José Tomás Boves José Tomás Boves ( Oviedo , Asturias , September 18 , 1782 - Urica , Venezuela , December 5 , 1814 ) , royalist caudillo of the " llanos " during the Venezuelan War of Independence , particularly remembered for his use of brutality and atrocities against those who supported Venezuelan independence . Though nominally pro - Spanish , Boves showed little deference to any superior authority and independently carried out his own military campaign and political agenda . Early life . Having lost his father at age 4 , he was raised by his single mother , who worked as a seamstress and maid . At the age of 16 Boves was licensed to be a pilot in the merchant marine , later joining the Pla y Portal company , which traded between Spain and the Americas . He was convicted of smuggling in Venezuela and sentenced to prison , but because of the intercession of fellow Asturian residents in Venezuela , who also worked for Pla y Portal , his sentence was commuted to internal exile in Calabozo . There he became a merchant , and once his sentence was finished , he dealt in livestock , a business which allowed him to become very familiar with the vast Venezuelan grasslands and its people . Military campaigns . As with most residents of Venezuela at the time , Boves was supportive of the juntas established in Venezuela in 1810 , which were created after news arrived that the reigning Supreme Central Junta in Spain had dissolved itself due to French advances in southern Spain . His activities against the Republic began only after Domingo de Monteverde ' s incursions into central Venezuela . He joined Monteverde ' s forces when they took over Calabozo in May 1812 and was named commander of Calabozo in January 1813 . He participated in the unsuccessful attempts to stop Santiago Mariño ' s invasion of eastern Venezuela , and after the royalist government collapsed , he was granted temporary permission to act at his own discretion by his superior , Field Marshal Juan Manuel Cajigal . From this point on , he never recognized any superior authority . Making use of his knowledge of the " llanos " he amassed a large army of " llanero s " , most of whom were " pardo " ( mixed - race ) , and dominated the south of the country for the next two years until his death . He lived among his soldiers , and exposed himself to the same risks in battle as them , thereby gaining their extreme loyalty . Although nominally royalist , Boves turned the old colonial order on its head . He ignored Cajigal , who by 1814 was captain general , even when they were campaigning together , and appointed political and military commanders of his own choosing . Further still from his mind was the Spanish Constitution of 1812 , which should have been in effect in Venezuela during this time . Most striking to his contemporaries , however , was that he allowed his " llanero " soldiers to engage in a class and race war against the landed and urban classes of Venezuela , fulfilling the latters ' fear , since 1810 , that the revolution could devolve into another Haitian Revolution . " ( Compare Hidalgo ' s assault on Guanajuato . ) " Boves ' s army became feared for its liberal use of pillage and summary executions , which became notorious even in this period when such actions were common on both sides of the conflict . ( See Simón Bolívar ' s " Decree of War to the Death " . ) " Throughout the second half of 1813 , Boves and his army assailed the Second Republic in a series of battles , but without any clear gains until the Battle of La Puerta on June 15 , 1814 . He captured Valencia and Caracas the following month . He died at the age of 32 on December 5 , 1814 at the Battle of Urica , which his troops nevertheless won . Command of his troops passed on to Francisco Tomás Morales . His actions laid the groundwork for Pablo Morillo ' s expeditionary force to easily occupy Venezuela and to spend its massive resources in neighboring New Granada . Royalists would continue to control Venezuela until 1821 . Boves in fiction . One of the more well - known biographical portraits of Boves ' s life is the historical novel " Boves el Urogallo " ( " Boves , the Capercaillie " ) ( 1972 ) by Venezuelan novelist Francisco Herrera Luque . In it Herrera Luque describes Boves as : That fabulous Asturian warrior , who between 1813 and 1814 was champion of the anti - republic , feverish destroyer of the colonial order and the first caudillo of democracy in Venezuela . The novel was adapted into film in 2010 by Venezuelan director Luis Alberto Lamata . ( 2007 ) .