• Y^IWJMUVJEI&SII w°

The Wagner
Texas and Middle West
Collection 1920

r. . MEXICO.
cen«y Sdlt ^uzt f ***¦ h'« «
The celebrated Dr £ £ *E " "'??& esCort'
been killed at Rnm,;il7 /,!oi"»0" said to have:
niards B0C1U,lla' 1S «Pnsoner«-ith the Spa-

tvaverjge his death.
Thelphcg-enia, Spanish frifjat.', which put into
Campeachy, with 2 millions of dollars from Vera
Cruz, has been condemned as unseaworthy. She
had 19 prisoners on board, taken from the patriots,
9 of which were Americans, that were sentenced
to perpetual imprisonment at Ceuta, in Africa.
W. D. Robinson, formerly of 'Philadelphia, was.
one of them.
The communication between Mexico and Arera
Cruz is opened. The last strong hold of the patri
ots, fort St. firepjoria, has lately been taken by the
royalists, and all its garrison made prisoners. Vast
quantities of specie have arrived at Vera Crura.

MEMOIRS OF TbE
wstssasussi mw^m^^mm^
INCLUDING
A NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION
OF (
GENERAL XAVIER MINA.
WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS
ON THE
PRACTICABILITY OF OPENING A COMMERCE
BETWEEN
THE PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC OCEANS,
THROUGH THE MEXICAN ISTHMUS IN THE PROVINCE OF OAXACA,
AND AT THE LAKE OF NICARAGUA ;
AND
ON THE FUTURE IMPORTANCE OF SUCH COMMERCE
TO
THE CIVILIZED WORLD,
AND MORE ESPECIALLY TO
THE UNITED STATES.

BY WILLIAM DAVIS ROBINSON.

PHILADELPHIA.-
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.
LYDIA R. BAILEY, PRINTER.
1820.

EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit:
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-sixth day of July,
(L. S.) in the forty-fifth year of the Independence of the United States of
America, A. D. 1820, William Davis RoBisrsox, of the said Dis
trict, hath deposited in this Office the Title of a Book, the right whereof he
claims as Author, in the words following, to -wit .•
" Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution : including a Narrative of the Ex
pedition of General Xavier Mina. With some observations on the practi-
" cability of opening a commerce between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans,
" through the Mexican Isthmus in the province of Oaxaca, and at the Lake
" of Nicaragua ; and on the future importance of such commerce to the ci-
" vilized world, and more especially to the United States. By William Davis
" Robinson." In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, intituled,
" An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps,
charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the
times therein mentioned." And also to the Act, entitled, " An Act supple
mentary to an Act, entitled, * An Act for the encouragement of learning, by
securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprie
tors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the
benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical
and other prints." D. CALDWELL, Clerk ofthe
Eastern District of Pennsylvania

INTRODUCTION.

IT is incumbent on every person who presents a statement
of important events to the public, to unfold the sources from
which he derives his information. The writer therefore, in the
first instance, with great pleasure acknowledges his obligations
to Mr. James A. Brush, a gentleman who accompanied general
Mina from England to Mexico, and was finally appointed his
commissary general.
The journal of Mr. Brush was submitted to the inspection
of the writer, with the liberty of making such use of it as was
thought prbper, and from it he compiled the narrative of the
military operations of general Mina, of the fidelity of which
not the least doubt exists in his mind ; indeed all the essen
tial facts contained in the narrative were fully corroborated by
information derived from various sources, while he was in
Mexico, and by the testimony ofthe few surviving officers of
Mina's expedition, whom he met with in Mexico and in the
United States, and who were carefully consulted on the subject.
To John E. Howard, Esq., of Baltimore, he likewise feels
under particular obligations, for having furnished him with
the greater portion of the facts contained in the" biographical
sketch of Mina, and indeed for having infused into that sketch
more animation than it would have been in his power alone to
haVe given it.
The perusal of the correspondence of Mina with various
distinguished individuals in Europe and the United States,
from which the writer obtained important information,, was po
litely affor.ded him by general Winfield Scott, to whom he
likewise begs leave to offer his acknowledgments.
The writer has also examined, with much attention, files of
the Mexican, Havana, and Madrid gazettes, for the last ten
years, and however ridiculous or exaggerated may be their

iv INTRODUCTION.
statements of the operations of the royal forces against the pa
triots, one feature of the story, we may be assured, they have
not too highly coloured — the cruelties exercised by them.
It is from such indubitable sources, and others of a similar
character, which were submitted to his inspection in Mexico,
and other parts of Spanish America, as well as from personal
observation, that the writer has been enabled to-draw the dark-
hued picture of Spanish inhumanity which is exhibited in the
following pages.
The information embodied in the chapter treating of the
route to the Pacific ocean, has been derived from various Spa
nish and British authorities ; among the latter, William Wal
ton, Esq., of London, and the late celebrated Bryan Edwards,
of Jamaica, deserve particular notice. Several important do
cuments relating to this subject, written by intelligent Creoles,
were likewise placed in the writer's hands ; and he has fre
quently conversed with individuals who have visited or re
sided at the places which he has pointed out as being the most
eligible for the cutting of canals, or the construction of roads,
so as to give a rapid and certain communication between the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans, more especially at the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec ; of the practicability of accomplishing whidh, at
that place, personal investigation has also convinced him.
As respects the general remarks on Mexico, and the situa
tion, political and civil, of the people of Spanish America, he
has endeavoured to divest himself of those prejudices which
a citizen of the United States may be supposed to entertain in
favour of a people struggling against oppression, and to state
faithfully what came under his own personal observation, as
well with regard to royalists as revolutionists.
It is now more than twenty-one years since he made his
first visit to Spanish America ; and as far as it has been in
his power to gather information he has done so. If he could
not obtain all that he desired, it arose from his having con
stantly to be upon his guard against the jealousies of the Spa
nish government, and from the difficulty of gaining access to
the Spanish archives ; '.jut nevertheless, he flatters himself the

INTRODUCTION. y
reader will find in the work now submitted to his inspection,
some facts entitled to consideration, as well from their im
portance as novelty.
It will naturally be asked, how he gained admission into
the Spanish territories in America, in contravention to the
laws of the Indies ? To this it is replied, that his first visit
was to Caracas, in the year 1799, where he continued, in the
prosecution of extensive mercantile engagements with the Spa
nish authorities, until the year 1806. Those engagements
were with the approbation of his Catholic majesty, and conse
quently his residence in that country, during the time before
mentioned, was under the royal sanction. The extraordinary
manner in which his interests were sacrificed, and his personal
.rights outraged, by the bad faith and arbitrary conduct ofthe
Spanish authorities in Caracas, will be found in a statement of
his claims on the Spanish government, in the appendix to this
volume, and to which he particularly refers such of his read
ers as may feel any curiosity to see the extent of the injuries
he has suffered as a merchant, in his intercourse with the
Spanish government. As respects his subsequent visits to
the Spanish dominions, more especially to Mexico, he is
perfectly aware that the government of Spain has said, and
will continue to say, that such visits being contrary to her
laws and her policy, she had a right to punish him for their
infraction. She has, on several occasions during the last ten
years, enforced those laws against foreigners, by imprisonment,
and in some instances by death.
When the Spanish general Morillo captured Carthagena,
he seized all the British and other foreign merchants, threw
them into dungeons, threatened to try them by a military tri
bunal, and would unquestionably have shot them, had it not
been for the timely interference of the British admiral on the
Jamaica station, who despatched a frigate to Carthagena, with
such communications from the British authorities at Jamaica,
as at once settied the question, and compelled Morillo instan
taneously to release all the British subjects. The American
government likewise sent a vessel of war to Carthagena, and
obtained the liberation of several American citizens. If these

vi INTRODUCTION.
measures had not been adopted,' no mercy nor regard would
have been extended to any foreigner who might unfortunately
have fallen into the hands of the Spanish government, because
not only by the " Leyes de las Indias" was it a capital crime
for a foreigner to enter the Spanish dominions without a spe
cial authority from his Catholic majesty, but during the pre
sent revolutions in America, the Spanish government have is
sued various decrees, expressly declaring that all strangers
aiding the insurgents, or found residing among them, were to
be punished as insurgents, by death. If these decrees have
not been executed by the Spanish government, it was by no
means for lack of disposition, but from the apprehension of the
resentment of those governments whose subjects and citizens
held intercourse with the insurgents.
The writer has been thus particular in stating these facts, be
cause they show that any individual, not engaged in the military
or naval service ofthe insurgents of Spanish America, is under
the protection of the laws of nations in favour of all non-com
batants ; and that any attempt on the part of Spain to infringe
this security is a violation of the usages of civilized nations,
and a direct outrage against that nation whose subjects may
have been thus wantonly punished. It is not only on these
principles that the writer feels justified in complaining of the
barbarous treatment he has received from the Spanish govern
ment, durihg an imprisonment of two years and a half, but
because there are some peculiar circumstances attending the
affair, which, if he is not much mistaken, will excite the indig
nation and surprise of every unprejudiced reader.
The recital of this case has become the more necessary,
because, during his imprisonment in the dungeons of Mexicor
he was honoured with the sympathy of his fellow citizens,
and the interference of his government in his behalf. He
therefore deems it incumbent upon him to prove that he
was not undeserving of such sympathy and protection. In
addition to this, he is anxious to remove all doubts with re
gard to his conduct, that may have arisen from the misrepre
sentations made in the public newspapers respecting him; for
in some of these he has been called Doctor Robinson, and in

INTRODUCTION. vii
others it has been asserted that he held a military command in
the service of jhe Mexican insurgents, and was taken prisoner
on the field of battle. , The writer has not in any one instance
violated his neutral obligations as a. citizen of the United
States. But while making this assertion, he does not at all
hesitate openly to avow, that if .an ardent desire to promote
the independence of all Spanish America, and more especially
of Mexico, constitutes him an enemy of Spain, and criminal
in her eyes, — then he is guilty. If the fact of his having visit
ed New Grenada, Caracas, and Mexico, during the political
commotions of those countries, for the purpose of ascertaining,
their actual condition, and of succouring the revolutionists, as
a neutral merchant, by all fair and honourable means, renders
him an enemy to Spain, — then is he her enemy. If cherish
ing those sentiments, and a determination to persevere in pro
moting the independence of South America and Mexicq, by
every means in his power, consistent with his duties as a citi
zen of the United States, proves , him to entertain criminal
intentions towards the Spanish gqvernment,-r-thert indeed is
he criminal.
Having thus acknowledged all that the government of Spain
can possibly lay to, his charge, he now invites the attention of
the reader to the following detail of facts.
On the 4th of March, 1816, he embarked at New Orleans on
board the United States' brig of war Saranac, commanded by,
John H. Elton, Esq., bound on a cruise in the Gulf of Mexico.
When he applied for a passage, he stated to the/naval com
mander on that station, commodore Patterson, that he wished
to be landecl.qn the Mexican coast, for the purpose of having
an interview with some of the Mexican authorities, on whom
he had drafts for a large amount of money, due to certain
merchants in the United States. His request was politely;
acceded to, and captain Elton received directions accordingly.
The writer premises this, to show that he did not depart from ,
the United States in an unauthorized manner, or with an ille
gal object: in view.
On the 4th of the ensuing month,- he was landed from .the,
Saranac, at Boquilla de Piedra, a post then in possession of the

viii INTRODUCTION".
revolutionists, on the coast of Vera Cruz. He thence pro
ceeded to the head-quarters of Don Guadalupe Victoria, com
mandant general of the patriot forces in the province of Vera
Cruz, who received him in the most friendly manner. Upon
his explaining the object of his visit to Mexico, general Vic
toria observed, that although he was unable immediately to
pay the drafts on the Mexican government, yet if the writer
would remain a few weeks in the country, payment should
be made. He was more readily induced to wait, as he was
desirous to view the interesting country in which he then
was, and likewise to acquire correct information respecting
the political state of affairs, in the expectation that it might be
such as would justify his entering into some commercial ar
rangements as well with the government as with individuals.
But he soon discovered that the representations made to him
at New Orleans by the Mexican minister, Don Jose Herrera,
and by Don Alvarez Toledo, were destitute of foundation^ and
indeed that in many points they had deceived him. However,
as he received some flattering accounts of the situation of
the patriots in the interior, and had a prospect of obtaining
the payment of his drafts at a place called Tehuacan, he pro
ceeded thither, and was received with every mark of civility
by the patriot commandant, Don Manuel Mier y Teran, who
accepted and paid part ofthe drafts, and promised to discharge
the residue in a short time.
He remained at Tehuacan until the last of July, and was
treated with the greatest hospitality and attention, as well
by the general as by the respectable Creoles of the country.
At this place he met with Doctor John Hamilton Robinson,
who was then a brigadier general in the service of the Mexi
can patriots, and who had long been a very obnoxious indivi
dual to the Spanish government ; a circumstance to which he
owes in part his subsequent persecution by the Spanish autho
rities in Mexico.
The writer communicated to general Teran his desire to
return to the United States ; but as the royalists had recently
been successful in the province of Vera Cruz, and had im
peded all communication between Tehuacan and the coast, it

INTRODUCTION. is
became impossible to return by the way of Boquilla de Piedra;
and as Teran was about to undertake an expedition against the
port of Guasacualco, at the bottom of the Mexican Gulf, on
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, he resolved to avail himself of
that opportunity to leave the country. The conduct of general
Teran on that expedition, and the circumstances which caused
its failure^ will be found detailed in Chapter V. of this work.
A few days after Teran had left Tehuacan, on his enter
prise against Guasacualco, he followed with his servant, in
company with a detachment of troops, who were escorting
a sum of money. About sixty leagues from Tehuacan, we
came up with Teran, who informed the writer that he had
met with no difficulties in his route, that the few troops which
the enemy usually kept in that part of the country had either
fled or joined him, and that, as all the Indians were in his
favour, he was confident of reaching Guasacualco in a few
days. This information afforded satisfaction to the writer,
because, although he was a non-combatant, he was aware that
in the event of a battle, no respect would be shown by the
royalists to any person who might fall into their hands.
On the morning of the 8th of September, Teran took pos
session of the village of Playa Vicente, situated on a branch of
the river Tustepec, which-the enemy had abandoned the day
previous. The body of the patriot army encamped on the bank
of the river opposite to the village J intending to cross the river
in the evening, on rafts to be constructed for the purpose. In
the meantime, the general, unapprehensive of danger, passed
over to the village, with about fifteen men. The writer had
accompanied him, and was regaling himself with eating pine
apples, in a garden at the extremity of the village, when a
sudden discharge of musketry aroused him from his feelings
of security. He immediately beheld Teran and his little party
defending themselves against a considerable body of the ene
my. The conflict was short. Teran, with one or two of his
men, escaped to the river, and swam across, amidst a shower
of balls. The rest of the party were cut to pieces.
During this perilous affair, the writer effected his retreat to
a small thicket, which afforded him security for the time. He
2*

X INTRODUCTION.
here had ample leisure to reflect upon his situation, and the
course which he should adopt to obtain ultimate safety. He
conceived it possible that Teran would attack and recapture
the village, in which case he might again have an opportu
nity of pursuing his route to Guasacualco; and continued
to flatter himself with this delusive hope for jive days, when
he became so exhausted by hunger that he could scarcely
move. In this wretched condition, and on the point of perish
ing in the woods, he determined to deliver up his person to the
royalists. Accordingly, on the evening ofthe 12th of Septem
ber, he crawled from his place of concealment, reached the road
to the village, and with great difficulty walked to the head
quarters of the royalists. Being almost covered with mud, and
fainting under fatigue and hunger, his appearance and situation
excited the surprise and sympathy of the Spanish officers, par
ticularly of the commander, Ortega, who in a friendly manner
took him by the hand, and inquired his name. As soon as it
was mentioned, the officers exclaimed, "Thank God! (gracias
a Dios J Doctor Robinson has at last fallen into pur hands."
They wished to interrogate the writer very particularly; but
he declined replying, and requested they would suspend their
inquiries until the next morning, for the want of sleep and food
had rendered it impossible for him at that moment to gratify
their curiosity. They acceded to his wishes, and supplied him
with food, a change of clothes, and a hammock in their quar
ters. The following morning he arose perfectly refreshed,
and was prepared to go through the scene which he anticipat
ed. He endeavoured, in the first place, to convince the com
mander, Ortega, that he was a different individual from Doc
tor Robinson ; for which purpose he exhibited his passport
from the government of the United States : but he found it
impossible to remove from the minds of the Spanish officers
the fixed impression that he was the Doctor. After some
amicable discussion, Ortega suddenly assumed a stern aspect,
and informed him that his orders were of the most peremp
tory nature to put to death all prisoners who fell into his
hands ; and that he was empowered to deviate from them only
when an insurgent voluntarily surrendered his person, and

INTRODUCTION. iii
implored the benefit of his Catholic majesty's pardon, (indul-
to.J He continued, " In your case, Doctor Robinson, although
your presenting yourself to the Spanish authorities has been
the result of necessity, yet I am willing to spare your life,
provided you claim the protection of the indulto ; but other
wise, it becomes my painful duty to put you to death." At
this critical moment, the eyes of all the Spanish officers were
fixed on the writer, who was sensible that on his acceptance or
rejection of the proposed terms depended his fate. It was
answered, in the first place, that as he had not borne arms
against his Catholic majesty, nor had done any act in violation
of his neutral character as a citizen of the United States, hav
ing been among the insurgents as a foreigner and a non-com
batant, he considered himself under the safeguard of the laws
of nations, and exempt from being considered or treated as an
enemy of his Catholic majesty; and secondly, that he felt a
repugnance to ask for the benefit of the royal indulto, because
he should thereby tacitly acknowledge himself to be an insur
gent. Ortega then said, with a great deal of heat, " Sir, you
have been among- the insurgents, and must be treated as one;
therefore, I Once more tender to you the clemency of my so
vereign." Perceiving that remonstrance was vain, and that
obstinacy in refusing the proffered offer would inevitably lead
to the threatened vengeance, the writer was induced to avail
himself of the benefit of the indulto. Immediately thereupon,
Ortega shook him by the hand with great cordiality, and in
the presence of his officers and soldiers extended to him the
indulto of his Catholic majesty. He was then permitted to
walk about the village, and indeed no restraint was laid upon
his person: he ccald therefore have easily escaped; but as he
had ' pledged his honour not to violate the conditions of the
indulto, presuming that it would be honourably fulfilled on
the part of the Spanish government, he was morally withheld
from thinking of such an attempt; in fact, it was not his wish
to do so, particularly as he expected to be at liberty to proceed
to Vera Cruz, and embark for the United States. On applying
to the commander for permission to depart, he declare<ithat it
was not in his power to grant it, until he heard from the com-

xii INTRODUCTION.
mander-in-chief of the province of Oaxaca, to whom he would
write on the subject.
On the 22nd ofthe month, the answer came from Oaxaca;
but instead of the writer's request to permit him to proceed
to Vera CrUz being acceded to, Ortega was ordered to send
him under a strong escort to the city of Oaxaca. This mea
sure excited his surprise, and he immediately suspected that
it was the intention of the government to withdraw from him
the protection of the royal indulto. On the 23d, he proceeded
on his route to Oaxaca, escorted by a body of cavalry. He
was furnished with a good horse, and treated with every pos
sible kindness, but both by day and night was closely watched.
In all the villages through which he passed, he received the
most hospitable attentions from the inhabitants ; but when they
understood that he had delivered up his person on the faith of
the royal indulto, and was still treated as a prisoner, they
shook their heads, and appeared to anticipate his fate. Some
ofthese generous Creoles offered, at the hazard of their lives,
to assist him in making his escape; but as he had not yet re
ceived any positive proof of the intentions of the government,
he determined on his part faithfully to adhere to the conditions
of the indulto.
On the evening of the 27th, he arrived at the city of Oaxaca,
and was conducted to the government house, where he was
presented to the commander-in-chief, Don Manuel Obesa,
who received him with great kindness. He stated that it was
his intention to send the writer to the city of Mexico, where
his excellency the viceroy would determine whether he was en
titled to the benefit ofthe royal indulto, or not. On the writer's
expressing his astonishment at such a breach of good faith,
general Obesa observed that it was sometimes expedient for
the viceroy to withhold the benefit of the indultos that had
been granted, by his officers, but he hoped that in the present
case it would be sacredly fulfilled. He added, that the writer
must remain in Oaxaca until, arrangements were made for
conducting him to the city of Mexico ; and that, in order to
prevent his being insulted by the populace, a cell should be
^fitted up for his reception in the convent of St. Domingo, and

INTRODUCTION. xiii
a strong guard be stationed there for his protection. Hav
ing thanked him for such peculiar marks,of his politeness,
the writer was conducted to the convent, and placed in a cell
which wore the appearance of a dungeon. A soldier was sta
tioned at the door, and another at the window. The head of
the convent was a worthy friar, (Don Nicolas Medina) whose
countenance indicated that he could cherish benevolent feel
ings even towards a heretic : his subsequent conduct, and that
of all the friars of the institution, was marked with the most
hospitable and generous attentions.
On the 28th, the commander, his secretary, and the inten
dant of the province, visited the writer, for the purpose of in
terrogating him, and of taking his declaration as to the motives
which had induced him to visit the country. To the latter
point he candidly replied by stating the facts as they have been
previously narrated, but declined answering many of the in
terrogatories, particularly such as related to the situation and
views ofthe insurgents. He considered many ofthe questions
indelicate and ungenerous, more especially as he was deprived
of the benefit of the royal indulto, and treated as a prisoner.
The commander appeared sensible of the force of these ob
jections, and did not press his inquiries further; but observed,
that if the writer hoped to be restored to liberty, he must first
give some proof of his no longer being a friend to the insur
gents. After a few more remarks, tending to inspire him
with confidence in the honour and clemency of the viceroy,
the commander departed.
The next day, he was visited by nearly all the principal ec
clesiastics of the city, who vied with the friar Medina in their
friendly treatment of him, offering him money, apparel, and
every thing to make his situation as comfortable as possible.
The principal inhabitants of Oaxaca also honoured him with
their visits y and indeed all classes of society appeared to take
an interest in his situation, expressing their regret that he was
not at libertyT It soon became manifest that the commander's
precautions to prevent the writer from receiving insult were
entirely superfluous, and that they were probably intendedHo
hiijder the populace from giving him more solid evidence of

xiv INTRODUCTION.
their regard and sympathy than mere expressions of condo
lence. Having been refused permission to breathe the fresh air of
the convent garden, the writer became more urgent to be sent
to Mexico, that he might not any longer be kept in suspense
as to his fate. At length, after having been confined in the
convent fourteen weeks, an order was received from the vice
roy to send him under a strong guard to the capital. Accord
ingly, he left Oaxaca, under an escort of sixty infantry and
about seventy cavalry; but after proceeding a four days' jour
ney on the route to the city, a courier from the viceroy brought
orders to conduct him back to Oaxaca, and thence to Vera
Cruz. Although he was disappointed in thus being debarred
an interview with the viceroy in the Mexican capital, yet he
was cheered with the hope, that on his arrival at Vera Cruz,
he would be permitted to depart for the United States.
On returning to the city of Oaxaca, he was placed in his
old quarters in the convent; and, after the lapse of a few days,
was sent, under the orders of a Spanish officer and a body of
cavalry, to Vera Cruz, where he arrived on the 3d of Febru
ary, 1817. On being presented to the governor, Don Jose
Davila, he expressed great regret that he had instructions tq
confine the writer in the fortress of San Juan de Ulua, until
further orders should be received from the viceroy. It was in
vain to remonstrate against this cruel ¦erder ; but nevertheless
he expressed his indignation at the perfidious conduct of the
viceroy in such strong terms, that governor Davila and his
officers looked at him with surprise, and asked him how he
dared to speak so disrespectfully of so exalted a personage as
the viceroy of New Spain. After making a reply which in
censed them still more, he was ordered to proceed to the for
tress, and there behave with proper humility, otherwise they
would take measures to punish him for his presumption.-
The officer who conducted him to the castle gave him a de
scription of the barbarous character of the officer in command
ofthe fortress, Echaragari, and cautioned him to beware of
provoking his ire by repeating such expressions as he had
used to governor Davila. Themoment the writer beheld the

INTRODUCTION. xv
countenance of this officer, he needed no other evidence of the
ferocious soul that beamed in its every line. The adjutant of
the castle was ordered to conduct him to his allotted apartment,
which was a small room, or state dungeon, under one of the
arches of the ramparts.
Were the writer to give a detail of his sufferings during a
confinement of eleven months in that dreadful Bastile, it would
be deemed incredible by his readers, unless any of them should
have had the misfortune to have experienced incarceration
among the Spaniards. Even in its mildest shape, it is worse
than in any other civilized nation : but when we speak of the
castles of San Juan de Ulua, and of Omoa, it must be under
stood that there are not to be found such mansions of horror
in any other part of the world. They have not only been the
sepulchres of thousands, but in their horrid dungeons cruelties
have been practised as dreadful as the most heart-rending
scenes of the secret caverns of the Inquisition.
Had not the writer been blessed with an iron constitution,
and a flow of spirits difficult to be subdued, and had he not
received some benevolent succours from Don Lorenzo Mur
phy, of Vera Cruz, he must inevitably have perished. During
an illness of several weeks, with a violent hemorrhage that
daily threatened to terminate his existence, he besought his
savage jailer for medical aid, and for permission to be removed
to the hospital : he met with a refusal. But he forbears to dwell
on this painful subject, the thoughts of which fill him with
such horror and conflicting emotions, that his perturbed mind
cannot collect itself sufficiently to describe it. From the suffer
ings of the prisoners belonging to Mina's expedition, who were
confined in this infernal prison, which will be found related
in the following pages, he must leave the reader to form some
idea of the trials through which he had to pass.
The only consolation he experienced during his protracted
imprisonment, was in a visit from lieutenant Porter, com
mander of the United States' brig Boxer. Arriving at Vera
Cruz, in September, 1817, this officer obtained the permission
of the governor to visit the writer ; but so fearful were they
that he might discover the miserable situation of every thing

xvi INTRODUCTION.
that surrounded their prisoner, that they would not permit
lieutenant Porter to enter the castle, but detained him at the
landing place, whither the writer was conducted, under a guard,
to the interview. It is not easy to describe his emotions, on
seeing one of his own countrymen, on shaking him by the
hand, and hearing from him that he had official instructions
to request the Spanish authorities to release him. He then felt
that he was not wholly abandoned by his country, and hoped
soon to escape from the fangs of despotism. As an interpreter
and other persons had been sent by the governor to be present
at the interview, the conversation with lieutenant Porter was
necessarily brief and cautious. The writer, however, freely
expressed his indignation at the base and cruel treatment he
had experienced ; and requested the lieutenant, that if he did
not succeed in obtaining his liberation, to demand that the
Spanish authorities should at least explain their motives for
thus immuring within a dungeon a citizen of the United States,
without a hearing or a trial. Lieutenant Porter endeavoured
to console him, by assurances of a speedy release, and by pro
mising to repeat his visit. He also furnished him with some
wine, bread, and fowls, which indeed were luxuries to one
who for several months had been fed on a scanty allowance of
musty beans and rice.
On the termination of the interview, he was reconducted to
his miserable apartment, and there was left to indulge in those
reflections that beguile the hours of the captive when a ray of
hope unexpectedly breaks in upon him. For many weeks
previous to the arrival of lieutenant Porter, the writer had
found his health and spirits rapidly declining; and although
he had endeavoured to repel the approach of despair, yet it is
highly probable that that demon would have seized him, had
not the prospect of deliverance at length appeared to reanimate
his spirits. He not only became cheerful, but the gloomy walls
within which he was enclosed were no longer viewed with
horror; the voice of the surly sentinels no longer grated on his
ears ; and so far did he indulge in visionary hopes and calcu
lations, that he almost ceased to remember that he was still a
prisoner in the castle of San Juan de Ulua.

INTRODUCTION. xvil
These illusions were soon dispelled. The visit of lieutenant
Porter was not repeated ; and after expecting him for twelve
days, the writer was informed that he had sailed, after having
been refused permission to repeat his visit. It was likewise
communicated to him, that the application of lieutenant Porter
for his release had proved ineffectual, the governor having
answered, that he must consult the viceroy before such a Step
could be taken ; and as it was uncertain when instructions
would be received from the capital, the lieutenant concluded
that it was most proper to return to the United States, to re
ceive further instructions on the subject.
The effects of this interposition of his government, although
his immediate liberation did not follow,- were of high impor
tance to the writer, not^nly in respect of the restoration of his
health and spirits, but of the alteration of the conduct of the
Spanish authorities. He became more firm and indignant in
his representations to the governor of Vera Cruz ^nd to the
viceroy, the latter of whom at length resolved on sending him
to Spain, to receive the decision of the king upon his case.
When this information was communicated to him, about the
last of December, 1817, it caused him almost as much joy as
if his actual release had been announced ; for he had a pre
sentiment that if he could but get out of the castle of San Juan
de Ulua, he should ultimately be freed from the clutches of
Spain* So strong were his hopes in this point, that he did not
permit a certain document, which had been confidentially
placed in, his hands, to cause him any uneasiness. This
curious paper is nbw in his possession, and is in substance
as follows : — ¦ "Mexico, May 21,1817.
" (SECRET AND CONTIDENTIAL.)
" The viceroy has avowed his intention not to grant Mr.
Robinson the benefit of the royal indulto, but to send him to
Spain; recommending to the authorities there his close confine
ment for ltfe-> because he^ has attained such a knowledge of the
actual state ofthe insurrection in this country, and ofthe real
3*

xviii INTRODUCTION.
dispositions of the Mexican subjects^ that it would be highly
dangerous to his Catholic majesty' ]s interest ever to give the
said Robinson an opportunity to publish such information
abroad. This communication is made to Mr. R. for the pur
pose of apprizing him of the viceroy's determination"
To the generous individual who at the hazard of his life
made the above communication, the writer tenders hjs most
grateful acknowledgments ; and if his name be not now dis
closed, the reasons for concealing it are obvious : but the
period perhaps is not far distant, when the writer will be ena
bled with pride and pleasure to publish the name, without
implicating the personal safety of him who bears it. The
reader will find, in the sequel, that the recommendation of the
viceroy was honoured with due attention by the king of Spain.
Early in January, 1818, the writer was embarked at Vera
Cruz, on board his Catholic majesty's frigate Iphigenia, des
tined for Spain. The commander of the ship did him the
favour to separate him from the rest of the unfortunate prison
ers on board, and allotted him a place in the gun-room, with
the officers. He was likewise furnished with food from the
commander's table, and allowed to walk on the quarter-deck.
For these attentions he shall ever feel grateful, as they ema
nated solely from principles of humanity.
A few days after sailing from Vera Cruz, they encountered
violent gales of wind; the frigate sprung a leak, and was com
pelled to bear away for Campeachy. So serious was the leak,
that time was scarcely afforded to land the crew, and about
two millions of dollars, before the vessel sunk at her anchor
age. The writer was conducted to tolerably comfortable
quarters, and placed under a strong guard. He was there
confined for five months ; but as the pleasures and miseries of
life are frequently augmented or diminished by bur own com
parisons, he consoled himself with contrasting his imprison
ment at Campeachy with his sufferings at Vera Cruz; and,
with the aid of this reflection, passed the time cheerfully and
in good health. The hospitable attentions he received from

INTRODUCTION. xix
several distinguished inhabitants of Campeachy will never be
forgotten, and he shall feel the highest satisfaction should it
ever be in his power to give them proofs of his gratitude.
From Campeachy he was taken to Havana, in the Spanish
sloop of war San Francisco, On his arrival there, he was
conducted to the common jail, but was soon removed to the
Moro castle, and placed in the most secure dungeon (calaboso)
in the fortress. It was however spacious, and far superior to
his quarters at San Juan de Ulua. The commander had very
strict orders from the captain general respecting him, and was
made responsible for the security of his person. He rigidly
executed his orders, but his conduct generally was kind, and
his amiable family honoured the writer with the most friendly
attentions. The American citizens residing at Havana also
treated him in the most generous manner, and, by furnishing
him with the means of living comfortably, caused him to be
come a favourite with the officers on duty at the fortress, who
generally made his dungeon their head-quarters. He remained
in the Moro castle for nearly six months, making occasional
remonstrances to the captain general in a tone that displeased
his excellency, at the same time that they convinced him of
the injustice of his government ; and, in an interview with
which the writer was honoured, at the castle, in December,
1818, he succeeded in obtaining permission to breathe the
fresh air on the ramparts.
On the 13th of January, 1819, he was again embarked on
board the Spanish brig of war Ligero, commanded by Don
Juan Jose Martinez, destined for Cadiz. This worthy officer
performed towards him, during the passage, every duty of
generosity and humanity. He was frequently invited to the
captain's table, treated in the most friendly manner, and was
so fortunate as to gain his esteem. On their arrival at Cadiz,
on the 21st of February, he was represented by that worthy
man in so favourable a light' to general O'Donnel, the gover
nor of that city, that when orders were sent on board the ves
sel for the removal on shore of the prisoners, of whom there
were several beside himself, the writer was excepted, the adju-

XX INTRODUCTION.
tant of the governor informing him that he was at liberty to
proceed to whatever quarter of the city he thought proper.
This was cheering intelligence, inducing him to believe that
his persecutions had reached their termination.
Accordingly, on the morning of the 22d, he landed, and
proceeded to the house of Mr. Tunis, the American consul,
who showed much satisfaction and surprise at his being at
liberty. He went to a hotel, and passed the evening in reflect
ing on this unexpected good fortune. He had not the least
suspicion of the reverse that was about to take place; for, had
he not felt assured of perfect security from further molestation,
he would undoubtedly have effected a precipitate departure;
but, confiding in his innocence, and flattering himself that he
should have an opportunity of obtaining redress at Madrid for
his recent sufferings, he anticipated no ill.
He retired early to rest, but was roused from sleep, about
eleven o'clock at night, by a loud knocking at his door ; and
on opening it, he was requested by a Spanish officer to dress
himself speedily, and accompany him. He was then conduct
ed to a guard-house, where he was left to himself the remain
der ofthe night, to ponder the sudden alteration in the aspect
of his affairs. The next day, he was taken to the castle of
San Sebastian, and given in charge to the commandant.
This sudden change in the conduct of the governor was thus
explained. It appeared that he had forgotten a certain royal
order, bearing date the 15th of October, 1818, which com
manded him, immediately on the arrival ofthe writer at Ca
diz, to send him to Ceuta, there to be confined in the citadel,
without communication with any ofthe other prisoners in that
fortress. But the governor's secretary, or some other of the
persons employed about him, reminded him of the order,
which occasioned the renewed imprisonment of the writer.
To be sent to. Ceuta, and there confined in the citadel,
without a hearing, convinced him that his Catholic majesty
was determined to conform to the advice of the viceroy of
New Spain. He had written, on the day of his arrival at Ca
diz, to the minister of the United States at Madrid, requesting

INTRODUCTION. xxi
his interference and protection ; and as he was uncertain what
would be the result of this application, his first object was to
endeavour to prevent his removal to Ceuta, until he should
hear from Madrid ; for he was sensible that if he once reached
the former place, his liberation from it would be very doubt
ful. He therefore requested the American consul to interpose
his good offices, to acquaint the governor that the American
minister had instructions from his government to demand the
release of the writer, and to suggest to him the propriety of
not removing him from Cadiz until his Catholic majesty's
pleasure should be known. The governor politely listened to
these representations ; and the writer's apprehensions of being
precipitately hurried off to Ceuta, were thus allayed.
On the- 25th of February, he addressed a letter to general
O'Donnel, complaining in strong terms of the government of
Spain, and begging that he would; grant him the liberty of the
city on his parole of honour, until intelligence should arrive
from Madrid ofthe result of the American minister's applica
tion in his behalf. On the 28th, he was conducted to the go
vernment house, to have an interview with the general, who
received him with great affability. His secretaries and clerks
having withdrawn, the general enteredinto a frank conversa
tion with him, relative to the affairs of Mexico, as well as to
his own peculiar situation. The countenance and manners of
general O'Donnel inspired him with confidence; and he was
so fortunate as to create in the' general a lively impression in
his favour. After a short conversation, general O'Donnel
called in his adjutant, and ordered him to accompany the
writer to the castle of San Sebastian, with directions to the
commander to permit him to leave it whenever he thought
proper, and to reside in the city on his parole, until his Catho
lic majesty should otherwise determine.
On the 4th of March, the writer received from the Ameri
can minister the following letter: —
"Madrid, February 27, 1819.
" Sir,—
" Your letter of 21st instant, which should have reached me
on the 25th, was not delivered till the 26th. I have this day

xxii INTRODUCTION.
written to the first minister of state, (marquis of Casa Yrujo,)
demanding, in pursuance ofthe orders of my government, long
since received, your immediate release.
" I have sent to that minister the statement of your case
contained in your letter of June 4th, 1817, to the secretary of
state of the United States, and have added in my note to the
minister such other circumstances, drawn from your letter to
me, as I thought might be useful. I have called to the recol
lection of the marquis his correspondence with the intendant
of Venezuela, the better to distinguish you from Doctor John
Hamilton Robinson ; adding my personal knowledge of you,
in London, in the character of a merchant, (in the year 1801,)
occupied, if I mistake not, in the affairs of your tobacco con
tract. At the suggestion of your friend Mr. Meade, I havfe
also referred to Mr. Cagigal, formerly captain general of Ve
nezuela, and now resident at Santa Maria, near Cadiz, for
information relating to your operations in that province during
his administration, &c. &c.
" Upon the whole, I hope that this representation may be
attended with success ; but whatever may result from it, you
shall be immediately informed.
"With much esteem, Sir,
" I am your obedient servant,
" George W. Ervistg.
" Mr. William D. Robinson:''
The receipt of Mr. Erving's letter inspired the writer
with that confidence which a citizen of his country must
ever feel, when he finds himself under the protection of his
government. But on the evening of the 14th of March, an
important circumstance occurred, which worked a total revo
lution in his affairs, and produced a corresponding change in
his course of conduct. He was confidentially informed, that
the governor of Cadiz had received, by a courier which ar
rived from Madrid that evening, a severe reprimand for hav
ing granted him the liberty ofthe city of Cadiz, and was di
rected immediately to secure his person, place him in the castle
of San Sebastian, and thence send him in a vessel ofxvar to

INTRODUCTION. xxiii
Ceuta, to be confined in the citadel, conformably to his Ca~
, tholic majesty's order of the 15th q) 'October, 1818. As the
source whence this information was -derived left no doubt of
its correctness, .the writer knew that if he did not take some
precautionary steps, he. should be arrested in a few hours.
The emergency called for promptness of decision. He reflect
ed, on the one hand, that he was bound by the laws of honour
not to violate the parole which he had given to general O'Don
nel ; , but on the other, he considered that the Spanish govern
ment was about to make him a victim of its perfidy and injus
tice. He knew that the issuing of an order for his imprison
ment at Ceuta, after the American minister had made a formal
application for his release, was an unequivocal proof of a deli
berate intention to sacrifice him, by confinement in a place
where he should even be deprived of the means of making a
remonstrance, and whence he could never expect to be freed
unless his government should adopt measures of the strongest
kind ; and that, until such measures v/ere adopted, he should
be exposed to all the severities and dangers of Spanish incar
ceration. , The horrors he had experienced in the castle of
San Juan de Ulua were still fresh in his- memory.
Under all these circumstances, he determined on making an
attempt to effect his escape ; but asthe gates of the city were
then closed, it was necessary to wait until the next morning.
He departed from his lodgings about eight o'clock at night ;
and in about an hour afterwards, the adjutant of the governor
was sent to arrest him, but on finding him absent, left a polite
message, that general O'Donnel wished to see him. The fol
lowing morning, he received information that a general search
was making for him, and that it would be difficult to elude the
vigilance of the guards posted at the gates. But these unpro-
pitious circumstances did not deter him from his resolution,
for a miscarriage could add but little to his misfortunes.
It would perhaps be improper here to describe the mode of
his escape, lest some of his friends or acquaintances might fall
under the suspicion of having been accessary to it. He deems
it necessary, however, to remark, that although several mdi-

xxiv INTRODUCTION.
viduals in Cadiz knew of his intentions to escape, yet he did
not implicate any one of them in the act.
On the afternoon of the 15th of March, he succeeded in
passing the gates of the city ; and the same evening, was
outside of the harbour, on board a vessel bearing the flag of
his country. On the 19th, he reached Gibraltar, where he was
received with every mark of friendship and hospitality, by
Bernard Henry, Esq., American consul, Richard M'Call, navy
agent of the United States, Horatio Sprague, Richard Gate-
wood, Hill & Blodget, and by several other gentlemen; to all
of whom he begs leave to offer his sincere acknowledgments.
A few days after his arrival at Gibraltar, a demand for his
person was made by the Spanish government upon the gover
nor of that fortress. It is almost needless to say, that such a
demand was looked upon as an absurdity.
No longer under any apprehensions of falling again into the
power of the Spaniards, and reflecting on the misrepresenta
tions that would probably be made respecting his conduct, and
being desirous of manifesting to the Spanish government, as
well as to his own, that although his departure from Cadiz was
perfectly justifiable, yet he was still willing to submit to a fair
and impartial investigation of his conduct, provided that a
guarantee were given that he should not suffer any new per
sonal outrages, he addressed the following letter : —
" Gibraltar, March 25, 1819.
" Sir,—
" For your excellency's information, I beg leave to enclose
copies of my letters to the conde de Abisbal, governor, of Ca
diz, and to the marquis Casa Yrujo, first minister of state.
" I beg your excellency will pursue such measures as in
your judgment may be necessary,, under existing circum
stances, as well to sustain my honour as interests.
" I shall be entirely guided by, and hope to be honoured
with, your advice ; and have only to observe, that if there
should arise the least demur on the part of the Spanish go
vernment to give a formal and solemn assurance that neither

INTRODUCTION. XXv
my person nor rights shall be subject to further outrages, I
mean in such case to make my arrangements for an early
departure for the United States. I am without any of your
excellency's communications since your letter of the 12th inst.
" I remain, respectfully, your obedient servant,
" William D. Robinson.
" To his Excellency George W. Erving,
Minister Plenipotentiary ofthe United States at Madrid."
Under the same date, he wrote a letter to the conde de Abis-
bal, of which the following are extracts : — .
" Sir,—
" I am well aware that your excellency may reproach me,
for having violated my word of, honour, in having left Cadiz
without your consent ; but I beg leave to state the following
circumstances, which I flatter myself will be a complete justi
fication of that step, and showing at the same time that it be
came imperiously necessary for me to adopt it.
" In the first place, my advices from Madrid, of the 9th
instant, informed me that no answer had been given by the
marquis Casa Yrujo to the demand for my release made by
the minister of the United States at Madrid, on the 26th uit.
A silence of twelve days, on such a point, not only appeared
to me to be at variance with the principles of national courte
sy, but very clearly indicated an indisposition on the part of
the marquis or his government to comply with the demand in
question. " Secondly : I had indubitable information that there existed,
in your excellency's possession, an order of his Catholic majes
ty, dated October IS, 1818, directing, that on my arrival at
Cadiz, I was to be sent to Ceuta, arid there rigorously confined
in the citadel. When I reflected that the Chevalier Onis,
minister plenipotentiary of Spain in the United States, had
given to my government a solemn promise, that on my arrival
in Spain, I should enjoy a liberal and impartial hearing, at
Madrid, aga'mst any charges which the viceroy of New Spain
may have adduced against me, and that, instead of such pro-
4*

xxvi INTRODUCTION.
mise being honourably fulfilled, his Catholic majesty had issu
ed so unjust and recent an order as the one before mentioned,
it was obvious to my mind that the Spanish government had
a premeditated intention to sacrifice me.
" Thirdly : on the 14th instant, at night, I obtained the most
unequivocal information that your excellency had received
certain secret orders from Madrid, again to arrest me, and to
place me in security in the castle of San Sebastian, until an
opportunity offered to send me to Ceuta.
" Fourthly : on the night of the 14th, and on the morning of
the 15th, I discovered that your excellency had adopted very
active steps to get possession of my person, doubtless for the
purpose of carrying into effect your orders from Madrid.
" The preceding four points embrace matters of a. very deli
cate nature, and show the imperious necessity of the course I
have adopted. .########
" Thirty months' imprisonment, in castles, jails, dungeons,
and convents, without a hearing, or even the shadow of a le
gal trial, had taught me a bitter and serious lesson, and au
thorized me to suppose that the dungeons of Ceuta might
close my mortal career.
" We know that the sultans of the Ottoman empire, in the
plenitude of their sublime functions, occasionally decapitate
their vassals, and afterwards order the divan of Constantino
ple to examine and decide on the guilt or innocence ofthe vic
tim. God forbid, that Turkish usages should become the or
der ofthe day in any part of the Christian world; but I pre
sume your excellency will coincide with me in opinion, that
there is no essential difference between imprisoning an indi
vidual for an indefinite period, without a hearing or trial, and
taking off his head according to the usages of the Turks.
" I trust your excellency will find in the preceding reflec
tions an ample apology, if not a justification, ofthe step which
I have taken. I shall always bear a grateful recollection of
your excellency's very liberal conduct towards me, at Cadiz,
and I flatter myself, that neither your conscience nor reputa
tion will ever suffer, from your having manifested a repug
nance to be the subordinate instrument of executing decrees,

INTRODUCTION.

