bolívar in Valencia because Monteverde did not meet , or allow the completion of , popular goals and expectations in 1813
earthquake
1812 Caracas earthquake
Juan Domingo de Monteverde