It was not long before he was brought in immediate
contact with the now famous Bolivar, and he rapidly rose to independent
command. In 1815, he was second only to the Liberator. Thousands of grim
Llaneros acknowledged no chieftain beside _el Tio Pepe_,--Uncle Joe.
When Morillo landed, in 1815, with his overwhelming force, only the
Llaneros of Paez held out for the Republic; everywhere else in Venezuela
the banner of Spain waved in triumph, but on the Plains of the Apure
there was neither submission nor peace. Yet, after a while, as the
victorious legions of Morillo flooded, in successive waves from the
coast, the level region of his refuge, Paez was compelled to evacuate
the Plains, and leave them to the invader. With a few hundred of his
horsemen he established himself on the Plains of New Granada. Scarcely
had he grown familiar with his new centre of action when the troops of
Morillo were turned westward for the purpose of curbing the rebellious
spirits in the neighboring Vice-Royalty,--when, quicker than thought,
Paez was once more over the mountains, and recovered by a sudden swoop
the Llanos of Barinas. Thenceforward, this region remained the surest
foothold of the revolution in Venezuela. Encircled with Spanish troops,
it remained, nevertheless, a practical republic in itself, and the
vast basin of the Orinoco was the cradle of Venezuelan freedom. The
Provisional Government consisted of a mere council of generals, who, in
1816, created Paez General and Supreme Chief of the Republic.
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