XXVH

unjust and barbarous, and marked by a spirit of anticiyiliza-
tion in all their features.
" I beg leave to enclose a copy of my letter of this date to
the marquis Casa Yrujo, for your information, and have the
honour to be, with great respect,
" Your excellency's obedient servant,
"William D. Robinson.
" To his Excellency the Conde de Abisbcl,
Captain general of Andalusia, Governor of CadizfZ?c. &?c."

" Gibraltar, March 25, 1820.
"Sir,—
" It has been represented to me that your excellency, in
your public and private character, has developed a strong an
tipathy towards the government and citizens of the United
States, but when I reflect on your excellency's distinguished
talents and acquirements, on the long course of your diploma
tic career, and on your having mixed so much in the civilized
world, I can scarcely think it possible, that the imputation be
fore suggested is correct. It will afford me much pleasure to
find it unjust.
" I have now the honour to enclose for your excellency's
information, a copy of my letter to the governor of Cadiz, in
justification of my having departed from that city without his
consent. I have sent a copy of the same to the American
minister, and shall send another to the government of the Uni
ted States.
" I feel most particularly anxious, sir, to be allowed a pub
lic opportunity to vindicate my conduct and character against
any charges which the viceroy of New Spain may have un
justly and illiberally adduced against me, and I wish to have
an opportunity of proving how very often the viceroys, cap
tain generals, and other authorities in Spanish America, make
Olympian mountains out of molehills.
" I am desirous, sir, of convincing the Spanish government,
as well as my own, that I have been most unjustly persecuted
and cruelly treated ; and I likewise desire to prove, that I

xxviii INTRODUCTION.
have rendered most important services to your government,
which terminated in my ruin, in the years 1804 and 1805, and
that I have now the most indisputable claims on your govern
ment for more than half a million of dollars. To attain those
objects it is only necessary for me to have a liberal and im
partial hearing.
" If I have committed any errors, I will submit to make a
corresponding atonement. I do not supplicate favours or in
dulgences. I demand a rigid scrutiny into my conduct ; but
I must require such scrutiny to be made with a due regard to
my person and rights, as a citizen of the United States.
" Under these circumstances, sir, I solicit his Catholic ma
jesty to grant me a fair and liberal hearing; and that he will
condescend to give a solemn assurance to the minister of the
United States at Madrid, that I shall not suffer any further
acts of personal violence or outrage, on the partof the Spanish
government. , " If such assurance is given with the solemnity suggested,
I will not hesitate a moment in returning to Spain ; but if,
from any motives whatsoever, such assurance is withheld, I
will in such case enter my solemn protest against all whom it
may concern, and indulgehopes of obtaining eventual redress,
through the intervention of my own government.
" I have the honour to be, with due respect,
" Your excellency's obedient humble servant,
"William D. Robinson.
" To his Excellency the Marquis Casa Trujo,
First Minister of State, &c. &?c."
The Spanish minister, immediately on the receipt of the pre
ceding communications, addressed the following note to the
American minister : — •
translation.
" Sir,—
" I have the honour to send you herewith, copies of a letter
to me, and of one to the captain general of Andalusia, written
from Gibraltar, by William Davis Robinson, a citizen of the
United States. By them your excellency will perceive, that,

INTRODUCTION. xxix
violating his parole of honour, he has fled from Cadiz, in
which place he had been permitted to reside under arrest.
Your excellency will likewise perceive the motives which he
alleges, for having taken this determination, which he pretends
to justify; and that he asks permission to come to this court,
to defend himself against the charges which the viceroy of
New Spain may have adduced against him ; but, for the secu
rity of his person, solicits that there shall be given to your
excellency, the most complete assurances that he shall not suf
fer any oppression or violence whatsoever. His majesty,
whom I have acquainted with these circumstances, and who
desires to administer strict and impartial justice in his domi
nions, has been pleased to decide on granting a safe conduct
(salvo conducto) to the said citizen, to enable him, as he of
fers, to come to this capital, to justify himself before a com
petent tribunal, who will investigate and judge his conduct
conformably to our laws, administered with all justice and
impartiality ; but on the iridispensable condition, that the said
Mr. Robinson is to remain subject to the effects of the sentence.
His majesty hopes, that in this step will be immediately re
cognised the rectitude which characterizes his government,
and that the president of the United States, as well as your
excellency, will see in this measure a new proof of the con
sideration with which the citizens of the United States are
treated in Spain.
" I renew to your excellency my respects, and pray God to
preserve your life many years. At the Palace, 2d of April,
1819. (Signed.) " Marquis de Casa Yrujo.
" To the Minister Plenipotentiary
ofthe United States of America."
The preceding document, although couched in very polite
diplomatic language, was by no means satisfactory to the
American minister. • He naturally felt some degree of morti
fication, at the inattention which had so recendy been mani
fested by the Spanish government to the formal application

xxx INTRODUCTION.
he had made for the writer's release, and when he reflected
that at the very moment the marquis Casa Yrujo had been
amusing him with a promise that the writer's case should be
investigated, the said marquis had sent a secret order to the
governor of Cadiz, to arrest and send him to Ceuta, it was im
possible for the American minister to place any confidence in
a government that acted with so much bad faith ; he therefore
declined accepting the guarantee for the writer's personal safe
ty, offered in the marquis's note, and replied accordingly.
From the tenor of Mr. Erving's communications to the
writer on this subject, he was perfectly satisfied of the cor
rectness of the course Mr. Erving had adopted, and indeed he
feels great pleasure in acknowledging his obligations to that
gentleman, for his official and friendly conduct towards him.
His last letter on the subject is as follows : —
" Madrid, April 19> 1819.
"Sir,—
" Your letter of April f2th is just received. I am glad to
learn that the explanation contained in my last letter was 'sa
tisfactory to you ; as in no view of the case could I find a
motive for encouraging your coming to Spain, neither could I
make myself the medium of offering you the encouragement
proposed by this government. As you desire to have a copy
of Mr. Yrujo's note, referred to in my last, it is herewith en
closed. I must, however, observe, that if I could think it
proper to intervene in the proposed arrangement, I should re
quire stipulations rather more precise than what are contained
in Mr. Yrujo's note. With much esteem, I am, sir,
" Your obedient servant,
(Signed.) " George W. Erving.
" P. S. I must further inform you, that Mr. Yrujo, in his
second note on your case, after mentioning the importance of
the charges against you, says, that his majesty would order
his minister at Washington to lay before the president his rea
sons for not acquiescing in the president's demand. This you
will conclude was intended to preclude all further remonstrance

INTRODUCTION. Xxxi
an my part, whilst you were in prison under trial, or after
sentence had been passed on you. G. W. E.
" To Mr. William Davis Robinson."
The writer has been more prolix inthis detail than he otherr
wise would have, been, because the Spanish government has
complained to the government of the United States on the point
of his having broken his parole at Cadiz, and because he feels
desirous of convincing his fellow citizens, as well as every
impartial reader, that such a step was perfectly justifiable; and
as regards his refusal to return to Spain, he wouldifain belieye
that his correspondence with the minister of the United States
completely elucidates that point, and shows that it would have
been an act of more than common folly to have visited Madrid
under the guarantee and 'on the conditions expressed in the
marquis Casa Yrujo's note to Mr. Erving. But, exclusive of
the official communications with which he was honoured in this
matter, he has other documents in his possession, which prove
that in case of his return to Spain, it was the ^marquis's inten
tion, as well as that of his government, to have spared no means
to effect his destruction. The writer forbears to publish the
documents alluded to, at this time, as they would swell the
present volume too much, and perhaps trespass on the patience
of the reader. Enough has already been said, to show that if
any of his opinions, expressed in the following pages, be tinc
tured with enmity towards the late government of Spain, he
has had sufficient cause to excite 'his animosity and disgust.
He does not hesitate to declare, that while he respects the in
dividual character of the Spaniard in Europe, yet he views
with abhorrence his conduct, towards the American Creole and
Indian^ and feels not the least commiseration for his loss of
power and influence in the New World ; and, if he mistake
not, the facts developed in the course of this work will demon
strate that the sun of Spanish power in the west is about to
descend for ever below the horizon.
v The writer is aware that he who records events of such deep
I importance to the civilized world, ought to be gifted with ta-

XXXli INTRODUCTION.
lents, and possess acquirements, infinitely beyond those which
have fallen to his lot, and that consequently he may be accused
of presumption in touching on subjects which even sages and
scholars would find it difficult to illustrate properly : but, in ex
tenuation of all his literary faults, he begs the reader to bear in
mind that an individual, compelled by misfortune and Spanish
treachery to seek a subsistence for the last fourteen years by
his own enterprise, cannot have enjoyed much time for the
cultivation of letters. Making, therefore, no pretensions to
the honours of an author, he submits his work to the candid
criticisms of -his fellow citizens. He can regard with frigid
indifference the harshest judgments of European censors; but,
tremblingly alive to the favourable opinion of his own coun
trymen, he requests them to look upon the work as the pro
duction of one who, never possessing learned leisure, was en
gaged in the honourable occupation of an American merchant.
Philadelphia, October 20, 1820.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. Summary account of the Conquest —
Humane enactments of Charles V. — Grievances of the
Americans— Loyalty displayed by them, on receipt of
the intelligence of the difficulties in Spain, in 1808 —
Politic course of conduct, proposed to be adopted, in
this emergency, b% the viceroy Iturrigaray — His depo
sition by a faction of Europeans — -Arrival of his suc
cessor, Vanegas — Plot entered into, to overthrow the
Spanish government in Mexico— Breaking out of the
Revolution, at the town of Dolores, under the direction
of Hidalgo — Capture ofthe city of Guanaxuato — Pro
clamations of the Viceroy, and fulminations of the
Church — Actional Las Cruces — Conduct of Hidalgo — ¦
Battle of Aculco — Massacre at Guanaxuato, by Calleja
—'Battle ofthe Bridge of Calderon — Capture of Hidal
go — Death of that patriot, and many other officers. - 1
CHAP. II. State of the Revolution, after the death of
Hidalgo — General Don Jose Maria Morelos— Capture
of Oaxaca and Acapulco — '¦Formation of a Congress and
Constitution — Manifesto of the Junta of Zultepec —
Defeat at Valladolid— General Matamoros taken pri- '
soner, and shot — Capture of Morelos, at Tepecuacuilco
— His death — Arrival of the Congress at Tehuacan —
General observations.. - - ': - - - - .26
CHAP. III. General Mina— His early life; and career
in Spain — His motives for. embarking in the~cause of
Mexico-*- Arrival at, and transactions in, Baltbnore —
Departure of the expedition — Occurrences at Port au
Prince— Arrival of the expedition at Galvezton—
— Treachery of Correa — Departure of the expedition
from Galvezton, and its arrival off the bar of the river
Santander— Disembarcation of the division. - 43
5*

xxxiv CONTENTS.
CHAP. IV. Soto la Marina occupied by Mina— Gene
ral arrangements there — Action of colonel Perry with
Don Felipe La Garza — Continuation of events in Sota
la Marina — Capture of the Cleopatra, by the Spanish
frigate La Sabina— Dastardly conduct of the ofiicers
of that expedition — Line of march taken up for the
interior — A succession of events— Action at, and cap-'
ture of, the town of El Valle de Mais— Occurrences at
that place, and departure therefrom— -Battle of Peotil-
los — Sanguinary decrees ofthe enemy — Conduct ofthe.
priest ofHideonda, and remarks thereon— Mind's pro
gress—Attack and taking of Sierra de Pinos — Depar
ture therefrom — Junction with the Patriots — Arrival
at the Patriot fortress of Sombrero — Its description, 81
CHAP. V. Refections on the state of the Revolution,
after the . dispersion of the Congress— General Don
Manuel Mier y Teran — His talent, and enterprise
• — His fall — General Don. Guadalupe Victoria- — Gene
ral Osourno — General Don Ignacio Rayon — General
Don Jose Antonio Torres — Degraded stgte ofthe
Patriots, after he assumed the comyiand-rrRefiections
thereon. - - . - - - - - . - , 123
CHAP. VI. - Action' of San Juan de los Llanos — Cap
ture of the Jaral — Interview, at, Sombrero, between
general Mina and some of the revolutionary chiefs-
Overture by Mina for an exchange of prisoners —
Event's in Sombrero. - ... - - . 145
CHAP. VII. Intelligence of the fall of Soto la Marina
received at Sombrero-^-Investissemerit of the fort by
Arredondo— Operations during the siege-r-Desertion
of La Sala-r-Hu base conduct^-j-Gallant defence ofthe
garrison — Its capitulation-^-The terms— Their viola
tion— Cruel treatment experienced by the captives, in
Altamira, on the road to Vera Cruz, and in the dun
geons of San Juan de Ulua — Departure of some of thp
captives for Spain — Order of the minister of war at
Madrid — Strictures on the violation ofthe capitulation.

.CONTENTS. , xxxv
and on the decree of the Cortes, of the 10th of April,
1813— Violation of Miranda's capitulation at Caracas
¦ — The consequences thereof— Cruelty of the Spaniards
in Puerto Cavello — Dreadful measures of retaliation
adopted by general Bolivar. - - - - 169
CHAP. VIII. Situation ofthe city of Mexico, and the
measures of the viceroy — Failure of the expedition of
Mind against the Villa de Leon — Arrival ofthe army
under Don Pasquql Linan, before Sombrero — Forms
his .line of circumvallation — Situation of the fort — -
Commencement of active operations — Detail of events
—Sortie on the, encampment of Don Pedro Celestino
Negrete— ^S ally of general Mina — Detail of events —
Gallant defence of the fort, on the 18th of August —
Evacuation of the fort— Massacre of the fugitives, of
the wounded, and of the prisoners — Memoir of Don
Pasqual, Linan. -..- ,t - - - - - 189
CHAP. IX. General Mina proceeds to the fort of Los
Remedios— Arrival of some of the fugitives there from
Sombrero-- -Description. oj 'the fort of Los Remedios, or
San Gregorio— -Advance of Linan. against the fort^—
Mina marches out, -with nine hundred men — *Descrip-
tion of these,\troops — A reflection of great importance
to the United States — Meeting of the general with the
remnant of his division,, near the Tlachiquero. — Siege
laid to Los Remedios — Mina advances against, and
takes, Biscocho — Execution ofthe garrison — Advance
against, and capture of, San Luis de la Paz — Clemency
of Mina towards the\garr'ison — Attach on San Miguel
—Retreat therefrom, and arrival at the Valle de Santi
ago—A description of it— Continuation of events con
nected with Mind's movements — Disgraceful conduct
of Padre Torres — Continuation of events at the fort —
Repulse ofthe enemy — Sortie on one of his batteries —
Minds operations continued — Flight of the Patriots
from the field at La Caxa — Mina visits Xauxilla, and
thence proceeds to the Valle de Santiago — Skirmish
with Orrantia, and Mind's arrival at La Caxa. - 210

xxxvi CONTENTS. i
CHAP. X. Mina advances against Guanaxuato — De
scription of that city — He attacks it — Failure — He
proceeds with an escort to the rancho del Venadito —
Movements of Orrantia — Mina made prisoner — Bru
tal conduct of Orrantia towards him — Death of Mina
—Reflections — State of society in Mexico — Remarks
on the present state of the royal forces, and the facility
with which the country could be invaded, and its eman
cipation accomplished. - ... - 243
CHAP. XI. Assault of Los Remedios, on the l&th of
November, and repulse of the enemy — Sortie by the
garrison on the enemy's intrenchments — Cause -which
led to the evacuation of the fort — Los Remedios evacu
ated, on the night ofthe 1st of January, 1818— Bar
barities ofthe royalists there — Operations ofthe con
tending parties, after the reduction of Los Remedios — ¦
Loss of Xauxilla — Detailed account of the subsequent
events of the Revolution, and its actual state in the
month of July, 1819— ^Reflections.- - - - 277
CHAP. XII. Cruelty a predominant feature in Span
ish history ; exemplified by a brief view ofthe conduct
of Spain in Europe, and by the horrors committed,. by
her authorities, in Mexico and South America, since
the year 1810 — Reflections. , - - . 309
CHAP. XIII. Examination of the different routes to
the Pacific Ocean — .Doubts respecting a passage to the
north-west — The communication between the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans, at the province of Choc6, examined
— Observations upon the routes by the Isthmus of Da
rien or Panama ; by the Isthmus of Costa Rica ; and
by that of Oaxaca — General observations on the impor
tance of this passage to the civilized world in general,
and to the United States in particular . - - 339
APPENDIX. Statement ofthe claims of W..D. Robin
son upon the Spanish government. ... 379

MEMOIRS

OF

THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION.

CHAPTER I.

Summary account of the Conquest — Humane enactments of
Charles V. — Grievances of the Americans — Loyalty display
ed by them, on receipt of the intelligence ofthe difficulties in
Spain, in 1808 — Politic course of conduct, proposed to be
adopted, in this emergency, by the Viceroy Iturrigarai —
His deposition by a faction of Europeans — Arrival bf his
successor, Vanegas — Plot entered into to overthrow the
Spanish government in Mexico — Breaking out of the Revo
lution, at the town of Dolores, under the direction of Hidalgo
— Capture ofthe city of Guanaxauto— Proclamations ofthe
Viceroy, and fulminations of the Church — Action at. Las
Cruces — Conduct of Hidalgo-*— Battle of Aculco — Massacre
at Guanaxauto, by Calleja — Battle of the Bridge of Calde
ron — Capture of Hidalgo — Death of that patriot, and many
other officers.
TO elucidate the causes which gave birth to the present
struggles of Spanish America generally, but particularly of
that section of which we now treat, against the despotism of
old Spain, it is necessary to take a retrospect of its situation,
from the period of the conquest. It will then appear evident
to every impartial mind, that almost each revolving hour, for
the last three centuries, has been marked by a steady, system
atic course of injustice, and outrage towards the unfortunate
Americans.
(0

2 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
The conquest of Mexico was undertaken by Cortez, in con
formity with a plan which had been prescribed to Columbus
by the Spanish crown ; by which it was provided, that the
expense attending the discovery and conquest of any unknown
countries, should be altogether borne by the adventurers, who
should, as a compensation, retain the vassalage ofthe nations,
upon the condition that they should be instructed by them in
the precepts of the Christian religion. The dominion of all
such countries as should be discovered, was to be vested in
the crown of Spain, which, on its part, guarantied (Leyes de
las Indias, Ley I. tit. 1, lib. 3.) that "on no account should
they be separated, wholly or in part, from that monarchy :"
and the emperor Charles V. binds himself and successors for
ever, that " these settlements should on no account, or in fa
vour of any one, either wholly or in part, be separated;" and
that " if, in violation of this stipulation, any of his successors
should make any gift or alienation, either wholly or in part,
the same shall be void."
Cortez, in pursuance of these favourable enactments, pro
ceeded from the island of Cuba, the 10th of February, 1519,
to the work of conquest. After sailing along, and making
descents on the coast of Yucatan, he landed on the spot where
the castle of San Juan de Ulua now stands, the 21st of April;
and, after meeting with various vicissitudes of fortune, and
displaying the courage and ferocity of the Spaniards of those
times, he succeeded, on the 8th of November, in planting the
Spanish banners on the capital of the Mexican empire.
The chief of that empire lavished upon Cortez every mark
of respect and hospitality; but was soon made to feel the effects
of Spanish artifice and treachery. Montezuma was entrapped,
and kept a prisoner by Cortez six months. At length he was
shot by an arrow, while endeavouring to quell a tumult among
his own subjects. They were anxious to avenge his wrongs, and
to revenge the treacherous massacre of their nobles, on the
13th of May, 1520. This unfeeling outrage was committed by
Alvarado, who had been left in the command ofthe city, during
the absence of Cortez, when marching upon Zempoalla, to at
tack his rival Narvaez, Montezuma died, frantic with mortifi-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 5
cation and despair, about the 30th of June, in the quarters of
the Spaniards, where he had been kept prisoner by Cortez.
This event so much excited the rage of the Mexicans, that
Cortez found it impossible to maintain his position in the city;
and it became expedient for him to abandon it, and to fall back
on his allies the Tlascalans. This movement was accomplished
on the night of the 1st of July, but with a severe loss. The
friendship of the Tlascalans remained unaltered by the change
of Cortez's fortune ; and they offered him every assistance he
should require, to enable him to continue his operations against
their enemies, the Mexicans. Cortez, having augmented the
Europeans by the soldiers of the conquered Narvaez, and re-
enforcements from the Antilles, returned to and entered Tez
cuco, the 31st of December; and, on the 31st of May, 1521,
laid, siege to the city of Mexico, with eighty-seven cavalry,
eight hundred and forty-eight Spanish infantry, eighteen
pieces of artillery, seventy-five thousand Tlascalans, and thir
teen small vessels, which he had built on the lake.
The Mexicans, under Quauhtemotzin, the successor of the
unfortunate Montezuma, defended themselves with desperate
valour; and, after a resistance bof seventy-five days, during
which time they had to contend against the ravages of famine
and disease, and an enemy who had increased in force to up
wards of two hundred thousand men, Mexico was taken by
Cortez, the 13th of August, but not until the greater part of
that beautiful city had been destroyed, '
The emperor, endeavouring to escape, in a canoe, from the
fury of the Spaniards, was taken prisoner. The sanguinary
Cortez ¦ crowned the dreadful cruelties which had sullied all
the steps of his conquest, by torturing the emperor in a manner
the most diabolical. With a view of extorting from the, un
fortunate monarch a confession of the place where his trea
sures were concealed, he first soaked his feet in oil, and after
wards burnt them by a slow fire. Cortez, finding that the
torture was borne with firmness by the noble Mexican, order
ed him to~be released; but he, together with two other kings,
were hung, three years afterwards, on the allegation of an in
tent to revolt.

4 ' MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
The natives ofthe country continued, for some time, to resist
the strides of the conqueror, but eventually fell victims to their
inferiority in arms. A devastation ensued, by fire and sword,
that has no parallel in history. The unoffending aborigines
were slaughtered, without mercy or distinction. To the
Spanish historians of those days, we refer the reader, who feels
desirous of perusing the accounts of those cruelties in detail :
he will there behold narrated only a part of the bloody scenes,
— but sufficient to cover the Spanish name with eternal oppro
brium. After Cortez felt himself firmly established in the empire,
the iron reign of tyranny commenced, in all its bitter and
dreadful forms ; — the Indians perished in thousands, under
the scourge of their barbarous and cruel task-masters.
The remonstrances of many prelates, but particularly of the
beneficent and venerable Las Casas, against such horrors and
anti-christian principles, at length awakened the attention of
the emperor Charles V. To check the disorders ofthe settlers,
and to meliorate the condition of the natives, he instituted the
famous tribunal ofthe Indies, and appointed officers specially for
the purpose of acting as a check on the conduct of the settlers.
But these protectors and judges speedily rendered nugatory
all the humane institutions of the emperor. As no complaints
could reach the ear of the monarch but through them, they
soon guarded all the avenues to the throne ; and, urged by
thirst of gain, they combined with the settlers in acts of the
most flagrant injustice : so that the wrongs of the Mexicans
continued unabated.
Charles V., however, persevered in enacting the most salur
tary and humane code of laws for the welfare of the oolonies.
In looking over those laws, we find many of them breathing
a spirit of humanity and sound policy, that would do honour
to the most enlightened age. It was enacted, that the disco
verers, the settlers, and their posterity, and those born in the
country, were to be preferred before all others, in offices of
church, state, and jurisprudence. In that plain and important
regulation was comprised a fundamental principle to promote
the prosperity, and secure the affections, of the colonists. A

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 5
departure from this principle ever has, and ever will be, fatal
to the sovereignty of a mother country over its colonies.
It was likewise enacted, that the aborigines were to be con
sidered as free men, and vassals of the crown of Spain; the'
colonies were declared to be an integral part ofthe monarchy;
and to such an extent were the rights of the Americans pro
tected, that no law promulgated in the mother country could
take effect, unless sanctioned by the representative government
of the colonies, which was vested in the council of the Indies.
How different a scene would have been displayed in Spanish
America, from that which it now exhibits, if these wise and
just principles had been faithfully observed by the successors
of Charles V. ! But^ alas ! experience has afforded melancholy
proofs, that they all have been long since scattered to the winds ;
and, in their place has been established, a system of colonial
policy, having for its aim, the perpetuity of ignorance, injus
tice, and despotism, over the new world : a system which has
resulted in the political degradation, and even abject thraldom,
of the Creoles as well as Indians. Ask the European Spa
niard, why these salutary laws have never been put in execu
tion, since the day of their enactment ? and, if he is capable of
an impartial answer, he will reply, that such laws would have
placed a check on his pride and avarice, and would have pre
vented him from exercising an unnatural authority over the
lives and property of millions of Americans.
The viceroys, sent out as representatives of the king, to
carry into effect the " Leyes de las Indias," and to guard the
interests ofthe Creole from heing infringed upon, were the
first and most distinguished violators of those very laws. The
vast expanse of ocean between them and the mother country,
freed them from all restraint. Surrounded by all the pomp
ahd splendour of royalty, they thought only of exercising
regal powers, and of amassing riches by every possible means;
so that, on their return to Spain, they might, by the aid and
powerful influence of gold, completely bar every complaint of
the Americans from reaching the throne. In a little while,
corruption spread through every department of government,
in old Spain; so that the viceroys, captains general, intendants,

6 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
and all the dignitaries of the church, who were sent to Ame
rica, and all their immediate agents, formed a strong phalanx, >
combined in their interests and views ; and, as they were the
only channel through which complaints could be transmitted
from America to the Peninsula, it is obvious, that not one
grievance in ten thousand, which occurred in the colonies,
ever reached the council of the Indies, much less the ear of
the monarch. At length, so confident did these tyrants be
come, in the exercise of their iniquitous system, that they
treated with scorn and cruelty, every Creole who dared to re
sist their imperious mandates ; and hence was established, a
system of passive obedience and suffering, on the part of the
Creole and Indian, such as was never before exhibited, and
which no colonists, in any age, or in any country, ha4 ever
before endured.
The European Spaniards, having thus acquired the supreme
authority, and conjoining in their hands all the civil, military,
and ecclesiastical employments, committed, with impunity,
enormities of the deepest die. Justice became subservient to
caprice and interest ; and dissensions were fomented between
the European and Creole. The latter found himself cut off
from every hope of redress, saw his rights, as a man, prostrate
ed, and all the paths to social distinctions impeded by obsta
cles he could not overcome. Thus degraded and persecuted,
hatred was engendered, and usurped, in his heart, the ties of
consanguinity. After the death of Charles V., his successors appear to have
studied which of them could most outrageously trample on the
laws, enacted during that monarch's reign. The Americans
have not only been excluded from the privileges granted them
by those laws, but even the descendants of the conquerors
have been despoiled of many of their rights. Men, without
education, talent, or character, have been appointed to civil,
military, and ecclesiastical offices, of the greatest responsibili
ty. And corruption, in the latter period, had reached so great
a height, that almost every office in America was sold at a fix
ed price, or procured by some court parasite.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 7
During the famous, or rather infamous administration of
Godoy, sacrilegiously called the prince of peace, every office in
America, from that ofthe viceroy down to that of a menial de
pendant of the custom house, was publicly sold ; except in a few
instances, in which they were bestowed on the servants of the
prince, as a premium for their intrigues, or, as it was styled,
as a reward for their fidelity to his royal master or royal mis
tress. A major domo of the royal household, has been ele
vated to the government of an American province, and there
have been intendants, and judges of the Real Audiencia, the
highest judicial tribunal in America, who were men known in
Spain for their vices only, or* as panders for the pleasures of
the prince and the queen. Under men like these, were the
lives and the properties of the Spanish Americans placed.
Out of one hundred and sixty viceroys, who have ruled in
America, four only were Creoles born, and even those four
were brought up from their infancy in Spain, and were ap
pointed to the station from accidental circumstances, or family
connexions in the Peninsula.
The government of Spain, dreading the introduction of fo
reign literature, and the culture of those natural talents, with
which the Creole is so highly gifted, placed every bar to his
improvement, by impeding a system of liberal education. And
they were particularly studious to preserve the Creoles from
the contaminating intercourse of foreigners.
In the colleges, the Latin language, ancient philosophy, the
ological dogmas, mathematics, and some superficial branches
of education, alone are taught, and the elements of general
knowledge are withheld from the students ; and the greater
part of the Creoles are unacquainted with history,- except, per
haps, that of Spain. Many attempts have been made to in
troduce public schools, in different parts of Mexico, but they
have always failed, through the secret or open opposition of
the Spanish government, which has not hesitated to declare,
that it was not expedient for learning to become general in
America. The eulogies, passed on the course of education in Mexico,
hv M. De Humboldt, are calculated to convey, to a reader

8 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
unacquainted with the real state of that country, an impres
sion, that an excellent system of education has been establish
ed and disseminated by the government. This is not the on
ly instance in which that enlightened traveller and philosopher
has flattered the Spanish government ; but he has occasional
ly compensated for this incense, by developing many unpalat
able truths. The most superficial observer, who has visited
Mexico, must have discovered the great want of seminaries
of education ; for it is only in the city of Mexico, that any
scholastic establishments, deserving that name, are to be found;
and the abject ignorance, of the great body of society through
out the kingdom, affords a lamentable evidence of the paucity
of institutions of this nature. There is not, in fact, a despotic
country, in any part of the old world, which professes Chris
tianity, where education is so limited, and where foreign lite
rature is so little known, as in Mexico.
The commerce and agriculture of the Creoles have likewise
felt the fatal and dreadful influence of Spanish despotism. The
commerce of the colonies has been restricted to a few Cadiz
merchants. The arts, exactions, and injustice, of those ava
ricious monopolists, would scarcely be believed by the civil
ized world. Our limits will not permit us to detail them, but
we may observe, that extortion was the leading feature of that
disgraceful commerce. The shipments to Mexico consisted
of cargoes of the miserable manufactures of Spain, or, of the
imperfect products of her agriculture, and of some foreign fa
brics, so burthened with imposts, that only the most wealthy
classes of society could buy them. The consumption of such
cargoes was forced upon the Creoles, by every arbitrary and
ingenious measure, to the exclusion qf commerce through any
other channel but that of old Spain ; and to the neglect of those
advantages, which all-bountiful nature has granted the Ame
ricans, in the fertility of their soil, and genial climate. To
ensure the sale of Spanish wines and brandies, the Creoles
were forbidden to manufacture either ; olives were not allow
ed to be planted ; the cultivation of the silk worm was inter
dicted ; and, with regard to vines, even such as had been
raised for the purpose of affording the Creole a grateful fruit,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 9
became an object of jealousy to the Cadiz monopolists, and an
order was actually sent out by the government of Spain, to
grub up all the vines in the country.
The article of tobacco, one of the greatest essentials to the
comfort of a Spanish American, was a monopoly of the crown.
In Mexico, it is only permitted to be cultivated in the district
bf Orizaba. The planter was not allowed to seek a market for
what he raised. It was forcibly taken from him, at a fixed
price, by the king, who manufactured, and retailed it out, at
an enormous advance, to the people. The revenue derived
from this monopoly was immense ; and the unfortunate planter
who raised, and the people who. consumed, the plant, had the
mortification to see the revenue, derived from this source,
divided and squandered away, amongst a host of European
Spaniards, who came, almost annually, from Spain, to fill the
posts in the administration of tobacco. When a vacancy oc
curred, by death or otherwise, vain was the application of a
Creole to fill it, except in some rare instances, and, even then,
appointments were the result of bribery.
Such is a brief outline of the scenes of injustice and- op
pression, to which the Creole of Spanish America was so long
a passive victim. Manifold as were the grievances, they may
be summed up by saying, that he was deprived of the enjoy
ment of his social, and even of his natural rights, except so
far as it occasionally suited the caprice or interest of a despot,
to grant them to him as an indulgence. In this state of things
in America, the struggles in the Peninsula commenced.
The news of the declaration of war against France, on the
6th of June, 1808, by the Supreme Junta of Seville, in place
bf exciting feelings of disaffection among the Creoles, or open
ing to their view the career of ambition, was, by them, enthu
siastically received. Ferdinand was proclaimed, with every
•demonstration of joy and loyalty. Congratulatory addresses,
from all quarters, poured in to the viceroys. The temples of
divine worship resounded with the most fervent supplications
to the Deity for the release of their monarch ; every house
presented pictures"of their favourite king; and the air was
filled with shouts of " Viva Fernando 7°." Unanimous re-
(2)

10 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
solves were adopted, to repel the meditated dominion of the
French, and to afford generous and abundant resources to
¦their European brethren in arms. One universal sentiment of
ardent loyalty pervaded the American colonies, and the poor
Creole seems to have thrown a veil of oblivion over all his
wrongs, and to have directed his whole soul, at that juncture,
to the cause of Spain. Future ages will scarcely believe, that
a people thus generous and loyal,' were about to experience
such heart-rending scenes, as have made the bloody horrors of
the conquest trivial, by comparison ; and, that a war of exter
mination was soon to be declared against them, in reward for
their generosity and loyalty.
After the occurrences at Bayonne had taken place, orders
from Murat were received in the colonies ; and, at the same
moment, when the Creoles were swearing allegiance to their
captured monarch, the Europeans were strenuously engaged
in taking the most effectual measures to bring the Americans
over to French allegiance ; and some of the viceroys openly
made advances to the people, in the name of the emperor Na
poleon., Emissaries from king Joseph spread themselves over
the continent, to pave the way for the adoption of the French
government. They brought orders from Ferdinand, and the
council of the Indies, to transfer to France the allegiance of
America. The Europeans received the French emissaries
with open arms, while the Creoles publicly burnt their procla
mations ; and, with cries of " Viva Fernando 7°," expelled
these political intruders from their soil. These are facts of
public notoriety ; they stand recorded, and cannot be ques
tioned.
- Thus were the Americans the defenders of their king;
while the conduct of the Europeans and their chiefs was stain
ed with treachery of the darkest hues.
During the period that the French gained ground in the Pe
ninsula, and Spain was torn by contending factions, the defec
tion of the European Spaniards became so glaring, that in the
short space of six months, a simultaneous rising of the colo
nists was caused. Without concert, from the same motives,
and with the same views, the Creoles endeavoured, and, in

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. n
some instances, succeeded, in deposing their perjured chiefs;
declaring, at the same time, their determination to hold their
country for their legitimate monarch.
This course of conduct was no sooner made known in Spain,
than, in place of being viewed as an evidence of loyalty, or as
a great political event, growing out of imperious circumstan
ces, it was considered, by the Cadiz regency, as an outrageous
rebellion, and war was declared against Caraccas, in the month
of August, 1810. But we must confine ourselves more par
ticularly to Mexico.
Don Jose Iturrigaray, viceroy at that period, on receiv
ing intelligence of the critical situation in which Ferdinand
was involved, and looking with a cautious eye on the strange
orders of Ferdinand,' those of the council of the Indies, and of
Murat, and aware likewise of the local dangers which threat
ened the kingdom, from the known hatred existing between
the Creoles and Europeans, proposed calling a junta, to be
formed by a representation from each province, in order to adopt
a provisional government, in which the people would have
confidence. This purity of Iturrigaray's intentions was known
then, and is still acknowledged by every enlightened Creole in
the country. His sole object was to save the kingdom from
the horrors of anarchy, and from French intrigue. In the
adoption of these measures, the viceroy was cordially sup
ported by the cabildo, who, by an energetic memorial, pointed
out that those measures would alone inspire confidence. The
memorial proposed, that the viceroy should remain as the re
presentative of the king ; that the usual authorities should re
tain the same power as before; but that a governing junta
should be established, composed of the royal audiencia, the
archbishop, the. municipality, and deputies from the several
ecclesiastical ahd secular bodies, the nobility, principal citi
zens, and military.
In the formation of such a junta, it was obvious that Cre
oles would be blended with Europeans. But the latter, dread
ing the ascendency, which the Creoles might gain from a po
pular government, opposed this loyal and rational overture,
and secretly determined on boldly removing the viceroy. This

J2 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
resolution they promptly carried into effect; and, privately
arming themselves, they arrested the unsuspecting viceroy
and his family, on the night of the 15th of September, 1808,
and sent them prisoners to the Peninsula.
This act excited universal indignation among aU classes of
Americans, by whom the viceroy was held in the highest esti
mation. His administration had been characterized by a
course very different from that of any of his predecessors.
He was not only benign and just in his decisions, but indefa
tigable in the measures he adopted for the internal improve*
ment of the kingdom. It was, indeed, his popularity amongthe
Americans, that excited the jealousy of the old Spaniards.
These circumstances, conjoined with the subsequent massa
cre of several distinguished Americans, and the arrest and
banishment of others, who had espoused the viceroy's plans,
highly incensed the Mexicans. In this state of fermentation,
arrived Iturrigaray's successor, Vanegas, bringing with him
from Spain, rewards, distinctions, and offices, for those Euro
peans who had been conspicuous instruments in deposing the
late viceroy.
The conduct of Vanegas, during his career in the Peninsu
la, had not been calculated to inspire confidence among the
people over whom he was sent to preside. He had delivered
up one or two armies, and had otherwise acted in a manner to
make -him a very obnoxious character in the eyes of the
Americans. These events, combined with the recollection of their for
mer grievances, operated powerfully on the minds of the
Mexicans; and, at length, the rancour, which had been so long
smothered in their breasts, burst forth : for, being no longer
able to bear with such flagrant injustice, finding that every day
added a new weight to their oppressions, and seeing no hopes
of redress but through their own exertions,, they entered into
a plan to hurl their tyrants from their seats of power.
In this conspiracy were engaged many of the most distin
guished men in the kingdom, principally ecclesiastics and
lawyers. It was conducted with the greatest secrecy, and
extended to almost every city in the kingdom. A simuita-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 13
neous insurrection was intended in the provinces ; and the
plot had nearly reached maturity, when it was checked by one
of those accidents which frequently prevent the realization of
great projects; else, it is highly probable that Vanegas would
have been the last viceroy on the Mexican, throne.
One of the conspirators, in a death-bed confession, revealed
not only the plot, but the names of many of his principal ac
complices. Vanegas was alarmed at the magnitude of the
plan, but was in hopes, that by seizing the principals he would
be able to check it ; and he took the most prompt and active
measures to arrest those who were denounced. In the pro
vince of Guanaxuato, the head of the conspiracy was Dr. Hi
dalgo, the rector of Dolores, in which town, and the adjacent
one of San Miguel el Grande, many of Jihe conspirators re
sided. Vanegas despatched orders for the arrest of Hidalgo and
his party ; but, as some of their colleagues were persons en
joying the confidence of the viceroy, and knew the measures
he was adopting, they immediately despatched private couriers
to apprize the rector of what was in agitation.- The intelligence
was received by captain Don Ignacio Allende, who command
ed- a small body of king's troops in San Miguel. He flew to
Hidalgo, at Dolores, with the information. They at once
agreed that flight was of no avail. They knew that, if taken,
death was inevitable; and they therefore resolved on making
a desperate effort to save themselves and their party.' Allende
having brought over his men, and the proscribed party being
in readiness, the tocsin of revolt was sounded, on the night of
the 10th of September, 1810; and thus commenced the civil
wars of Mexico, which we now attempt to comprise in the
following sketch.
The pueblo of Dolores consisted principally of Indians, who
adored their pastor Hidalgo, and who immediately joined him.
He proceeded to San Miguel, where his numbers were consi
derably augmented. From thence he marched to the city of
Zelaya, where he was joined by immense throngs of Indians,
armed with clobs, slings, and missile weapons.

14 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
As matters had so far progressed well, it was next proposed
to nominate a commander. Allende, as being the only mili
tary man, was named ; but, as Hidalgo's popularity was con
sidered of infinitely more importance to the cause, in its criti
cal situation, than mere military acquirements, he was chosen
commander-in-chief, with the rank of captain general.
Hidalgo was a man of irreproachable character, and beloved,
not only within the range of his rectory, but in the adjoining
provinces. He was regarded as a man of penetration, and
considered well informed ; that is, he had acquired such
knowledge as a well educated Creole usually possesses. His
reading had been confined to such works as the jealousy of the
old Spaniards, and the scrutiny of the Inquisition, permitted
to be circulated : of, course, it is not presumable, that from
such sources he could have derived much knowledge of the
world. He was frank and generous, and knew very little of
cunning, intrigue, and baseness, the ' characteristics of his
opponents. Hidalgo considered, that, as the names and plans of the
conspirators had been revealed, and their projects thus nipped
in the bud, it was necessary to make desperate exertions, and
resort to every possible means of exciting the courage and
passions of the Indians.* With this view, he unfortunately
* It must not be inferred, from the use of this word Indian, that the people
to whom it is applied resemble the savages of North America. They are, it
is true, descendants of the aborigines; but, with few exceptions, they are
a civilized people. They are tractable, and accustomed to the labours of
civilized life. In many points they preserve the customs of their ancestors,
and particularly cherish their native language ; for although, in general, they
understand and speak Spanish correctly, yet, in their intercourse with each
other, they use their native language. Notwithstanding they all profess
Christianity, yet the Spanish priests frequently discover them sacrificing, in
private, according to their ancient system of idolatry. The Mexican Indian,
although mild, and obedient to his task-master, yet bears in remembrance
the outrages the Spaniards inflicted upon his forefathers, and secretly sighs
for the day of revenge. All that the Spanish government and Spanish writers
have said about their loyalty and fidelity, is mere fiction. During the pre-
sent revolution, they have invariably manifested their ill will towards the
Spaniards ; and even in the towns and villages, where there were no royal

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 15
and precipitately authorized the cry of " Destruction to the
Gachupins."* Hidalgo does not appear, by any act of his
life previous to the revolution, to have been a sanguinary man;
and, therefore, his sanation of the cry of " Destruction to the
Gachupins and their race," ought to be attributed to the reason
before mentioned, and not to a deliberate intention of indiscri
minately sacrificing them. But, while this apology is offered,
his, error is deeply to be deplored; not merely on the grounds
of humanity, but because it is to this impolitic act that the
failure ofthe revolutionists may in a great measure be ascribed.
If Hidalgo had reflected that the great body of conspirators
were Creoles, distinguished by their wealth and high standing
in the community, and consequently would take alarm at a
commotion that menaced their lives and property, he would
have pursued a very different course, and would have had al
most every Creole in the country in his favour : but, rendered
desperate, as before observed, by considering his colleagues
destroyed, and their plans discovered, he made use of the
Indians as a dernier resource, and, by exciting them to the
destruction of all the Gachupins, committed a dreadful and
irremediable error.
troops actually quartered, a Creole insurgent, in flying from his enemies, has
always found an inviolable asylum among the Indians : whereas, if a royalist
took refuge in an Indian village, within the jurisdiction of the insurgents, he
never escaped. The descendants from the Indian caciques have a high de
gree of family pride, and consider a connexion with a European Spaniard as
a pollution of blood.
* This term Gachupin has been variously interpreted; but it is universally
used by the Creoles and Indians as a word of contempt. The Spaniards say
it means "a man with two heads," thereby conveying an idea of superior
understanding; and that it took its origin from the invasion of Cortez, upon
one of his cavalry being killed. The Indians, who till then had never seen
a horse, supposed the animal and its rider to be a single animal. When they
beheld the horse and rider fall, they ran up and examined the phenomenon,
arid finding the man distinct from the horse, they expressed their surprise
by exclaiming, "Gatzopin." The Indians, however, flatly deny the Spanish
story, arid say the word means "thief." But be that as it may, it is most
certain that the word is now used as a mark of scorn and opprobrium.

