Editing Gregor MacGregor (section)

===Venezuela, under Miranda===
[[File:Josefa MacGregor.jpg|thumb|upright|Josefa Lovera MacGregor, painted by [[Charles Lees (painter)|Charles Lees]] in 1821|alt=A dark-haired, exotic-looking young lady in a light-coloured dress]]
MacGregor arrived in the Venezuelan capital [[Caracas]] a fortnight after much of the city had been destroyed by [[1812 Caracas earthquake|an earthquake]]. With swathes of the country under the control of advancing royalist armies, the revolutionary government was losing support and starting to fracture.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=128–129}} MacGregor dropped his pretended Scottish baronetcy, reasoning that it might undermine the republican credentials he hoped to establish, but continued to style himself "Sir Gregor" on the basis that he was, he claimed, a knight of the Portuguese [[Order of Christ (Portugal)|Order of Christ]].{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=126–127}} He offered his services directly to Miranda in Caracas.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=130–133}} As a former British Army officer—from the famous "Die-Hards", no less—he was received with alacrity and given command of a cavalry battalion with the rank of colonel. In his first action, MacGregor and his cavalry routed a royalist force west of [[Maracay]], between [[Valencia, Carabobo|Valencia]] and Caracas. Subsequent engagements were less successful, but the republican leaders were still pleased with the glamour they perceived this dashing Scottish officer to give their cause.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=130–135}}

MacGregor married Josefa Antonia Andrea Aristeguieta y Lovera, daughter of a prominent Caracas family and a cousin of the revolutionary [[Simón Bolívar]], in Maracay on 10 June 1812.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=149–151}} By the end of that month Miranda had promoted MacGregor to [[brigadier-general]], but the revolutionary cause was failing; in July, after the royalists took the key port of [[Puerto Cabello]] from Bolívar, the republic capitulated. In the chaos that ensued Miranda was captured by the Spanish while the remnants of the republican leadership, including MacGregor with Josefa in tow, were evacuated to the Dutch island of [[Curaçao]] aboard a British [[brig]], the ''Sapphire''. Bolívar joined them there later in the year.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=135–148}}