16 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
The first steps of the Indians were marked by horrid ex
cesses. Through every place they passed, the European
Spaniards that fell into their hands, and many Creoles, were
slaughtered. A large portion of the Creole population, who
were as desirous as Hidalgo and his party for the emancipa
tion of their country, now began to tremble for their personal
safety, and sought protection from their ancient oppressors.
Nevertheless, the forces of Hidalgo continued rapidly to
swell; and, during his stay at Zelaya, the Indians from every
quarter flocked to his standard. Numbers of Creole priests,
and some royalist soldiers, also joined him. When he left
Zelaya, his army consisted of nearly twenty thousand men;
but was a heterogeneous mass, without fire-arms or order.
With this force, he marched upon Guanaxuato, the capital of
the intendancy of that name, and a city next in point of wealth
to the metropolis of New Spain; the richest gold and silver
mines in all Spanish America being in the vicinage of Guan
axuato. On the approach of the patriotic army, the intendant of the
province, with all the Spaniards, some Creoles, and the few
troops which were in the city, shut themselves up in the castle,
and determined on an obstinate defence. Hidalgo summoned
them to surrender, and offered them humane terms, which
were rashly refused.
The place was attacked, and carried. The unfortunate
Spaniards, and all who adhered to them, were sacrificed by
the infuriated Indians. In vain Hidalgo interposed, to pre
vent the slaughter : he now saw, when too late, that revenge
was the predominant feeling among his Indians, and that no
thing would satisfy them but the extermination of the Gachu
pins. The treasures, which fell into the hands of the conquer
ors, would appear incredible to the reader, if he did not con
sider, that we have reference to a city surrounded by the rich
est mines in the known world. The sacking of the eity con
tinued for three days ; and the plunderers were loaded with
doubloons, dollars, and ingots of gold and silver. The preci
ous metals were found in some private houses, as well as in

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 17
the public buildings, piled in vast heaps. The Indians were
occupied several days in carrying off these treasures ; and it
was supposed that every man took away at least five hundred'
dollars, but the greater proportion, several thousands. The
Indians, afterwards, offered their doubloons for sale at four
reals each, conceiving that they were only gilt medals.*
Hidalgo had now such an overflowing treasury, that he paid
his soldiers a dollar a day each ; and as to his officers, he al
lowed them to help themselves to whatever amount they liked.
From the preceding relation it may be inferred, that Hidal
go was highly culpable, in permitting the perpetration of those
deeds of rapine and murder. We have before stated, that his
private character was unblemished; but, in the novel situation
in which he found himself placed, it was not extraordinary
that he should permit the Indians to enjoy the first fruits of
their exertions. He considered it politic to let them have
palpable proofs that they would profit by the revolution ; and,
with regard to the slaughter of the Spaniards, it was impossi
ble for him to prevent it. Still it is a fact, that there are now
a great number of European Spaniards and Creoles living
in Mexico, who were protected and saved from death by the
humanity of Hidalgo; and, in many instances, most ungrate
fully did they requite his clemency. They proved them
selves, subsequently, the most cruel and implacable enemies of
the patriots, and particularly of the insurgent Indians, that
fell into their hands. These were massacred, in the most
wanton manner, by the very prisoners whose lives Hidalgo
had formerly saved.
After the capture of Guanaxuato, Hidalgo found his forces
augmenting so fast, that he determined to advance on the city
of Mexico. He proceeded by the route of Valladolid, gather-
* The people, of all classes; weaT~medals suspended from the neck, bear
ing ,the impression of some favourite saint, but generally of the Virgin of
Guadaloupe: some of them are of silver, others merely gilt; and as, in shape
and appearance, the latter resemble a doubloon, the poor Indians did not
know the difference. Nothing can more strongly elucidate the wretched
ignorance and poverty of the great mass of Indians, than this anecdote. A
real, Mexican currency, is the eighth of a dollar;
(3)

18 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
ing an hourly accession of Indians, and some few royalist
deserters. The revolt had by this time spread with electric rapidity,
over a great part of the kingdom. Even in the city of Mex
ico, Puebla de los Angeles, and in other places, the Spanish
authorities were trembling for their safety. It was a critical
moment for the Spaniards ; their government was upon the
very point of being overthrown, and their persons sacrificed.
The forces of the government were entirely Creole, and if any
conspicuous officer, at that time, either in the cities of Mex
ico or Puebla, had declared in favour of Hidalgo, the revolu
tion would have succeeded.
The Creoles beheld with alarm, their fate depending on art
ignorant and infuriated body of Indians, and were compelled
to rally round the existing authorities, as the only means of
personal safety. Very different would have been their feel
ings and conduct, if the revolution had broken out as it was
originally planned, amongst the wealthy and leading Creoles
of the principal cities : but, as the plot had been prematurely
frustrated, and the rebellion had commenced with the Indians,
from whom all classes of whites had as much to fear as the
Spaniards, and, as the career of Hidalgo and his party was
marked by horrid excesses, it became the policy, indeed, the
imperious interest, of the Creoles, to adhere to the viceroy.
Still, however, there were daily desertions from the royalists,
and the forces of Hidalgo were assuming a formidable aspect.
He had already marched eighty leagues, without opposition,
and was approaching the gates of the city, with at least one
hundred and ten thousand men. It is true, that amongst this
vast multitude, there were not more than a thousand muskets,
but they were animated with a lofty spirit, and were full of
ardour. Had they been well directed, or been subject to any
species of order, they might, even with clubs and slings, have
committed great havoc among their opponents.
The viceroy Vanegas prepared to resist the storm with
great firmness, and had previously taken prompt and strong
measures to throw Hidalgo and his party into confusion.
He issued proclamations, breathing death and extermination

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. jg
against the rebels. He decreed, that whoever should be taken
with arms in their hands, should be shot, whether they were
of the clergy or not, or in whatever numbers ; and he allowed
only fifteen minutes for each criminal to prepare for eternity.
At the same time, he offered his majesty's pardon to all who
should return to their allegiance. The church likewise hurled
its thunders with an unsparing hand. The archbishop of
Mexico, in the fulness of his holy zeal, declared all the in
surgents to be heretics. He excommunicated them in a body,
with all the ceremony and rigour of papal anathemas ; and
painted, in vivid colours, the enormity of their crime, in having
taken up arms against a monarch, on whose head the sacred
unction had been poured. He ordered all the Spanish clergyj
and their faithful Creoles, to represent from the pulpit, and
to circulate reports, that the great object of the revolution
ists was to subvert and destroy the holy Catholic religion ;
and he directed the subaltern clergy to sow discord and un
easiness among families, by means of the confessional chair.
In short, no exertions were spared by the archbishop to alarm
the credulous, and to agitate the minds of the Mexican people,
and there is no doubt, that his fulminations had a powerful
tendency to paralyze the operations of the revolutionists.
On the approach of Hidalgo to the city of Mexico, the
viceroy displayed great activity and presence of mind. He
barricaded the streets, and adopted every manner of defence of
which the city was susceptible ; all the arms that could be pro
cured were distributed among the citizens of the capital, and
he pointed out to them the dreadful consequences that would
ensue, in case they permitted Hidalgo and his party to enter
into the city.
A detachment of troops was despatched from the city, un
der the command of Truxillo, to check the advance of Hidalgo.
He took post in a narrow defile of the- mountains, at a place
called Las Cruces, about eight leagues from the capital, where
he awaited the insurgents. An action took place ; but the
overwhelming force of Hidalgo compelled him to abandon his
position, and retreat upon the city, where he arrived, with the
loss of his artillery, and a number of his troops. This dis-

20 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
aster spread a gloom over the rbyalists, but the viceroy perse*
vered in placing the city in a state of defence, and endeavoured,
by his presence, to animate the people.
In the account that Truxillo gave of the affair at Las
Cruces, a stranger would suppose that he had defended the
defile with the obstinacy of a Leonidas; but it appears there
was a part of the Spartan hero's conduct, which Truxillo and
some other Spanish officers did not think expedient to imitate.
He boasts, in his despatch, that such were his loyal feelings and
indignation, that he had fired upon the bearers of a- flag of
truce, which Hidalgo had sent to him.
After the action of Las Cruces, Hidalgo advanced to the
Hacienda of ^uaximalpa, only five leagues distant from the
city of Mexico. Hidalgo and his army were now in full
view of the capital of that kingdom, the overthrow of whose
government they had resolved to effect. A bold and enter
prising man would have decided the fate ofthe empire in less
than twenty-four hours. He would have calculated, that, al
though his forces were undisciplined, yet they were brave and
enthusiastic, and such was their great numerical superiority
over the enemy, that a comparatively trifling sacrifice of lives
would have ensured success to the attempt.
Unfortunately, Hidalgo possessed none ofthe requisites, in
his character, essential for that critical moment. He paused,
at the instant that activity and energy should have marked
all his actions, and, instead of advancing directly to the assault,
he sent a summons to the viceroy to surrender the city. To
this demand no answer was returned, and Vanegas contrived,
by emissaries, to impress Hidalgo with the opinion that the
preparations for defence had rendered the city almost impreg
nable, to a disordered multitude, without fire-arms. Hidalgo
ought, however, to have considered, that the city contained
about thirty thousand people of the same description with his .
army, upon whose disaffection to the royalists he could have
relied, and that the Whole armed force did not exceed ten thou
sand men, a body by no means sufficient to guard the exten
sive lines of that vast city. Had he attacked it at different
points, with divisions of twenty or thirty thousand men, there

MEXICAN REVOLUTION, 2J(.
would have been, at least, a chance of his succeeding ; while
the loss of the opportunity he then had of striking a decisive
blow, would encourage the enemy, and enable them to strength
en their defence, and even to act on the offensive. None of
these reflections appear to have occurred to Hidalgo. On the
contrary, he was struck with a panic, and, resolving to abandon
the project of attacking the city, he commenced a retreat,
after remaining two or three days in sight of Mexico.
The viceroy had early despatched Don Felix Maria Calleja
to concentrate the royal forces, who was actually on his
march to the relief of the city, with a well appointed Creole
army of ten thousand men, and a train of artillery, at the
very time when Hidalgo retreated from before Mexico.
Vanegas, eased of his apprehensions for the capital, ordered
Calleja to attack Hidalgo.
The two armies met at Aculco, where an obstinate and
bloody battle was fought. The Indians evinced a degree of
valour entirely unexpected on the part of the royalists. They
rushed with their clubs- on the bayonets, of the columns of the
enemy, and fell in heaps. They were so totally ignorant of
the effects of artillery, that in the height of their enthusiasm,
they fearlessly ran up to the cannon, and with their Sombreros
de petate (flag hats) endeavoured to stop up the muzzles of
the guns. A scene ensued that baffles description. Without
order, and under no command, each one acted for himself,
and confusion was spread in every direction through the army
of Hidalgo. At length, the discipline of the royal troops
prevailed ; who, taking advantage of the disorder of the In
dians, put them to the rout, and commenced a slaughter, which
ceased only when the Spaniards had become exhausted with
the work of death. Calleja, in his despatches, exults that the
insurgents lost ten thousand men, of whom five thousand
were deliberately put to the sword.
After this disastrous battle, Hidalgo retreated on Guana
xuato ; from whence he fell back upon Guadalaxara, leaving
the rear guard under Allende in the former place.
Calleja, flushed with the victory he had recently gained,
resolved to follow it up, and accordingly advanced on Guan-

22 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
axuato. Allende gave him battle at the Hacienda of Marfil,
about a league from the city. The patriots, in this action,
were not in a situation to cope with Calleja, but they defended
themselves with great obstinacy. They were defeated, and
Allende, with the remains of his troops, retreated on Hidalgo.
Calleja now entered the city of Guanaxuato as a conqueror,
and there exhibited his vindictive and cruel disposition with
out restraint. Rendered furious by the timely retreat of
Hidalgo, and at the conduct which the inhabitants of that
city had displayed in favour of the rebellion, he determined •
to make an example so dreadful, as should strike terror into
the revolted provinces.
The sacrifice of the prisoners taken at the battle of Marfil
was not sufficient to satiate his vindictive spirit. He glutted
his vengeance on the defenceless populace of Guanaxuato.
Menj women, and children, were driven, by his orders, into
the great square ; and several thousand (it is said fourteen) of
these wretches, were butchered in the most barbarous manner.
Their throats were cut. The principal fountain of the city
was literally overflowing with blood, and, far from concealing
these savage acts, Calleja, in his despatches, exults in the
honour of communicating to the viceroy the intelligence, that
he had purged the city of its rebellious population^ The only
apolbgy offered for the mode of sacrifice was, that it would
have wasted too much powder and ball to have shot them,
and that, therefore, on a principle of economy, their throats
were cut.
The tragic scenes of Guanaxuato were the commencement
of a system of cruelty, which Calleja and his contemporaries
exercised in almost every city, town, and village, through
which they marched. His name, united with that of Cruz,
Concha, Tturvidi, Castanon, Negrette, and Linan, will be
transmitted to future ages with the bitter execrations of the
Mexicans. This monster soOn received proofs from the Cadiz regency,
of their high satisfaction with his conduct. They appointed
him to succeed Vanegas in the viceregal power.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 23
No sooner was he seated in the supreme chair of state*
than terror spread throughout the empire. Murder, fire, and
devastation, were dealt out with a merciless hand, and neither
age, sex, nor condition, could repress the rage of this barba
rian. These his qualifications appeared to have met with
warm admirers in Old Spain, where he was elevated to high
honours. He was created count of Calderon; and subsequent
ly appointed to the command of the ¦ expedition formed at
Cadiz, for the subjugation of South America. Fortunately,
that expedition has failed, and happy is it for the Americans
that Calleja did not again pollute the soil of their country ; for
had he landed on it, his bands would again have been dyed
in blood, and his ears again delighted with deep-breathed
maledictions. But to resume the history.
Hidalgo's army, although it had sustained a loss of at least
thirty thousand men, in killed, prisoners, and deserters, was
still about eighty thousand strong; and as some pains had
been taken to reduce them to order, they were much better
calculated to make a resistance than before.
The heavy guns from the works at San Bias had been con
veyed to Guadalaxara, and lines were thrown up, which at
least bore the aspect of fortifications. Hidalgo felt more
confident,, and looked forward to his being able to make a firm
stand at Guadalaxara. He endeavoured to excite the spirits
of his army by energetic and judicious harangues, and ear
nestly solicited the Indians not to commit the same errors
that had occurred in the previous combats. Thus prepared,
he awaited the approach of Calleja, who soon made his ap
pearance before the city. The battle was fought at the pass
of the bridge of Calderon. In the early part of the action, the
patriots swept all before them ; they rushed in among, and
broke the royal columns. But confusion arising among the
Indians, a desperate charge was made upon them, by a regi
ment which Calleja had kept in reserve. A general rout
ensued. The Indians, flying in all directions, were pursued,
and massacred by thousands.
The most appalling scenes of cruelty were renewed, the
details of which are forborne, lest the heart of the reader

24 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
should sicken at the picture of sanguinary horror. Suffice
it to say, that every prisoner, who fell into the hands of the
relentless Calleja, was murdered; and a tragedy similar to that
which was performed at Guanaxuato, was acted at Guadalax
ara, towards all persons on whom lighted the least suspicion of
having supported the cause of Hidalgo.
The Spaniards, animated by these successes, issued orders
to exterminate the inhabitants of every town and village that
manifested symptoms of adherence to the rebels, and, from
the pulpit, new fulminations flowed against all who opposed
the royal authority. The most ridiculous stories were circu
lated among the credulous and superstitious natives. Tracts
were published by the clergy, stating that the recent victories
had been obtained by the special intervention of the Deity,
who had, during the late actions, exhibited in the clouds crosses
and palms, in token of* His protection to the royal cause.
These tales were not without effect, particularly over those
who had already become disheartened by discomfiture.
Hidalgo, with some of his chief officers, escaped, and took
the road for the internal provinces.* It is said that he meant
to attempt by that route to gain the United States. He reached
a place called Acatila de Bajan, near the Saltillo ; where, him
self and his officers were treacherously delivered up by an
officer named Bustamante, on the 25th of March. In this
man, Hidalgo had placed the greatest confidence, and he had
• The internal provinces form three divisions. 1st. Those of the viceroyal
ty. — The province of San Luis Potosi ; colony of New Santander ; arid New
Kingdom of Leon. 2d. Eastern internal provinces. — Cohahuila and Texas.
3d. Western.- — Durango, Sonora, New Mexico, and the Californias.
The eastern and western provinces are each commanded by a commandant
general. The commandant general of the eastern provinces, commands, in a milita
ry point of view, those of New Santander, New Kingdom of Leon, Cohahuila,
and Texas ; but the finances of the two last only, pass through his hands.
Those of the other two, and of San Luis, are remitted direct to the Treasury
of Mexico, by the intendant ofthe intendancy of San Luis Potosi. The head
quarters of the eastern commandant general are at Monterey.
The commandant general of the western provinces commands, in every
respect, Durango, Sonora, New Mexico, and the Calefornias ; his head quar
ters are at Chihuahua.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 25
previously been attached to his party. Hidalgo was taken to
Chihuahua, in the intendancy of Durango, and there shot, on
the 27th of July, 1811.
It appears, by the accounts published in the Gazette of
Mexico, that, a few hours before his death, he made a solemn
recantation of his errors ; and there is a long address, said to
be written, by him, in which he unfolds to his countrymen the
enormity of their crime, in taking up arms against their legi
timate sovereign, and entreats them to return to their duty,
&c. The friends of Hidalgo say, that all this is a royal for
gery, and that he died supplicating Heaven to favour the
struggles of his country for independence. But be this as it.
may, it is well known now, that such arts, on the part pf the
royalists, have been frequently employed, since the death of
Hidalgo ; for, scarcely a single patriot chief of note has been
executed, whose penitence, and formal abjuration of the cause
he had espoused, has not been published in the Mexican Ga
zette. Allende, who was taken with Hidalgo, suffered death on
the 20th of June, 1811: all the other officers were likewise
executed, about the same time.

(4)

26 MEXICAN REVOLUTION

CHAPTER II.
State of the Revolution, after the Death of Hidalgo — General
Don Jose Maria Morelos — Capture of Oaxaca and Aca
pulco — Formation of a Congress and Constitution — Mani
festo ofthe Junta of Zultepec— Defeat at Valladolid — Gene
ral Matamoros taken prisoner and shot — Capture of More
los, at Tepecuacuilco—His Death— Arrival of the Congress
at Tehuacan — -General Observations.
THE flame of civil war had, by this time, spread itself
over a great part of the kingdom ; and, notwithstanding the
disasters of Hidalgo, the exterminating decrees of the viceroy,
and the anathemas of the church, the cause of liberty was
rapidly gaining proselytes.
Many of the officers, who had escaped from the fatal action
of the bridge of Calderon, retired to the different provinces,
where they raised considerable, bodies of Creoles and Indians,
and soon astonished the royalists by their valorous exploits.
With slings and clubs, they gained many important victories,
and thus were enabled to procure fire-arms.
The Cadiz regency, at the end of November, 1811, des
patched a body of European troops to Mexico. These, how
ever, were soon destroyed, by the partisan warfare carried on
by the Mexicans.
The patriots gained battle after br.ttle, but a total want of
concerted plans, and a deficiency of arms and munitions' of
war, rendered their successes of mere temporary consequence,
and only gave them an influence over the country within their
immediate range. This influence, however, was daily en
larging, and at length the great provinces of Guanaxuato,
Valladolid, New Galicia, Zacatecas, and parts of the provinces
of La Puebla, Vera Cruz, Mexico, and San Luis Potosi, were
so far under the controul of the patriots, that the royalists
^vere penned up in their few fortified cities, and could not

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 27
move beyond their walls, but with large armies, and trains of
artillery. The royalists, notwithstanding, possessed many very
important and decided advantages over the patriots. They
acted in unison. The European Spaniards, and their Creole
adherents, were under the direction of a government firmly
established for centuries, which now bent all its energies in
the same direction; they had men among them of military
instruction, were in possession of nearly every musket, and
cannon, and all the munitions of war in the kingdom ; their
finances were conducted by system ; their governors were
adepts in the intrigues of the old world ; and, lastly, they kept
open, and maintained an external communication, by which
they were abundantly supplied with men, arms, munitions of
war, clothing, and every requisite, from abroad.
The patriots^ on the other hand, were disunited, and spread
oyer a vast space of territory. Without any form of govern
ment, that deserved the hame, there was no source from
whence regular orders could emanate, and, each provincial
chief, or commandant, acted as his judgment or interest coun
selled. They were miserably ignorant, of the military art,
and, as before stated, deficient in arms, and munitions of war.
Their finances were under no regulation. However great
the wealth that fell into their hands, it was soon squandered,
without being employed in a manner (beneficial to the nation.
They were, besides, totally cut off from all foreign intercourse.
Many of their leaders were unlettered men, and although
brave and frank, yet were perpetually liable to be deceived by
the finesse and duplicity of their opponents.
With all these1 great disadvantages on the side of the pa
triots, it cannot be so surprising that they did not succeed, as
it is a matter of astonishment, that they should have progress
ed so far as they actually had done, at the time, when the
distinguished patriot, Don Jose" Maria Morelos, became the
supreme military chief of the republic. This man was a
priest, of excellent private character, and much better informed
than Hidalgo, but was entirely unacquainted with military
science. He began his career, by forming a body of men, in
the western part of the province of Valladolid in the Tierra

28 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Caliante, along the coast of the Pacific ocean. His standard
was joined by many distinguished Creoles, and by numbers of
deserters from the European troops. He had some tolerable
officers, and he at length succeeded by great perseverance and
activity, in equipping, and partially arming a body of seven
thousand men. They were well clothed, and good discipline
was established among them. They were enthusiastically
attached to their commander, and sincerely devoted to the
freedom of their country. So that Morelos- had the satisfac
tion to see all his orders obeyed with alacrity and cheerfulness.
With this force of seven thousand men, Morelos not only
paralyzed the movements of the Spaniards, but alarmed them
infinitely more than Hidalgo had done, with his heterogeneous
mass of one hundred and ten thousand.
Morelos sent a division of his army into the rich province
of Oaxaca, whose capital soon fell into his hands, together with
immense wealth. The population of Oaxaca received him with
open arms, and thousands joined his army. Having accom
plished his views on Oaxaca, he invested the strong city and
castle oi Acapulco, which he reduced, after a siege oi fifteen
months. Such was the cramped and districted situation of
the royalists, at that time, that they could not command a
force sufficient to attempt the relieving of Acapulco ; and,
indeed, several Spanish officers have expressed their opinions
to the writer, that the most critical epoch of the revolution,
was just after Morelos had captured Acapulco. At that
period, several other chiefs were operating in various parts of
of the kingdom, and distracting the movements of the royal
ists in every direction. Don Guadalupe Victoria had secured
the strong holds in the province of Vera Cruz* Don Manuel
Teran had a respectable force in the province of Puebla.
( Ossourno, with another division, was spreading terror and
and confusion in the province of Mexico ; while Dr. Coss, a
priest, the Rayons, Bustamente, Liceaga, and other brave offi
cers, occupied a great part of the provinces of Guanaxuato,
Valladolid, Zacatecas, and New Galicia, with considerable
divisions.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 29
If Morelos had concentrated his forces in the province of
Oaxaca, and fortified the important passes in the mountains
of the Misteca, which constitute the only keys to its entrance ;
if he had directed his attention to preserve the strong city of
Acapulco, and opened the ports of Oaxaca, on the Pacific
ocean, to foreign commerce ; and, if he had sent a division of
his army, through the province of Oaxaca, to the eastward of
Vera Cruz, and had taken possession of all the country at the
bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, particularly of the fine port of
Guasacualco, and opened a trade with the United States, and
the British Colonies, so as to have procured from abroad,
arms, munitions of war, and clothing for his troops ; then in
deed would the Mexican revolution have assumed another
aspect, and, in all human probability, would have speedily
'{triumphed. The forces of Morelos, at that time, were amply
(sufficient to have executed those objects ; and the funds he had
at his disposal, after the capture of Oaxaca, would have en
abled him to pay for all that was required from abroad^ for
«Me use of his army.
Upwards of one thousand seroons of cochineal, and two
millions of dollars in specie, were at the disposal, of the re
public, after the capture of Oaxaca; but these immense re
sources were soon annihilated in scenes of dissipation, or by
the bad management of those, to whom were entrusted the
national treasury.
- The royalists may now very justly say, they were saved by
the ignorance of Morelos, or his inattention to all those essen
tial matters ; in fact, he had become too sanguine of success,
and conceived he would soon be able to march to the city of
Mexico ; presuming, that when he had reduced the capital,
then the city of Vera Cruz, and all the other seaports, would
fall, as a matter of course.
Morelos, in the midst of his military successes, appeared
more anxious for the welfare of his country, than to display
the character of a military chieftain. Ha wns the first to p™-
pose and promote the formation of a civil government, and
thereby gave an unequivocal proof of his patriotism,/ He fre
quently acknowledged, to his intimate frjends, that he wished

30 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
to divide a responsibility, which he felt himself unequal to
sustain. With these views, he convened a congress. It was
composed of forty members, from the different provinces.
Don Jose Maria Liceaga was elected president. A constitu
tion was framed, at Apatzinjan in the province of Valladolid,
accepted, and sworn to, throughout all the provinces which
had taken up arms in favour of the republic. Whatever may
be the defects of that constitution, it certainly displays more
wisdom, than could have been expected from men, brought
up as the framers of it had been, and situated as they then
were. The first important act, of this legislative body, was to
present to their European brethren, a manifesto, stating the
causes which had compelled them to take up arms. They
r/elterated their desire for peace, upon the basis of representa
tion and justice, and on those terms, they offered to lay down
their arms. This manifesto was energetic and just, but
breathed, throughout, a spirit of conciliation ; it reiterated the
same sentiments that had been presented to the viceroy in
1812, by the patriotic junta of Zultepec, which in substance
was as follows.
Conditions, on which the patriots were ready to sign an
armistice, for the suspension of hostilities, and to enter into a
treaty with the royalists. —
9- " First. The sovereignty resides in the mass of the nation.
Second. Spain and America are integral parts of the same mo
narchy, subject to the same king, but respectively equal, and
without any dependence and subordination, one to the other.
Third. America, in her state of fidelity, has more right to
convoke the Cortes, and call together representatives of the
few patriots of Spain, already infected with disloyalty, than
Spain has to call over deputies from America, by means of
whom, we can never be worthily represented. Fourth. Dur
ing the absence of the king, the inhabitants of the Peninsula
have no right to appropriate to themselves the sovereign pow
er, and represent it in these dominions. Fifth. All the au
thorities, emanating from this origin, are null. Sixth. For the
American nation to conspire against them, by refusing to sub-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 31
mit to an arbitrary power, is no more than using its own rights.
Seventh. This, far from being a crime of high treason, is a
service worthy ofthe king's gratitude, and a proof of patriot-"
ism, which his majesty would approve, if he were on the spot.
Eighth. After what has occurred in the Peninsula, as well as
in this country, since the overthrow of the throne, the Ame
rican nation has a right to require a guarantee for its security,
and this can be no other, than putting into execution the right
^ which it has, of keeping these dominions for their legitimate
sovereign, by itself, and without the intervention of any Eu
ropean people."
yi From these incontrovertible principles, the following just
pretensions are deduced.
" First. That the Europeans resign the command ofthe arm
ed force, into the hands of a national congress, independent of
Spain, representing Ferdinand VII., and capable of securing
his rights in these dominions. Second. That the Europeans
remain in the class of citizens, being under the protection of
<the laws, without being injured in their persons, families, or
property. Third. That the Europeans, at present in office,
remain, with the honours, distinctions, and privileges thereof,
and part of their revenue, without exercisingthem. Fourth.
That as soon as this state of independency is declared, all an
tecedent injuries and occurrences be buried in oblivion ; the
most effectual measures, for this purpose, are to be adopted,
and all the inhabitants of this land, as well Creoles as Euro
peans, shall indiscriminately constitute a nation of American
citizens, vassals of Ferdinand VII., and bent only on promot
ing the public felicity. Fifth. That, in such a case, America
would be able to contribute in favour of the few Spaniards
engaged in sustaining the war of Spain, with those sums the
national congress may assign, in testimony of our fraternity
with the Peninsula, and to prove that both aspire to the same
end. Sixth. That the. Europeans, who maybe desirous of
quitting the kingdom, be granted passports for whatever place
they may wish ; but, in that case, officers shall not be allowed
the portion of their pay,' that might have been granted them."

32 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Conditions on which the patriots proposed to prosecute the
war.^)" First. A war, between brethren and fellow-citizens, ought
not to be more cruel than between foreign nations. Second.
The two contending parties acknowledge Ferdinand VII. :
of this, the Americans have given evident proofs, by swear
ing allegiance to him, and proclaiming him in every part ; by
carrying his portrait as their emblem ; invoking his august
name in their acts and proceedings, and stamping it on their
coins and money. On him, the enthusiasm of all rests, and
on these grounds, the insurrectional party has always acted.
Third. The rights of nations and of war, inviolable even
amongst the most infidel and savage people, ought to be much
more so amongst us, who profess the same creed, and who are
subject to the same sovereign and laws. Fourth. It is oppos
ed to Christian morality, to act from hatred, rancour, or per
sonal revenge. Fifth. Since the sword is to decide the dis
pute, and not the arms of reason and prudence, by means of
agreements and adjustments, founded on the basis of natural
equity ; the contest ought to be continued in such a manner,
as to be least shocking to humanity ; already too much afflict
ed not to merit Qur most tender compassion."
*~* Hence are naturally deduced, the following just pretensions.
" First. That prisoners be not treated as criminals, guilty
of high treason. Second. That no one be sentenced to death,
or execution, for this cause, but that all be kept as hostages,
for the purpose of exchange ; that they be not molested with
irons and imprisonment ; and, as this is a measure of precau
tion, let them be put loose in places where they cannot injure
the views of the party by whom they may be detained. Third.
That each one be treated according to his class and condition.
Fourth. That, as the rights of war do not permit the effusion
of blood, but in the act of combat* when this is over, let no
one be killed ; nor let those be fired upon who fly, or throw
down their arms; but let them be made prisoners by the victor.
Fifth. That as it is contrary to the same rights, as well as to
those of nature, to enter, with fire and sword, into the defence-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 33
less towns, or to assign, by tenths and fifths, persons to be
shot, by which the innocent are confounded with the guilty ;
let no one be allowed, under the most severe penalties, to
commit such enormities as those, which so greatly dishonour
a Christian and civilized people. Sixth. That the inhabitants
of the defenceless towns, through which the Contending par
ties indiscriminately may pass, be not injured. Seventh. That
as by this time, every person is undeceived with regard to the
true motives of this war, and it being unwarrantable to connect
this contest with the cause of religion, as Was attempted at the
beginning, let the ecclesiastical orders abstain from prostituting
their ministry, within the limits of their jurisdiction, by decla
mations, reproaches, or in any other way ; nor ought the ecclesi
astical tribunals to interfere in an affair exclusively of the state,
and which does not belong to them. If they continue to act
as they have heretofore done, they will certainly disgrace their
dignity, as experience daily proves; and expose their decrees
and censures to the scorn, derision, and contempt, of the peo
ple, who, in the mass, are anxiously wishing the success ofthe
country. It being well understood, that, in case the clergy are
not thus restrained, we feel no longer answerable for the re
sults that may occur from, the enthusiasm and indignation of
the people ; although, on our part, we protest, now and for ever,
our profound respect and veneration for their character and
jurisdiction, in matters relating to their ministry. Eighth.
That, as this is a matter of the greatest importance, and con
cerns indiscriminately all and every inhabitant of this land,
this manifesto and its propositions ought to be published, by
means of the public prints of the capital, in order that the
people, composed of Americans and Europeans, being inform
ed of what so deeply interests them, may be enabled to point
out their will, which ought to be the guide of all our opera
tions. Ninth. That, in case none of these plans are admitted,
reprisals shall be rigorously observed.
" Behold, here, brethren and friends, the propositions we
present to you, founded on the principles of natural equity.
In one hand, we offer you the olive branch ; and in the other,
the sword; never losing sight of those bonds by which we
GO

34 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
are united, always bearing in mind, that European blood cir
culates in our veins, and that the same blood which is now so
fast shedding, to the great detriment of the monarchy, and
for the purpose of maintaining it integral during the ab
sence of the king, is all Spanish. What objection can you
have to examine our pretensions ? How can you palliate the
blind obstinacy of refusing to hear us ? Are we, perchance,
inferior to the populace of a single town in Spain ? and are you
of a superior hierarchy to kings ? Charles III. descended
from his throne, to listen to a plebeian, who spoke in the name
of the people of Madrid. To Charles TV. the tumult of
Aranjuez cost no less than the abdication of his crown. Is it,
then, the Americans alone, when they seek to speak to their
brethren, to whom they are in every sense equal, and at a time
when the king can no longer be had, who are to be answered
with the fire of musketry ?
" If, now, when we address you for the last time, since we
have often in vain endeavoured to fix your attention, you re
fuse to admit any of our plans, at least, we shall rest satisfied
with having proposed them, in compliance with the most sa
cred duties, which the good man cannot behold with indiffer
ence. In this manner shall we be justified in the eyes of the
world, and posterity will not have to accuse us of irregular
proceedings. But in this case, remember, there is a severe •
and supreme Judge, to whom, sooner or later, you will have
to give in an account of your operations, and of their results
and enormities ; of all which, henceforward, we make you
answerable. Remember, that the fate of America is not de
cided ; that the combat is hot always favourable to you ; and
that reprisals are, at all times, most terrible. Brethren, friends,
and fellow-citizens, let us embrace, and be happy, instead of
mutually bringing misfortunes on our heads."
Thus did the Mexicans explain their rights, their wishes,
and their loyalty : but these documents, as well as many other
attempts at pacification, were always treated by the royalists
with scorn. They declared it derogatory to Spanish dignity, to
treat with vile and malignant insurgents : they affected to look
on the patriots as rebels, unworthy the rights of humanity,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 35
threatening them with total extermination; and, during the
reign ofthe barbarous Calleja, cruelty was clothed in its most
terrific garb — every insurgent that fell into their hands, was
immediately sacrificed.
Is it a matter of surprise, that, under such deep and dread
ful provocations, the Mexican patriots should resort to acts of
blood and retaliation ? In truth, it was the only mode calcu
lated to repress the savage atrocities of the royalists. The
consequences of this retaliatory system, spread with electric
rapidity through this once pacific people. Man, by daily
witnessing scenes of cruelty, soon becomes callous to the feel
ings of humanity.
Philanthropists, in their closets, may deplore these excesses,
and deprecate the exercise of revenge ; but those only, who
have been placed in the situation of beholding their families,
friends, and companions, butchered in cold blood, — who have
seen villages and estates laid waste by fire, — who have wit
nessed thousands of human beings compelled to fly for refuge
among the beasts of the forest, can form an adequate concep
tion Ofthe imperious necessity, and even gratification, accom
panying acts of retaliation.
Hidalgo and Morelos, as well as many other patriot chiefs,
have giveh numerous proofs of the exercise of mercy; but
rarely indeed has this virtue appeared in the conduct of the
. royal chiefs. Hundreds of European Spaniards are now living
in Mexico, who were taken prisoners on the field of battle ;
but there breathes scarcely a single insurgent, taken under
similar circumstances. During the reign ofthe Spanish Nero,
clemency was a crime; and whenever he heard that any of his
officers, in contravention of his ordersj had listened to the ap
peals of a wretched prisoner, he ordered such officer to be
dismissed or severely reprimanded, and the victim to be im
mediately put to death. We were witness to a heart-rending
scene of this nature. About forty prisoners, who had been
captured several days after an action, and had been found in
the woods unarmed, were pardoned by a commandant of the
royalists, and had been induced by him to enlist among the
royal troops. A few days after their enlistment, eight of thena

36 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
deserted. On the receipt of this intelligence, the viceroy or
dered the remaining thirty-two to be taken from the royal
ranks, and shot. The gallant commandant refused to obey
the barbarous mandate, and sent a respectful remonstrance to
Calleja on the subject, — .the former order was repeated; but,
in the meantime, an opportunity was afforded the prisoners to
make their escape, which they effected, with the exception of
four, who were shot ; the commandant was suspended from
his command. Were we to relate one-third of the horrors
committed by Calleja's orders, they would not only occupy
too large a space in our volume, but would appear incredible
to our readers. We feel great pleasure, however, in stating,
that the successor of Calleja, Don Juan Ruiz de Apodaca,
the present viceroy, has displayed a character the reverse of
his predecessor ; and several of his officers have, on many
occasions, given proofs, that a merciful spirit may be found in
the breast of a European Spaniard. But s»ch had been the
sanguinary education of the officers and soldiers, and such
their habitual practice of indiscriminately sacrificing the insur
gent prisoners, that, on the part of the royalists, the work of
extermination continued to rage with nearly the same fury, as
during the first three years of the revolution.
The disgraceful and barbarous warfare, which was adopted
in Mexicq and which still rages there aud in South America,
had its origin solely in the outrageous decrees of the Spanish
government, and in the conduct of Spanish officers sent to
America to execute thqse sanguinary mandates. All the offers
of Hidalgo, Morelos, and other chiefs, to adopt an exchange
of prisoners, and to prosecute the war according to theusages
of civilized nations, were invariably treated with contempt
by* the royalists. Hence has resulted a growing and deadly
hatred, on the part of the Americans, against European Spa
niards, — an inextinguishable spirit of revenge, which sus
pends upon a fragile^ thread the life of every Spaniard in
America. This is known and felt by many a Spaniard now
residing in Mexico, although the government of Spain appears
not yet to be sensible of the important fact. The Indians and
Ci'eoles never will, never can, forgive or forget their former

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 37
grievances, and the recent cruelties which have been practised
on them. It is now too late to attempt to regain the affections
or homage ofthese people; and Spain will, ere long, discover
that it is impossible to bind them with their former shackles.
To suppose that the fires and eruptions of Mount Etna might
be suppressed by throwing a platform of wood over the mouth
of the crater, would not be more ridiculous, than to suppose
that the population of America, can continue to be controlled
by Spain. '*
In making the preceding remarks, we have been guided by
a mass of proofs derived from personal knowledge, and by the
careful perusal of authentic documents from royalists and pa
triots. The development of these facts may excite the dis
pleasure of the Spanish government, and wound the pride of
the European Spaniard; but we feel bound to place them be
fore the civilized world, in justice to the much injured inha
bitants of Southern America, as well as to perform our duty
as a citizen of the United States, and consequently an avowed
enemy fo all governments inimical to rational freedom.
To return to the operations of Morelos. After the capture
of Oaxaca, the numerical strength of his army was much aug
mented : but the prevalence of inattention to discipline, and
the conduct of the officers, in indulging in relaxation in that
luxurious climate, combined with the strange and clashing
decrees of a legislative body, who were inexperienced as well
as deficient in energy, rendered it impossible for Morelos to
strike a decisive blow against the enemy. No sooner did he
and his officers form any military plan, than its merits became
the subject of discussion in the Mexican congress, and thus
was rendered ineffectual by delay, or became known to the
enemy. The Spanish government put in motion every engine
of intrigue, to gain over to its interests part of the members
of the/ Mexican congress ; and some intercepted despatches,
which fell into the hands ofthe patriot chiefs, unfolded to them
the weakness, or rather treachery, of several distinguished
individuals of their own party. Jealousy, of course, ensued ;
confidence was shaken between the military and civil authori-

38 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
ties, and hence originated the train of serious disasters, which
will be related in the sequel.
Morelos, on learning that the royalists had retaken Valla
dolid, and strongly fortified it, marched to effect its reduction,
without reflecting that his army was generally composed of the
natives of Tierra Calienta, and consequently not adapted to
carry on warfare in the cold regions. His attempt, therefore,
on Valladolid, was not only unsuccessful, but he lost a great
number of men, and was compelled to make a precipitate re
treat to the warm country.
The royalists now became animated with fresh courage, and
determined on pursuing the patriot army. At the hacienda
of Puruaran, they met a division under the command of the
patriot general Matamoros. The royalists began the combat
with great fury, while the patriots defended themselves with
such obstinacy, that almost every individual of the division
was cut to pieces, and the general remained a prisoner in the
hands of the royalists.
Matamoros was a priest, and had, on several occasions,
displayed great valour, and more military talent than any other
officer in the patriot service. It is generally believed, that if
he had enjoyed the supreme command, instead of the second
rank, he would have pursued a very different, and probably a
more successful course, than that which Morelos had adopted.
The official despatches of the royalists, on the capture of
Matamoros, evince the high opinion they entertained of him.
They refused an offer made by Morelos, to exchange several
Spanish officers and men, whom he then held as prisoners, for
the captured general, and although the former threatened to
make a dreadful retaliation, in case Matamoros was sacrificed,
yet the royalists, in despite of offers and menaces, caused him
to be shot.
Morelos, after experiencing many disasters and difficulties,
finding that the province of Valladolid was not a suitable the
atre for his army, nor a place of security for the residence of
the Mexican congress, which then held its sessions at a place
called Ario, resolved on transferring his head quarters to the
city of Tehuacan, in the province of La Puebla, where the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 39
patriot chief Teran had a respectable division. With this
view, he put his army in motion, taking with him the mem
bers of congress, and a greatnumber of women and children.
We have been informed, by several persons who accompanied
that expedition, that it resembled more the emigration of a
vast body of people, than the march of an army. The road,
for several leagues, was covered with baggage wagons and
mules: no order was observed on the march; and the military
forces were so scattered, that, in case of an attack, it would
have been impracticable to form a junction with promptitude.
Morelos does not appear to have made the least calculation on
being assaulted : he conceived that such was his superiority of
numbers, that the royalists would not dare to molest him on
his route. He continued his march, without opposition, for
several days. He at length separated from the main body of
his army, and reached a place called Tepecuacuilco, with a
small division of cavalry. He there made a halt, intending
to remain until his main force should come up.
The royalists, in the meantime, had gained intelligence,
by means of spies, whom they had placed in Morelos' army,
of all his movements ; and, although they had several times
appeared on'his flanks and rear during the march, yet they
had not shown a disposition to bring him to action. No soon
er, however, were they informed that Morelos, with his small
party of cavalry, had detached himself from his main body,
than they resolved to seize on the advantage thus offered to
them. They accordingly pushed on, and came up with him at
Tepecuacuilco. After a short combat, Morelos was taken
prisoner, on the 5th of November, 1815. He was sent to
Mexico, and delivered over to the Holy Office. The cities
and towns in the kingdom, in possession ofthe royalists, gave
way to the most extravagant demonstrations of joy, on the
capture of the patriot chief. This event they considered as
the termination of the contest. >
The Inquisition acted a conspicuous part. After declaring
Morelos a heretic, and degrading him, with all its solemn
forms, that tribunal delivered him over to the military autho
rity, which, in its turn, declared him a traitor, and sentenced

40 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
him to be shot. The sentence was carried into effect, on the
22d of December, 1815, at San Christoval, in the environs of
the city of Mexico.
On this occasion, there was published a document, with the
signature of Morelos, in which he was represented as making
a solemn recantation of his errors ; as exhorting his deluded
countrymen to return to their allegiance to the Spanish go
vernment; and, after imploring theforgiveness of his God and
his king, acknowledging the justice of the punishment he was
about to suffer. There was likewise published another docu
ment, wherein he offered, that if the viceroy would grant him
his life, he would engage effectually to quell the insurrection.
Both these documents have been declared by the patriots to
be forgeries of the royalists ; and in support of this assertion,
they have published some very able papers. Indeed, some of
the royalists, who were present at the execution of Morelos,
have had the candour to acknowledge, that he died in the most
heroic manner, fervently praying for the emancipation of his
country, and sternly refusing to answer any interrogatories,
tending to compromise the safety, or to develop the views, of
the patriots.
The death of Morelos was a serious blow to the cause of
his party, as he was the only one, among their chiefs, whose
orders were implicitly obeyed. The forces under his command
were much better organized than any other troops in the coun
try ; and they had, on several occasions, displayed great va
lour, particularly in the siege of Zitaquaro, where they gained
a victory over a superiority of numbers. The memorable
siege of Acapulco, which occupied fifteen months, evidenced
the great influence that Morelos possessed over his army ; for
otherwise it would have been impossible, in such a climate, to
cause raw troops to display so much perseverance. In fact,
all the royalists, with whom the writer conversed, expressed
their belief, that, had Morelos safely reached Tehuacan, and
there concentrated the divisions of the other patriot chiefs, he
would have been able, in a few weeks, to have destroyed any
force that the royalists, at that time, could have brought against
them.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 41
In proportion as the death of Morelos excited fresh courage
among the royalists, it occasioned depression and confusion
among the patriots. Dissensions took place in the Mexican
congress ; while, among the military chieftains, ambition to
obtain the supreme command became the dominant passion.
Each refused to act in concert with the other, and endeavoured
to promote his separate interests at the expense of those of
his country.
The royalists were not idle, at this juncture. They knew
that the continuance of their power depended upon keeping up
this spirit of jealousy among the patriot chiefs 3 and they
employed bribery, and every other available means, to pre
vent a union of the revolutionists, well knowing, that so long
as they remained scattered in divisions throughout the pro
vinces, it would be easy to beat them in detail.
The fatal consequences flowing from these dissensions
among the patriots, will be found detailed, in their proper
place, in the sequel.
The members of the Mexican congress, after the capture of
Morelos, pursued their route to Tehuacan, where they arrived,
and began to exercise their legislative functions, by issuing
decrees, which were obeyed, or disregarded, as suited the in
terests or inclinations of the military commandants to whom
they were addressed.
Don Manuel Mici y Teran, the commander-in-chief at Te
huacan, was viewed with a jealous eye by several members of
the congress ; and he discovered their intentions to deprive
him of his command. As the officers and soldiers of Teran
were devoted to him, and as he conceived that he was likely
to fall a victim to the intrigues of the congress, he resolved on
the bold step of dissolving that body, and of seizing the per
sons of the members. Accordingly, he sent a military force to
the house where they were assembled, and pot them all under
arrest. We have seen his manifesto, in justification of this
daring act; and although we do not pretend, to decide that his
alleged reasons for the measure are perfectly satisfactory, yet
his subsequent conduct proved that he was not guided by any
views hostile to the welfare of his country. Neither does he
(6)

42 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
appear to have dishonoured his character, by any act of re
venge against those members of the congress who had previ
ously determined on his destruction ; but, on the contrary,
although they were completely in his power, he liberated them
all, gave some of them money, and permitted them to depart
from Tehuacan, and proceed to any place they thought proper.
The dissolution of the Mexican congress, by this arbitrary
act of Teran, was, however, a fatal event to the cause of the
patriots ; for, the military commanders, in the different pro
vinces, no longer considering themselves subservient to any
orders, openly assumed the character of independent chiefs
in their respective jurisdictions. They all avowed a deadly
hostility to Teran. The extraordinary character of this man,
who had not only to contend against the royalists, but likewise
against the machinations of his compatriots, will be described
in our subsequent details of the, revolution.
At the time that the revolutionary cause in Mexico assumed
this gloomy and desperate aspect, the gallant Spanish general
Mina was forming a project,, in London, in its favour. This
brave youth had rendered eminent services to his native coun
try, and had been a principal instrument in frustrating the
designs of the emperor Napoleon, with regard to Spain. His
distinguished services were requited by the ungrateful Ferdi
nand, in the manner which will be detailed in the following
chapter. Prior to Mina's departure from London, he had received
some accounts of the disasters in Mexico, which we have
briefly noticed : but, so far from his ardour being damped by
the unpropitious intelligence, it appeared to furnish him with
new incentives to resume his deeds of hardihood and valour,
in the cause of an oppressed people. The constancy of this
high-minded Spaniard, struggling with obstacles almost insur
mountable, has Barely been equalled— -never excelled.
The reader will find, in the annexed biographical sketch of
Mina, and in the relation of his daring exploits in Mexico, the
portrait of a hero, worthy of occupying, on the page of history,
a distinguished rank among the martyrs of liberty.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 43

CHAPTER III.
General Mina — His early life, and career in Spain— His mo
tives for embarkingin the cause of Mexico — Arrival at, and
transactions in Baltimore — Departure of the Expedition-
Occurrences at Port au Prince — Arrival of the Expedition
at Galvezton— Treachery of Correa — Departure ofthe Ex
pedition from Galvezton, and its arrival off the bar of the
River Santander-— Disembarkation ofthe Division.
DON XAVIER MINA was born in the month of De
cember, 1789. He was the eldest son of a well-born and
respected proprietary, whose domains lay near the town of
Monreal, in the kingdom of Navarre. Brought up among
the mountains of his native province, he was accustomed to
wander through their rich vallies, and to pursue the chase
amidst the grandeur of the Pyrenees. His faculties, thus
nurtured and exercised, expanded themselves at an early pe
riod, while his mind imbibed all the energy of an unconquerable
boldness. The wild aspect, the rugged scenery of an Alpine
country, and the cheerful and buoyant feelings they excite, are
well known to have a powerful effect upon the formation of
character. It is there that the simple mountaineer, removed
from the influence of the refinements of society, escapes its
corruption ; and we find the elevated valley " dignified as the
abode of bravery and virtue." It is there, that the elements
of great and noble daring are cherished; that patriotism is a
feeling of spontaneous growth ; and thence have sprung those
heroic spirits, whose exalted deeds have shed a lustre on hu
manity. The early studies of Mina were pursued at Pampeluna and
at Saragossa. In 1808, at the commencement of the resist
ance of the Spaniards to the French invasion, he was a student
in the university of Saragossa. At that period, between
eighteen and nineteen years of age, he felt the strong enthu-

44 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
siasm of the times. When the massacre at Madrid, of the
2d of May, shook all Spain, and the cry of vengeance was
heard from the Ebro to the Guadiana, he abandoned his stu
dies, joined the army of the north of Spain, as a volunteer,
and was present at the battles of Alcornes, Maria, and Bel-
chite. The events of that period are still fresh in our remem
brance : — the general rising of the Spanish nation, and the
awakening of the heroism of the Spanish people, from the
slumber in which it had been spell-bound, since the days of
Charles V.
Irritated at the capture of his armies, Napoleon, at this time,
began to pour fresh troops into Spain ; and it became particu
larly important to the Spaniards to have a communication
with France, as the means of procuring intelligence. The
gallant young Mina undertook the enterprise. Availing him
self of his knowledge of the country, the peasantry, and the
passes of the mountains, he executed it with complete suc
cess ; establishing a secret communication with the provinces
of France, adjacent to the Pyrenees, by which much valuable
information, of what was passing in France, was obtained by
the Spanish generals.
The Spanish armies, however, were unable to cope with the
numerous and veteran troops with which Napoleon overspread
the country, and, being defeated in every regular encounter,
they retreated before the French, l
The Catalonian army, after the defeat at Belchite, a town
to the southward of Saragossa, fell back to Tortosa, while
the French occupied a line extending in the direction of the
southern frontier of Arragon, into Catalonia,
It was in this gloomy situation of affairs, that Xavier Mina
formed a determination, which had the most important effects,
not only upon his own fortune in life, but upon the whole war
in Spain. He resolved to pass through the line of the French
position, and, gaining his native province of Navarre, to make
its mountains and fastnesses the theatre of his hostile opera
tions ; to hang on the rear of the invaders, to intercept their
convoys and couriers, and to cut off their straggling detach
ments.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 45
In an evening walk he first communicated, to a friend and
kinsman, his plans and schemes ; and unfolded, with enthusi
asm, his hopes, and fears, and visions of glory. His kinsman
heard him to the end in silence, and then pointing to a gibbet
which stood near, " If you succeed, it will be great : if you
fail, there is your portion," was his replyi In answer to his
solicitation to be permitted to put his plans in execution, the
Spanish general told him it would only be throwing away his
life, as he would be cut off from the army ; "Ido not," said
Mina, " think I am cut off, so long as I can find a path for my
horse." Finally, he left Tortosa with twelve men, and, pass
ing with skill through the line occupied by the French army,
arrived in Navarre. Of those twelve, one is at present a
lieutenant ; another has retired with nine wounds ; and the
rest fell in battle.
The first attempt of Mina was upon a small guard of a
dozen French. He attacked them with about twenty men,
and captured them without much resistance. The next, was
on a party of thirty men. The Spaniards, who had nearly
the same number, lay concealed behind a stone wall; upon the
approach of the enemy, they rose and fired. In the contest
¦which ensued, a tall grenadier fired at Mina with deliberate
aim, and, taking shelter behind a tree, encouraged his party.
But the Spaniards, leaping the wall, rushed on, and settled
the combat with their sabres. This successful beginning pro
duced the most important results. The spirits of the pea
santry were roused ; many successful adventures took place ;
the French foraging parties were cut to pieces ; their convoys
attacked and plundered ; and their couriers intercepted. The
Spanish government had scarcely finished their rejoicing for
the first successes of Mina, when they were again surprised
by his sending them a large body of prisoners, among whom
was a lieutenant colonel ; and, at another time, seven hundred
prisoners, with a quantity of military equipments, stores, and
money. The French were not passive spectators of these chivalrous
exploits. Upwards of thirty individuals, nearly or remotely
connected with Mina's family, were suddenly arrested, and

46 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
sent into France. War, with all the meliorations introduced
by modern civilization, is sufficiently terrible to a reflecting
mind; but it is. in those political struggles, where the relations
and kindred of an individual, are made answerable for his
opinions and acts, that it comes armed with its severest afflic
tions. Among the relatives of Mina, thus torn from their
country, was an accomplished young lady, the object of his
early attachment. Separated from each other, time, and the
waves of an adverse fortune, bore them still farther asunder,
and the tender affections, the sport of events, sunk, and were
lost for ever. •.
Repeated expeditions" were undertaken to destroy Mina,
but the affections of every peasant being with him, and having
correct intelligence of every movement, he was enabled, not
only to baffle and elude his enemy, but frequently coming on
them by surprise, to defeat and destroy his pursuers. When
he found their forces too numerous to be openly resisted, he
appointed a place of rendezvous, dispersed his band, and, se
parating from each other, they eluded pursuit. The armed
mountaineers retired to their homes, or to secret recesses, and
there waited till their leader gave the signal; when, suddenly
re-appearing, they seemed to spring from the earth, like the
men of Cadmus, a legion of soldiers. Mina, with a select
band, the nucleus of his army, retired to the mountains. A
hjjl, near his father's mansioij, was his principal retreat. He
was familiar with its fastnesses, and solitary recesses, and
the neglected flocks of his own family, furnished him and his
brave companions with food. When he determined on strik
ing a blow, he gathered his forces like a tempest on the moun
tain top, and, descending in terror, swept the province to the
very gates of Pampeluna.
In this manner was begun the insurrection in the province of
Navarre. From this period, bands of guerillas were organized
throughout the country, Thus commenced that system, which
was the great means of keeping up the spirit of desperate ani
mosity, and which became, eventually, the principal means of
delivering Spain from her invaders. The accounts of Mina's
successes ran through the country, and produced a powerful

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 47
excitement in the minds of the people. He was thence soon
enabled to raise a respectable division of troops, whose num
bers were increased by the peasantry, whenever it was con
templated to strike a blow.
The central junta of Seville conferred on him the rank of
colonel, and, soon after, the dignity of commandant general of
Navarre. The junta of Arragon also ^appointed him com
manding general of upper Arragon. He won these honours
most gallantly by his sword, in a gloomy and desperate hour ;
they were confirmed to him by his country ; and he continued
his brilliant career, lighting up an hostility and daring resist
ance, which has made the French invasion of Spain one of the
most remarkable events in the history of modern Europe.
In the winter of 1810—11, Mina was directed by the Span
ish government to destroy, if possible, an iron foundry near
Pampeluna, from which the. French were supplied with a num
ber of articles for the service of the war. Whether, it was
from one of those accidents which no prudence can foresee, or
that the enemy had obtained information of his movements,
this unfortunate enterprise was fatal to Mina. Two strong
bodies of French troops, on their march in contrary directions,
arrived at the same time at the two entrances of a narrow valley.
Mina and his corps, who were then in the defile, were com
pletely enclosed. The fight that ensued was obstinate and
bloody. The gallant Mina, defending himself with his sword,
fell, pierced with wounds, a prisoner, into the hands of the
enemy. Thus ended the rapid but brilliant career of Xavier Mina
in Spain. Fortune, as if jealous of the skill and heroism
which threatened to raise him above her capricious favours,
played him false at last. But the spirit which he had- raised
was still. alive ; the rage of his warrior mountaineers was kin
dled, and they chose one of his family to lead them to revenge.
His uncle Espoz was, the chief whom they selected, and he
proved himself worthy of the high trust. He stands first
among those, whose names are chaunted through Spain, in the
hymns of triumph of a delivered people. He watched faithfully
through the dark and perilous night, which overhung his coun-

48 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
try, and when the morning of her deliverance broke, Espoz was
seen chasing the last Frenchman from Spain. But let not the
full glory of the uncle, diminish that of the nephew. Xavier
Mina was less fortunate, but not less deserving, than Espoz.
Ego feci, tulit alter honores. It was Xavier, who first taught
the mountaineers of his province where to strike at the invader,
and gave system to their irregular valour. He encouraged, by
his successes, the Spaniards to follow his daring example ; he
braved the terrors of Napoleon's vengeance ; and opened, with
his sword, the path which led to the deliverance of his coun
try. He was not one and twenty when taken prisoner. What
might not have been expected from this heroic youth, if his
career had been continued?
Mina was taken to Paris, after his capture, and shut up in
the castle of Vincennes. The afflictions, which press upon the
unfortunate state prisoner, were aggravated to him, by the
care with which all intelligence of the fate of his relations, or
struggling country, was concealed from him. His hair came
out, and his person was completely changed. In time, how
ever, the rigours of his imprisonment were softened, and books
were given him. He applied himself, with great industry, to
the study of the military art, in which he derived great assist
ance from some of the veteran officers, who were his fellow-
prisoners. He remained in Vincennes till the allied armies en
tered France, nor was he set at liberty until the general peace,
which took place upon the abdication ofthe emperor Napoleon.
It is well known, that king Ferdinand, on his return to
Spain, was met by a deputation, bearing for his approval', the
constitution under which Spain had been governed, during the
captivity of the king ; a constitution that was founded on the
basis of a meliorated and limited monarchy. It was formed
to meet the liberal opinions of enlightened Spaniards, and
those changes which the age, and modern ideas, demanded.
One, out of the many instances of this melioration, may be
cited from article No. 304, which for ever abolishes all con
fiscation of the property of the person condemned for crimes
against the state ; and the humane reason assigned is, that
confiscation is a punishment of the innocent children, and not

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 49
of the criminal. Nor will the merit of this distinction be
fully understood, until we reflect that there is scarcely a state
or kingdom in Europe, in which the contrary doctrine is not
held. The conduct of Ferdinand, on his return to Spain, is well
known to the world. The sympathies of the liberal and
enlightened, once so strong in his favour, in every country,
have been destroyed by the persecution of the Cortes, and the
proscription of the patriot leaders ; by the prohibition of fo
reign books and journals ; by the destruction of the opening
sources of national improvement ; and by the revival of the
Inquisition, with its demon train of judicial murders and mid
night tortures. The dungeons of the Holy Office, the fortifi
cations and gallies, in which soldiers of honour were con
demned to work with the vilest criminals, and the list of ban
ishments, confiscations, and executions, forcibly show, in what
manner bigotry and political interest will destroy the most
generous feelings, and sanction the vilest ingratitude.
Being conspicuous members of the party of Liberates, or
Constitutionalists, the two Minas soon experienced the dis
pleasure of the court, and the frowns of the king. Xavier,
however, was offered the command of the military forces in
Mexico, a situation next to that of the viceroy of New Spain.
He declined it; and, being apprehensive ofthe consequences,
retired into Navarre. Espoz y Mina, whq still remained at the
head of his mountain warriors in Navarre, immediately re
ceived an order, depriving him of his command. Matters
being thus brought to a crisis, it was determined by the two
Minas to raise the standard ofthe Cortes and the constitution.
They had no time to form any extensive plan. It was agreed
to strike immediately, before the order depriving Espoz of
his command should be publicly known. The details of this
bold attempt are interesting, and present some features of ro
mance; but we can only glance slightly at them. While Es
poz was to put his troops in motion, that he might arrive, at
a concerted hour, under the walls of Pampeluna, Xavier Mina
entered the fortress. There, he soon communicated with a
few officers, who were known to him, and whose sentiments
(0

50 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
were favourable to the Cortes. Popular in the whole Spanish
army, and his name endeared to those soldiers of freedom, he
selected a few of them to be his guests at a convivial banquet.
After supper, as the time drew nigh, Mina rose up suddenly
amidst them ; addressed them in a nervous and enthusiastic
harangue ; unfolded the ingratitude and injustice of the court;
and, finally, exhorted them to give the blessings of freedom to
the country they had saved. The effect was electric and
complete. They arose, and crossing their swords, as they
stood around the banqueting table, swore to be faithful. The
sentinels On the appointed bastion were withdrawn; the lad
ders were fixed ; and, from the dead of night, almost till the
dawn, they waited, with breathless anxiety, the approach of
the troops under Espoz y Mina. Had they then arrived, a
new era, pregnant with important events, would have opened
on Spain.
The causes which led to the failure of the enterprise were
partly accidental, and implicate the policy, not the bravery, of
Espoz. It is now understood, that the troops, instead of be
ing excited and stimulated for such an occasion, by his orders
were rigidly kept from liquor and refreshment. They were
altogether ignorant of the reason and nature of an expedition,
so strange to them, in time of peace ; and, after marching till
a late hour in the night, they began to murmur ; some confu
sion arose in a corps whose commander was unpopular ; the
march was delayed ; a nocturnal tumult ensued ; and the sol
diers lay down in scattered parties in the fields, or wandered
in search of refreshments. Espoz, who had rode on ahead,
found, on his return, in the darkness of the night, a scene of
confusion, to remedy which, all his exertions were baffled. It
was irremediable, and the opportunity was lost. The confe
derates in Pampeluna speedily received the fatal intelligence,
and immediately quitted the fortress.
Although the Spaniards are accustomed to obedience, and
" the king's name is a tower of strength," yet, on this occa
sion, they' scorned to do any injury to their generals. Xavier
Mina traversed the whole province in safety, collected all
those friends whom he thought might be compromitted by his

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 51
attempt, and entered France in full uniform, with thirty officers.
He was arrested by the orders of the French government, and
imprisoned near Bayonne, but was afterwards liberated, and
passed over to England. From the British government he
received a liberal pension ; we believe, two thousand pounds
Sterling per annum.
During his sojourn in England, he was treated by several
eminent personages with flattering attentions ; but particular
ly by an Engli^i nobleman, alike distinguished for his attach-*
ment to the cause of freedom throughout the world, and his
urbanity to strangers. By this nobleman, Mina was made
acquainted with general Scott, of the army of the United
States, then on a visit to England. He was also furnished
with a ship, arms, and military stores, by some English gen
tlemen attached to the cause of freedom, to enable him to
prosecute an enterprise he had been some time meditating,
against the kingdom of Mexico, as the quarter whence the
most severe blow could be struck against the tyranny of Fer
dinand. r
Mina, in drawing his sword in favour of the independence
of Mexico, considered he was espousing a cause, consonant
with those sacred principles, for which he became an exile.
Power and place might have been his, if he had chosen to float
in the eddy of court favour ; but his character and principles
forbade him. He believed, with many of the philosophers of
the last century, and with some of the enlightened men of his
own country, that the treasures of the New World had a fatal
effect on the prosperity and glory of Spain ; therefore, he can
not be justly accused of doing a wilful injury to his own coun
try. Nor did he owe allegiance to the ungrateful Ferdinand,
An exile, cut off from every tie, by the act of a sovereign who
had set a price upon his head, there was no longer any liga
ment to bind him to the throne of Ferdinand, nor any rule,
even in the forgotten code of villainage, to forbid his embark
ing in the glorious cause of the emancipation of Mexico. He
did not, like Coriolanus, league with his country's enemies,
nor, like Eugene, devote himself to a foreign court. Defeat
ed in his attempt to uphold the Cortes, and the cause of Span-

52 • MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
ish freedom in Europe, he devoted himself to the cause of
liberty in America. He boldly entered on a dangerous and
desperate path of toil, bearing in his view the prospect of that
fate, which once menaced a Hancock and a Washington ; and
which overtook a Fitzgerald and an Emmett.
. The pretensions^of Spain, to the dominion and rule of the
vast regions of the New World, are too lofty and extravagant
for the jurists of the nineteenth century. The time has gone
by, when the decrees of the court of Madrid, Aid the bulls of
a Pope, are to be obeyed and worshipped as infallible man
dates, by sixteen millions of the human race, on the continent
of America. Spain has, it is true, by a watchful jealousy ; by
the discouragement of learning, of commerce, and of improve
ment ; by a persecuting hierarchy ; and by the dreadful tribu
nal of th'e Inquisition ; bound the inhabitants of Spanish Ame
rica in strong fetters. But, the voice of that spirit which
echoed along the Allegany in '76, has already been heard on
the Table Land of Mexico, is now rolling among the Andes,
and will, ere long, break the chains of servitude for ever.
We are aware, that many circumstances, which gave a pe
culiar character to the contest of the North American colonies
for independence, do not exist with regard to the South Ame
ricans. The English and Spanish colonies were planted in a
manner as widely different, as the characters of Cortez and
Pizarro, were from those of Sir Walter Raleigh and William
Penn. On the basis of equal laws, trial by jury, liberty of
person, conscience, and speech, a beautiful fabric of society
had been erected in the British American colonies ; and the
declaration of independence was the Corinthian capital, which
decorated and finished the columns of the temple.
The revolutions in Spanish America, on the contrary, are
at this moment affording a signal proof of the effect of early
dispositions, implanted in nations, and perhaps, (although the
opinion may not be in accordance with the sentiments of some
modern philosophers) of the punishment which national crime
prepares for posterity. The predictions of the benevolent
and venerable Las Casas have already been fulfilled. A de
solating civil war has acquired, from the oppression of a tyran-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 53
nic government, and the cruel disposition which has been en
couraged in the mads of the people, uncommon features of
horror. The frequent refusal of quarter, the sacrifice of
persons in cold blood, the proscription and destruction of whole
districts, the mutilations and butchery of females and chil
dren, avenge, terribly avenge the sufferings of the simple and
peaceable aborigines, as well as the outrages under which the
Creoles have been so long groaning.
It is a political fact, now admitted to be true in its utmost
extent,' that the government of Spain, over her American
colonies, was worse than any other recorded in the page of
history. In vain have her apologists referred us to the pon
derous volumes of "Las Leyes delas Indias" or to her eccle
siastical regulations, for proofs of her moderation and wisdom.
We have an unerring and melancholy proof, in the past and
present condition of society in those regions, of the pestilen
tial influence of the Spanish government. It has, in every
way, tended to awe, to depress, and to brutalize the people; to
cut off all means of improvement ; to destroy in its infancy
every germe of melioration, and to deprive them of the many
physical blessings which their great country afforded them.
In the vast empire of New Spain, containing nearly seven
millions of people, there is but one public journal, and that
newspaper is printed under the immediate control of a vigi
lant and jealous government. No foreign or domestic intelli
gence is ever inserted in this paper, but such as comports
with the spirit and policy of the government. In this state
of wretchedness and ignorance, has the great mass of society
been kept, in Spanish America, for near three hundred years.
A great change, however, has taken place within the last
ten years, and every friend of humanity must rejoice, that the
emancipation of South America and Mexico, from Spanish
thraldom, is an event now no longer doubtful. It may be re
tarded to a period more distant, than many sanguine friends of
the cause suppose ; but every day unfolds new evidences, not
onlyof the impracticability of Spain ever re-subjugating such of
the colonies as are already in open revolt, but also of the very

54 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
precarious tenure, on which she holds her dominion over cer
tain sections that still acknowledge her sovereignty.
This important fact will be more clearly developed in the
following narrative of Mina's expedition, and although the
gallant youth and his brave companions have been sacrificed,
they have perished in a noble cause. We shall demonstrate,
by a plain statement of the extraordinary circumstances rela
ting to that expedition, that had Mina landed with fifteen hun
dred or two thousand soldiers, instead of two hundred and
seventy, in any part of the Mexican kingdom, he could have
marched direct upon the city of Mexico, and overturned the
Spanish government almost without a struggle. We are aware,
that this assertion will surprise those who are uninformed of
the character and feelings of the Mexican people ; and we are
likewise aware, that the truths we are about to develop, will
be a source of mortification to the pride of the Spanish gov
ernment ; but, be that as it may, we pledge ourselves for the
fidelity of the narration, and leave the intelligent reader to
draw his own conclusions.
General Mina had originally intended, and made his ar
rangements to proceed direct to the Mexican coast, conceiv
ing that the inhabitants generally would rise in his favour ; but,
altering his plan a short time prior to his departure, in conse
quence of a part of his plans in Europe being frustrated, and
some information that he received from a respectable source,
he sailed from England, for the Chesapeake, in the month of
May, 1816, accompanied by thirteen Spanish and Italian, and
two English officers.
After a passage of forty-six days, the ship arrived in Hamp
ton Roads. The general disembarked at Norfolk, whence he
proceeded by land to Baltimore, at which city the ship arrived
on the 3d of July. Mina here made an arrangement for a fast
sailing brig, pierced for guns ; and purchased a quantity of
field and battering artillery, mortars, ammunition, clothing,
and military stores of every description. While these prepa
rations were making, the ship was put in a state for the ac
commodation of passengers ; and the general visited Philadel-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 55
phia and New York, where several Americans and Europeans
volunteered their services, as officers, to accompany him. He
was not desirous of augmenting his force, except as to officers,
being under the impression, as before remarked, that he would
be joined by the natives, on landing in Mexico. He obtained
every possible information of the state of things in that coun
try ; and ascertained that a small place on the Mexican coast,
to the northward of Vera Cruz, called Boquilla de Piedras,
was fortified, and, still held by the patriot general Don Guada
lupe Victoria. He also learned, that,' although the patriots
had met with recent disasters, yet they still maintained several
strong guerilla parties in the different provinces.
In the meantime, many attempts were made, by the repre
sentative of the Spanish government,to destroy the expedition.
During the passage from England, some ofthe Spanish offi
cers had a dispute with the general ; four of whom, on their
arrival in the United States, presented themselves to Don
Luis de Onis, the Spanish minister, ahd gave such informa
tion as they possessed, relative to the general's intended ope
rations. Although their communications were crude, enough
was imparted to awaken the jealousy and suspicion of the
minister, who, ever on the alert to support the dignity and in
terest of his master Ferdinand, immediately addressed the
American government, representing the nature of the informa
tion he had received, and calling upon it to suppress the threat
ened undertaking of Mina: but, as the complaints ofthe minis
ter were not sustained by any positive data, and as the existing
laws did not prohibit the exportation of military stores, nor
the sailing of American vessels to any part of the world in
amity with the United States, for commercial objects ; and as
the rights of hospitality were alike extended to all parties, the
executive did not think proper to interfere, as long as the ge
neral and his agents moved within the sphere of the laws of
the republic.
The Spanish consul at Baltimore, having understood the
intended object of the ship from the steward, who ran away
from her, and who, understanding Spanish, had overheard the
conversation of the malecontents on the voyage, applied to the

56 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
British consul for his official assistance in ridding the Spanish
government of its cause of alarm. It is yet doubtful, in the
mind of the writer, whether the Spanish representative sur
passed the British consul, in this instance, in strenuous exer
tions in the cause of Ferdinand VII. He ostensibly attached
more credit to the bare ipse dixit of a worthless deserter, than
to the papers and documents of the ship; and, without any
other proof that her destination was illicit, than that of the as
sertions of known mutineers, he, of himself, unjustifiably as
sumed a high jurisdiction in a neutral country, whose govern
ment had withheld its interference : and, although the ship had
not been employed in any respect in contravention to the Bri
tish laws, and it could not be established that it was intended
that she should be so employed, while she wore a British flag,
he endeavoured to throw obstacles in the way of her voyage.
In fact, the British consul acted, in this business, more like
the representative of the Spanish, than the consul of a free
government; and, at all events, it indicated his hostility' to the
cause of liberty in Spanish America.
A quantity of military stores were put on board the ship, as
cargo ; and the passengers, destined to embark in her, being
in readiness, she took from the custom-house a clearance for
St. Thomas, and proceeded outside of fort M'Henry, where
she anchored : but it was not without some difficulty that the
British consul was induced, even then, to relinquish his hold
on the papers.
On the evening of the 28th of August, the passengers, in
number about two hundred, embarked, under the direction of
colonel the count de Ruuth. Mina remained to go out in the
brig, whose cargo was not quite ready. The ship was ordered
to proceed to Port au Prince, there to await the arrival of the
general. The ship left the capes of Virginia, on the 1st of September,
in company with a Spanish schooner, which had been hired by
Mina, and on board of which was lieutenant-colonel Myers,
of the artillery, with his company ; but, a night or two after
sailing, this vessel separated from the ship, and proceeded to
the rendezvous.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 57
After a passage of seventeen days, the ship arrived at Port
au Prince, where, she found her consort the schooner. The
following night, the island was visited by one of those destruc
tive hurricanes common to the West Indies. Amid the scene
of general' havoc, the ship sustained her portion of damage.
She parted one of her cables, drove with another ahead, and
got foul of a Haytian frigate, of thirty-two guns ; in conse
quence of which, the foremast, maintopmast, and several spars,
were carried away, besides considerable injury sustained in
the hull ; and the frigate lost her three masts by the board.
The ship, however, hooking the frigate's moorings, held on ;
and, about three o'clock, the gale abated. Day-light offered
to view the melancholy scene of the ship dismasted, and the
schooner, her consort, upset and grounded on a shoal.
The storm having abated, the passengers were landed in the
course of the forenoon, and the ship was then hauled into the
inner harbour. The misfortune which had befallen her bore
a serious aspect ; it being feared, that it would be impractica
ble to repair her ; however, these apprehensions were soon
relieved, by the generous conduct of the late president of the
republic, by whom spars were furnished, the use of the arsenal
was granted, and every facility afforded.
The brig being ready for sea, the general and staff embark
ed, and sailed from Baltimore, on the 27th of September.
During his stay in that city, the simplicity and modesty of his
demeanour, the honesty of his transactions, and his gentle
manly deportment, had gained him the esteem of a consider
able portion of its society. He was applied to, while in the
United States, to lend his assistance to the equipping of South
American privateers ; and, though the offer was highly advan
tageous, he refused it with indignation : " What reason," said
he, " have you to suppose that Xavier Mina would plunder
his unoffending countrymen ? I war against Ferdinand and
tyranny, not against Spaniards."
While the ship was refitting, general Mina arrived at Port
au Prince. Although he was much chagrined by the late dis
aster, and the delay and expense resulting therefrom, yet, by
his activity and perseverance, he soon surmounted this first
(8)

58 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
obstacle to his expedition. He was received with particular
attention by general Petion, who afforded him every assistance
in his power.
In this place, several individuals, both Americans and Eu
ropeans, abandoned the expedition. In some few instances,
they were prevented from accompanying it by sickness ; but
the majority of them assigned reasons, in extenuation of their
conduct, which should have been seriously considered before
they volunteered. Mina viewed their defection with merited
disregard; observing, that he wished none to follow his for
tunes, but such as would voluntarily and cheerfully devote
themselves to the cause of liberty. This loss was, however,
in some measure counterbalanced by the acquisition of some
seamen, who had deserted from a French frigate, then laying
in the roads.
The general had understood, that commodore Aury, a pa
triot naval commander, was cruising in the Bay of Mexico,
and that he had formed an establishment on the island of San
Luis, at the mouth of the river La Trinidad. Thither he de
termined to repair, under the expectation that his views would
be promoted by that officer. Having engaged a small schoon
er, in lieu of the Spanish vessel which had upset during the
late hurricane, and the ship being refitted in the best possible
manner, the expedition, consisting of the brig, ship, and
schooner, on the 24th of October, made sail for the island of
San Luis, on the Mexican coast.
Misfortune seems to have accompanied the expedition,
from the date of the ship's arrival at Hayti. After leav
ing Port au Prince, an almost continual calm was experi
enced, so that the expedition was thirty days in perform
ing a voyage, which, with the usual sea breeze in -those lati
tudes, could have been made in ten or twelve. The tedious
ness of the voyage was, however, a light evil, compared with
others which the expedition was doomed to suffer. That
dreadful contagion, the yellow fever, broke out on board the
ship. It had been brought from the shore by one of the pas
sengers, who died a few days after sailing. The infection
spread to the other vessels. The brig,, not being crowded,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 59
suffered little, losing only one man. The ship's sick list was
soon swelled to fifty and sixty daily : however, not more than
seven or eight died. But on board the schooner, where the
air was confined, a melancholy scene ensued : of the few on
board, eight died, among whom was lieutenant-colonel Daly,
At last, the brig was obliged to take her in tow, as there was
not an individual on board free from the fever, except a black
woman. Indeed, had it not been for the exertions of an excel
lent physician, it is probable the expedition would have been
destroyed. This worthy man, Dr. John Hennessy, formerly
of Kingston, Jamaica, did not merely give evidence of his
professional skill, but his indefatigable activity, and sympa
thizing attentions, were unremitting, and endeared him to eve
ry individual of the expedition. The vessels arrived at the
Grand Cayman island, where a plentiful supply of turtle was
procured ; which, together with cool northerly breezes, soon
rendered the passengers convalescent. At this island, they
who were on board the schoorter represented to the general,
that it was impossible for them to proceed any farther in that
ill-fated vessel. Orders were therefore given, that those,
who were reported to be free from fever, should be passed on
board the ship ; while the schooner, with her sick, went into
the Grand Cayman. The ship and brig proceeded on their
Course, and arrived off the encampment at San Luis, on the
24th of November, after a distressing passage of thirty days.
The general here met with commodore Aury; and, as the
north winds, which render the Mexican coast very dangerous,
then prevailed, an order was given for the landing-of the ex
pedition. As there was not sufficient water on the bar. to ad
mit the vessels, measures were taken to unload them ; and an
old hulk, lying in the harbour, was appropriated, by the com
modore, for the reception of the stores.
The settlement, called Galvezton, was established on the
east end of the island. The entrance into the harbour is de
fended by a bar, capable of admitting vessels of easy draft,
there being twelve feet of water on it ; but the swell often
¦renders the channel dangerous. Inside the bar, there is a good
depth of water, up to the settlement; but the bay, into which

60 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the river La Trinidad disembogues, is in many parts very
shoal. The island is low ; and the water, which is obtained
by digging in the sand, is brackish. A plenty of good water
may, however, be obtained in the cane brakes, at some dis
tance from Galvezton, where the shipping usually fill their
casks. The island is intersected by large bayous. It is co
vered with long prairie grass; and abounds with deer and wild
fowls ; while the bay yields fine fish, and the bayous excellent
oysters. As soon as the troops were landed, an encampment was laid
out, and the tents were pitched. On the west side of Galvez
ton, commodore Aury had commenced throwing up a mud
fort ; and, to the westward of this, was Mina's encampment.
The requisite arms were served out, two field-pieces and two
howitzers were landed, and the engineer department was dili
gently employed in preparing fixed ammunition ; the mechanics
were set to work, clothing was served out to the men, and the
officers were furnished with their respective uniforms. The
commodore supplied the division with rations of excellent
fresh bread, salt beef, pork, fish, oil, and brandy ; which, with
the game, and the supplies brought by the coasters, enabled
the division to fare well.
In the meantime, the ship and brig, as it was unsafe to keep
them at anchorage on the coast, had been ordered to proceed
to New Orleans.
The immediate attention of the general was directed to the
organization of his regiments. Officers were appointed to the
different corps, which it was expected would be filled up soon
after the descent should be made. The American officers,
who did not understand the Spanish language, were formed
into a company, styled, " the Guard of Honour of the Mexican
Congress," of which . the general was captain, a colonel the
lieutenant, and so on. Colonel Young, an officer who had dis
tinguished himself in the service of the United States, and
whose gallantry and activity we shall have occasion hereafter
to notice, was subsequently placed in command of this com
pany. The numbers of the expedition being few, this arrange
ment was made, both with the view to self-defence, and to

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 61
keep the officers united ; the general intending to transfer them
to other corps, as they acquired a knowledge of the Spanish
language, in which the chaplain of the division commenced
instructing them. In fact, all the measures of the general
clearly proved that he perfectly knew how to order his little
force to the best advantage. The following was the organiza
tion of the cbrps : —

Guard of Honour— Colonel Young.
Artillery^— Colonel Myers.
Cavalry — Colonel the Count de Ruuth.
First Regiment of the Line- — Major Sard it.
Engineer -\
Commissariat J- Departments.
Medical J
Blacksmiths, Carpenters, Printers, and Tailors.
The infant army was daily exercised, and the greatest good
order prevailed.
The general had frequent interviews with commodore Aury,
and was very desirous of establishing a cordial understanding
with him. Unfortunately, this Was not effected ; and thereby
Mina lost an important accession to his force, as the commo
dore had actually raised a body of two hundred troops, for
the purpose of invading the province of Texas.
Aury held a commission in the service of the Mexican re
public, as governor of the province of Texas, and general in
the Mexican republican army. This commission had been
granted him by Don Jose Manuel de Herrera, who resided in
New Orleans, as ambassador to the United States from the
Mexican republic. Hjerrera had been appointed by the Mexi
can congress, at the period when the revolution was in its
most flourishing state; when general Morelos, the distinguish
ed patriot chief, had' taken Acapulco, subdued the province
of Oaxaca, and established his authority over a considerable
part of the Mexican empire. The right, therefore, of Herrera,
to appoint Aury an officer in the Mexican republic, cannot be
questioned.

62 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Herrera was a priest, grave in his" manners ; but he possessed
very little knowledge ofthe world, and consequently was easily
imposed on. During his stay at New Orleans, he rendered no
effectual services to the Mexican cause, except by some trifling
shipments of arms and munitions of war, which he sent to
general Victoria.
Previous to general Mina's sailing from Baltimore, a fast
sailing schooner had been despatched for the Mexican coast,
to ascertain the situation of affairs, and to open a communica
tion with general Victoria, who, it was understood, had a con
siderable patriot force under his orders, in the province of
Vera Cruz, and held a small fort on the coast, at a place called
Boquilla de Piedras. This mission was entrusted to doctor
Mier, a native of the internal provinces, and in whom the
general placed great confidence.
The doctor, however, was alarmed at the stormy weather he
experienced in the gulf, and put into New Orleans : from
thence he despatched the schooner for Boquilla. On her ar
rival there, the captain found that the post was in the hands' of
the royalists, and he repaired to Galvezton. Information
was afterwards received, that Victoria had taken a port to the
northward of Boquilla, called Nautla. The schooner was
despatched for the latter place, with letters from Mina for
Victoria ; but, in the meantime, the place had been retaken,
and on her arrival the captain found the Spanish flag flying.
Mina deeply regretted that he could not open a communi
cation with Victoria, because he was perfectly aware of his
merits, and he felt the importance of acting in concert with
him. If Mina could have formed a junction with Victoria,
and safely landed the arms and munitions of war which he
had then at his command, it would have opened a new era in
the revolution : he could then have penetrated through the
province of Vera Cruz, to Tehuacan, formed a union with the
forces of Teran, Osourno, and the other patriot chiefs, and,
in all human probability, would have been able to strike a de
cisive blow against the royalists. The non-execution of this
part of Mina's plans, may be assigned as one of the causes of
the eventual failure of his undertaking.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 53
Doctor Mier, hearing of the general's arrival at Galvez
ton, left New Orleans, and repaired to that place. The doc
tor was a man of most amiable manners, and although he had
been educated a priest, he was liberal in his sentiments, a
good scholar, and an ardent advocate for the emancipation of
his country from the despotism of Spain. He was not, how
ever, calculated to ride in the whirlwind of a revolution, being
naturally timid ; but, from his general knowledge of New
Spain, and his influence in society, the general calculated much
on his services, and was sincerely attached to him.
The doctor had been one of the victims of Spanish bigotry,
irt consequence of having delivered a discourse, in the city of
Mexico, in which he undertook to prove that the famous story
of the Virgin of Guadalupe, was an imposture of the priest
hood. For this act of free thinking and speaking, he was shut
up for several years in the dungeons of the Inquisition, and
was afterwards sent to Rome. There, by his talents and ur
banity of manners, he became a favourite with the Pope. Upon
the breaking out of the revolution in Spain, he went there, and
preached destruction to its invaders; but being a zealous con
stitutionalist, he was forced to take refuge in England. There
he met Mina, and most cordially engaged to accompany him
to Mexico. Having mentioned the apparition of the Virgin of
Guadalupe, and as it is one among the numerous evidences of
the superstition which has so long prevailed in Spanish Ameri
ca, it may not be amiss to give some detail of the origin of
this apparition. We know, from authentic records, that the
superstitious terrors instilled by the Spanish priests into the
minds of the ignorant aborigines, were, at the commencement
of the conquest, of much more service to the government of
Spain than its arms. The images and pictures of saints, which
the priests had previously buried, or hidden in places where
they might easily be found by the Indians, are at this day to
be seen in almost every village and town in the empire. The
discovery of those images is ascribed to the interposition of
Heaven. Every town has its tutelar saint, upon which are
lavished immense sums of money, in dresses, gold and silver
ornaments, diamonds, and other precious stones. To all of these,

64 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the Padres have given names, and to each one is attributed
miraculous powers, by the credulous Indians, and indeed by-
many bigoted Creoles. The holy tribunal has most studiously
cherished this superstition, and has hurled its thunders against
him, who dared to question the sacred origin of these images.
It would fill volumes were we to attempt to detail the aston
ishing circumstances attending these discoveries, and the mi
raculous virtues ascribed to each saint. They have been
transmitted from one generation to another, and have received
so many embellishments and confirmations, from the crafty
and credulous, (the latter of whom imagine, that the surest
way of propitiating the favour, is to magnify the powers, of
the saint,) that even some of the priests of better judgment
have been led to believe in those wonderful attributes, and are
ready to testify to miracles performed by virtue of their pray
ers and supplications. It is true, that many of the crafty
priests are aware ofthe deception; but, nevertheless, they find
it to be their interest to compose books for the express purpose
of proving the time and manner, in which those great miracles
have been performed ; and in so doing, they conceive, that not
only their own interests are promoted, but that it is the most
effectual mode of preserving the power of the church, and the
dignity of the Spanish monarchy. Books, of the kind just
mentioned, form almost the only species of literature that is
allowed to circulate through the empire. They are sought
after with avidity by the unfortunate Creole, and make an im
pression on his mind not easily eradicated.
About ten years after what the Spaniards call the conquest,
the celebrated apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe made its
appearance, in the following manner. Adjacent to the city of
Mexico is a barren hill. An Indian, accidentally passing
near it, heard sounds of music, and at the same time saw an
aerial figure. Alarmed at the vision, he fled. But, passing
near the same place shortly afterwards, the same strange oc
currence again took place. He was called by name, and told
to repair to that spot at a certain time, and he would find her
picture buried under a heap of roses. He did so, and found
it as was said. The Indian carried this mysterious picture to

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 6g
the bishop of Mexico, who was, of course, in the secret. A
sqlemn conclave of the clergy took, place, and the bishop,
kneeling before the picture with the most profound veneration,
named it Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. A sanctuary was
erected for her reception, and she received the exalted title of
patroness of Mexico ; which she enjoys to the present time.
This is the origin of the Virgin of Guadalupe, conformably
to the records of the church now existing in Mexico. The
original picture is still exhibited in the Virgin's church ; it is
painted upon a cloth of linen manufacture, called Uango-
chi, composed of coarse threads spun from the fibres of the
Maguey (Agave Americana) and wove very wide apart.
The Indians and Creoles say the picture is miraculous, be
cause, as it is approached, the painting becomes less visible,
and when quite close, all traces of the picture_disappear ; their
blind superstition not permitting them to discover, that the
open texture of the material, upon which it is painted, is the
cause of this disappearance. A priest told the writer another
circumstance respecting the Virgin's picture, which he deemed
the most important part of the miracle ; it is, that the picture
was found under a heap of roses, in the winter season, and
on a spot where those flowers had never bloomed. It did not
occur to the mind of the priest, that at the distance of a few
. leagues, the climate was quite different, where roses grow
throughout the year, and that, consequently, the painters of
the picture of the Virgin did not require any celestial aid to
procure a heap of roses. In such veneration do the lower
orders of Creoles, and indeed many of the middling and higher
classes, and the Indians, hold their patroness, that they keep
paintings of her in all their houses, invoke her irt ail their
prayers, and implore her assistance in all their difficulties.
In the religious processions which take place in the Mexi
can empire, almost daily, for the purpose of celebrating some
rites of the church, or to offer homage to some of the tutelar
saints, there is a solemnity and magnificence displayed, ad
mirably calculated to captivate the vulgar, to gratify the
vanity, and impose on the credulity of all classes of the com
munity. The simplicity and purity of the Christian religion
(9)

66 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
is lost in these pompous and mystical exhibitions. The poor
converted Indian, as he is called, knows nothing of the Catho
lic religion beyond its ceremonies. To the images of saints,
and other external symbols, he offers his daily homage, but
he is as utterly uninformed of the precepts of the Christian
doctrine, as any of the Pagans of former ages.
In order to accommodate the Catholic religion to the pre
judices and consciences of the Indians, the priests, with their
usual art, have interwoven many of the Indian customs and
symbols with Christian ceremonies. Of this strange mixture
of Pagan and Christian rites, there are, to this day, numerous
evidences over the whole of the Mexican empire. On vari-,
ous holidays, the Indians of both sexes, dressed in the most
fantastic manner, dance to the sound of rude instruments be
fore the church doors, and in front of the altar, exhibiting the
most ludicrous figures. During the parade of many religious
processions through the streets, we see Indians, decorated in
the most grotesque manner, beating drums, dancing, and crack- '
ing fireworks. In the churches, we are struck by the glaring
paintings and images of martyrs, saints and bishops, surround
ed by suns, moons and stars ; while the trinkets, precious
stones, gold and silver ornaments, and the twinkling of num- '
bers of wax tapers, induce a stranger to believe, that he is in
one of the fairy edifices of Aladdin, instead of a temple dedi
cated to the Christian worship. In a conspicuous situation,
in the wall of the cathedral church of the city of Mexico, is
placed a huge, mishapen stone, on which are engraved hiero
glyphic characters, that had formerly been appropriated to the
religious ceremonies of the aborigines. In the painting of the
Virgin of Guadalupe, the Mexican patroness is represented in
a blue robe embellished with stars, and standing on a crescent
supported by cherubim. Even the complexion of the Vir
gin has been suited to the spirit of the times, in order to prove
to the Indians, that her apparition was a mark of the especial
favour of Heaven. If, therefore, she had been represented
with a fair complexion, the intent might not have been an
swered ; and, for this reason, perhaps, we see her represented
with features of a " dusky hue."

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 67
To support these pompous ceremonies, or, as it is styled,
to sustain the splendour and dignity of the church, the unfor
tunate Mexican is taught to believe constitutes his primary
duty ; hence, the greatest part of the fruits of his hard la
bour are absorbed by the ecclesiastic coffers.
The wealth that has been lavished on some of the religious
edifices, will appear incredible to those who have never visited
Spanish America. From the numerous instances which every
where present themselves in Mexico, we select the following.
About three leagues from the town of San Miguel el Grande,
in the province of Guanaxuato, stand two chapels, on the sum
mit of a high mountain ; one, for ordinary divine offices ; the
other, to exhibit the different scenes, in the sufferings of our
Redeemer, previous to, and on his arrival at Mount Calvary.
In this chapel was a magnificent altar, on which were the
images of our Saviour, the Virgin Mary, and other saints,
made of solid silver, ornamented with emeralds and other
precious stones. On entering this chapel, on the left-hand,
the stranger is astonished on beholding a range of thirty-two
altars, on each of which are figures, the size of life, represent
ing the1 different passages in our Saviour's ordeal, and at the
end, Mount Calvary, with the body on the cross, accompanied
by Mary, John, and others, as mentioned in Holy Writ. All
these altars, figures, crosses, &c. are of pure silver. This
temple is called the sanctuary of our Lord of Atonilco, from
the name ofthe place where it is situated. Devotees from all
parts of the kingdom go there to confess, and conform to the
penance prescribed by the priests; and large sums are annually
collected by our Lord of Atonilco, from these devout pilgrims.
The origin of this chapel merits notice from its singularity.
Many years ago, a bandit of the name of Lohra, was at the
head of such a formidable band, that the Spanish government
offered him not only a pardon, but an immense salary, with
the arbitrary power and title of supreme judge ofthe accor-
dada, provided he would exterminate the banditti. Lohra
accepted the conditions; seized his fellow robbers; and,
under various pretexts, hung them up by hundreds on the

68 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
trees. In a few months he completely destroyed them. He
was immediately invested with the character of supreme judge,
and enjoyed with it, a salary of ten thousand dollars a year,
until his death. This office was one of the most arbitrary
and independent situations irt the kingdom. He had the pow
er of life and death, inflicting what punishment he pleased,
and levying contributions on all such as were found trafficking
in liquors prohibited by the Spanish government.
Lohra no sooner found himself clothed with this extraordi
nary power, than he began to levy contributions without mer
cy on all whom he suspected of dealing in contraband liquors ;
and in case any one resisted his decrees, he was immediately
hung. By such means he amassed immense treasures, which
he devoted to the building of the sanctuary of our Lord of
Atonilco. His successors continued lortg to enjoy those high preroga
tives, but they became so capricious and cruel, that about the
year 1790, the viceroy count Galvez, took on himself the re
sponsibility of putting a check on the tyrannical tribunal of
the accordada. A man ofthe name of Santa Maria was then
judge, and had three culprits at the foot of the gallows ready
for execution, when count Galvez suddenly presented himself
on horseback, and pronounced their pardon in the name of the
king. This act was highly grateful to the people of Mexico,
and Charles III. approved the conduct of count Galvez, di
recting that in future, all sentences of the judge ofthe accor
dada must be subject to the confirmation ofthe royal audiencia^
of which the viceroy is president.
In having noticed thus briefly the superstitious follies and
extravagance, which have been encouraged among the Mexi
cans, by the Spanish priests, we do not mean to speak lightly
of the Catholic religion ; it is the abuses which have been sanc
tioned under . its name that we reprobate, and think a proper
subject for animadversion ; we have no prejudices in favour
of any particular denomination of Christians, and we have
only deeply to regret, that many other sects as ^ell as the-
Catholics, have sullied the purity of true religion, by mingling

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 69
with it a mass of ceremonies, revolting to common sense, and
disgusting to every enlightened mind. We will now resume
the thread of our narrative.
The brig returned to Gajvezton, from New Orleans, well
equipped, and was now put under Mexican colours, as a nation
al vessel of war. She was called " El Congreso Mexicano."
The general received despatches from his agent at New Or
leans, containing overtures from certain persons, who wished
him to make an attack upon Pensacola, and who offered to
furnish him with men, arms, &c. &c. for that purpose. Mina
was anxious to examine into the merits of this project, con
ceiving that if it could be carried into effect, it might promote
his ulterior views on Mexico. Accordingly, he embarked in
the brig, and proceeded to New Orleans, leaving colonel Don
Mariano Montilla, an officer who had distinguished himself
in the Venezuelan revolution, in the command ofthe division
at Galvezton.
Previous to the departure of the general, a very extraordi
nary circumstance was brought to light, which proved that the
Spanish government had resorted to a treacherous plan, to get
rid of Mina. The instrument of this diabolical scheme was a
young Spaniard, named Correo.' This youth was under deep
obligations to the general. He was the son of Don Diego
Correa, who then resided at London, and who had been a con
spicuous victim to the despotism of Ferdinand. Young Cor
rea arrived at London, from the continent, totally destitute of
the means of subsistence ; and, on expressing a wish to the
friends of Mina, to follow that officer, he was by them fitted
out in a handsome style, his passage and expenses fo the Uni
ted States were paid, and a letter of credit was furnished him
on New York. He arrived at that city, and then proceeded
to Baltimore to meet the general, who received him with that
generous sympathy which he invariably manifested towards
the sufferers from Ferdinand's tyranny. Chevalier Don Luis
de Onis, minister plenipotentiary of his Catholic majesty, in
the United States, soon ascertained that Correa enjoyed the
high regard and confidence of Mina ; of course, it was of great
importance for the minister to gain Correa over to the inter-

76 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
ests of Spain. It is not necessary to enter into a minute de
tail of the artifices, used by the chevalier, to seduce this youth,
but the following plain statement of facts will show, that Cor
rea deliberately formed a plan to assassinate his friend and
benefactor Mina. In what manner the chevalier Onis is im
plicated, in such an infernal sheme, we know not from any
positive data, but we have strong grounds to suspect, that he
not only was acquainted with, but promoted the bloody de
signs of Correa. We have been promised some authentic
documents on this subject ; and should they reach our hands,
we shall not hesitate in giving them publicity.
Correa, in pursuance of his project, arrived with the expe
dition at Galvezton : after being there a short time, he made
an attempt to excite a mutiny among Aury's troops, with an
intention, no doubt, to seize the first favourable occasion that
might offer, to perpetrate the savage act.
The fellow had the address to seduce some of Aury's offi
cers, as well as two of Mina's, and to influence them so as to
promote the mutiny, but he did not, except tq one individual,
communicate his real. intention. Fortuhately, one of Aury's
officers disclosed the plot of the mutiny to the commodore,
by whom the conspirators were immediately arrested. A court
of inquiry was held on Mina's officers, but the general, not
conceiving it politic to punish them with the severity they de
served, merely gave them a severe reprimand, and set them
at liberty.
Correa, finding his plan defeated, despaired of another op*
portunity to create an insurrection among the troops, and ob
serving that Mina's officers looked on him with contempt,
found his situation unpleasant at Galvezton. As he was too
much attached to his own existence, to act the part of a daring
assassin, he becarne anxious to abandon the expedition, and
gladly embraced the opportunity of retiring frem the island,
conformably to an order he received from the general, to pro
ceed to New Orleans.
Scarcely had Correa left the island, when Mina received
some letters from the United States, which developed the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 71
whole scheme of villany ; but they unfortunately arrived too
late to aid justice in her vengeance.
By these letters it appeared, that Correa was to receive
twelve thousand dollars, and the promise of a matrimonial
connexion in Onis's family, provided Mina was put to death.
If the chevalier really made such promises to Correa, he no
doubt had in view the interests of his beloved master Ferdi
nand, and probably was guided by the chivalrous example
which had been exhibited in Europe, by the renowned Cos
sack general Platoff, who offered his daughter in marriage to
the wretch who would assassinate the emperor Napoleon.
The substance of the letters, before mentioned, were pub
lished in an order of the day, at the camp at Galvezton, and
caused a universal burst of indignation among all the officers
and soldiers in the division.
After Correa arrived at New Orleans, he found his situa
tion unsafe, as some of Mina's officers, who were there at the
time, had resolved to inflict on him exemplary punishment,
which he escaped by flying to Pensacola.
The traitor afterwards reached Havana,' where the captain
general of Cuba, by way of premium for his services to the
Spanish government, gave him a situation in the revenue de
partment. The last accounts state this wretch to be a custom
house officer at Trinidad de Cuba. We presume, however,
that when the officers of the Spanish government become ac
quainted with the facts previously stated, he will be treated
by them with that scorn and abhorrence, which a traitor and
coward deserves.
We would fain hope, for the honour of human nature, as
well as for the dignity of the diplomatic character, that the
suspicions excited against chevalier Onis, in this affair, may
eventually turn out to be unfounded, and that the assassin
Correa was not stimulated by such high authority, to murder
his patron ; but the page of history, more especially of the
events of the last thirty years, shows that diplomatists have,
on several occasions, countenanced deeds that would disho
nour banditti, and have boldly asserted the doctrine, that " the
end justifies the means."

72 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
The ministers of Spain, resident in foreign countries, have
long been in the habit of accomplishing their views, by the-
most refined intrigue, and certainly have not been very deli
cate as to the means they have employed. Arrogant menaces
and secret promises, they have considered as component points
in diplomacy. It may not be amiss, although a digression
from our narrative, to insert here two letters, written some
years ago, on the subject of Miranda's expedition, because
they will illustrate the spirit and policy which the Spanish ca
binet has invariably pursued, better than a hundred ordinary
anecdotes. In the year 1806, Miranda conducted an expedition against
the province of Caracas, which failed. Several foreigners,
who were engaged in it, fell into the hands of the Spanish go
vernment, among whom were some young Americans, be
longing to distinguished families.
The marquis de Casa Yrujo, then ambassador of Spain in
the United States, received from the government of Caracas,
a list of the names of those unfortunate prisoners, and imme
diately addressed to a friend of colonel Smith, of New York,
the following insidious letter. " Philadelphia, June 28th, 1806.
"Sir,
" I have just received from Caracas, a list of the names of
the Americans taken by the Spaniards, on board of Miranda's
schooners. The name of Smith is twice found in it. I sus
pect the last to be the son of colonel Smith, and grandson
of Mr. Adams. Although I had some political difference
with him when he was president, this circumstance has not
deprived me of that particular regard and respect towards such
a distinguished character, and particular consideration for his
family. Not the least doubt exists, but the greater part of the
prisoners will be put to death as pirates, and I should be very
happy to be able, by a timely and immediate interference, to
save the life of the unfortunate youth, grandson to the vene
rable' Mr. Adams and his worthy spouse. But to render my
intercession effectual, I would require, as the only condition,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 73 '
that colonel Smith would disclose to me, through you, on his
word of honour, all the knowledge he has of Miranda's plans ;
of his intended points of attack; of the persons with whom he
had connexions at Caracas ; and the names of the Spaniards
in this country, who shared in his scheme and expedition ; in
fact, all the material information he may be possessed of, and
the knowledge of which may be useful to my government,
and the preservation and tranquillity of the provinces Miran
da had in view to revolutionize.
"As I remember your attachment for Mr. Adams, I take the
liberty to make these suggestions to you, who, no doubt, will
employ all the means to relieve frpm affliction a worthy and
disconsolate family ; at all events, I expect from you a prompt
and decisive answer on this head. I remain, sir, with parti
cular regard and consideration, " Your obedient servant,
Signed, " Marojjis de Casa Yrujo.
" To Mr.  ."
The preceding letter was handed to colonel Smith, who re
turned the following dignified and Roman-like answer :—
" New Tork, June 30th, 1806.
" Dear Sir,
" Accept my warmest acknowledgments for your very in
teresting communication of this date, presented by your son,
accompanied by a letter from the marquis de Casa Yrujo,
which, after maturely considering, I return, agreeably to your
request. I am sure I shall do justice to Mr. and Mrs. Adams,
if in their name I thank the marquis for his very polite atten
tion, in a case no doubt near, interesting, and affecting ! I am
sure, when I do him the justice to communicate his tender
solicitude for their grandson, it will not fail to excite those sen
sibilities and acknowledgments, which the marquis is highly
entitled to. For myself, not having the honour of his ac
quaintance, I have no right to expect other attention, or dig
nity of character, than what would naturally spring from his
own mind, when making such an interesting communication.
(10)

74. MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
"He informs me he has just received from Caracas a list
of the names of the Americans taken by the Spaniards, on
board of Miranda's schooners; that the name of Smith is
twice found in it ; and he suspects the last to be my son, and
grandson to Mr. Adams ; and says, that he should be very
happy, by a timely and immediate interference, to save the
life of the unfortunate youth, grandson to the venerable Mr.
Adams and his worthy spouse; he having no doubt but the
greatest part of the Americans will be put to death ; but to
render this intercession effectual, he requires, as the only con
dition, that I declare to him, through you, on my word of ho
nour, all the knowledge I have of Miranda's plans, of the
points of attack, of the persons with whom he has connexions
in the Caracas, and the names of the Spaniards in this coun
try, who shared in his schemes and expedition ; in fact, all the
material information I may be possessed of, the knowledge of
which may be useful to the Spanish government, for the pro
motion and preservation of tranquillity, in the provinces Mi
randa had in view to revolutionize.
" When the marquis takes a dispassionate view of the cir
cumstances connected with general Miranda's visit to Wash
ington, his subsequent visit here, and clearly ascertains that
the persons accompanying him in the Leander were not in
formed of his projects and plans, he will permit his benevo
lence to expand, and shelter all those taken in the schooners,
from harsh treatment and unmerited punishment, and will in
duce the government of his own country to view the question
in other lights, than those which may tend to expose it to more
serious animadversions than have been hitherto made, or to
rousing the spirit of indignation and resentment, which, if once
permitted to burst forth, cannot fail of being attended by strong
marks of resentment.
" With regard to my Son, he was not made acquainted with
the plans of Miranda ; he went with him as a young compa
nion, "to share his fortune and his fate; he was accompanied
by some of his friends, capable of deeds of hardihood and va
lour, worthy their leader— .worthy their cause !

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 75-
" Whatever may be the situation and fate of the prisoners
on board of the schooners, I can never tacitly sanction the lash
of tyranny on his associates, and snatch my son from a parti
cipation in their fate, whatever it may be. Nothing but the
marquis's want of acquaintance with me, can plead an excuse
for the indelicacy of the proposition.
" Do me the favour, my friend, to inform the marquis, that
were I in my son's situation, I would not comply with his pro
posals to save myself, and would not cast so great an indigni
ty on my son, my family, and myself, as to shelter him under
the shield of disgrace.
" I have no doubt the marquis will give such advice to the
government of Caracas, and make such statement to his king,
(by whom I may have the honour to be personally, recollect
ed,) as will induce them not to tarnish the dignified character
of the Spanish nation, by an act of passion and barbarity,
eonnected with the present case.
" I am, dear sir, with respect,
" Your friend and humble servant,
Signed, " Wiliiam S. Smith.
"To-  ."
Fortunately, the son of colonel Smith was not among the
hapless prisoners at that time in Caracas ; but there is lit
tle doubt, that had he been there, he would have been sacri
ficed among the victims of Spanish cruelty who were execut
ed at Puerto Cavello. He is now a resident of the city of
Washington. After the departure of Mina for New, Orleans, as already
mentioned, a serious difference arose between commodore
Aury and colonel Perry, who commanded a body of one hun
dred Americansjn Aury's service. When Mina first landed,
Perry determined, with his men, to quit the service of Aury,
and join the standard of Mina. This intention was soon dis
covered by the commodore, who trjed various means to dis
possess Perry of his command; he at length, on the 1st of
March, arrested him and captain Gordon, making prisoners of

76 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
them in his own quarters. This act produced an open rupture,
Perry's men, on being informed that their colonel was thus
arrested, sent word to the commodore, that they were deter
mined to defend him to the last, and for that purpose beat to
arms. To oppose this party, Aury drew up the men whom
he thought were in his interest, about eighty in number, prin
cipally coloured men, under the command of colonel Savary,
with one field piece. During this disgraceful scene in Aury's
camp, Mina's division was not inactive. Colonel Montilla
placed sentries so as to cut off the communication between the
encampments ; a supply of ammunition was delivered, and the
division was kept under arms. This altercation, however,
fortunately terminated without blood-shed. Perry was liber
ated ; he and his men were allowed by the commodore to join
the standard they preferred, as well as such others of the com
modore's troops as might deem proper to do so. Colonel
Perry accordingly placed himself under the orders of Mina.
While the general was at New Orleans, he had frequent
interviews with the gentlemen who had proposed the project
of an expedition against Pensacola. But he soon discovered
that it was merely a mercantile speculation, from which no
advantage would result in favour of his views on Mexico ; in
deed, all the propositions made to him, while at New Orleans,
were widely different from his own plans. As a soldier and
a patriot he disliked to war for mercenary considerations, and
he was most decidedly hostile to all predatory projects. He
purchased at New Orleans a ship, the Cleopatra, for a trans
port, to replace the ship with which he left England, having
given her up according to agreement. Having likewise made
arrangements for the purchase of another ship, the Neptune,
he set sail for Galvezton, taking with him a few European
and American officers. Upon his arrival, on the 16th of
March, he found the division embarked, and ready for sailing.
In consequence of not having received any definite infor
mation of a place at which he could unite with any part of
Victoria's forces, and as the whole line of coast was in pos
session of the royalists, he resolved to proceed to a town

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 77
called Soto la Marina, on the river Santander, in the colony
of that name. This was a point at which the descent was least
expected by the royalists. The enemy conjectured that the
general meditated effecting a landing in the northern parts of
the province of Vera Cruz, for the purpose of forming a junc
tion with Victoria. Thay had therefore concentrated a body
of troops in the vicinity of Tuspan, a central situation, from
whence they could quickly march to the invaded point, and
crush Mina at the outset.
During the time the division was at Galvezton, some of the
pfficers had resigned, and received passports to leave the
island. Colonel Montilla, and two other officers of Caracas,
also embarked for New Orleans.
While the fleet was waiting a wind, two brigs, the one a
prize to a Mexican privateer, the other to a Buenos Ayres
cruizer, loaded with jerked beef and rice, were brought in for
condemnation. As there was not leisure to attend to their
business, it was determined that they should proceed with the
expedition. The division was distributed among the vessels ;
and, the wind coming out from the northward, the fleet, on
the 27th of March, made sail. It consisted of the following
vessels : —
An armed schooner, Commodore Aury, having on board
the company of artillery, and the caval
ry, under colonel the count De Ruuth.
Cleopatra, (transport) Captain Hooper, the general and
staff, Guard of Honour, and first regi
ment of the line.
Two prize brigs, Regiment of the Union, colonel Perry.
Neptune, ( storeship) Captain Wisset, commissariat and
stores.
Schooner Ellen Tooker, on a trading voyage : she arrived as
the fleet was getting under way, and
agreed to accompany the expedition.
A small sloop, Captain Williams.

78 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
The force of the division, on board the fleet, including all
those in any manner attached to it, the sailors, mechanics, and
servants, was three hundred.
Soon after sailing, it came on to blow heavy from the west
ward, which threatened a long run ; and it was also discovered
that the Cleopatra had not the necessary provisions on board.
The general had confided in the reports made by the then
commissary, Bianchi, and the captain of the ship, and pre
sumed, that, agreeably thereto, stores were shipped. Supplies
were, however, obtained from the cargo of the prize brig :
but, on the arrival of the fleet off the Rio Grande del Norte,
the water was nearly expended. As the weather had mode
rated, the general resolved to endeavour to procure supplies
there, and the fleet ran in and anchored off the mouth of the
river. A sergeant's guard had been stationed there by the
royalists, for the purpose, as was understood, of preventing
privateers from watering. Major Sarda and some other
officers, who volunteered, were sent on shore to ascertain if
supplies could be procured. As the fleet had hoisted Spanish
colours, and as major Sarda, the commander of the party was a
Spaniard, the guard supposed the fleet to be Spanish, bound to
Vera Cruz. The boats had free access to the river to obtain
water, and the soldiers of the guard drove up some cattle,
which were wild, and in great abundance. The bar of the Rio
Grande is very shoal, and it was with great difficulty that a
small supply of water could be got off, owing to the danger of
the bar. A boat belonging to commodore Aury's schooner
was upset among the breakers, and a Spanish officer, lieutenant
Dallares, was unfortunately lost. This young Spaniard, to
whom Mina had been a benefactor, and who had left England
with him, was one of the few of his countrymen, that had ad
hered to the general to the last. Mina was much attached to
him, and deeply regretted the accident which had deprived
him of a warm friend. Four men also, belonging to the fleet,
deserted and hid themselves in the woods ; they afterwards
presented themselves to the enemy, to whom they gave every
information.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 79
As soon as the vessels had obtained a sufficient supply of
fresh beef and water, to carry the expedition to the intended
point, the fleet made sail, with the wind at south east, but it soon
afterwards shifted to the westward, and blew a gale, in which
the vessels were dispersed. The troops on board the Cleo
patra, whose stores were less ample than those of the other
vessels, were thereby placed in a disagreeable situation. The
fresh beef would not last more than twenty-four hours, and the
prize brig, which had hitherto supplied their wants, was not in
sight.. The stores were soon reduced to a small quantity of
bread, and a keg of almonds, and as the weather continued
bad, it became absolutely necessary to put every one on short
allowance. Accordingly, half a biscuit, and a few almonds,
with a pint of water, were daily served out to each man, the
general receiving the same ; but this privation continued only
five or six days. The Cleopatra arrived at the rendezvous the
11th of April ; and the next and following day the rest ofthe
fleet got in also.
Arrangements were then made to disembark the troops,
and, early on the 15th, it was effected without accident.
Two men, dressed and mounted as peasantry (paisanos)
joined the general in the course of the day. They afforded-
him some local information, and he understood from them
that Don Felipe La Garza, the commandant of the district,
was in the adjacent town of Soto la Marina, with a small force.
These men appeared frank and well disposed, and offered their
services as guides, and accompanied a party to drive up some
horses. They, however, watched an opportunity, and slipped
off. It afterwards appeared, that these men were Creoles, of
that part of the country, and royalist soldiers, who had been
sent down by La Garza to ascertain the strength, of the, inva
ding force, which having done, to the best of their abilities,
they decamped. The general had brought with him from
New Orleans a native of Soto la Marina, so that he suffered
no great inconvenience for the want of a guide, by the deser
tion of his new friends.
During the passage from Galvezton, Mina published an
address to his companions in arms, in which he reminded them

80 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
of the sacred enterprise in which they had engaged, to con
stantly bear in mind that they were not going to conquer the
country, but to aid in its emancipation from a tyrannical go
vernment ; he particularly recommended to them, to be care
ful in conciliating the good will of the inhabitants, to respect
their customs, to show the most scrupulous regard to the min
isters of religion, and on no occasion, or under any pretence,
to violate the sanctity of the temples dedicated to divine wor
ship.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. gl

CHAPTER IV.
Soto la Marina occupied by Mina — General arrangements there
— Action of colonel Perry with Don Felipe La Garza —
Continuation of events in Soto la Marina — Capture of the
Cleopatra, by the Spanish frigate La Sabina — Dastardly
conduct of the officers of that expedition — Line of march
taken up for the interior — A succession of events — Action
at, and capture of, the town of El Valle de Mais — Occur
rences at that place, and departure therefrom — Battle ofPe-
otillos — Sanguinary decrees of the enemy — Conduct of the
, priest of Hideonda, and remarks thereon — Mind's progress
— Attack and taking of Sierra de Pinos— Departure there-
'from — Junction with the Patriots — Arrival at the PatriSt
fortress of Sombrero — Its description.
THE mouth of the river Santander is very narrow, with a
bar across it, over which vessels drawing more than six feet
of water cannot be carried. Near the beach the country is
intersected by large bayous, and shallow ponds, extending a
long way to the northward. After passing the bar, the river
suddenly widens, but afterwards gradually contracts itself to
wards the town of Soto la Marina. It is navigable, for such
vessels as can pass the bar, to within a very short distance of
the town, beyond which it is too shallow even for boats. The
village (pueblo) of Soto la Marina stands upon an elevated
situation, on the left or north bank of the river, and is distant
from its mouth eighteen leagues.
On the morning of the 15th, the boats ofthe fleet were des
patched up the river, with a field piece, some stores, and a
detachment of artillery, to meet the division at the old set
tlement of Soto la Marina, which is but a short distance up
the river, on the road to the present village ; for which place
the division, at the same time, took up its march. The

82 MEXICAN REVOLUTION,
boats, not finding the division at the old settlement, as was
expected, proceeded on to the town, where they found the
troops had just arrived before them. The division had been
three days on the march from the beach, owing to the igno
rance of the guide, who had conducted it by a very circuitous
route ; and it had suffered much, from extreme heat and want
of water.
In Mexico, five months of the year, commencing with May,
are rainy; the other seven are perfectly dry. The expedition
had landed at a period of the most parching heat and drought,
when every 'rivulet was dried up; so that a march in the mid
dle of the day, was almost insupportable. The least fatiguing
method of conducting a march in Mexico, particularly in the
low regions of its coasts, and the internal provinces, is, to
move forward at the first dawn of day, and advance until nine
or ten o'clock; then to halt, and employ the interval in cooking,
and refreshing the troops, until four in the afternoon, when
the march should be resumed, and a halt made for the night
where the local positions best point out. Thus, more ground
can be gone over, and with less fatigue to the soldier, than by
continuing the march through the middle of the day.
The advanced guard, composed of volunteers from the Guard
of Honour, and the cavalry, with a detachment of the first re
giment of the line, under major Sarda, entered Soto la Marina,
without any opposition; La Garza, with the garrison and some
families, evacuating the town on its approach. The division
was met, at the entrance of the village, by the curate, who-
welcomed the general with open arms. When La Garza an
nounced to the inhabitants the landing of Mina, he represent
ed him as accompanied by a band of heretics, who had come
into the country to deal out destruction on every side, and
indiscriminately to put all to the sword. By these misrepre
sentations, and by coercive measures, he had compelled the
most respectable part of the community to abandon the town ;
and it was with much astonishment and satisfaction, that the
remaining inhabitants found themselves treated with respect.
On taking possession, the necessary proclamations were
issued, offering protection to the persons and property of those

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 83
who remained peaceably at their homes, recalling the inhabi
tants who had deserted the place, and threatening the confis
cation of the property of those who did not return within a
given time. Civil officers also were selected from among the
inhabitants, and clothed with authority by the general. Colo
nel the count De Ruuth, at this period, resigned his command,
and returned on board ofthe commodore's vessel. The colonel
was highly esteemed by the whole division ; and his loss was
much regretted. Captain Maylefer was promoted to the rank
of major, and appointed to the command of the cavalry.
A printing-press was immediately established, under the
direction of Doctor Infante, a native of Havana ; and the ge
neral's manifesto was published. It took a retrospect of his
exertions in the cause of liberty, and set forth the motives
which had induced him to espouse that of the suffering colo
nies. This document soon reached the military commandants,
many of whom, with their troops, would have joined the
standard of Mina ; but, as they had ascertained the strength
of his division, they held back, conceiving his force too incon
siderable to effect any important object. Nevertheless, many
of the inhabitants were not overawed by the royalists; and, in
the first instance, countrymen, to the number bf upwards of
one hundred, united under his banners : they were well-formed,
hardy fellows, and subsequently proved themselves faithful
and brave. The division, at different periods, was joined by
other recruits, the whole number amounting to above two
hundred. Among those who joined it were two royalist offi
cers, lieutenant-colonel Don Valentine Rubio, and his brother,
lieutenant Rubio.
The attention ofthe general was constantly directed towards
the equipment and regulation of his little band. By colonel
Rubio, as well as from other sources, he was furnished with
horses ; and a hundred of the recruits were attached to the
cavalry, the others to the first regiment. They who after
wards joined the division, were enrolled either with the hus
sars, the dragoons, or the first regiment; The different corps
were equipped as follows :—
Guard of Honour, (infantry) officers, uniformed as such,
armed with musket and bayonet.

84 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Artillery, Brown coats, faced with red ; four field
pieces, two six inch howitzers, and two
eleven and a half inch mortars.
Cavalry, Hussars, Scarlet hussarjackets, chacot and plume,
armed with swords, light dragoon cara
bines, and pistols.
 , Dragoons, United States dragoon uniform, armed
with sword, pistol, and lance.
Regiment ofthe Union, Uniform ofthe British 104th regi
ment of infantry.
First regiment ofthe line, United States rifle uniforms.
Mina, in furtherance of his plans, scoured the country in
every direction; but, although these incursions were made by
small parties, sometimes not exceeding twenty, yet La Garza,
who was hovering in the vicinity of Soto La Marina, with
upwards of three hundred men, never attacked them. The
general visited some of the towns and haciendas, (plantations)
and a detachment penetrated even to Santander, the capital of
the province : but La Garza's threats obliged the respectable
inhabitants to retire from their settlements, on the approach of
Mina's parties, and, however ill inclined they might be to such
removal, they were forced to comply with seeming alacrity.
During this period, a valuable prize was unluckily snatched
from the grasp of the general. He received intelligence that
Don Ramon de La Mora, owner of the hacienda of Palo Alto,
seven leagues distant from Soto la Marina, who had been for
some time amusing him with promises of supplies, had sud
denly decamped, taking with him all his moveables, with his
cash, amounting, as was said, to one hundred thousand dollars;
and that he was encamped in a rancho,* eleven leagues distant
* Rancho signifies a farm, or collection of peasant huts from one and up
wards. These places have no churches, depending for spiritual assistance
on the curate of an adjoining pueblo or hacienda. A church is necessary to
constitute a pueblo ; but a collection of houses, be their number great or
small, if there be not a church, is called a rancho. Some of them are very
extensive, while others contain only a single house. Some of the pueblos
contain merely the church and the curate's house, while others have a dense
population.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 85
from the town. The general, with twenty dragoons, and
eighty infantry, under colonel Perry, marched, on the same
night, to surprise him. While on their way, the general was
informed that de La Mora was escorted by a body of troops.
Arrived within two leagues, Mina ordered colonel Perry
to continue his march to the rancho, while he, with the
cavalry, took another road, that they might attack the enemy
in front and rear. Having arrived near the rancho, and
expecting to find the enemy unprepared, the general charged
into the place ; but, to his great surprise, he found neither
the enemy nor his own infantry : the houses also were aban
doned, but the lights which were burning evidently denoted
that their inmates had recently fled. Unable to gain any
intelligence, either of his infantry, or of the object of his
march, he was obliged to return to Soto la Marina, highly
mortified at the disappointment. Perry, after separating from
the cavalry, arrived at the rancho, where he learned that Don
Ramon had proceeded onward ; and, leaving information with
the inhabitants for the general, he marched in pursuit of him.
But, as soon as Perry had left the place, the people retired to
the woods. Unexpectedly, in the morning, colonel Perry
came upon the object of his pursuit, encamped in a plain; and
the property was captured. But it had not been long in his
possession, when La Garza, with three hundred and fifty men,
who had been escorting the property, made their appearance.
The colonel, finding himself opposed by such a (superiority of
force, and being unacquainted with the character of his enemy,
deemed it prudent to occupy an advantageous position, there
to act on the defensive, leaving a guard of six men with the
property. La Garza advanced singly, and held a parley with
an officer of colonel Perry; during which, he offered the royal
clemency to the troops, if they would lay down their .arms.
This proposition put an end to the conference : La Garza
returned to his troops, and prepared for the attack. In the
meantime, Perry, who, whatever faults may be ascribed to
him, was an heroic American, addressed his men in a short
but enthusiastic harangue ; reminding them, that the eyes of
dieir country were fixed on their conduct, and that an oppor-

86 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
tunity now presented itself to prove that they were worthy of
the cause they had espoused. At that moment, the enemy's
cavalry charged, with its accustomed impetuosity : they were
repulsed. They returned to the charge, and made several
unsuccessful attempts to break Perry's infantry; but, find
ing all their endeavours fruitless, they at length retired in
confusion, leaving nine dead. As the colonel had no cavalry
with which to follow up his success, the enemy againformed,
but manifested no disposition to renew the attack. Perry,
after having gained this advantage, was reluctantly obliged to
abandon the object of his expedition, being unable, from the
want of cavalry, to withdraw the property. He fell back,
unmolested, on Soto la Marina. In this affair, he lost one
man killed, and two taken prisoners ; they belonged to the
guard placed over the property : but, in the ranks, no one was
either killed or wounded. This advantage, although trivial
as regards the injury done the enemy, had great weight with
Mina's division. It inspired confidence, and induced a belief
in his little band, that they were able to contend against far
superior numbers.
After Mina's disembarkation, a force of upwards of eight
hundred royalists was stationed at Altamira, forty leagues
south of Soto la Marina. The passive conduct of the enemy,
in allowing Mina to remain so long unmolested, is a circum
stance which can best be explained by the royal commanders.
But the dispersed condition of the enemy's troops, who were
scattered in small parties over the country, and the invasion
of the kingdom at Soto la Marina being entirely unexpected,
are, it is probable, the reasons why Don Joaquin Arredondo,
the commandant general of the eastern internal provinces, was
so long in making preparations, and in moving from Monte
rey, his head-quarters.
The situation of that division ofthe kingdom, and indeed
of the whole of Mexico, was at this time very critical. The
great body .of the troops were disaffected to the royal cause ;
Mina was adored by the European soldiers; and he had indu
bitable intelligence, that a large number of natives were ready
to come down from the mountains to the sea-coast to join him ;

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 87
who were only prevented from doing it, by the subsequent
movement of the enemy. Had Mina landed with only five
hundred troops, he might, with a sure confidence of success,
have awaited the enemy in his intrenchments at Soto la Ma
rina ; and there can scarcely exist a doubt, that in that case
a blow would have been struck against Arredondo, from which
he could^not have easily recovered. The intimate knowledge
which we have acquired, since that period, respecting the royal
troops; their known disaffection; the intrepidity, and superior
appointment, of Mina's little band, and the distinguished abi
lity, activity, and bravery of their commander, all combine to
warrant this assertion.
The general, by advices and spies, received intelligence, at
the commencement of the month of May, that Arredondo
was concentrating ^1 the disposable force of the comandancia.
Knowing that the enemy would be too strong for his small
force, he proposed to throw up a small work of defence at
Soto la Marina, for the purpose of protecting the military
stores, and holding out against a siege, should the royalists
attempt to invest it; while, in the interim, he should, by rapid
marches, penetrate into the interior, and form a junction with
ti^e patriots in that quarter; an enterprise which he conceived
to be practicable, and from which he flattered himself he should
be able to return with an augmented force, sufficient to defeat
the enemy, and also to bring with him pecuniary supplies.
In pursuance Of these determinations, an eligible situation was
selected, on the bank of the river, a little to the eastward of
the .village ; and the construction of the fort was commenced,
under the direction of captain Rigal, of the engineers. The
whole division laboured with alacrity, in the accomplishment
of this work, in which they were assisted by the country peo
ple, the general himself setting the example, by sharing the
labour with them. The little fortification was soon in*a state
of considerable forwardness ; and, although it was only a mud
fort, yet it was hoped, that, when completed, it would be suf
ficient to bid defiance to the efforts of the enemy. As the
river was here very narrow, it was intended to throw up a
redoubt on the opposite bank, which should protect the rear
of the fort, and cover the water.

88 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Mina's conduct, on this occasion, was marked with the
greatest firmness and intrepidity. Aware that Arredondo
would put in motion an overwhelming force of two thousand
men at least, he resolved to leave a garrison in the mud fort,
and to cut his way, with the residue of his little band, into the
interior of the Mexican empire. These dispositions appear
stamped with temerity, or rather bear the features of knight-
errantry; but the circumstances of his situation justified the
measures that he adopted, and the sequel will show, that
untoward circumstances alone prevented the gallant general
from succeeding in his object.
During this interval, commodore Aury had departed in his
schooner, having made an arrangement with the general for
the purchase of his brig of war, the Congreso Mexicano, then
in New Orleans.
The prize brigs had also sailed, and there remained at the
bar the Cleopatra, Neptune, and Ellen Tooker. The former
had come down as a transport, in ballast. The Neptune store
ship, being old, and a very heavy sailer, was run on shore
at the mouth of the river, as soon as she was discharged, in
order to be broken up, as her materials could be applied to
various other purposes. Of her cargo, a considerable quanti
ty had been carried up the river, though much, particularly of
the powder, still remained at the landing place. The officers
and seamen of the ships, in charge of these stores, had pitched
some tents on the beach, with the view of sheltering them
from the weather; but they little expected that these very tents
should have the effect, as was subsequently the case, of exciting
alarm among the crews of a Spanish frigate and two schooners,
so as to deter them from disembarking for the purpose of
destroying the stores.
On the part of the sailors, matters went on very pleasantly
till the morning of the 17th of May, when, at seven o'clock,
the Spanish frigate La Sabina, and the schooners La Belona
and La Proserpina, appeared in the offing, despatched from
Vera Cruz with most positive orders (as it afterwards ap
peared) not only to destroy the vessels, but also the stores
that might be found on shore.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 89
At sight of these unwelcome visiters, the crew of the Cleo
patra got into the boats, and pushed for the shore. As it was
impossible for the seamen to resist so powerful an enemy, all
hands abandoned the stores, took to the boats, and came up
to Soto la Marina with the intelligence. Captain Hooper,
however, remained with his boat a short way up the river,
from whence he could distinctly observe the conduct of the
Spanish marine.
The Ellen Tooker immediately made sail, and, as the Spa
niards say, escaped by superior sailing. The Cleopatra had
nothing whatever on board, except a cat, which the sailors,
in their hurry, had forgotten to carry with them. The ves
sel had not the semblance of any thing warlike; she was
quite light, had bright sides, and was without quarters. While
the schooners were in chase of the Ellen Tooker, the frigate
acted with commendable caution. She came down with great
care upon the unfortunate Cleopatra, and after pouring two
Broadsides into her, finding she made no return, they ven
tured to board and take possession of her. Encouraged by this
dash, they manned the boats of the squadron, (the schooners
having returned from the chase,) for the purpose of landing,
and either carrying off or destroying the stores on the beach.
After pulling pear the mouth of the river, these valiant fellows
took fright, no doubt at the sight of the tents pitched by the
sailors. The appearance Of them probably excited an appre
hension that a party was in waiting ; they, therefore, thought
it most prudent to abandon this perilous attempt, and con
tent themselves with the victory achieved over the empty
ship. They accordingly returned to their respective vessels,
and soon afterwards, having put two guns from the frigate on
board the prize, the whole squadron made sail. The ship
however was so much shattered by the unmerciful cannonading
she had sustained, as to be rendered unseaworthy, and after
being in possession ofthe enemy a short time, they burnt her.
On returning to Vera Cruz, these heroes boasted of their
bravery in having destroyed two vessels, one % ship of war,
alluding to the Neptune, which, it will be recollected, had been
previously broken up bv order of the general; and they alleged
(12)

90 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
as a reason for not destroying the stores ashore, that the surf
ran too high. The true reason we have before conjectured ;
for the surf certainly was no obstacle. The stores had been
safely landed when it had been equally great, and the crew
ofthe ship had that very morning experienced no difficulty
from it.
The victory over the rebel Mina, at Soto la Marina, was
celebrated at Vera Cruz, on the return of the frigate La
Sabina, by a solemn Te Deum. Despatches were transmitted
to the city of Mexico, which were afterwards published in the
Mexican Gazette, announcing that Mina's expedition was
totally destroyed, and a number of prisoners taken. In con
sequence of this signal victory, a general promotion took place ;
and the midshipman, who fearlessly boarded the Cleopatra,
was appointed a lieutenant. We shall have occasion to notice,
in the sequel, other exaggerations and palpable falsehoods,
which the Spanish government have been in the habit of pub
lishing in the course of this revolution ; indeed, how could it
be otherwise, when there is only a solitary newspaper in the
whole kingdom, and that under the vigilant control of a des
potic government ?
Mina heard of the arrival of the squadron off the river, and
of the capture of the vessels, with the greatest composure.
He at once concluded that the enemy would not only destroy
the stores, but would co-operate with Arredondo. The gene
ral therefore ordered a detachment, with a field piece, down
the river to observe the movements of the enemy; but captain
Hooper soon after coming up, his account of the affair con
verted the alarm of the garrison into a scene of merriment, at
the expense of their valiant antagonists.
The fort was by this time in a state of completion. Four
carronades from the fleet, the field pieces and howitzers, were
mounted. Two eleven and a half inch mortars, a considerable
quantity of ammunition, and part of the Neptune's cargo, were
brought up. Cattle were killed, and their flesh jerked; such
corn as could be procured in the vicinity was brought in, and
the place was put in as good a state of defence, as the time
and circumstances would permit.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. gj
As general Arredondo had commenced his march from
Monterey, and was advancing upon the garrison with a body
of two thousand men, and seventeen pieces of artillery, (being
the united force of the eastern internal provinces,) Mina made
the necessary dispositions for his intended march into the in
terior. He encamped the part of the division with which he
was to perform the undertaking, on the right bank of the river,
about a league distant from Soto la Marina, where it remained
a few days.
Colonel Perry had for some time given strong evidences of
discontent. Hs had frequently avowed his opinion, that the
division was too weak to be of any service to the patriots, and
that he anticipated its annihilation. It was afterwards suppos
ed, that he had long meditated the scheme which he now put
into execution. Taking advantage of the absence of the gene
ral and colonel Young from the encampment, he harangued
his soldiers, and informed them of his intention of separating
from,Mina, and returning to the United States ; he represented
to them the very great perils into which they were about to
be drawn, and urged them to retreat while an opportunity
presented itself. By these means he prevailed on fifty-one of
his troops, including major Gordon, and the rest of his officers,
with one of the Guard of Honour, to accompany him. They
marched in the direction of Matagorda,^ which place he ex
pected to meet with a sufficient number of boats to convey his
party within the line of demarcation, between the United
States and the Spanish possessions.
The colonel's conduct caused both surprise and regret ; for
although he had occasionally manifested some caprice and dis
content, yet no one supposed it possible that he could abandon
the cause in the hour of danger; and indeed his conduct on this
occasion is still very mysterious. Besides, to march with such
a handful of men along the sea coast, where he knew that
water, particularly at that season of the year, was very scarce,
and when the enemy, it was presumable, would oppose his
progress, was an act of palpable rashness.
It was subsequently ascertained from the best Mexican au
thorities, that the colonel did actually penetrate to within a

92 MEXICAN REVOLUTION,
short distance of his destined point ; after several skirmishes
with the royal troops, in which success attended him. Flush
ed with these victories, he determined on attacking a fortified
position near Matagorda, which might have been left in his
rear, as the garrison did not evince the least disposition to
annoy him. He had summoned the commandant to surrender,
who was deliberating on the propriety of doing so, at the mo
ment when a party of two hundred cavalry made its appear
ance. A refusal to the summons was the consequence. The
garrison sallied out, and a severe action commenced, in which
Perry and his men displayed the most determined valour.
They continued combating against this superiority of force
till every man was killed, except Perry. Finding himself the
only surviver, and determined not to be made a prisoner, he
presented a pistol to his head, and terminated his existence.
Thus 'perished a braveNbut rash man, and with him fell some
valuable officers and men.
Colonel Perry had been in the United States' service, and
was at the memorable battle of New Orleans. He embarked
in the cause of Mexico, and was attached to the division that
invaded Texas, under Don Jose Bernardo Gutierez. He was
under the command of Toledo, in the attack made on the
Spanish troops commanded by Arredondo, in advance of San
Antonio de Bejar, on the 18th of August, 1813. In that dis
astrous affair, the colonel behaved with his usual courage, but
narrowly escaped with his life. His sufferings from fatigue
and privations were extreme, before he again reached the
United States.
The desertion of colonel Perry, with so great a number of
valuable men, was a most severe blow to Mina; but it did not
daunt his resolute mind. Major Stirling, who had been in
the service of the United States, was appointed to the com
mand of the regiment of the Union, and other officers were
nominated in lien of those who had deserted.
Arredondo having, by this time, advanced to within a short
distance of Soto la Marina, the general made his final arrange
ments at the fort; leaving, for its garrison, detachments ofthe
Guard of Honour, artillery, first regiment of the line, engi-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 93
neers, medical and commissariat departments, mechanics, &c.
with the sailors ofthe destroyed vessels, under captain Hoop
er, and some recruits. The whole, amounting to about one
hundred men, were placed under the command of major Don
Jose Sarda. The general instructed the major to hold out to
the last ; assuring him that he would return in a short time,
and compel the enemy to raise the siege, should they attempt
to form one during his absence.
On the 24th of May, the division commenced its march.
It was composed of the following troops : —
General and staff, -- - - - - 11
Guard of Honour, colonel Young, 31
Cavalry, hussars and dragoons, major Maylefer, 124
Regiment of the Union, major Stirling, - - 56
First regiment ofthe line, captain Travino, - 64
Artillery soldiers, ..... 5
Officers' servants, armed, 12
Ordinanzas of the staff, - 5
Total,  30'8*
When the march was commenced, the enemy was only a
few leagues distant ; and therefore the utmost secreCy, and
rapid movements, became necessary, in order to elude him.
The following day, the guide conducted the division through
an Indian path, over hills covered with dense woods, which,
in many places, it became necessary to re-open. It traversed
thickets, which had not, perhaps, for many years previously,
been penetrated. This day's march was long, commencing at
sun-rise. The troops suffered for want of water ; for until
* This was not the actual strength of the division, when it first marched.
A change also took place in the corps. Some of the officers of the Guard
bf Honour, were transfered,, on the march, to other corps. During the first
twelve days of its prpgress, several recruits offered themselves ; and, as a
few stand of arms, and some clothing, were carried along with the division,
they were enrolled with the cavalry, or the first regiment. In addition to
the above, there were several muleteers. To avoid a prolix detail, the writer
has at once stated the greatest strength of the division.

94 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
sun-set, when the division emergedfrom the thickets, it had
been exposed to a burning sun, without any breeze or water
to refresh them. Some water was found at the edge of the
thicket; and, after a few minutes' halt, the march was resumed,
and continued till midnight, when the general, with the caval
ry, advanced to an hacienda. Mina took with him the guide,
and the division was in consequence obliged to halt ; but it
remained under arms, and at day-light again moved on, ar
riving, about noon, at the hacienda, fatigued and hungry.
Beef was here served out, but the necessary article of bread,
from the method of preparing it,* could not possibly be pro
cured; and the troops were under the necessity of eating meat
alone. This was the general fare the road afforded, for- the
remainder of the march, and that only once in twenty-four
hours. Although the whole of the troops were mounted, yet
their progress was tedious and slow, as the horses were soon
* The bread stuff consumed by the Mexicans generally, but particularly
by the country people, is made of corn, and by a process unknown elsewhere.
The quantity of corn, necessary for the daily consumption of the family, is
put to steep," over night, in a large earthen vessel, in hot water, mixed
with lime. This softens the husk, and in the morning it is ready for use;'
but the taste of the corn, and the greatest part of its substance, is extracted
by this preparation. It is then ground up, with much labour, between two
fiat stones, called by the Indians a metate; and afterwards formed, by beating
it between the hands, into cakes, about eight or ten inches in diameter, and
about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness. These are then placed on an
earthen heater, or griddle, ( comal) and baked. These cakes they call, tor
tillas. The preparation of them is very laborious, and entirely performed
by the women; and, if the family be large, it requires four or five to perform
this duty. The art of making tortillas is considered of great importance
by the natives; and its excellency consists in grinding the grain till it be
comes white, making the cakes thin, and, above all, in keeping the table
supplied with a succession of hot ones during the meals. The Indian, when
about to marry, is particularly careful to select for his bride one who under
stands this art ; perfection in it being considered by them as the acme of
female accomplishments.
From the preceding description, it will be perceived, tbat to make tortil
las, in the small ranchos, for upwards of three hundred soldiers, would have
required more time than could have been spared for the purpose; and there
fore it rarely happened that the troops were supplied with this important
article of food. In the town's and large villages, however, abundance of
wlieaten bread can always be procured.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 95
broken down by continual and long marches. The sufferings
of the troops, from the want of good provisions, the tedious
ness of the marches through a broiling sun, and the being fre
quently many hours without water, together with other causes,
were almost incredible ; but, as it is not the intention of the
writer to swell the narrative with a prolix statement of person
al hardships, although it was one continuation of privations,
he will restrict himself to the mention of such only as he con
ceives to be essential to the history.
The general, by making the rapid and secret march of the
two preceding days, not only eluded the enemy, but calculated
on being able to surprise some of the rich refugees from Soto
la Marina, who, he learned, were at this hacienda, which was
distant from that place, by the route taken by the division,
twenty-five leagues. He presumed they would be lulled into
security, as they conceived it was impossible for him to ad
vance by the high road, without their receiving timely advice.
In fact, the mission was corrfpletely surprised; but Mina found
there only some priests, and the wife of Don Ramon de La
Mora, the proprietor of Palo Alto. A part of the property
which had been taken by colonel Perry, was found deposited
there ; and, as it consisted of articles essential to the comfort
and wants of the troops, the general ordered them to be distri
buted among his men.
From this place, the division moved forward, the next
morning. Nothing material occurred, until its arrival at the
town of Horcasitas, situated on the bank of the river Altami
ra. The river was fordable, but by a very dangerous pass ;
and one officer, lieutenant Gabet, was swept away, with his
horse, and drowned. About noon, on the following day, the
troops reached an hacienda,- on the opposite bank ofthe river,
about five leagues down the stream, where a halt was made for
the day. From this place^ a party was despatched to bring in
a herd of seven hundred horses, which had been collected, in
the vicinity of this place, for the use of the enemy's troops.
The horses were driven in : they were a most important ac
quisition to.Mina, while their loss was severely felt by the
enemy. The following afternoon, Mina continued his pro-

96 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
gress, having mounted his troops on the best of the horses,
the remainder being driven in the rear of the division. But?
a few nights afterwards, nearly the whole of these animals
were lost, while the division was ascending, in great darkness,
a thickly wooded mountain, by a very narrow and bad road.
The general was now advancing upon the town of El Valle de
Mais. Mina's late movements had kept the royalists in a
state of continual alarm. The enemy were at a loss to ascer
tain the point upon which they were directed ; and, as both
Altamira and Tampico were in their turns threatened, the
enemy were obliged to remain in these positions, to protect
them. As soon, however, as he advanced from Horcasitas"
upon El Valle de Mais, a strong body of troops was put in
motion to pursue him. To these, the capture of the cavallada
(herd of horses) just mentioned, was a sore event.
Just as the division was about to march, on the morning of
the 8th of June, a peasant arrived, with the intelligence that
the enemy from El Valle de Mais, about four hundred strong,
all cavalry, had taken post some distance in advance of the
town, and were determined to make a bold stand.
This news raised the spirits of the little band, who continu
ed the march, anxious to come in contact with the enemy. It
was soon perceived, from various articles of provisions scat
tered along the road, that the enemy had changed his resolu
tion, and had retreated : the track of wheels also denoted that
he had cannon. It appeared, however, that he again deter
mined to make a stand ; for, about noon, the division came
upon the enemy, whose force consisted of nearly two hundred
cavalry, advantageously posted on an eminence on the high
road, three leagues from El Valle de Mais.
The satisfaction manifested by the division, convinced Mina
that he could rely on their conduct ; and he immediately made
dispositions for the attack. The infantry were dismounted ;
and the best marksmen from the Guard of Honour, and regi
ment ofthe Union, were selected to act as light troops. These,
fourteen in number, were directed to enter a thicket, on which
the enemy's left rested, and to dislodge it ; while the main
body remained firm, ready to act.according to circumstances.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 97
The light troops advanced to the thicket, and after giving a few
well-directed fires, by which they killed five and wounded seve
ral others, they were astonished to see their antagonists fall back
on their reserve. They were pursued by the same party, who
again opened a fire on them, and the whole then retreated. The
general, as soon as' the enemy's troops gaye way, ordered the
main body to move on; and, when they finally retreated, Mina
selected from the cavalry twenty of the best mounted, partly
foreigners^ and partly natives of Soto la Marina, and boldly
pursued the enemy, nearly four hundred strong, all cavalry,
through the town, and a short way on the other side of it,
when a part of them rallied. The general, at the head of his
twenty men, dashed in among them ; they broke and fled.
Mina pursued them upwards of two leagues, seized one gun,
a small mountain piece, and put them entirely to the rout.
He then returned^ and occupied the town. The enemy lost
several men, and some prisoners were taken. Mina had one
man severely wounded, but none killed.
The personal intrepidity and skill displayed by the general
on this occasion, produced in the minds of the division, not
•only devotion to him, but the most unbounded confidence in
his abilities.
El Valle de Mais is situated near the river Panuco, and not
far from the town bearing that name, in the province of San
Luis Potosi. It was by far the best town the division had yet
seen. It has a large square, with extensive and well built
edifices and some handsome churches. The houses generally
have an air of neatness, and are well constructed. The divi
sion had almost despaired of seeing a town like this, from the
gloomy appearance of the country it had hitherto traversed.
The road had lain through the worst part of the Tierra
Caliente, or hot region, which, from the paucity of inhabitants,
the want of culture, and the scarcity of water, had induced
many to form a mean opinion of Mexico. But, at the Valle
de Mais, a brighter prospect was unfolded. The ascent into
the Tierra Fria, or cold region, which extends over the vast
mountain or table land composing eight-tenths of the Mexican
(13)

98 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
kingdom, had commenced. The population of the country
was becoming more dense, good towns and fine haciendas now
met the eye in various directions, and every hour gave a more
agreeable climate.
El Valle de Mais is a place of important trade. Its maga
zines were well stored with dry goods, and many of its inha
bitants were extremely wealthy. They had, generally speak
ing, precipitately decamped, under an impression that Mina's
progress would be marked by sanguinary conduct. Their
fears also were increased, in consequence of their having just
celebrated, with great rejoicings, the victory which the Gazette
of Mexico had announced to have been gained by the royal
fleet over Mina. Such, however, had been their hurry to
escape, that they left to the mercy of their conqueror their
valuable and well-furnished stores. Here Mina gave an un
equivocal proof of his politic and generous character. The
strictest orders were given to the troops not to stain the cause
they had espoused, by any act of plunder or personal violence
towards the inhabitants. Only a few articles which were
necessary for the troops, were taken from the stores ; and he
received but a moderate sum of money from the town ; thus
convincing the people, that he did not come to oppress or
maltreat them. Some dry gOods, captured during the march,
were served out, and a few dollars each were given to the
troops. On the evening of the 9th, the general received information
that Arminan, commandant of a battalion of the European
regiment of infantry of the line of Estremadura, was in pur
suit of him from Altamira, with about seven hundred infantry,
and a strong body of cavalry, and was then two days' march
in the rear. The receipt of this news caused neither surprise
nor dismay among the troops. They were so elated by the
victory recently gained, that, had the general proposed to
march, and meet this formidable force, the troops would cheer
fully have obeyed the order. But the general was too pru
dent to seek combats with such a disparity of numbers. His
great object was to form a junction with the patriot forces in

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 99
the interior; and although he calculated on his troops behaving
well, yet he was aware that every action against superior num
bers must reduce his own : it therefore became his invariable
policy to avoid, instead of fighting, the enemy. He, however,
called a council of his principal officers, to consult whether it
was best to await the enemy in the same position,, where the
attack had been made the preceding day, or, by making forced
marches, endeavour to join the patriots, before the enemy
could get up. The council determined in favour of the latter
movement, and, at dawn of the next morning, the division was
on its march.
The marches were now longer than heretofore ; the troops
obtaining scarcely any rest or refreshment : but they were
cheered by Mina's example. He appeared superior to fatigues
or privations, and was constantly on the alert.
On the 12th, at night, the division arrived and halted at a
rancho. The next morning, a sufficiency of tortillas, with
meat, was provided. A small detachment of cavalry was
despatched to a neighbouring rancho, but was driven in by a
superior number of the enemy's cavalry. Iff was also under
stood, that Arminan was uniting with a considerable body,
called the Rio Verde cavalry, and was but a few leagues off.
Mina thereupon caused the division to move forward; and as
it became necessary to advance rapidly, time could not be
spared to obtain provisions. On the night of the 14th, the
division arrived at the hacienda called Peotillos. The ene
my, however, by making double marches, was close up, and
took prisoner a soldier of the regiment of the Union, who, un
able to proceed, lagged in the rear.
On arriving at the hacienda, worn down by hunger and
fatigue, the troops expected that something necessary,for their
refreshment would be. obtained. But, to their great disap
pointment, they found that the Mayor Domo (overseer) had
run away, and had taken with him all the Indians, so that no
cattle could be procured. In the tired state of the troops,
sleep was even more grateful to them than provisions, and
they consoled themselves with the expectation of a good meal

100 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the next morning. Accordingly, early in the morning of the
15th, the poultry and pigs of the hacienda were laid under
requisition, and the troops were animated with the prospect of
a good breakfast ; but at eight A. M. while it was cooking,
advice was brought, that the advance guard of the enemy was
within two miles of the hacienda ; the troops were called to
arms, and marched to a small eminence adjoining the hacienda,
whence there was an extensive view of the plain.
The hacienda de Peotillos is the property of a convent in
Mexico. It is valuable, and the buildings are extensive and
handsome, situated at the foot of a range of hills running north
and south, fifteen leagues north-west from the city of San Luis
Potosi. East of the hacienda extends a large plain, bounded
on that side also by hills. The plain, in many places, was
planted with corn, but was much overrun with bushes, about
ten feet high. The advance of the enemy had formed on the
edge of one of these thickets, with a clear space of ground in its
front, and near it was a corn field, strongly fenced in.
From the eminence, to which the division was marched,
Mina reconnoitred the enemy. He saw that an action was
now inevitable. To retreat in the presence of such a force,
in the fatigued state of his infantry, and with the broken down
horses of the cavalry, was destruction ; and, to defend the
hacienda, could only eventuate in the extermination of his
little band. He therefore determined to strike a blow, trust
ing that it might be attended by some fortunate results. Hav
ing fixed upon his plan, he rode up to his troops, and stated
to them, that the body of cavalry then in view, consisted of
about four hundred men ; that the cloud of dust rising some
distance in the rear, was caused by the main body ; but, he
thought, that before it could get up, there might be time enough
to defeat the advanced guard. The general concluded by
asking them, if they were willing to march down to the plain
and attack the enemy. The division had learnt to despise the
enemy's cavalry, and from the knowledge they had acquired
of their undisciplined state, and the great confidence they re
posed in Mina, would cheerfully have engaged any number

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 101
of them. With three cheers, they, therefore, answered the
general, that they would follow wherever he chose to lead
them. He, thereupon, selected from the division, the Guard
of Honour, the regiment of the Union, detachments from the
cavalry and first regiment of the line, and the armed servants,
composed of coloured boys, under the command of one of the
general's servants, and marched to the conflict. His small
band, including the general and staff, and a reenforcement of
ten cavalry ordered up during the action, was one hundred and
seventy-two. Of these, the Guard of Honour and regiment
of the Union formed the line, and was commanded by colonel
Young; a detachment from* the Union, with that from the first
regiment, and the armed servants, operated as skirmishers,
and the cavalry covered the flanks. The residue of the di
vision remained in the hacienda, to protect the stores, of which
colonel Noboa was left in command.
Immediately on the arrival of the division at the cleared
ground, the enemy made a furious charge ; but were received
with firmness. A well-directed fire cheeked their ardour, and
they fell back, leaving twenty-two dead. But, knowing the
powerful support that was coming up, and being joined in the
meantime by a reenforcement of cavalry, they were thereby
stimulated to continue the contest. They played round, oc
casionally charging, and harassed the division in this manner,
until the main body, composed of infantry, cavalry, and can
non, arrived. It got up under cover ofthe bushes before de
scribed, which had concealed its approach, until the first in
timation that the division had of its arrival was a tremendous
fire from its line. Mina, on perceiving the overwhelming
force, made a disposition to retire upon the hacienda, in order
to re-unite his forces. But the enemy, encouraged by this
movement, advanced, beating the charge and maintaining a
heavy fire, by which several of the little band fell. The -gene
ral, finding it would be impracticable to draw off his troops,
halted them, and made some necessary movements. The
enemy, thereupon, took up a position, with their left resting
on the fence of the corn fields, and their right flanked by a
$loud of cavalry. The division now saw the immense supe-

102 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
riority of the force they had to contend with, and destruction
appeared inevitable. But the serenity and courage of their
leader filled the men with enthusiasm, and increased the reso
lution they had formed to sell their lives as dearly as possible.
The infantry had been supplied with buck shot, and many
of the men loaded with eighteen in addition to the ball. They
committed havoc among the enemy. But the constant fire -of
the royalists considerably thinned the ranks of Mina's infantry,
and his cavalry sustained some sharp conflicts, and suffered
severely. At length the enemy's cavalry were observed coming up in
the rear, and lancing the unfortunate wounded ; several of
whom had still sufficient strength remaining to fire a musket,
and continued, as they lay on the ground, to give battle till
they were pierced with wounds. At this juncture the order
Was given to charge, and the line advanced with cool determi
nation. The enemy evinced a strong disposition to withstand
it, and remained firm till Mina's infantry were within a few
paces. This was thecritical moment which was to decide the
fate of the division. Mina's infantry, animated by their reso
lution to conquer or die, gave three cheers, and, pouring into
the enemy a destructive volley of buck, shot, rushed upon
them ; they broke ; and, throwing away their arms, fled with
such precipitation, that only a very few were bayoneted.
The cavalry, viewing with astonishment the fate of the infan
try, partook ofthe terror. They dispersed, and fled in every
direction. The general was unable to follow up his success,
as the horses of the detachment from the cavalry, with him,
were completely worn down. He, however, pursued the fu
gitives a short distance. Had colonel Noboa been animated
with the gallantry of major Maylefer, who commanded the
cavalry in the hacienda, not one of the enemy's infantry would
have^escaped. The major, anxious to signalize himself, re
peatedly requested colonel Noboa to allow him to share in
the glory of the day, and to reenforce the general with the
cavalry ; but, for some reason or other, he would not allow
him, and thus the enemy's infantry escaped annihilation.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 103
It was supposed, that the enemy, after flying a reasonable
distance, and not finding themselves. pursued, would rally,
and then return to the attack. The division was, in conse
quence, ordered to the hacienda, where it arrived, after having
been warmly engaged three hours and a half. The troops
returned in high spirits, each man feeling conscious of having
not only done hie duty, but that he had escaped the destruc
tion which, a few hours before, appeared to await him. Never
was any man welcomed with more heart-felt congratulations,
than those which Mina received from his troops. They rent
the air with their cheers, and even the wounded seemed almost
insensible to suffering, amidst the general' joy.
The first impulse of the little band, on being dismissed, was
to fly to the meal which had been left in cooking : but, to their
keen mortification, they found, that the cooks, feeling as was
natural, more interest in the fate of the battle, than in dressing
the provisions, had deserted their trust. In their absence,
the dogs of the hacienda had upset the pots, and had regaled
themselves at the expense of the famished, soldiers. Other
provisions were rspeedily procured, for cooking ; but, in the
meantime, an alarm was given, which, however, turned out to
be unfounded.
Immediately on reaching the hacienda, the attention of the
general was directed to the removal of the wounded from the
field, and parties were sent out for that purpose, as well as to
collect some of the fruits of the victory. Owing to the dis
tance of. the scene of action from the hacienda, and the want
of the necessary means of conveyance, this duty was not fin
ished till night had set in. Besides the wounded of the divi
sion, some of the enemy's were brought in also. From the
same causes, only fifty stand of arms, one gun, three drums,
some accoutrements, and eight mule loads of ammunition, were
all that could be saved ; of the latter, the enemy blew up a
considerable quantity when they fled.
The return of the loss of the division was heavy, and a
melancholy reduction from its strength. It was as follows : —

104 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.

1

Officers,

Rank and file.

A

A — i

t
Staff, - - -

^
billed. -mounded.
1 1

( ^
killed. mounded,
0 0

Guard of Honour,

8

7

0 0

Cavalry, - - -

2

3

9 7

Regiment of the Union,

0

0

6 7

First Regiment, - -

O

0

4 0

Armed servants, - -

0

0

0 1

11
11
19 15
Total killed and wounded, - - - - 56
Among the killed was Don Lazaro Goni, a native of Na
varre : the general was much attached to him. He was be
loved by the army, and had gallantly distinguished himself.
On the body of a lieutenant colonel, killed in the action, was
found the order of the day, which showed that the force ac
tually engaged was six hundred and eighty infantry Of the
European regiments of Estremadura and America, and eleven
hundred of the Rio Verde and Sierra Gorda cavalry ; and that
the rear guard consisted of three hundred men. This was
subsequendy corroborated by official documents, published at
Mexico: so that Mina, with one hundred and seventy fa
tigued infantry, and badly mounted cavalry, defeated, in a
plain, without even the advantage of a good position, upwards
of seventeen hundred men. The royalist soldiers, who fled
from the field of battle, returned to their homes, and, in vin
dication of their own conduct, exaggerated the numbers and
intrepidity of Mina's troops, who, they said, were not men, but
devils ; and portrayed in melancholy colours, the dreadful
execution committed by their fire. The general's fame thus
spread in every direction, and paralyzed the enemy.
The action of Peotillos is yet mentioned with shame and
mortification by the royalists. It was blazoned through the
kingdom, and particularly in the central provinces, where it is
known to all ranks of people. It will long live in the recol-
MEXICAN. REVOLUTIQN. 105
lection of the Mexicans ; ahd perhaps the day is not distant,
when the Mexican people will offer to the memory of Mina,
those honours due to the hero of Peotillos. This, and other
actions and circumstances, have created in their minds a strong
predilection, and great respect for foreigners : a circumstance
which would be attended by the most astonishing results,
should a body of them ever invade the kingdom in the cause
of its emancipation. If Mina, after this action, had had, with
him one thousand, instead of a hundred and fifty foreigners,
he might have marched direct upon the capital of Mexico,
and the royalist troops, instead of opposing him, would have
flocked to his banners.
The battle of Peotillos incontestably proves, the quality and
character of the royalist troops, and shows what a few deter
mined foreigners can achieve against them at the point of the
bayonet. This is not the only action which can be adduced
in support of this assertion. That of colonel Perry, near Soto
la Marina, and that of El Valle de Mais, already noticed,
and those of Pinos and San Juan de los Llanos, yet to be
mentioned, were all gained over a superiority of numbers ;
and it will be seen in the sequel, that Mina's division was cut
up by the enormous force of five thousand men, whose efforts
even then would have been unavailing, if their success had
depended entirely upon their personal prowess. If these are
not sufficient proofs of the awful fall of the Spaniards from their
once lofty elevation in the records of military fame, let the
reader revert to the history of their struggle against the em
peror Napoleon, and there he will find, that in the central pro
vinces of Spain, the French, with one third their numbers,
gained victories, and drove them from point to point, even af
ter their armies were organized and disciplined.
The sanguinary style in which the order of the day, found
as before mentioned, was couched, roused the indignation of
the division against its author. It expressly forbade quarter,
and so sure was Arminan of the victory, which his great
superiority of numbers was well calculated to inspire, that he
exulted in having at length got the traitor Mina and his rabble
(gctvilla) into his power, not one of whom, the order said,
(14)

106 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
should escape. It modestly pointed out the description of
the plunder which was to belong to the king, and that which
was to be distributed among his troops, whom it strictly en
joined not to stop the work of extermination to plunder, but,
that after the slaughter was finished, a division of the spoils
should be made. The great disposer of human events had
ordained, that matters should not correspond with the savage
principles and predictions of colonel Armifian. On the con
trary, he received a merited punishment for his intended cruel
ties, by having his host put to flight by one tenth of its num
bers. Armifian with his staff, fled several leagues from the
field of battle, before he deemed it safe to halt. His despatch
to the commander of San Luis Potosi, was published in the
Gazette of Mexico, and is a tolerably fair sample of all the
royalist despatches, which have appeared in that paper, during
the revolution. It is a composition of so much absurdity, and
so palpably false, that the Spanish officers yet treat it with
merited ridicule, and never touch upon the subject but with
disgust. It is very brief, and sets out with saying, that he
had encountered a column of men determined to die killing ;
he states, that his cavalry took fright at something, and ran
over his infantry, which threw them into disorder, but that he
gained the battle, and that he only wanted two hundred more
cavalry, which he requested might be sent him, to finish the
total destruction of Mina. He concludes this singular despatch,
by saying, " no hay mas papel" " I am out of paper" else, we
presume, he would have communicated, for the information of
the Mexican people, a few more falsehoods.
During the action, a trumpeter was made prisoner by a
major of the enemy's cavalry. The major immediately forced
him to dismount, and then gave him his carabine to carry.
The trumpeter soon ascertained that it was loaded, and when
he found that the enemy's troops were in a state of confusion,
he suddenly presented the carabine at the major, and peremp
torily ordered him to dismount; he did so, and the trumpeter
jumping into the saddle, ordered the major to march before
him, observing to him, " as you are obliged to walk, sir, I'll
not trouble you to carry the gun." So much pleased was the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. JQ7
major with the manner in which he was treated, that although
Mina gave him his liberty, he subsequently joined a division
of the patriots.
As the people of the hacienda had retired on the approach
of the division, no emissary could be despatched, to obtain
information of the enemy's situation. Mina knew, that igno
rance of his force could not have been the cause of his signal
victory, for the enemy had various -opportunities of ascertain
ing it fo a man; besides, they had, taken one of the division
prisoner, the preceding evening, from whom they had undoubt
edly gained every information. He therefore expected, that,
feeling ashamed at having been beaten by so contemptible a
number, they would make a desperate attempt to retrieve the
disasters of Peotillos, and it was accordingly judged best to
steal a march on the enemy. The division was, therefore, put
in light marching order, and the superfluous baggage was de
stroyed, to make room for the conveyance of the arms and
ammunition taken from the enemy.
It has already been noticed, that some of the wounded of
the enemy had been removed from the field, with those be
longing to the division. Their wounds were dressed, and the
same sympathy was extended to them as to those, of Mina.
The surgeon reported, that four of the division were so dan
gerously wounded, that it was impossible to remove them,
and with reluctance the general was obliged to leave them.
He, however, left a letter for the royalist commander, begging
that he would pay the same attention to them, as had. been
shown to his own wounded. The parting with these .brave
fellows was extremely painful. They shook the general and
their companions cordially by the hand, and wished them suc
cess, while bidding them, as they conceived, an eternal adieu.
We have great pleasure in recording the fact, which we after
wards learned, that Mina's request was most scrupulously ful
filled; they were removed by order of the royalist commander,
to San Luis Potosi, and were there, treated in the most hu
mane manner, particularly by the inhabitants.
Every thing being arranged, at two o'clock of the morning
of the 16th, the division moved forward, and continued

108 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
advancing till noon, when it arrived at a rancho. Here, intel
ligence was received of the complete defeat of the enemy ;
and, as the fear of pursuit from that quarter was now at an
end, the division took up its quarters for the night. As thfc
rancho afforded every thing necessary for their refreshment,
the troops fared sumptuously.
The next morning, the march was resumed : but two offi
cers, from some mbtive which could not be developed, re
mained in the rancho ; they afterwards fell into the hands
of the enemy. At sun-set, the division passed through the
pueblo of Hideonda. Its priest ordered the bells to be rung,
and gave other apparent demonstrations of joy, to celebrate,
as he said, the result of the battle. He endeavoured to per
suade the general that he was warmly attached to the patriotic
cause. But his conduct, it afterwards appeared, was guided
by the most profound dissimulation ; his real object being to
get rid of Mina, in the safest way possible ; and' to obtain an
exact account of his numbers. He afterwards boasted to the
royalists, that he had counted Mina's troops as they remained
formed in the square.
* It should not be inferred, however, from this instance of
hypocrisy, that the clergy are averse, in general, to the cause
of liberty, excepting that portion of them which first drew
their breath in Spain. It is true, that the European priests,
from interest and prejudice, have been, and ever will be, hos
tile to the independence of the New World; but the sweeping
imputations which have been cast on the Spanish American
clergy, are without the least foundation. To accuse the Cre
ole priests of a lack of amor patrias, and an attachment to the
interests of the Spanish government, could only arise from a
total ignorance of their real character and situation. There is
no part of the Mexican population which has more ample
cause to desire, or in secret does more ardently pant after, a
change of government, than its native clergy. The church
preferments are regulated in an equally odious manner, with
the civil and military. No Creole, whatever claims he may
have on the score of family, or however great his talents may
be, can ever aspire to the mitre. The subordinate livings only

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 109
are filled by Creoles ; rare- indeed are the instances of native
divines attaining to any situation beyond that of a cura (rector
of a parish,) and even the most valuable of these livings are
presented to old Spaniards. Inequality of fortune is here even
more striking than among the civilians ; for no country pre
sents such contrasts of wealth and poverty, luxury and misery,
as Mexico. While a large proportion of the curas suffer ex
treme poverty, (many depending for subsistence entirely on
the charity of their parishioners) the canons and bishops, and
even some of the curas, roll in affluence and luxury. The
Creole, once placed in a curato, there lives and dies, unnotic
ed, — unregarded ; while he has the mortification to see daily
arrivals from Spain of the refuse of the Spanish convents, who
are destined to succeed to, and invariably monopolize, the
clerical dignities and wealth.
The Mexican clergy are far less numerous than is generally
supposed. According to a late enlightened traveller, M. de
Humboldt, the secular clergy and regulars who wear the cowl
do not exceed ten, and, including the lower orders attached
to the convents, fourteen, thousand ; being about three for every
thousand inhabitants. The kingdom is divided into one arch
bishopric and eight bishoprics. The revolution has materially
reduced their incomes; but, prior to that event, the dignitaries
received the: following immense annual revenues :—
Archbishop of Mexico, g 130,000
Bishop of La Puebla, - 110,000
 Valladolid, - 100,000
 Guadalaxara, - 90,000
 Durango, - 35,000
 Monterey, - 30,000
 :  Yucatan, - 20,000
 Oaxaca, - - 18,000
 Sonora, . - - 6,000
The canons, from seven to nine thousand dollars, and the
sub-canons, from two to four thousand dollars, each.
The church revenue was derived principally from tithes.
Its lands were in value about two and a half millions of dol-

110 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
lars ; and it held mortgages to the immense amount of about
forty millions of dollars.
When it is considered, that these immense sums flow into
the coffers of a comparatively few individuals, of whom by far
the greater proportion are old Spaniards, to the exclusion of
the natives of the country, can it be for a moment supposed,
or is it consistent with human nature, that a class of men so
degraded and so abused, should uphold, from sentiments of
attachment to the Madre Patria, a government which thus
oppresses them ? It is true, they have great power over their
flocks, which they do not fail to exercise ; but, as that dreadful
engine of despotism, the Inquisition, has hitherto hung over
their heads, and the civil government possesses all the physical
force, which is 'always called forth in its aid, they are awed
into subjection, and fear alone compels them to act a part, at
which they would otherwise spurn. Were the clergy proper
ly supported, they would soon convince the world that they
are really. patriots, and that the charges against them are foul
aspersions. In taking a retrospective view of their conduct, we find that
the plan to drive despotism from Mexico was laid by priests ;
the father of the revolution (Hidalgo) was a priest. From
the commencement, priests have held the first rank in the pa
triot armies : such were Morelos, Matamoros, and an infinite
number of other distinguished members of the church. Those
just mentioned, beside several hundreds oi priests, have fallen
victims, during the struggle for liberty; and there are yet
many of the clergy, acting with the revolutionists, in the pro
vinces of Mexico, Guanaxuato, and Valladolid.
The next day's march brought the division to a very exten
sive hacienda, called Espiritu Santo. Being on the frontiers
of the provinces possessed by the patriots, and open to their
incursions, the hacienda was fortified, and a garrison had been
maintained at the owner's expense : but, not deeming it pru
dent to withstand an attack from the force which now ap
proached, they had retreated to San Luis, having the propri
etor, a European Spaniard, under their convoy. The majority
ofthe male inhabitants had been compelled to depart; but the

MEXICAN, REVOLUTION. m
division was met, at the entrance of the hacienda, by a troop
of females, bearing a picture of the Virgin, and chaunting
hymns. Fearing the worst from victorious troops, and judg
ing what would be the conduct of Mina, by what they had
experienced from others in the same situation, they adopted
this method; hoping, by the intercession of their tutelar saint,
to awaken the compassion of the conqueror, and to obtain that
clemency which was seldom extended to them. Their fears
soon subsided; and, to their very great surprise, the soldiers,
instead of plundering them, as had been customary with the
contending parties, paid for whatever they required. The
division bivouaced without the hacienda, rations were pro
vided, and the next morning it moved forward.
By a forced march, the division reached the Real de Pinos,
at sun-set. The term Real implies a place' where mines are
worked. This town is in the intendancy of Zacatecas; is
extensive and wealthy; and is located on an ascent, partly
surrounded by hills, out of which the precious minerals are
extracted. It was fortified ; being defended, on the hill side,
by a very wide and deep trench, which was raked from breast
works built on the tops of the houses. On the side next the
plain, the streets leading to the Plaza Mayor (principal square)
were blocked up by a wall, calculated only, to afford protection
against musketry, constructed with loop-holes, and strength
ened by ditches. These wOuld be unavailing against orga
nized troops, as the heights completely command the plate
within musket-shot. It had, however, been once invested by
a body of fifteen hundred patriots, and had resisted their at
tacks. At the time Mina appeared before Pinos, it contained a
garrison of three hundred men. He summoned the place to
surrender, promising that respect should be paid to persons
and property, and threatening the consequences that awaited
its reduction by force. A refusal to this summons was re
turned; and Mina, thereupon, made preparations for storming
the place. Soon after dark, parties were despatched to the
different points of attack; and a smart skirmishing was main
tained on both sides, but without causing any loss to Mina.

112 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
A little before midnight, a detachment of fifteen men from
the Union was ordered up to reenforce a party of the first re
giment. At that point, the houses were low, and afforded a
communication from their terraces with the Plaza Mayor,
extending some distance into the rear of the enemy's works.
The small party of fifteen men, anxious to distinguish them
selves, immediately mounted the terraces, and unobserved,
as the night was dark, proceeded along them in silence. Ar-
rived at the square, they lowered themselves down by their
blankets; where, by the light of the torches of the enemy, they
saw the reserve under arms, with five pieces of artillery : they
advanced upon them as long as they could do so unpercejved,
then gave their usual three cheers, and rushed on the enemy
with the bayonet. They were completely surprised, and,
each one seeking his own safety in flight, abandoned the place,
without farther resistance. Thus Pinos was carried, with
the loss of one man. As the place had refused to surrender
on honourable terms, and as it was taken by storm, Mina, in
conformity with the laws of war, gave it up to be plundered ;
but, at the same time, charged the troops not to commit any
act of personal violence. Large sums in specie were found by
the troops, many of whom obtained more treasure than they
could find means to carry away. They amply supplied them
selves with clothing, which they niuch needed ; few leaving
the place without a richly embroidered cloak thrown over the
shoulders, worth from one to two hundred dollars, and many
of them far more valuable. A considerable magazine of mili
tary stores was also found here.
One of the soldiers of the Union regiment had entered a
church, and was detected in the act of purloining the golden
ornaments belonging to the altar. The general had always
given the most positive orders to his troops, to respect all
places dedicated to divine worship : and had declared his firm
determination to punish with death whoever was found com
mitting an act of sacrilege. On a former occasion, at Soto la
Marina, he had caused a Creole to be shot, for breaking into
a church at Palo Alto. He therefore, on being informed of
the circumstance, immediately directed the soldier to be taken

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. ' 113
out to the front ofthe division, and there shot :— thus proving
to the royalists, that the men whom they called heretics, and
whom they had represented to the people as sacrilegious plun
derers, paid more respect to the sanctuaries of religion than
themselves ; for the, royalist troops, throughout the revolution,
have invariably polluted the churches, by using them as forti
fications, barracks, and stables, whenever it suited their pur
poses. They have, on several occasions, despoiled cathedrals
and convents of immense quantities of silver ornaments, and
converted them into specie. It would not, therefore, be sur
prising, did the patriots follow this example; but to their
honour be it said, that they are more scrupulous in these mat
ters than, their enemies. In various parts of the province of
Guanaxuato, were seen churches in ruins, which the inhabi
tants had razed to the ground, rather than that they should be
applied to the purposes of fortifications..
On the afternoon of the i9th, the general, after releasing on
parole those who had fallen into his hands, evacuated Pinos,
carrying with him a part of the trophies of his late victory,
consisting of a stand of colours, four guns, several stand of
arms, a large quantity of ammunition, clothing and accoutre
ments; but for the want of mules to remove them, fifteen
cases of ammunition, two guns after being spiked, and several
other articles, were thrown into a well.
It was expected that the long-looked-for junction with
the patriots of the interior, would be formed in a few days.
The road now traversed one of those extensive arid plains,
with which the intendancy of Zacatecas abounds. A number
of ruined houses, and quantities of human bones scattered
here and there, gave an air of desolation to the plain, and indi
cated that the country had suffered severely by revolutionary
ravages. - For three days, the division marched through this
solitary plain; and, as every thing had been laid waste, nei
ther human being, nor beast, were visible. No provisions
were to be procured: but, fortunately, the plains were covered
with grass, which afforded the horses superabundant forage,
and enabled them to go over much ground every day.
(15)

114 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
After dark, on the 22d, the guide became bewildered as to
the right road, and the division halted. It had been three
days with scarcely any nourishment; and as there was no
prospect of immediate relief, their situation became unplea
sant. Early the next morning, an officer, with a small escort
of cavalry, was ordered to advance, and seek for habitations.
He had not proceeded far, when he fell in with- a small party
of patriots, who were reconnoitring. The detachment being
well uniformed, and as the patriots had npt heard any thing
of Mina's approach, they supposed the division to be hos
tile, and commenced firing. It was with difficulty the offi
cer could bring them to a parley; which having accomplished,
and remaining himself as a hostage, a few of the patriots came
down to the division. The joy of the" troops, at having at
length, after surmounting so many obstacles^ joined their al
lies, may readily be imagined. Every man, in his rejoicings,
forgot his past sufferings, and contemplated with pleasure the
fieid of glory which he supposed was in consequence about to
be opened to him. The general immediately set off, to meet
and pay his respects to the commandant of his allies, lieutenant
colonel Don Christoval Naba; and, in the course of the fore
noon, the general with the lieutenant colonel, returned to the
encampment. The grotesque figure ofthe colonel surprised the division.
He wore a threadbare roundabout brown jacket, decorated with
a quantity of tarnished silver lace ; a red waistcoat; his shirt
collar, fancifully cut and embroidered, was flying open, with
a black silk handkerchief hanging loosely round his neck. He
also wore a pair of loose, short, rusty^ olive-coloured velve
teen breeches, also decorated with lace ; and round his legs
were wrapped a pair of dressed deer-skins, tied under the knee
by a garter. He had on a pair of country made shoes ; and
on either heel was a tremendous iron spur, inlaid with silver,
weighing near a pound each, with rowels four inches in dia
meter. On his head was placed a country made hat, with an
eight inch brim, ornamented with a broad silver band, in the
front of which was stuck a large picture of the Virgin of

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. H5
Guadalupe, enclosed in a frame, and protected by a glass. He
was mounted on a fine horse, and was armed with a brace of
pistols, a Spanish Toledo, and an immensely long lance. His
men were equipped much in the same style ; but were princi
pally clad and armed with the spoils taken* from the enemy:
Though these Mexican Cossacks were thus singularly and
rudely equipped, they were robust looking fellows, accustomed
to hardships and severe privations, and full of courage.
The district, under the command of Don Christoval, was
poor, which accounted for his appearance : but, in the rich
districts, although the patriot officers are clothed in the same
style that the colonel was, (which, by the by, is the dress of
the Mexican peasantry, and is far from being unbecoming)
yet they expend vast sums on their dress, and the equipage of
their horses. Many of the troops are well uniformed, agree
ably to their taste. The, officers are literally covered with gold
and silver buttons, lace, and embroidery; and to protect them
from the weather, they wear a cloak, called " mangas" richly
adorned with gold lace. ^They mount superb horses, which
are generally richly caparisoned : the headstalls of the bridles
are covered with silver ; that part of the saddletree which
shows itself, is mounted with silver; and the saddle is richly
and elegantly embroidered, with gold and silver thread: many
of the latter cost from one to three hundred dollars. Some
ofthe commandants run into the extremes of extravagance, in
respect to their appearance ; but the generality, except in the
very poor districts, are richly and handsomely clothed.
Mina learned from Don Christoval, that five leagues dis
tant was a national rancho, and that four leagues farther was
the national fort called. Sombrero. This was cheering intelli
gence; and in high spirits the troops resumed the march.
After dark, on the preceding evening,, lieutenant Porter was
unfortunately lost. In the morning, he was made prisoner by
the royalists, and sent to Ihe town of Lagos.
While the division was ascending the, heights of Ybarra, a
strong body of the enemy were seen in the plain below. Their
appearance was as unexpected as unwelcome, to the exhausted

116 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
troops. As Mina expected they would bring him to action,
he took the necessary measures to act on the defensive ; and
there is litde doubt, that, had the enemy attacked him, his
troops, flushed as they were with recent victory, and elated
by being so near their allies, would have given him a warm
reception. But for reasons inexplicable by the division, the
enemy declined a combat, and allowed Mina to reach the ran
cho unmolested. There the troops found plenty of meat pro
vided by their friends, which constituted a rich repast to men
who had fasted for four days. >
The enemy were encamped in a ruined hacienda, only two
leagues distant from the division, and the next morning pro
ceeded to the Villa de Leon. They consisted of the battalion
of the European regiment of Navarre, and cavalry, seven
hundred strong, under the command of Don Francisco de Or
rantia, who, it appeared, had been ordered, after the defeat at
Peotillos, from the city of Queretaro, to prevent Mina's junc
tion with the patriots. The manner in'which he obeyed his
orders is here seen. Orrantia will. become a conspicuous
figure, in our subsequent pages ; and it will be perceived that
his future conduct exactly corresponded with his behaviour in
this instance. The true cause of his declining an action with
Mina, may be attributed to the respectful awe he entertained
for the general.
Orrantia is one among the many Spaniards, sent to seek their
fortunes in the colonies, without education or principle. It is by
this class of Spaniards that the unfortunate Creoles have been
so dreadfully oppressed, in every part of the New World. He
soon became opulent; and was, and is yet, the owner of a large
store, in the town of San Miguel el Grande, where he carries
on a lucrative business. When the revolution broke out, he
became a soldier; and his sanguinary enormities towards de
fenceless men, women, and children, recommended him to the
then royal authorities, and he was promoted to the rank of
colonel. The officer who had remained with Don Christoval Naba as a
hostage, and was sent on to his commanding officer, Don Pedro

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 117
Moreno, the commandant of Sombrero, after having exhibited
his commission to Don Pedro, received from that commander
an invitation for the general:, welcoming him,, and requesting
that the division might be marched to the fort. At the same
time, Don Pedro sent despatches to the patriot government,
announcing the happy event, and the intelligence soon spread
in every direction.
The general, with the staff, early on the morning of the 24th,
proceeded to the fort. The division moved on soon after,
and arrived at noon at the patriot fortress, where they were
received with the most cordial demonstrations of joy; The
patriots viewed the division with astonishment, and could
scarcely believe it possible that such a handful of men could
have penetrated such a distance to the interior, and through a
country occupied by the royalists in every part ofthe route.
The division had been thirty days on the march, and had
gone over a distance of two hundred and twenty leagues. It
was harassed a considerable distance by the enemy, from which
cause, and from the nature of the marches, no regular supplies
of provisions could be procured. Frequently two, sometimes
three, and even four days had elapsed, without rations : and in
no instance did the division, except in El Valle de Mais, pro
cure more than one meal a day, and that of meat only; fighting,
during these scenes of privation and fatigue, two severe battles,
and taking one town. The troops bore up against hardships,
with cheerfulness, by observing that their leader fared like
themselves, and in the hour of danger was invariably at their
head, cheering -them on.
The privations which the , division suffered, did not arise
from the want of means in that part of Mexico, to support an
army, but from the- circumstances, of the general being obliged
to seek the most unfrequented paths, and the constant and
rapid marches which his situation obliged him to make, fre
quently not allowing him time to refresh his troops, except
by a few hours sleep, which the troops generally preferred to
employing the time in cooking. If Mina^s force had been
strong enough to have allowed him to advance by the, high

118 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
road, the division would have fared differently, for few coun
tries can afford more provisions for an army than Mexico,
particularly in meat. A few leagues from the sea coast, where
there is scarcely any population, bread is difficult to be obtain
ed, but soon afterwards, an army reaches a delightful country,
tolerably well settled, enjoying a fine climate, and where, in
the towns, wheat bread can always be procured.
By looking over M. le Baron de Humboldt's chart, the only
correct one extant, it will be seen that the distance by the
king's high way (camino real,) from Soto la Marina to Som
brero, is not more than half the distance before mentioned, but
Mina's peculiar situation obliged him to take circuitous routes,
which can be seen by tracing the march on the maps.
The following is the return made by colonel Noboa, of the
strength ofthe division, on its arrival at Sombrero ;—
The general and staff, - 10
Guard of Honour, - - 23
Cavalry, - - -\ - 109
Regiment of the Union, - 46'
First regiment of the line, - 59
Artillerists, ... 5
Armed servants, - - I2 I
Ordinanzas, - - - 5

Total, 269
Of these, twenty-five were wounded; and the loss, in killed,
and those who were taken prisoners on the rOad, amounted to
thirty-nine. When it is considered that the division marched
through so great an extent of enemy's country, enduring se
vere privations and sufferings, for thirty days, it will appear
almost incredible, that under such circumstances, besides
fighting two battles and carrying by storm one town, the loss
sustained should have been so trifling. It affords a criterion,
which Will enable the reader to judge of the skill and enter
prise of Mina, and of the good conduct of his officers and men.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION.

119

The following munitions of war were brought away, after
the different affairs : —

- c
u
cocc
O
M in9
cn
!¦
to,
«cuucrt
J
ao
O
ts1
'<- x
5(8
o
S
o
M 3
o c
n H rt
CO
.s
Action at
Ei Valle de Mais.
4
8
10
50
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
Action at
Peotillos.
1
50
0
0
0
3
18
0
0
8
'6
Captuhe or
Siesba se Pinos.
4
38
20
50 '
1
1
34
60
60
7
4od
Total
9
96
30
100
1
4
52
60
60
18
400
A much larger quantity would have been obtained, if time
had allowed to collect them, or if mules could have been pro
cured to transport them ; for the want of the latter, in Pinos
alone, fifteen boxes of ammunition, two guns, and other arti-
'cles, were thrown down a well. Trifling, however, as these
trophies were, the impression they produced on the patriots
rendered them of great importance. Not one of the patriot
officers had ever heard of Mina, nor had either they or the
soldiers ever seen a foreigner; consequently, they judged of
the merits ofthe division by the battles won, and spoils brought
into the fort.
The downfal. of , the Spanish government in Mexico, was
an event now viewed by the patriots as near at hand, and the
whole country held .by them, presented a scene of rejoicing.
The government of Mexico,, at no period since the com
mencement of the revolution, had been in a situation so criti
cal and embarrassing. It had calculated that the forces under
Arredondo, Armifian and others, would have been sufficient
to have annihilated Mina ; but when they learned that he had
actually formed a junction with the patriots, they began to
tremble for the consequences. They were conscious, that it
Would have been impossible for him to have penetrated so far
into the interior of the country, with so inconsiderable a body
of men, if the inhabitants had not secretly favoured his pro-
120 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
gress; and they were aware, from the results of the battles,
that their own troops could not be relied upon for fidelity of
valour. They were, besides, not ignorant of the fact, that
Mina was well known and popular among the European troops
then in Mexico ; and consequently that there was a risk of
disaffection spreading among that class of the soldiery. These
reflections and fears, on the part of the authorities in the city
of Mexico, were well founded; and there is no doubt existing
in the mind of the writer, that if Mina had found the patriots
concentrated, and in such numbers as he had calculated on ;
or, scattered as they were, had. they embraced and zealously
co-operated in his plans, he would have been enabled, not only
to have resisted any force the royalists could have brought
against him ; but in all probability, to have conducted his en
terprise to a successful issue. This opinion will be strongly
supported by the facts to be related in the sequel.
The first objects of the general, on entering Sombrero, were
to lay his services at the feet of the government, and to write
to Padre Torres, a neighbouring chieftain, who bore the title
of commander in chief. He also distributed his manifesto.
The fort was commanded by Don Pedro Moreno, maris
cal de campo,* and had a garrison of about eighty infantry,
and a few cavalry, tolerably, well clothed and armed. Don
Pedro had also under his orders, a body of about two hundred
cavalry, commanded by Don Encarnacion Ortiz, who tra
versed the country in the vicinity of Sombrero.
Fort Sombrero, called by the royalists Comanja, was situ
ated on the mountain of that name, about eighteen leagues
north-west of the city of Guanaxuato, in that intendancy; from
Lagos, in the intendancy of Guadalaxara, east-south-east,
about five; and from the Villa de Leon, north-east six leagues.
It was a rudely fortified neck of land, about five hundred
paces long, stretching north and south, and'elevated above the
plain of Leon, about one thousand feet; At the north end,
* The Spanish grades, which are also observed by the patriots, are, from
a colonelcy to brigadier ; brigadier to mariscal de campo ; thence to lieute
nant general, and finally to captain general.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. i$l
there was a narrow ridge or causeway, skirted by precipices,
which connected the neck of land which formed the fort, with
a chain of hills ; one of which completely commanded it within
long musket^shot. This alone rendered the fort untenable
against any regular attack, but, as Moreno had successfully
repulsed the royalists in one attempt made by them to enter it,
he considered it as a very strong hold. On the east side, the
fort was separated from the^ mountains by a very deep and
wide barranca (ravine.) At the south end, the declivity of
the hill was very steep : and on the west side was a bold de
scent to the plain. From the south end, at a less elevation
than the fort, extended out into the plain two narrow ridges.
Across the end of the causeway next to the fort, where it was
about fifty paces wide, a miserably constructed wall Had been
run. It was flanked by two ill-planned one gun batteries,
which rakecTthe greatest part of the causeway, and the de
clivity of the hill in front; but could not annoy the ditch.
This was the only regular entrance into the fort. In its rear
was a conical hill, crowned by a work of one gun, which
commanded the causeway. From the entrance, for some dis
tance along the fort, it was naturally defended by perpendicu
lar rocks and precipices ; and beyond them, at the south or
lower end, as it was called, it was artificially strengthened by
a low wall, built of loose stones', but its real defence at this
place, which was bad enough, consisted in the steepness of
the hill. Seventeen pieces of crooked, rough, and mishapen ar
tillery, from two to eight pounders, were mounted on various ¦
parts of the fort. The commandant's house, magazines, hos
pital, and the greater part of the soldiers' dwellings — barracks
there were none — were built on the south side of the conical hill;
some grass huts were also standing at the lower end, and cram
med in amongst the rocks in various parts of the fort. The
greatest of all its defects was, the want of water, the garrison
depending on a supply from a brook, (arroyo,) which ran
'through the bottom of the ravine, at a distance of nearly eight
hundred paces from the fort. At the time the division enter
ed the fort, it did not contain a week's provisions, and in every
(16)

122 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
point of view it was badly calculated to resist any serious
attack. Having conducted the general to the accomplishment of one
of his most important objects, the formation of a junction with
the patriots : we must, before we proceed with the narrative
of Mina's exploits, resume the memoirs of the Mexican
revolution, in order to show in a clear point of view, the then
distracted and miserable state of the insurgents, and the in
surmountable obstacles the general had to contend with, from
the gross ignorance, ambition, inactivity, and want of princi^
pie, in many of their leaders at that epoch, which in fact,
were the immediate causes of the failure of Mina's enterprise,
and of the melancholy termination of his career.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 123

CHAPTER V.
Reflections on the state of the Revolution after the dispersion
ofthe Congress — General Don Manuel Mier y Teran — His
talent and enterprise — His fall — General Don Guadalupe
Victoria — General Osourno — General Don Ignacio Rayon —
General Don Jose Antonio Torres — Degraded state ofthe
Patriots after he assumed the command — Reflections thereon.
WE have already mentioned the dissolution of the Mexi
can congress at Tehuacan by general Teran, and the disper
sion of its members over the different revolted provinces.
Although they subsequently made various attempts to re-es
tablish themselves, yet they never succeeded in forming any
civil government, meriting that name. The different milita
ry commandants were thus uncontrouled by any civil authori
ty ; and hence arose a long and fatal train of disasters to the
patriot cause, terminating as might be expected, in a scene
of anarchy among themselves, and of triumph to the royalists.
The patriot chiefs who gave the royalists most uneasiness
and trouble, after the breaking up of the Mexican congress,
were Teran, in the district of Tehuacan; Victoria, in the pro
vince of Vera Cruz ; Osourno, in the district of Papantla, in
the province of Mexico ; and Rayon, at the fort of Copero, in
the province of Valladolid. There were other chiefs, whose
names and operations we shall have occasion to notice ; but on
the conduct of the four chiefs just mentioned, during the year
1816 and the beginning of 1817, rested the fate of the Mexi
can revolution.
If those four individuals had discarded from their breasts
the ambition and jealousy, which unfortunately had become
the ruling passions with each of them, then would the patriot
cause have triumphed ; because the concentration of their
forces, and a cordial co-operation in one grand system of ac
tion, would have enabled them to contend with any army that
the'royalists could at that time have raised.

124 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Teran had under his command at least fifteen hundred men,
tolerably well armed and disciplined ; Victoria, about the same
number, well equipped ; Osourno, about two thousand, prin
cipally cavalry, the finest in the kingdom ; Rayon and his
brother had about eighteen hundred, in tolerable discipline.
There were, besides, in the mountains of Misteca, under the
valiant chief Guerrero, at least one thousand good cavalry.
The three first named chiefs were within twenty leagues of
each other, and could at any time have formed a junction in
three days. Rayon, who was at "the greatest distance, could
have united his forces with the patriots in the Baxio, or great
plains of Guanaxuato ; and menacing Mexico on that side,
wlule the forces under Teran, Victoria and Osourno approach
ed the capital on the other, the royalists would have been
placed in a situation more alarming, than any which had oc
curred sinceuhe beginning of the revolution. The plan just
mentioned, was the favourite object of Teran, who spared no
exertions to effect it. The writer has perused the correspon
dence between Teran, and the other chiefs, and he does not
hesitate to aver, that nothing but the fatal jealousy which they
entertained against Teran, was the cause of the junction in
question not taking place.
In order to evince the precarious situation of the royalists
at that time, we have only to recount the great difficulties
they experienced in subduing the patriot chiefs, notwithstand
ing all the disadvantages under which the latter were suffer
ing from want of arms, and concert in their operations.
General Don Manuel Mier y Teran was a youth of only
twenty years of age. He had received the best education
which the city of Mexico could give him ; was allied to a dis
tinguished family ; was modest in his demeanour ; of tempe
rate habits ; an ardent advocate for the emancipation of his
country ; generous and brave, with a mind possessing extraor
dinary strength.
This youth, with a force which at no time exceeded fifteen
hundred men, held the city and district of Tehuacan, in the
very centre ofthe Mexican kingdom, bidding defiance to the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 125
royal armies, and repelling their attacks for more than two
years. He built a fort on a high mountain in the vicinity of the
qity of Tehuacan, and there established his arsenal, a cannon
foundery, and a manufactory of powder. Whenever he was
pressed by. a greatly superior royal • army, he retired to his
fort, called Cerro Colorado^ and baffled all their exertions to
dislodge him.
He was particularly attentive in establishing discipline
among his troops, and almost daily performed in person the
duties of a drill officer. There were no troops during the
revolution, of whom the royalists stood so much in awe, as
those of Teran's division. Such was their devotion to him,
that he could lead them to combat against far superior num
bers ; and when he did not gain the victory, he conducted his
retreat with so much skill, as to prevent the royalists from
ever causing him much loss.
The city of Tehuacan being situated in the heart of a beauti
ful wheat country, of course Teran had abundance of provi
sions. The district is thickly populated, and he could at any
time have easily embodied ten thousand men, could he have
procured arms for them. The few muskets among his troops
were daily diminishing, and in the early part of 1816, he fore
saw, that it would be impossible for>him to keep his position
much longer, unless he could obtain a fresh supply of arms.
Many a time has the writer heard him exclaim, while his fine
black eyes glistened with tears ; " Ah ! if I had but six thou
sand muskets, and three thousand cavalry swords to arm the
brav^youths that are daily flocking to my standard, I would
establish my country's independence, even without the aid of
those patriot chiefs, -who are now refusing to act in concert
with me" So great was his anxiety to obtain muskets, that
he solicited Victoria and Osourno, to co-operate with him in
a plan to seize Tampico, or some port to the northward of
Vera Cruz, for the purpose of opening a trade with the United
States. But his overtures being sullenly rejected, he boldly
determined to proceed through the province of Oaxaca, pene
trate to the southward of the province of Vera Cruz, and seize

126 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
on the port of Guasacualco. It is difficult to convey to the
reader, a proper idea of the obstacles which Teran had to
surmount in this enterprise ; but it is certain, that the great
object he had in view, justified his making the attempt, and
it is likewise certain, that his not succeeding in that extraor
dinary and important project, was owing to accidental circum
stances, and not to the valour of his enemies. Having formed
this determination, he departed in the month of July, 1816,
from Tehuacan. His force consisted of two hundred and forty
infantry, sixty cavalry and two pieces of artillery, with twen
ty boxes of ammunition. He was well aware, that he had to pass
through an enemy's country, thickly populated, and that the
royalists might bring fifteen hundred or two thousand men to
act against him ; but he was in hopes, that by making a rapid
inarch, he should in ten or twelve days reach his place of des
tination, before the enemy could have time to concentrate their
forces, or to penetrate his designs.
He had likewise reason to believe, that the great body ofthe
Indian and Creole population of the province of Oaxaca would
rise up irt his favour, or, at all events would throw no obsta
cle in his way. He knew that if he once reached Guasacualco,
he could take it with ease ; and by strengthening its fortifica
tions, he presumed it would be difficult for the enemy after
wards to dislodge him from his position. He had received
unequivocal information, that the inhabitants in the vicinity of
Guasacualco and Tabasco were ready to join him. He knew
that the people of Tehuantepec, on the Pacific Ocean, were
ripe for revolt against the Spanish government, and as the
distance across the country from Guasacualco to Tehuantepec,
was only about forty leagues, he would, by occupying those
places, have two important sea ports ; one on the Mexican
Gulf, and the other on the Pacific Ocean. It was his intention,
in case he succeeded in taking Guasacualco, to have immediate
ly withdrawn his whole force from Tehuacan, and established
his head-quarters either on the coast of the gulf, or at Tehu
antepec. It therefore appears, that notwithstanding his friends
and enemies considered his project, at that time, Quixotic and
impracticable, yet, when it is examined with deliberation and

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 127
an unprejudiced eye, it was not merely a plan dictated by
necessity, but the wisest under all circumstances, that Teran
could have adopted in favour of his country.
The only error of which this enterprising youth can be just
ly accused, in relation to that expedition is, that he started
from Tehuacan in the month of July instead of June.
The rainy season usually commences in the beginning of
July in Oaxaca; in a few days the rivers swell; and the great
plain along the sea coast of the province of Vera Cruz,, to
upwards of one hundred miles from the ocean, becomes abso
lutely impassable for an army. Teran was not ignorant of this
fact ; but when some of his friends fold him it was too late in
the season to make the attempt, he replied ; " that he had
known some years when the rains did uot set in untikthe mid
dle of August; that at that moment the whole country was per
fectly dry ; that he only wanted ten days more of dry weather
to reach his intended point ; that he was in hopes the God of
nature would not defeat his project; that if it was delayed, he
could not put it into execution until the next year; and finally,
that if he did not succeed, he calculated on being able to re
turn to Tehuacan, before the enemy could take measures to
cut off his retreat."
In fact, so determined was he on making the experiment,
that all the arguments used to dissuade him from it, were un
availing, and accordingly, he left Tehuacan, with the force
before mentioned, about the 24th of July;
He met with little opposition during the first five days of his
march. He took the towns of Soyaltepec, Iscatlan, Oxitlan,
and several other places of considerable importance, some of
them containing a population of from five to seven thousand
Indians. They received him in the most cordial manner, and
hoisted the flag ofthe Mexican republic wherever he appeared.
The different skirmishes he had with some divisions of "royal
troops, convinced him that he had little to fear from their
opposition. He proceeded without interruption to a place
called Tustepec, about half way to the place of his destination.
His progress was there impeded hy a violent rain, which con-

128 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
tinued without any intermission (except for about two hours
each morning) for ten days. Not only was the whole coun
try between Tustepec and Guasacualco inundated, but the
greater part of the route he had marched was likewise over
flown; so that even a retreat back to Tehuacan was not
practicable at that time. Thus hemmed in at Tustepec, he
had to depend on the good offices of the Indians, for provisions
for his army. In this he was not disappointed. They gave
him every evidence of their fidelity to the patriot cause, and
of their hatred to the royalists. They sent out spies to dis
cover the movements of the enemy, who soon gave Teran
information, from the cities of Oaxaca and Vera Cruz, which
convinced him that his designs were now known to the royal
ists, and also that they were making formidable preparations,
as well to impede his progress to Guasacualco, as to cut off
his return to Tehuacan. Teran was not dismayed by this in
telligence, and only regretted that the incessant rains prevented
him from moving either to the right or left.
Some intelligent Indians at Tustepec informed him, that if
he could reach a place called Amistan, about eight leagues
distant, he would then get into a road upon which it was prac
ticable to proceed towards Guasacualco, even during the rainy
season; but that, to get to Amistan at that time, it was neces
sary to cut a new road. No sooner did Teran receive this
suggestion, than he called together the governor and principal
Indians of Tustepec, requesting their advice touching the open
ing of this new' road. They represented it as being a difficult
task, but offered to afford him all their aid to accomplish it.
Accordingly, two hundred men of Teran's division, with all
the able-bodied Indians of Tustepec, began the undertaking.
They completed, in ten days, a road, leading through swamps,
which the royalists afterwards acknowledged tq^se a work that
appeared to them impossible to have been executed in less
than six months. Teran superintended the whole of the ope
rations ; and his indefatigable exertions, united with his inge
nuity, excited the admiration of his soldiers, as well as of the
Indians. Causeways and floating bridges were thrown over

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 129
places which had before been 'considered as entirely impassa
ble; proving what men can accomplish, when urged by neces
sity, and stimulated by an enterprising leader.
On the 5th pf September, he reached Amistan, with his
whole force* He there learned that the royalists were prepar
ing to attack him; and were actually advancing, with a pow
erful force, towards Tustepec, under an impression that it was
impossible for him to have proceeded any further on his route
to Guasacualco. Five leagues from Amistan was a royalist
post, called Playa Vicente, situated on a river. At this post
there was a valuable deposit, of cochineal and dry goods, be
longing to the merchants of Vera Cruz and Oaxaca, which
Teran immediately resolved to seize upon. On the 6th,
he reconnoitred the place, and ascertained that the enemy
had a force there of about one hundred men. On the 7th,
he advanced with the division to the bank of the river,
immediately opposite to Playa Vicente. On the 8th, in the
morning, a canoe came from the opposite side, with twq In
dians, who informed Teran that the royalists had, the preced
ing night, precipitately abandoned the village. To ascertain
the truth of their report, Teran kept one of the Indians as a
hostage, and sent the other, with two of his own soldiers,
across the river in the canoe. On their return, they confirmed
the intelligence. Some of Teran's officers then Volunteered to
pass the river, which he imprudently permitted. They came
back with such flattering accounts of the immense quantity of
dry goods and cochineal, which they had seen in the stores,
that the whole division were eager to gain possession of the
place. As there was but one small canoe, Teran ordered rafts
to be made, to transport the whole of his force across, in the
evening, or the next morning.
In the meantime, the canoe had taken over about twenty
men ; when Teran, fearing that they might commit some ex
cesses among the inhabitants, or indulge too freely in the
wines and brandies which were in the stores, crossed the river,
and joined them himself, with three of his officers. He was
making the necessary dispositions in the village, by posting
sentinels at the doors of the warehouses, and endeavouring to
(17)

130 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
gain the good will of the inhabitants, when suddenly an Indian,
running into the place, gave the alarm that the Gachupins were
upon them. Teran was in hopes that it might prove a false
alarm ; but, with great presence of mind, ordered his men,
who consisted of twenty-three officers and soldiers, to form,
and follow him. They proceeded to that part of the village
upon which the royalists were said to be approaching, and
there beheld a body of cavalry and infantry descending a hill,
within two hundred yards of them.
Teran, at that moment, might have fled to the river; and
such of his men as could swim, might have saved themselves.
But whether he supposed that the enemy's force was less than
it proved to be, or thought that by a display of firmness he
should be able to check them until he could receive a reen
forcement from the other side of the river, are points upon
which we can give no opinion. It is certain, however, that
he took post in the rear of a small house, and there gallantly
sustained the attack of the enemy. The royalists appeared
several times disposed to retreat : but seeing that Teran re
ceived no reenforcement, and observing at length that the
main body was on the other side of the river, they made a bold
effort, and broke into the little band. He and two others were
so fortunate as to reach the river, and, amidst a shower of
bullets, crossed it by swimming. All the rest of the party
were bayoneted, or taken prisoners.
On the 9th, Teran made his dispositions for transporting
his force to the other side of the river, about two hundred
paces below the village, with the determination to attack it,
and take revenge for the serious misadventure he had met
with. At five o'clock in the afternoon, he issued orders for
•the division to prepare for embarking on the rafts, his two
field pieces being placed on the largest one, so as to cover its
landing. When every thing was ready for the attack on Playa
Vicente, it was suddenly suspended, by the unexpected intel
ligence brought by an Indian from Amistan, that the royalists
were within two leagues of that place, and intended to force
their march, so as to be able to reach Teran's encampment bv
day-light next morning.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 131
Teran at once perceived his critical situation, and knewahat
if he remained where he then was until the enemy came up,, it
would animate the royalists in Playa Vicente, and place him
between two fires. As soon, therefpre, as it was night, he
broke up his encampment, and marched about three leagues,
until he came to an excellent position for mounting his two
field pieces. He had scarcely time to make preparations for
battle, when the approach of a party of cavalry announced that
the enemy were near. One of Teran's sentinels hailed them,
at the same time discharging his musket. This was a circum
stance totally unexpected to them, as they had been positively
assured by spies, that at the close of the preceding day, Te
ran was at the river : however, they conceived it prudent to
halt until day-light.;, In the meantime, Teran was improving
every minute. He knew that the enemy's force principally
consisted of cavalry, and therefore threw obstacles in the road,
"by cutting down the trees, and filling the path with bushes ;
behind which hes placed troops, with the field pieces, in am
bush. We have understood from several royal officers, who
subsequently examined the ground, and the arrangements
which Teran had made, that it was scarcely credible so much
could have been executed, in the short space of four hours, by
a division of two hundred, and seventy-five men.
About half an hour before day -break, Teran visited each of
his ambuscades, entreating his men not to fire precipitately,
and to remain steady at the posts assigned them. He obliged
each officer and soldier to promise him, that in no event would
they become prisoners, but die or conquer. He did not con
ceal from- them, that he was aware the enemy were far superior
in numbers; but declared that he felt confident of defeating
them, if the republican division would only behave as they
had frequently before done. , No body of men, perhags, ever
had greater confidence in a chief, than this division reposed in
Teran. They anticipated the victory they were about to gain,
and the surprise and confusion which would, be occasioned to
the enemy, by the novel dispositions which Teran had made.
At day-break, the royalists were discovered, at the distance
of about half a mile. A stream of water lay between them and

132 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Teran ; and, although it was not more than twenty yards wide,
yet it was deep, and difficult to pass, from the rapidity of the
current. On approaching it, the royalists halted, and seemed
cautious in their movements : but, after about an hour's delay,
they crossed it. In the meantime, Teran, With about thirty
men, had advanced to meet them, intending to feign a hasty
retreat, and thereby to draw the enemy into the ambushes
which had been laid. This stratagem succeeded : their cavalry
pursued him, at full speed, into the ambuscade, until they
reached the plaof where the two masked field pieces were sta
tioned. From these a destructive fire was commenced, which
threw them into confusion, and compelled them to retire to
wards the rivulet. But it was now too late to retreat : they were
entrapped; and, at a given signal, the parties in ambuscade
opened their fire, charged, and in a few minutes completely
routed the enemy. In attempting to pass the ford of the
creek, the fugitives so crowded on each other, that many were ,'
drowned. Teran, promptly availing himself of these circum
stances, closely pursued the enemy for nearly a league on the
other side of the creek, making a dreadful havoc among their
infantry, as well as cavalry. In vain the officers ofThe royal
ists attempted to rally their men. The panic became general ;
every. one endeavoured to save himself by flight.
The result of this action was, on the part of the royalists,
one hundred find twenty killed, a considerable number wound
ed, and sixty prisoners. Teran's loss was nine killed, and
v thirteen wounded. It appeared, from official documents found
on the prisoners,, that the royalist force consisted of six hun
dred cavalry, and five hundred and sixty-three infantry, com
manded by general Topete. They had been several weeks
collecting this force, at Tlacotalpan and Alvarado, in- the pro-
yince of Vera Cruz ; but, in consequence of the heavy rains,
were unable to meet with Teran at an earlier period.
Teran'obtained from the prisoners such information as com
pelled him, reluctantly, to abandon his project of proceeding
to Guasacualco. He learned, that the commandant general of
Oaxaca was collecting all the disposable force of the province,
in order to pursue him ; that another formidable expedition

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 133
was preparing, at Vera Cruz, for the same purpose ; and that
two Spanish vessels of war had been sent to Guasacualco, As
his original- plan had been to seize the place by surprise, and
this being now no longer practicable, he resolved on endea
vouring to get back to Tehuacan, as early as possible. This
he effected, by masterly movements, eluding all the plans of
the royalists to intercept him, and overcoming obstacles which
his enemies had considered insurmountable at that season of
the year.
After his return to Tehuacan, he renewed his overtures for
conciliation and co-operation with Victoria and Osourno; but
neither the one nor the other would assent to his proposals.
The viceroy Apodaca now bent all his energies to destroy
these rival chiefs, first directing his attention to Teran. An
army, composed of the flower of the royal forces, and consist
ing of about four thousand troops, was despatched to invest
Tehuacan. Teran prepared for the attack j with his usual alacrity. He
sent the women and children to fort Colorado, and remained
in the city, hoping that he might be able to repel the enemy.
He fortifiedwthe convent of San Francisco, and there awaited
the attack. The royalists surrounded the convent, and cut off
the communication with the fort of Colorado. The whole
effective force of Teran, in the convent, did not exceed five
hundred men ; but he had made such admirable preparations
for defence, that the royalists did not venture to assault the
place, contenting themselves by waiting the result of~a formal
siege, and cutting off all supplies of provisions. Teran,
finding himself thus straitened, and his provisions and water
being nearly exhausted; seeing ho hopes of external relief, and
at the same time not wishing to sacrifice uselessly the lives of
his brave companions, at length accepted articles of capitula
tion, proposed to him by the royal commander.
We regret that we have not a copy ofthe terms of surren
der, because their liberal tenor would show the high respect
entertained by the royalists for Teran. They granted him
terms that had been invariably refused to all others of the re
volutionary chiefs. We likewise feel satisfaction in stating,

134 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
that this capitulation was scrupulously and honourably fulfil
led, on the partof the royalist commander, and the viceroy.
After the patriots had lost Tehuacan, the royalists found
themselves in a condition to send a powerful force against
Victoria and Osourno.
Don Guadalupe Victoria at, no time had under his com
mand more than two thousand men ; but he was so well ac
quainted with the fastnesses of, the province of Vera Cruz,
that \the royalists never could brirtg him to a general action.
In vain they sent superior forces to attack him ; in vain they
drove him from one position to another ; for, as fast as they
destroyed part of his forces in one place, he recruited, them in
another. More than twenty times, the Mexican Gazette has
published that Victoria, was slain, and his party annihilated :
but, a few days after those false and pompous accounts, we
have heard of Victoria suddenly springing up, attacking and
capturing convoys of merchandise, seizing some strongholds,
and throwing the whole country into consternation. At the
head of one hundred and fifty or two hundred cavalry, he per
formed some of the ; most daring exploits that were effected
during the revolution ; and his personal courage "and activity
were universally acknowledged, even by his enemies. More
than four-fifths of the population of Vera Cruz were in his fa
vour. Wherever he went, provisions were secretly or openly
furnished him. - Had he possessed muskets, there were from
ten to fifteen thousand men ready to accept them, and join his
Standard. To the want of arms and munitions of war, and to
no other cause, must be attributed his eventual failure. He
obtained a few hundred muskets from New Orleans, during
the time he possessed the ports of Boquilla de Piedra, and
Nautla, on the coast of Vera -Cruz ; but, after those places
were retaken by the royalists, at the close of 1816, or begin
ning of 1817, he was totally cut off from all foreign supplies.
The royalists have since proclaimed that he was slain, and his
forces destroyed. Whether this be the fact or not, we cannot
decide; but it is certain, that; since the middle of the year
1817, the patriots have not had a formidable party in the pro
vince of Vera Cruz.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 135
The forces under Osourno were likewise, about the same
time, destroyed or dispersed ; and he, as well as his principal
officers, we learn, haye accepted the royal pardon. Osourno,
about the close ofthe year 1815, Was a formidable foe to the
royalists, as he had at least two thousand of the finest cavalry
in the kingdom, and spread terror even to the gates of Mexico.
He and his officers soon became too fond of their persbnal
gratification, indulging in every species of luxury, and direct
ing all their exertions to the acquisition of plunder, and the
spreading of devastation. One of his officers, of the name of
Vicente Gomez, became celebrated for his cruelty, as well as
activity. This monster, under the pretext of retaliation, not
only shot his prisoners,, but frequently mutilated and tortured
them. On one occasion, he boasted of having put to death
some European Spaniards, without spilling a drop of their
blood, — having caused them to be. buried alive. So great was
the terror that this wretch spread over the country, that the
royalists tried every possible means to gain him over to their
party. They at length succeeded, by offering him an equal
rank in the royal service, with that which he held among the
patriots ; and there can be rio doubt, that, by his activity and
management, he contributed much to accelerate the fall of his
former commander, Osourno.
Don Ignacio Rayon, in the province of Valladolid, at the
important fort of Copero, had resisted, for eighteen months,
all attempts ofthe royalists to dislodge him. He, as well as
his two brothers, had acted a conspicuous part, since the com
mencement of the revolution. He was averse to the sangui
nary warfare that had been carried on, and was disgusted at
the selfish conduct of the patriot chiefs. Although he was
known to be a brave and able officer, warmly attached to the
cause he had, espoused, yet he frequently declared his resolu
tion to surrender to the royalists, if the patriots persisted in
rejecting his advice, and his plans for forming a junction of
their forces. He at length did capitulate; and the fort of Co
pero fell into the hands of the royalists.
We cannot, for want -of the proper documents, state with
precision the dates when these several disasters occurred to

136 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the patriots, under the'command of Teran, Victoria, Osourno,
and Rayon, further than that they took place during the years
1816 and 1817.
Subsequently to those events, the royalists gradually re-
subjugated many of the revolted districts ; placing garrisons
in every town and village, to awe the people into obedience to
the royal authority. In this manner, they succeeded in form
ing a chain of fortifications from north to south, cutting off the
communication between the patriots of the eastern and western
provinces, who still roamed through the country in formidable
bodies, but without co-operation among themselves.
The direction of these revolutionary bodies, thenceforward,
fell into the hands of the most illiterate of the Mexican popu
lation, men whose sole aim was power, that they might by its
aid acquire wealth. Many of these men were, from common
field labourers, raised to the rank of colonels and brigadiers.
Their conduct became licentious and cruel in the extreme ;
and, as several of them were daring and enterprising, they
were equally dreaded by royalists and patriots.
Men of education, principle, or talent, among the revolu
tionists, were no longer respected. Any attempts made by
them to establish order, were decried as tending to despotism;
while they were insulted, their property was taken from them,
under the plea that the public service required it ; their lives
were threatened; and they dared not even murmur against the
decrees of their tyrannical oppressors. Thus, on the one side,
terrified by the conduct of their own party, and, on the other,
allured by the flattering offers of the royalists, they at length
sought safety under the banners of Spain, where these sincere
patriots now are, friends to liberty, but enemies to anarchy.
The kind of leaders which we have just mentioned, had,
nevertheless, extensive districts under their command, in the
western provinces ; and each petty commandant of a pueblo,
imitating the example of his chief, gave loose to his passions,
studying only the means of his personal gratification.
They had nominated to the supreme military command,, a
priest, named Don Jose Antonio Torres, who had been raised
to the rank of mariscal de campo. In the early stages of his

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 137
career, he gave some evidences of valour ; but he ho sooner
became possessed of power, than he displayed the character
of a fiend. He was cruel, vindictive, and avaricious, sparing
neither patriot nor royalist, to gratify his passions. He levied
impositions, in the most arbitrary manner, upon every wealthy
individual within the range of his command ; and continued
to treat eveVy Creole, from whom there was the slightest pro
bability of meeting opposition to his views, with such indig
nity, that marty of those remaining were reluctantly compelled
to fly for protection to the royalists. On the most frivolous
pretexts, he had put to death several persons whom he sus
pected, ejther of being hostile to his conduct, or as likely to
become his rivals. Jealousy was the predominant feature in
his charactef ; nor did he regard what sacrifices he made, to
rid himself of any man from whom he anticipated opposition.
Notwithstanding his vicious propensities and base traits, yet
he possessed the good quality of sincerely adhering to the
cause of the republic. Towards the Spaniards, he entertained
an unconquerable antipathy. The many overtures that were
made to gain him over to the royal party, were treated by him
with disdain ; and neither offers of rank nor money could in
duce him to waver in his determination. The following anec
dote .will more clearly exhibit his enmity to the Gachupins j
and demonstrate, that when his patriotism was involved, even
the ties of relationship were held of no account.
On one occasion, there fell into the hands of the'; royalists
two of his younger brothers. They were compelled to write
to him, telling him, that their lives depended upon his em
bracing the royal cause ; that, did he not do so, they would be
shot. To this appeal, he returned the following answer:
"The proposition of the royalists has served only to rouse
my indignation. If the enemy do not shoot you, beware how
you fall into my hands at any future period. In such eVent,
that death, you have escaped from the royalists, will be re
ceived at my hands, for having dared to place your lives in
competition with the interest of your country, and insinuating
to me terms so dishonourable."
(18) ;

138 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Torres had under his command an immense extent of coun
try, which he parcelled out, like the feudal system of old, into
districts or comandancias. It was a prominent feature of his
policy to select for the government of these districts, men
whose gross ignorance, he conceived, would renderthem sub
servient to his will, and proper subjects to promote his views
of sole dominion. These commandants followed the example
set them by Torres, directing their principal attention to per
sonal enjoyments. Without a government capable of enforcing
obedience, they were uncontrouled in their proceedings, and
acted according to their own pleasure in their respective coman
dancias. The revenues of the state theylooked upon, not as
belonging to the public, hut as their individual, property, and
considered, they were conferring an obligation on the republic,
when any of its resources were devoted to its service. The
forces raised were such only as they thought proper, and were
taught to look upon their commandants as masters, whose
mandate alone they ought to obey. The" peasantry were re
garded as vassals devoid of every privilege, upon whom they
had a right to heap injuries, and the soldiery to make them a
prey with impunity. Each commandant became a petty
tyrant in his district; the interests of the country were no
longer viewed as primary objects, but were replaced by a de
votion to self-gratification; while the chief aim and end of
exertion, was to preserve the good- will of the sultan Torres,
On his part, he was a proficient in the arts necessary to ingra
tiate himself into the good opinion of these men. He would
gamble and drink with them ; would run races and fight game
cocks, till the parties were stript of their money, in which sci
ence Torres was extremely dexterous. In short, as long as the
commandants conformed to his instructions, he neither investi
gated nor cared, what was their conduct. It was therefore by
no means extraordinary, that Torres, after being apppinted
commander in chief, maintained an absolute power; that his or
ders were implicitly and promptly obeyed. Had they emanated
from a man celebrated for correct and upright conduct, more
awe and reverence could not have been attached to them.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 139
His head-quarters were fixed on the top of the mountain of
Los Remedios, which he fortified, at the cost and ruin of
many families round its base. There, surrounded by women
and alLthe luxuries the country afforded, he became indolent
and capricious, issuing the most arbitrary decrees, and like a
demigod, from his lofty seat, smiled at the effects of his im
perious mandates upon the faithful Americans by whom he
was upheld. When in the zenith of his, glory, he was to be
seen surrounded by sycophants and women, singing the most
fulsome songs in his praise, while, extended on a bed, fanned
by a delicate hand, he would listen with rapture to the grossest
adulation, and indulge in loud bursts of laughter, arising from
his heart- felt satisfaction : swelling and exulting with vain glo
ry, he would often exclaim, " To soy xefe de todo. el mundo," —
(I command the world:) Such was the character of the leader
of the revolutionists in the western provinces. It may be
asked, how could such a man be- allowed io exercise power so
arbitrary ? why did not the citizens hurl him from his seat on
Los Remedios ? Bayonets, and the infatuation of the pea
santry, were his protection. Whilst he preserved the good
will of the commandants, he had nothing to fear from a dis
armed people, whose veneration for him as a priest, covered
all nis crimes. The fear he had instilled into his dependants,
was likewise another powerful auxiliary in the maintenance of
his authority; for, on whomsoever his suspicion rested, either
secretly or openly was put to death.
To portray in aU its hideous forms, the system of despotism
and terror, which marked the annals ofthe power of Torres, is a
task not congenial to the feelings nor easy to perform. One or
two instances will be sufficient, out of the many which could be
adduced, to elucidate his baseness. From his inactivity, the
enemy were daily gaining ground, and were permitted, unmo
lested, to fortify themselves in almost every town and village
in the Baxio. There however remained, El Valle de Santiago,
Penjamo, and Puruandiro, three flourishing, wealthy, hand
some, and populous places, within a few leagues of each other.
In order to check the progress of the royalists, he fancied that
the most effectual and least dangerous method, was to raze

140 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
these towns to the ground. Forgetting, or not reflecting, that
every other place but those three, being held by -*the» ene
my, the sacrifice of these towns could produce no possible be
nefit ; and without considering for a moment, that the faith
ful Americans would suffer, without the possibility of any
good resulting therefrom to the cause, he sent orders for the
inhabitants to remove their effects in six hours, after which,
each one was to destroy their own costly and elegant mansion.
In every instance it was obeyed, though in some, its execution
was attended with aggravating circumstances. The inhabi
tants of Puruandiro petitioned for an extension of time, to
enable them to remove their property. This petition was re
fused, and before the expiration of three< hours, Torres des
patched his soldiers, who, running up and down the streets
with lighted torches, . fired every building, with the exception
of the churches. In Puruandiro,- as well as the other places,
families who were in easy, and many in affluent circumstances,
were obliged to retire to little farms, and there live in indi
gence and misery. The townspf San Felipe, Uruapa and others,
were treated in the same manner, and as a proof how futile
and cruel were such measures, the enemy have since, and do at
this moment, occupy every one of those places.
The next circumstance we select, displays all the cruelty and
savage ferocity of a barbarian. The people of the Baxio are
noted, as being more attached to the revolution, than any other
part ofthe Mexican empire. Aversion to, as well as fear ofthe
royalists, caused the male inhabitants, who could do so, to
abandon their houses, and fly to the mountains, whenever
they made their appearance. Padre Torres directed his march
with some troops to an ill-fated hacienda, called Guanimaro,
not far from Penjamo. The people, perceiving the approach
of soldiery, fled to a hill close by the hacienda. On entering,
the Padre broke forth into a torrent of abuse, because they
had ran away from him, as he construed their good intentions.
He ordered them to return; formed them in the environs ofthe
hacienda, and decimated them on the spot. The victims of his
wanton barbarity were immediately confessed, and, unmoved
by their entreaties or solemn adjurations that it was dread

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 141
and horror alone for the enemy, that caused them to flee;
turning a deaf ear to the supplications of their wives, children
and relatives, he ordered them to be shot, in the presence of
their friends and kindred.
We have been thus particular in drawing the character of
Padre Torres, because in the sequel it will be seen, that the
Conduct of this man, towards the brave Mina, was the sole
cause, notwithstanding all the obstacles he had to contend
against, that he did not succeed in his enterprise.
The soldiery over whom the sway of Torres and his satel
lites extended, were hardy and courageous. Their numbers
were at least seven thousand; and, though not all armed with
muskets, yet they were expert lancers and excellent horsemen.
They were, however, entirely destitute of discipline, were un
der no Command, miserably paid and clothed, without Union,
each man living at his own home, and scattered over the coman
dancia. They were the servants of their masters the comman
dants, and had been so long brought up to irregularity, that
they could desert and fly from a field of action with impunity.
It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that they were no longer
able to cope with their antagonists, whose only superiority
consisted in remaining united on the field. In point of personal
courage and the quality of their horses, the royalists were far
inferior, nor had they any good cavalry until it was formed
from the insurgents themselves. When disciplined and taught
to fight with order, 'the patriots invariably defeated their an
tagonists. It must be recollected, that while this unfavourable picture
of the patriot chiefs generally, is drawn, some few, although
their conduct had its faults, were actuated by a love of coun
try. Innate depravity, as was the case with the majority, had
no influence over their actions. , '
The peasantry gave the most unequivocal proofs of attach
ment to the patriot cause, for, ill-treated, abused and sacrificed,
as they were by the patriots, as well as the royalists, they con
tinued faithful to the republican standard.
Torres, in order to exhibit the appearance of having a civil
government, instituted one after the model of the late congress.

142 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
It was composed of a president, Don Ignacio Ayala, two mem-
bers, Don Mariano Tercero, and Dr. Don Jose San Martin,
and a secretary of war, Don Francisco Loxero. They were,
however, the mere creatures of Torres, acted in conformity to
his wishes, and in fact, instead of controling his operations,
they strengthened his power over the people. Although the
government issued decrees, yet they were obeyed or disre
garded, as suited the caprice or interest of Torres and the
commandants, who attended solely to his mandates.
The new congress bestowed on Torres the rank of lieute
nant general, and commander-in-chief of all the forces of the
Mexican republic. The royalists, at that time, had garrison
ed all the principal towns ; but the patriots still had control "
over the country, even to the very walls. They were scat
tered in guerilla parties, principally cavalry, consisting of
from fifty to a thousand men ; and their excursions extended
from the Sierra Gorda, to the shores of the Pacific ocean.
In reality, they were little better than bodies of banditti.
When they knew of the approach of a division of the royal
ists, they fled to impregnable stations in the mountains, and
there waited until the enemy retired; then, descending to the
plains, they renewed the same scenes of drunkenness, gam
bling, and crimes of every description.
The royalists were not idle spectators of these disorders,
and the distracted condition ofthe patriots, but daily improv
ed the advantages they offered.
Such was the state of the Mexican revolution, when Mina
arrived at the fort of Sombrero. The disasters we have related
were then only partially communicated' to him ; and he still
fondly indulged the hope, that it was practicable to remedy
the evils which the revolutionists had suffered. He flattered
himself, that the gallant officers he had brought with him, as
well as the soldiers of his little band, would, by their influence
and example, infuse a new ardour into the patriots, promote
their union, and enable him to strike a decisive blow against
the royalists.
The patriots still retained possession of three forts ; those
oi Sombrero; Los Remedios, about sixty miles off; and Jau-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 143
xilla, at an equal distance from Remedios, where the congress
held their sittings.
There likewise remained among the patriots a few men of
distinguished character, who, notwithstanding they had be
come disgusted with the outrageous conduct of the revolution
ists, yet entertained so implacable a hatred to the Spaniards,
that they preferred seeking an abode in the, forest, rather than
accept the royal pardon. Among these men, was Don Jose
Maria Liceaga, the president of the congress at Apatzingan,
who signed the constitution. But none of these worthy men
now>retained„ any command or influence : education, talent,
, and pure patriotism, were proscribed, under sUch men as
Torres and, his party.
Among the military commandants who then acted under
Torres, there were few capable of reading or writing. They
i|sually employed a secretary, on whom devolved the duty of
reading and answering despatches. When an important paper
was to be signed, the commandant: impressed it with a seal,
bearing his name, and ornamented with some rude insignia.
It was with men of this character that the unfortunate Mina
was destined to co-operate. He, beheld around him nothing
but grqss ignorance and anarchy, which threatened to render
all his efforts ineffectual. Disappointed and mortified, he yet
concealed his chagrin, except to a few of his confidential offi
cers. He had anticipated a different scene ; and, although he
never had calculated on finding the revolutionary forces under
military discipline, or with skilful officers, yet he had portray
ed them in his mind as enthusiasts in the cause of liberty, and
had always understood that they were a brave and hardy race
of people. During his recent march from the coast to Som
brero, he had received the most positive proofs of the innate
courage of the Creoles ; and was therefore still flattered with
the hope that it would be in his ppwer to succeed in emanci
pating Mexico. He considered his junction with the patriots,
even under all the disadvantages in which he found them
placedj as the first: great step to his future glory and success ;
and, however extravagant such calculations may at present
appear, it is evident to*the mind of the writer, that if Tor-

144 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
res, and the rest of the patriot chiefs under his orders, had
sacrificed their private views to their country's cause, and
magnanimously and cordially co-operated with Mina, appoint
ing him qommander-in-chief, he would have found a super
abundance of men and resources, not only to have checked the
progress of the royalists, but to have given to the revolution
a brighter aspect than it had borne at any previous time, since
the commencement of the struggle.
It is well known to the writer, that at the period we, are
speaking of, nearly every regiment of European and Creole
troops, in the city of Mexico, and in the middle, provinces,
were suspected of disaffection, and of a disposition tp revolt.
Could Mina have maintained his position for afew months
after he had effected his junction with the patriots, there is
every moral probability that this event would have occurred.
Murmurings and desertions were becoming so common among
the Spanish troops, particularly in the regiment of Saragossa,
that the government was in the greatest state of alarm. Its
existence actually depended on arresting the progress of Mina
towards the middle provinces ; and thus, on the co-operation
of Torres and his party with Mina, depended the fate ofthe
royal government in Mexico.
It will likewise be obvious to the reader, how different
would have been Mina's situation, had he arrived twelve, or
even nine months earlier on the Mexican coast, and formed a
junction with such commanders as Victoria and Teran, instead
of the jealous and depraved Torres. Then indeed would the
hero of Navarre have gained new laurels, and the cause of
liberty been triumphant. But let us pursue the train of events,
. in the order they occurred, subsequent to the arrival of Mina
•at fort Sombrero.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 145

CHAPTER VI.
Action of San Juan de los Llanos — Capture ofthe J oral — In
terview at Sombrero, between general Mina and some of the
Revolutionary Chiefs — Overture by Mina for an exchange
of prisoners — Events in Sombrero.
THE officers and soldiers of Mina's little army, on entering
fort Sombrero, looked forward to enjoy a few days of repose,
but the enterprising general coujd not remain inactive, while
any occasion offered to annoy his enemy. On the 28th, infor
mation was received that a movement was made in the direction
of the fort, by a body of seven hundred of the enemy, under
the command of colonel Don Felipe Castanon, and that he was
in the town of San Felipe, distant from Sombrero, east north
east about thirteen leagues.
Castanon, from his activity in surprising parties of the pa
triots, and the enormities he committed, had rendered himself
conspicuous. His fidelity had been rewarded by his govern
ment, by appointing him to the command of this division, and
granting to him as a peculiar mark of confidence, liberty to
act as his discretion dictated. He was allowed to move in
any direction, and to enter into any province he chose, with
his force, which was styled a flying division. It consisted of
three hundred excellent cavalry, and four hundred infantry.
His movements were rapid, secret, and generally made under
cover of the night. He kept the whole country in the Baxio
in perpetual alarm. He had been invariably victorious, and
his name had excited such terror, that the patriots, at length,
could not be brought to face him ; each individual, as well the
peasant as the soldier, when his name was mentioned, and
they supposed he was near, thought only of making his escape.
It had latterly been the practice with the royalist command
ers, in virtue of orders from the viceroy Apodaca, not to put \
to death, or molest the country people within the jurisdiction
(19)

146 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
of the patriots, unless they were actually taken in arms. This
order was in general attended to, except some occasional acts
of plunder, but Castanon most wantonly disobeyed it with
regard to every individual, that came within his merciless
grasp. The Gazette of Mexico teemed with his despatches,
in which, after enumerating his savage acts, he invariably
wound up by informing the viceroy, that the prisoners should
be shot. The aged and infirm, women and children, were
alike the victims of his sanguinary and vindictive spirit, so
that as he advanced, every one fled to the mountains, or re
tired to secret retreats in the ravines, to avoid his fury. Meet
ing with no opposition, in the most merciless manner he mur
dered and robbed the unhappy peasantry, wherever they were
found, and desolated every place through which he passed.
Mina, on the intelligence of his approach, rejoiced in the op
portunity which offered of enabling him to attempt checking the
strides of this ferocious royalist, and accordingly, on the even
ing of the 28th, marched to meet him with the effective force of
the division, about two hundred strong, accompanied by Don
Pedro Moreno, with a detachment of fifty infantry and eighty
lancers, under Don Encarnacion Ortiz. The division con
tinued its march till midnight, when, on reaching the ruins of
an hacienda, they were joined by some patriot infantry, which
increased the party to nearly four hundred men. At three
in the morning, the division halted, about six leagues from
San Felipe. Morning presented to view the comrades who
had joined during the march. They were a motley group,
that merely swelled the numerical force, without bringing an
addition of strength. Over their shoulders was thrown a tat
tered blanket, which, with a pair of drawers, constituted their
only clothing. Their muskets were generally rusty, without
bayonets, locks out of repair, and many without flints. The
men were unaccustomed to even the semblance of discipline,
for they had lived at their own houses, scattered over several
leagues of country, and had been suddenly called together for
the present expedition. Such was the allied infantry ; but it
must not be inferred, that the lancers, under Ortiz were of a
similar description.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 147
The patriots invariably pay great attention to, and take great
pride in their cavalry. The lancers pf Ortiz were mounted
on fine horses, each man carrying either a lance or carabine,
with pistols or a sword, and although they had no uniforin,
and were clothed in the same grotesque manner we have
described on a former occasion, yet they were a hardy, fine
looking set of men, full of animation and courage. Wo be to
the broken ranks of an enemy, when pierced by such men as
composed the cavalry of Ortiz.
At seven o'clock next morning the troops were in motion.
After advancing about a league, the enemy were discovered
approaching by the same road, which lay through a beautiful
undulating plain, on the. lands of the hacienda of San Juan de
los Llanos, distant from the town of San Felipe five leagues.
The scene of action was near the ruins of that hacienda.
Mina ordered the division to retire behind a rising ground,
and there made his dispositions with his usual promptitude
and skill. The Guard of Honour, regiment of the Union,
and the infantry of Sombrero, forming a column of ninety
men, of whom forty-five were citizens of the United States,
were placed under the command of colonel Young. The first
regiment of the line and the patriot infantry formed another
column of one hundred and ten men, under colonel Marques,
commander of the former regiment. The cavalry of the di
vision, ninety strong, were commanded by major Maylefer;
the lancers were headed by Don Encarnacion Ortiz ; and to
these may be added the armed servants.
The _enemy having taken up his position, Mina advanced
alone to within musket shot of their line to reconnoitre, His
dress, and the fine appearance of his horse, soon attracted the
notice of the enemy's infantry, who made a general discharge
at him, but fortunately without effect. Mina's division were
highly delighted with this display of his intrepidity, although *'
many of his officers regreted to see him thus expose his
person. Having, however, accomplished his object, he returned
among his troops, and gave Orders to advance briskly to the
attack. Colonel Young, at the head of his column, moved up

148 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
rapidly under a heavy fire of grape and musketry, poured
into their infantry one volley, and then gallantly made a charge
with the bayonet. Major Maylefer, at the same moment, fall
ing, sword in hand, at the head of his cavalry, on that of the
enemy, the whole gave way. The lancers, the instant they
perceived the enemy in disorder, dashed furiously among them;
the rout became general, and the victory was complete.
Three hundred and thirty-nine were counted slain on the
field, and two hundred and twenty were taken prisoners.
About one hundred and fifty ofthe best mounted cavalry made
their escape.
Among the slain was a colonel Ordonez, and several other
distinguished officers. The implacable enemy of the patriots,
Castanon, received a mortal wound, of which he expired, af
ter riding about five leagues from the scene of action. The
cavalry pursued the enemy about two leagues, increasing their
loss. The gallantry displayed by colonel Young in this action,
and the ardour of his troops, set an example which was fol
lowed by all the rest of the division, and in fact, not more
than eight minutes elapsed from the time Mina gave the or
der to advance, till the enemy were in full retreat. Mina's
loss was eight killed, and nine -wounded, but among the former
was the brave and able officer major Maylefer. The loss of
this man almost counterbalanced the victory. The major was
a Swiss, and had been an officer of dragoons in the French
army ; he had served in Spain, and exclusive of his military
talents, he was respected by the troops for his indefatigable
attention to his duties.
There fell into Mina's hands, the result of this action, one
brass field piece and a mountain gun,' five hundred muskets, a
greater part of which were of British fabric, a large quanti
ty of accoutrements, and all the ammunition and baggage.
It is worthy of remark, that the enemy^ during this action,
fired dollars from their artillery. We presume this arose from
their being deficient in grape shot, for most certainly the state
of the government revenue could not well afford such an ex
travagant m6de of warfare. Be this as it may, many of Mi-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 149
na's soldiers were highly pleased with collecting this new
species of grape shot. >
Mina returned to' his encampment of the preceding .night,
amidst the congratulations of his soldiers ; marched the next
morning, and arrived at Sombrero the same evening, A dis
charge of artillery, announced to the royalists of the Villa de
Leon, that a heavy disaster had befallen their cause.
From the republican press of Jauxilla, the news was spread
over the plains of the Baxio ; and the country held by the
patriots. The death of Castanon exciteduniversal joy aniongst
all classes of people : every demonstration was given of the
warm feelings of the inhabitants in favour of the patriotic
cause. The royalists had the mortification to see illuminations,
and hear the discharge of cannon in every direction around
them, up to their very walls. The churches resounded with
Te Deum. From town to town, the praises of Mina were
echoed. The blessings of heaven were implored upon his
head, by' the widows and orphans ofthe victims of Castanon.
Old and young, from Sombrero to the environs of the city
of Mexico, and from San Luis Potosi to Zacatula, were
chaunting hymns in honour of their deliverer.
The royalists now began to have stronger grounds of uneasi
ness. They beheld Mina's popularity daily augmenting; they
Saw their finest troops cut up in detail, by inferior numbers.
They knew that the population of the country were ready to
welcome him with open arms, in case he should advance
towards -Mexico with any respectable force,, capable of giving
efficient personal protection. They were aware that Mina's
victories would excite a spirit of disaffection, which had al
ready began to manifest itself in the royal ranks,, and that
every battle he gained, tended to Weaken the tie which had
hitherto existed between the royalists and the government.
This was the critical moment, when it may be truly said,
the destinies of the Mexican nation, were in the hands of Mi
na. Had Padre Torres and the other revolutionary chiefs,
actuated by a genuine love of country, and devoted to its
interests and independence, magnanimously come forward and
thrown under Mina's direction the men and resources which

150 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
they then had at their disposal, the standard df the revolution
would now have waved over the walls of Mexico, and its
freedom been established. But so far were Torres and his
satellites from adopting this important and necessary step, that
they began to thwart all his measures, and eventually to render
all his exertions abortive.
After a few days' rest at Sombrero, the general, accompanied
by Don Pedro Moreno, marched with the division and a body
of lancers, in all three hundred strong, for the purpose of re
ducing the highly important hacienda del Jar al, twenty leagues
north from Guanaxuato. As this is one of the most extensive
and valuable haciendas in the kingdom of Mexico, it may not
be uninteresting to give some account of it.
The owner of this famous hacienda is a Creole, named Don
Juan de Moncada. From the hacienda he takes the title of
Marques. Previous to the revolution, he was considered —
among the richest of the landed proprietaries of Mexico, and
in the year 1810 actually possessed in his own mansion six
millions of dollars. The rent he derived from his estates ; the
revenues he drew from cattle, and horses;, which latter are the
finest in the kingdom, and from his own culture of wheat, corn,
and the article oi chile, ( capsicum,) were immense. Some idea
may be formed of his income, when we state that he received''
from the cultivation of chile alone, upwards of twenty-five
thousand dollars annually. The great quantities of this pun
gent vegetable, which is grown in almost every part of Mexico,
strikes a stranger with astonishment. In the districts where
the soil is best adapted to its culture, we behold enormous
collections of it in all the magazines. For all culinary pur
poses, this vegetable is as essential to the Mexican, as salt is
to the European, and indeed more so, because a Mexican
would rather go without bread, than lack chile with his meat.
At the table of the rich and poor, it constitutes an article of
luxury as well as necessity. Both in its green and dried state,
the quantity consumed is incredible. , When mashed, and
mixed with a little water, it is the universal sauce or season
ing on the tables of the great ; whilst with the poor, it forms a
component part of their diet. More than one-third of the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 151
Mexican population, live throughout the year on tortillas and
chile; which last is spread on their tortillas, as butter is with
us, though much thicker. On days of festivity, these poor peo
ple have an occasional change of diet, by the addition of a few
eggs, or a little broth, (caido,) but they never relinquish the use
of their favourite chile. A stranger, in passing through the
country, has great difficulty for the first few months to bear
with the food prepared with chile, but after his palate becomes
accustomed to its stimulus, it ceases to excoriate, and he gen
erally gets as fond of it as the Indians and Creoles.
On the Vast estates of the marques of Jaral, extending to
above two hundred miles in length, the miserable labourers
exist, as is customary throughout Mexico, almost entirely on
i tortillas and chile. No part of the earth exhibits such striking,
and such monstrous contrasts of wealth and misery, as well in
the country as in the cities, as Mexico. We behold the pro
prietor pf a hacienda, decked in a style of the most costly,
but awkward grandeur. He has on a pair of country made
boots, which cost from fifty to a hundred dollars ; large spurs
inlaid with gold and silver ; a superb horse, with a bridle and
saddle which cost from a hundred and fifty to three hundred
dollars ; a cloak or mangas richly embroidered, and full of
gold or silver buttons, laces, and fringe. He lives in a spa
cious house, within whose walls every luxury is to be found
that the country affords ; but when he sallies forth, he is lost
amidst a group of half naked, badly fed wretches, whose only
dress is sheep skins if in the country, and in a town their
shoulders are covered by an old blanket or a sheet, serving
them for a partial covering by day, and a bed at night. No
species of attention is ever paid by the lord of the soil, to the
comfort or wants of his tenants or vassals, and a more wretch
ed race of cultivators does not exist under the canopy of hea
ven, than the Indian labourers on these estates, and in the
mining districts. Twenty-five cents, or two reals, is the daily
pittance of a labourer ; out of this, he has to clothe and feed
himself and family, and has to pay the government and paro
chial extortions. No wonder, therefore, that he rarely tastes

152 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
meat. In fact, the situation of a Georgia field negro is supe
rior, notwithstanding all the/royal writers say to the contrary.
In the cities, the poorer classes are still more wretched and
numerous, than in the country. In some places, they are, call
ed Guachinangos, in others, Zaragates, Leperos, and Peladps.
In the city of Mexico, that class of miserable beings is com
puted at thirty thousand, or about one fourth of the popula
tion. Some of them display great ingenuity, and evince what
might be made of them if placed under other circumstances.
They work beautifully in wax, gold and silver ornaments, in
painting and sculpture, and in making boxes of beads : they
know not the value of their labours. We have seen them,
when impelled by hunger, or anxious to obtain a little money
to spend on days of festivity, part with pieces of exquisite
Workmanship, on which they had expended weeks of labour,
for a few reals.
The majority of these wretches live iu idleness, and sup
port themselves by^gaming, which, of course, brings in i^s train
all the other vices. Nothing can more forcibly depict, not
merely a defective police, but the dreadful features of the Spa
nish government, than the existence of so much misery in a
country possessing the finest soil and climate on earth, and .
where the actual population is not one thousandth part equal
to the physical resources of this beautiful section of the Ame
rican continent. x
The magnificent edifices of the city of Mexico, the personal
splendour which surrounds the viceroy and all the officers of
government, the costly temples for divine worship, the gor
geous exhibitions in religious processions, contrasted with the
gloomy visages and wretched appearance of the Mexican poor,
mark the reign of extortion, self-aggrandizement, superstition
and ignorance. But let us return to the marques of Jaral — he
had acted a conspicuous part in the revolution, by a determin
ed opposition to the patriots, and by his generous gifts to the
king : he had raised the regiment of dragoons which bears his
name, of which he was appointed colonel. The demands of
his own party, and the occasional incursions of the patriots,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 153
had' seriously diminished his revenue, but he was still pos
sessed of several millions, and was supposed to have a large
amount of specie, buried in various places. This practice of
burying money has become frequent since the revolution, as
well among the patriots as royalists, many/ of them not dis
closing the secret until at the point of death. Large sums re
main yet interred, the owners of which have been unexpect
edly cut off by the contending parties,' and rather than disclose
where it was hid, have allowed it to be lost to circulation.
Afraid to bury too much money about their edifices, they have
generally conveyed their treasures to unfrequented parts of
the mountains, so that it rarely happens that they again come
to light. Instances, however, have occurred of this, which is
not inapdy styled by the Americans " a resurrection."
The hacienda, of Jaral, as we have before stated, was of
great extent : on it was a large mansion hoUse, and several
valuable and handsome buildings, combining in itself every
necessary accommodation of dwelling houses, stores, &c. &c.
There were likewise extensive granaries, a neat church, and
some comfortable edifices belonging to the marques's princi
pal dependants, besides a great number of peasants' houses.
The Jaral, like all important haciendas belonging to the roy
alists, was fortified and garrisoned at the expense of the pro
prietor. It was walled in and surrounded by a ditch. As the
patriots in its vicinity had for some time past been diminish
ing in number and enterprise, no danger of an attack was ap
prehended, particularly from Mina, whose distance the mar
ques considered in itself a sufficient protection, presuming it
would be impossible for him to approach the hacienda through
the dependants, which surrounded it for several miles, with
out *his receiving timely information. Under these impres-
' sions, the marques and his family were living there, as he sup
posed, in perfect security. The soldiery who had escaped the
disaster of San Juan de los Llanos, were then quartered in the
place, and with its garrison, the military force of the Jaral
was upwards of three hundred men and three pieces of artil-
lerv. (20)

154 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
In Mina's enterprise against this hacienda,he exhibited his
peculiar talent for guerilla expeditions. Although the road lay
through the thickly settled domains of the marques, for two
or three hours of the second day's march from the fort, yet
such was the good management and judgment of Mina, that
his advance arrived within sight of the hacienda, before the
marques was advised of his approach ; and if colonel Noboa,
who had the command of the advance, had strictly obeyed
Mina's orders, the marques and the garrison would have been
taken. They however had just time to save themselves by a
precipitate flight. The remains of Castanon's division felt no
inclination to measure their strength again with Mina, con
cluding it safest to accompany the marques, with whom they
fled to San Luis Potosi. It was dark when the division en
tered the hacienda. Mina, who was ignorant of the flight of
the enemy, was surprised at meeting with no resistance, and
conceived it probable that the enemy' were in ambuscade. Ar
riving, however, at the mansion, he was met by the priest at
the porch, welcoming his arrival at the Jaral, and informing
him of the sudden' flight of the marques, presenting, at the.
same time, the respectful compliments of the latter, with a re
quest that the general would consider the hacienda and all it
contained at his service, but that the marques hoped the ge
neral would spare the buildings.
Mina immediately issued orders to his troops to respect pri
vate property, and to refrain from ill-treating the inhabitants.'
The latter were likewise made acquainted with these orders,
and were requested, in case of any violation of them, to give
information at head-quarters, that the perpetrators might re
ceive merited punishment.
Early next morning, an inquiry was made to ascertain where
the treasures were buried. One of the marques's servants
gave information, that a quantity of specie was concealed un
der the pavement of a small room adjoining the kitchen. Af
ter digging a considerable depth, a shovel of earth, mixed with
loose dollars, was thrown up. The excavation was continued
about three hours, during which tinie the general distributed

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 155
some dollars among the troops, who, on hearing the news, had
flocked to the premises to witness so novel a sight.
. In the room where the excavation was going on, Don Pe
dro Moreno, Don Encarnacion Ortiz, three of Mina's staff,
and the labourers, were the only persons admitted, sentinels
being placed at the door to prevent the entrance of others.
After the operation was ended, an estimate was made by the
treasurer of the amount, at one hundred and forty thousand
dollars. It was said that Don Pedro, and some other of the
chiefs, had, privately pocketed some doubloons, which it is
highly probable might have been the fact; these were, of
course, not included in the estimate.
At an angle of the marques's mansion was a store, stocked
with articles for the use of the hacienda. In the front it con
tained dry goods, of British and native manufacture, and in
the rear was a magazine of sugar, cocoa, brandies, and other
articles. As the dry .goods were essentially necessary for the
troops, they were distributed,; but so small was the quantity,
that the , share, to those who obtained any, was trifling, and
many did not receive any thing. The brandies were particu
larly withheld, and not an article in the back store was moved
from its place. The dry goods, the specie, and a few horses
and oxen, were all that Were taken. The money was put into
wagons, and the same evening the division took up the line of
march on its return.
During the day, a deserter came in from San Luis Potosi,
and reported, that the marques on his arrival there, not con
sidering himself in safety, had passed through the city, and
that the inhabitants were anxiously waiting for the arrival of
Mina, ready to receive him with open arms. We cannot
vouch for the faet, but, from subsequent information, we know
that the people of San Luis were at that time ripe for a revolt.
The progress of the division was so slow, owing to the hea
vy, clumsy nature of the wagons, that the next day a number
of asses ;was procured from San Felipe and its environs, and
after the specie was removed to them, the wagons and the ox
en, with the exception of ten, were sent back to the Jaral, ac
companied by Mina's best respects to the marques, and that

156 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
at some future day he would do himself the honour again to
Visit the hacienda. ,
The next evening, Mina received intelligence that some
troops were in a rancho, three leagues distant from, the fort,
where he had intended to halt that night. The troops in ques
tion were supposed to belong to the enemy. A reconnoitring
party was despatched to ascertain the fact, but it returned with
the information that they were friends. Previous to reaching
the ranchp, it became very dark and rainy, rendering it diffi
cult to keep the asses in droves ; and on arriving at the ran
cho, two or three of the, bags of specie were missing. It was
afterwards known, that some of the guard who had charge of
this treasure, taking advantage of the obscurity of the night,
had appropriated a few thousand dollars to their own use.
At the rancho, the general met colonel Don Miguel Borja,
the commandant of the district of the hacienda de Burras, who
. informed him that his excellency general Torres, with doctor
Don Jose San Martin, and other distinguished patriots, were
then at Sombrero, where they had come to pay their respects
to and congratulate the general. Mina accordingly set off early
next morning, to meet these republican chiefs, and the divi
sion, with its prize, entered the fort in the course of the fore
noon, under a salute of artillery, whose unwelcome echoes
again announced to the vassals of Ferdinand VII. in Leon,
some reverse of their arms.
The money was now counted into the military chest, and
proved to be one hundred and seven thousand dollars, in place
of one hundred and forty thousand, at which it had been pre
viously estimated.
The Spanish government has stated, (no doubt according to
therepresentations of the marques,) that the property of which
the Jaral was robbed, amounted to three hundred, and six thou
sand four hundred dollars, viz. —
In milled money, - - - - g 150,000
Provincial money, - - - 33,300
Bars of silver and clothes, - 86,000
Goods taken out ofthe stores, 30,000
Carried forward,  g 299,300

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 157
Brought forward, . S 299,300
In Indian corn, - - ... g 5,000
150 oxen, at g 14 per head, 2,100

7,100

g 306,400

It is possible that the marques may have lost property to
that amount, but we positively assert that no such value was
captured, and that two of the items therein stated, are alto
gether false. If the marques has really made such a state
ment to his government, he has not only violated veracity, but
acted most ungenerously towards Mina. Supposing Don
Pedro Moreno, or any other of the patriot chiefs, had entered
the Jaral as victors, what would have been the consequen
ces, according to the uniform practice of the patriots and roy
alists on such occasions? We ask the marques, would pri
vate property have .been respected ; or the disorders of the
soldiers restrained ? Would they not have sacked the haci
enda, as well as the mansion and dwellings of the dependants ?
Would not the stores and granaries have been emptied, ahd all
the cattle within their reach have been driven off? And after
committing those acts, would they not have closed the scene,
by wrapping in flames the hacienda, and all that could not be
carried off? And is it not likewise probable, that even some of
the dependants of the marques would have lost their lives?
To the honour of Mina, we once more repeat, that he was
averse to all scenes of rapine or cruelty. Mercy marked every
step of his progress, and he invariably treated an illiberal ene
my with a generosity they little deserved, and never in any
one instance did he distress or maltreat the victims that fell
into his power. *
We admit the possibility oi one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars being the amount of the specie, but as before stated,
there was only one hundred and seven thousand dollars re
ceived into the chest; the amount distributed among the troops,
and what was stolen by the guard, with the doubloons taken

158 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
by the patriot chiefs, may have amounted to forty-three thou
sand dollars ; but we consider it doubtful.
The item of provincial money in his account, is not correct,
nor was a single bar of silver taken. We know from the im
pression of the money, that it had been buried since 1810 or
1811 ; a time when provincial money was unknown. The charge
of taking clothes is likewise totally false ; the troops having
been forbid tp enter the house, could have had no chance to
pilfer. The head-quarters were in the mansion of the mar
ques, to which only the staff and superior officers had access.
The table was served in plate belonging to the marques, the
value of which was very considerable, and yet the whole of
it was respected. Is any thing more unlikely then, than .that
clothes should be taken in preference to plate? The fact is, not
311 article of the marques's wardrobe was touched, except a
richly embroidered pair of country boots, which, with a saddle,
were presented to Ortiz. A. gold mounted, sword and a
chacot were likewise given fo an officer.
The whole of the dry goods in the store, might possibly
be valued at thirty thousand dollars ; but the portion distri
buted among the troops, did not amount to a third of that sum.
Neither sugar, cocoa, nor any article in the back store, was
touched, except a small fifteen gallon cask of tolerably good
sherry wine, which was drank among some of the officers in
toasting the health of the marques, and success to the cause
of Mexican independence.
The item of five thousand dollars for corn, is another, pal
pable misstatement. The consumption in two days would not
have reached the value of one hundred dollars, and there was
not a single fanega taken off. As to the charge for oxen, it is
likewise ridiculous, for as we have before observed, there
were only ten taken away.
We conceive it more than probable, that the dependants of
the marques, taking advantage -of circumstances, may have
robbed their master, conceiving that every thing missing in
the hacienda, would be laid to the incursion of Mina, but we
considered it due to the reputation of the general to be thus

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. Igg
particular, in repelling the insidious and false attacks on his'
character, made in the Gazette of Mexico, relating to the
affair of the Jaral.
The exaggerations and falsehoods which have been publish
ed in that famous Gazette, have constituted one of the main
springs in the machinery of the government, and with great
propriety may they exult in having the absolute control of the
press, for to that circumstance more than any other cause may
be attributed the success of the royalists, arising from the
ignorance of the patriots, or rather the false statements that
were spread among them by the royalist Gazette, from the
commencement of the revolution down to the present day.
The interview at Sombrero, between the general and the
republican chiefs, before named, appeared to bear the features
of sincerity. We have no doubt, with the exception of Padre
Torres, every other individual among Mina's visiters, was
not only sincerely disposed to co-operate with him, but that
their professions of attachment to him, and gratitude for the
important services he had rendered the cause of independence,
really sprung' from their hearts.
Mina's victories, his enterprise, his pleasing address, his
renown, and fast-spreading popularity, were all calculated to
awaken the diabolical passions, which ruled the breast of the
envious Torres. He viewed the hero of Navarre as an un
welcome intruder, that would soon destroy the ephemeral au
thority he then exercised. He saw in Mina an energy of
character, and a superiority of talent, that would soon raise
him to an exalted rank ambng the Mexicans, and that he him
self would speedily be supplanted in the seat of power. These
anticipations, blended with innate depravity, made him view
the noble-minded Mina with a rancorous eye, and he no doubt
at once secretly resolved to destroy him ; indeed, he had
scarcely sufficient art or prudence to conceal the envy rankling
in his bosom.
The Padre said, that in consideration of the military talents
and fame of Mina, he had no objections to place himself un
der his orders, but, at the same time, he begged him to re
member, that it was an act of condescension, because he (tbe

160 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Padre) was his superior in rank ; when, however, the inter
ests of the republic required it, he was proud of having an
opportunity to show his devotion to the public good, by act
ing undpr so experienced a military chief. The manner in
which these sentiments were delivered, did not escape the
penetration of colonel Young, who was present, and who had
attentively examined the countenance of the Padre during the
whole interview.
Mina stated, to the leading republican chiefs, his perfect
obedience and devotion to their government, and with his
characteristic frankness laid open to them his motives for
having espoused the cause of American emancipation. He
stated his firm resolution to perish or succeed in it ; he un
folded all his plans; placed before their eyes their situation;
his views of the method to be pursued in the future warfare j
and he endeavoured to convince them of the support which
would be cheerfully afforded to the cause by his external
friends ; he pointed out to them the cardinal value of a warm
co-operation, and conjured them as men and as Mexicans,
assertors of their country's liberty, to unite with him in
heart and hand against the common enemy of their land. He
expressed his firm conviction, that with proper exertions with
in, and the support which would, in that case, be rendered
from abroad, the cause of liberty could not fail of being
crowned with success.
Never did the character of Mina appear to higher advan
tage, than when uttering these pure and patriotic sentiments.
The chiefs of the republic, as well as his own officers, who
were present, listened to him with admiration, and every heart
seemed to respond with gratitude to the hero. Even Padre
Torres, at the time, seemed anxious to convince Mina of his
cordial and sincere friendship. Taking him by the hand,
he exclaimed, " I have six thousand men to place under your
orders." " If that is the case," replied the general, " then
will I march direct upon the capital of Mexico."
After the interview was closed, and the parties had separa
ted, colonel Young observed to one of his comrades, " I think
we may rely on the sincerity of all the patriot chiefs, except

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 161
that Padre ; him I do not like ; envy is stamped on his counte
nance ; we must beware of him ; he will deceive us ; depend
upon it, he is inimical to our gallant chief." Alas ! these
prophetic hints were too soon verified by the* conduct of
Torres. The head-quarters of Torres at Remedios, were in the midst
of a country extremely productive of grain of ever)' descrip-
( tion. The inhabitants, almost without exception, were devoted
to the patriotic cause, and were ever ready and able to furnish
any supplies of provisions required by Torres.
The country round the base of Sombrero, had been more or
less laid waste, and was thinly cultivated; and as Mina intend
ed to establish his head-qUarters at this fort, until he could
raise and equip a considerable body of troops, he was of course
obliged to depend on the good management and promises of
Torres, to supply him with all the necessary provisions. But
in order not to put Torres to any inconvenience, and to ob
tain supplies with celerity, he handed over to him eight thou
sand dollars, to be appropriated for the immediate victualling
of Sombrero ; which Torres promised fo effect in a few days.
It was now resolved among the chiefs, that the most active
measures should be adopted to bring into the field, with every
possible despatch, a well trained army. Torres assured Mina
he might rest perfectly easy ; that it should soon be" accom
plished, as he could raise hosts of recruits from the pueblos
and ranchos under his command ; and he likewise further
stated, that himself and subalterns had a number of stand of
muskets which they had buried.
To the frank and unsuspecting mind of Mina, all this looked
well ; he did not even dream that this man could deliberately
resolve on deceiving him, and ruining the caUse they had both
espoused. He flattered himself, that a more intimate acquaint
ance with each other's views, would strengthen their friendship;
and he resolved to do every thing in his power to show Torres
the high confidence he reposed in him. Accordingly, colonel
Noboa was ordered to proceed to Remedios, and there, under
the eye, and with the co-operation of Torres, to organize and
discipline the troops about to be raised.
(21)

162 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
After a few days had been spent at Sombrero, in forming
the future plan of operations,, Torres, with his staff, the gov
ernors, &c. accompanied by colonel Noboa and the eight thou
sand dollars, returned to Los Remedios.
Mina opened a correspondence with the Spanish command
ant of the town of Lagos, for the purpose of effecting the re
lease of lieutenant Porter, who had (as we have previously
stated) been made prisoner, the night before the junction with
the patriots. Mina offered to give in exchange for his officer,
any number ofthe prisoners he then held. A very polite letter
was received from the commandant, (whose name we regret
has escaped us,) in which he expressed his grief at the unnatu
ral course of the warfare, and lamented his inability to deter
mine on the exchange without consulting his superior officer,
to whom he had immediately transmitted the proposal. A
few days afterwards a letter was received, whose purport was,
that the commander in chief of the province (we presume
Don Jose de la Cruz) had not only refused to liberate Mina's
officer on any conditions, but expressly prohibited the com
mandant of Lagos from holding any communication whatever
with a rebel. Thus was Mina's efforts to save his officer ren
dered abortive, and the Spanish government, rather than deli
ver up one man, conformably to the usages of civilized warfare
and the principles of humanity, preferred risking the sacrifice
of two hundred Spanish prisoners, then in Mina's hands, and
which they had strong reasons to suppose would be shot.
When the Spanish prisoners were informed of the cruel and
impolitic answer of the commandant general, they uttered exe
crations against him, as well as their barbarous government.
If these prisoners had been in the power of Padre Torres, he
would without hesitation have shot the whole of them ; and
those that are now living, must acknowledge that they owe
their existence entirely to the generosity of Mina.
We have since understood that lieutenant Porter was sent
fo San Bias, from whence he was deported to a presidio at
Manilla, there to labour on the fortifications, or perhaps to
perish in the dungeons of the fortress — the usual fate of those
sent to that place.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 163
The conduct of Mina towards his prisoners exhibits traits
of policy and humanity, which merit particular notice. Those
that were taken in the affair of San Juan de los Llanos, had
been treated with every possible kindness, and the wounded
among them met with the unremitted exertions of the sur
geons. This conduct of the general was totally unexpected
on the part of the royalist troops, and filled them equally with
astonishment and gratitude. The simple act of having re
moved some of the wounded from the field of Peotillos, pro
duced most important results among the royalists in favour of
Mina, particularly among the European troops ; his praise
resounded through their ranks, and they now saw, that while
opposing Mina, they were not combating for life, as had
hitherto been the case; and if. the fortune of war should throw
them into his hands, they would be treated as men and as
soldiers. We subsequently learned from several deserters, that
the royalist troops made Mina frequently the theme of their
conversation, and many of them had determined, that when
they should again come in contact with his division, they wpuld
only make a show of fighting, and seize the first occasion to join
his standard. The prisoners taken at the affair of San Juan
de los Llanos had frequently expressed a desire to be em
bodied in Mina's division. He was now anxious to augment
his strength by every possible means, and as the money taken
at the Jaral gave him the means of equipment, he addressed
the prisoners in an appropriate manner, offering to receive all
who would voluntarily enrol themselves under his banners ; at
the same time, generously declaring, that all who did not feel
perfectly disposed fo do their duty as soldiers of the republic,
should be furnished with passports to return to their homes,
and have money to pay their expenses. With a burst of joy
and gratitude they accepted Mina's offer, and with the excep
tion of four or five persons, all the rest agreed to join him, and
accordingly were sworn in, and enrolled with the first regi
ment. These were an acquisition of high importance t recruits
also were flocking to Sombrero from various parts of the coun
try, so that Mina now saw a prospect opening of soon being

164 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
enabled to raise a fine regiment of infantry, provided the ene
my would only continue inactive for a few weeks longer.
Some of the most experienced officers of the Guard of
Honour were transferred to the first regiment, and colonel
Young received the appointment of inspector general of the pro
vince. The administration ofthe division was new modelled
and established; a proportion of pay was given to the troops';
satisfaction reigned among them; every hour augmented their
confidence towards their brave chief; and every thing was con
ducted with order and alacrity. Agents were despatched, with
ample funds, to Queretaro, to Mexico, and to many of the ma
nufacturing towns, to purchase cloths, linens, and necessaries
for the soldiers and officers. In the Villa de Leon, contracts
were made with the royalists to supply shoes and hats ; an
arsenal was erected in the fort. The taylors of the division,
and many ofthe natives, were employed in making uniforms ;
an armoury, under the direction of an officer of the Guard of
Honour, was established, and in fact, such dispositions were
made as denoted not merely the talent and foresight Of the
general, but the zeal and good conduct of his officers and
soldiers. From the Villa de Leon and the country adjacent, every
article of comfort, and even of luxury was supplied, and as the
division was flush with cash, they soon had a market in the
fort, equal, perhaps superior to that of any of the royal towns
in the plains.
On the summit of a barren rock, and in the zenith of enjoy
ment, the troops were indulging in visions of future glory.
Their past exertions and successes operated as a stimulus to
gather fresh laurels, and they looked forward with anxiety to
the day, when the preparations they were making would allow
them to commence their march for the Mexican capital.
The general satisfaction that pervaded Mina's officers and
soldiers, was interrupted by the meanness and avarice of Don
Pedro Moreno, commandant of the fort. This unprincipled
individual bent all his thoughts and actions to the amassing of
money.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 165
A great proportion of the prize money taken at Pino,s, was
in the provincial coin of Zacatecas ; which had been made in
that city for circulation, when the communication was cut off
between the northern and southern provinces. The metal was
particularly pure, but since the communication had been open
ed, as the coin was badly stamped, it would only pass in the
large cities, where its real value was known. This provincial
money was a speculation too alluring to escape the, notice of
the avaricious Don Pedro, whose principal aim, like that of
almost every patriot chief under the command of Torres, was
to get money, no matter, by what means.
He accordingly published a proclamation, declaring that
Zacatecas dollars should only be current at four reals (fifty
cents.) This affected, in a most tender point,, those soldiers
who held that kind of prize money. It was soon discovered
that Don Pedro, who had the greatest capital in the fort, pur
chased them in at the depreciation before mentioned, and sent
them to Leon or Lagos, where he received full value for them ;
thus making fifty per cent out of the. soldiers. It was like
wise ascertained, that the Don and his officers, taking advan
tage of the ignorance of the customs and language of their
auxiliaries, monopolized in the market many essential articles,
and resold them tp the troops at double what they had cost.
This disgraceful business was communicated to Mina, but
as he did not wish to interfere with the local regulations of
the fort, of which Moreno was the commandant, and as he
did not think it a proper time to enter into a dispute with him,
he appeared to take little notice of the transaction, .
It will no doubt appear strange to the, reader, that the pa
triots could procure from the royal towns supplies with such
facility, but it is explained as follows.
The royalists, as well as the patriots, were alive to self-in
terest ; the former knew, that unless they kept open a traffic
with the latter, the inhabitants ofthe towns, would be exposed
to perish by famine. The patriots held under control the
peasantry and their productions; they constantly hovered
round the towns ; scoured, in small parties, every foot-path
and by-road; and were continually on the alert. The enemy

166 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
could only sally out in strong divisions ; they were afraid to
separate in pursuit of the insurgents ; while the latter, on the
approach of a division, retired from the high roads a short
distance, and as soon as the royalists were out of sight, or re
turned within the walls of the towns, again came down to
their work of annoyance. By following this species of war
fare, they prevented any thing from entering a royalist town,
except by a passport. The patriot and royalist commanders
found it to their interests to grant these passports. The lat
ter, by this means, received provisions ; the former, luxuries.
A reciprocal traffic was thus established; both parties charging
heavy duties on what went into, as well as what came out of
the towns. The advantages, however, which accrued to the
royalists by this commerce, were far greater than to the oppo
site party. The royalists, by receiving provisions, were
enabled to maintain their positions, which was the primary
point. Their commerce prospered. It augmented, though
in a small ratio, the revenue. They drew from the patriots
their specie; and in short, it tended to demoralize the patriots,
and materially to accelerate their subjugation. The patriots,
on the other hand, received some dry goods and luxuries
which were by no means essential; and the revenue derived
from this impolitic traffic, in the latter stages of the revolution,
instead of being applied to the good of their country, flowed
into the pockets of the commandants and their satellites.
Frequently the patriots had it in their pOwer to literally
starve out the royalists. Some patriotic commanders occasion
ally determined on this plan, but their efforts were unavailing,
for want of union among the other commanders ; for, while
one was prohibiting provisions from entering a royal town,
another was granting passports for their entrance into some
other place.
The city of Valladolid was at one time, during the revolu
tion, reduced to the last extremity, the patriots having pro
hibited all supplies from going into the city. Even the arti
cle of charcoal had become so scarce, that females of fortune
used to ride in their coaches to the environs of Valladolid, for
the purpose of meeting such daring fellows as had the good

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 167
fortune to escape the vigilance of the patriots, and to bring in
a few bushels of charcoal. Disputes would arise about the
distribution of the article, and when a person obtained half a
bushel, by entreaty or purchase, it was considered a great piece
of good fortune. The republican commander of the district
at last, however, wanted money, and obtained it by granting
licenses. The city was supplied with provisions, and relieved
from distress.
In latter days, this kind of trade between the contending par
ties became so general and systematic, that there was scarcely a
royal or patriot chief, who did not amass more or less wealth
from these licenses. This is the only mild trait that has been
discernible in the course of the revolution ; but as it springs
from the detestable principle of avarice, it must not be consi
dered as a social intercourse, for the very same people,, who
thus reciprocally trafficked, were at the same time shooting
their respective prisoners in cold blood, and committing to
wards each other the most savage cruelties.
General Teran, whom we have before noticed for his extra
ordinary talents, had, in the year 1816, proposed a plan to
Victoria and Osourno, for getting possession of the city of
Vera Cruz, by marching with their joint; forces, and taking up
such positions as would have effectually cut off supplies from
entering into that city. He knew that such was the improvi
dence of the Spanish government, that they had no stores of
provisions in reserve in that city, and that a vast population
depended for its daily subsistence on an intercourse with the
country ; of course, if the latter had been suddenly cut off, the
surrender of the city was inevitable, because they could not
obtain external succours by water, in time to have remedied
the evil.
We have been informed, by intelligent royalists of that city,
and from our personal knowledge of its dependent condition
on the score of provisions, we know it to be* a fact, that if Te
ran's plans had been pursued, the place would have surren
dered in fifteen or twenty days, more especially as at that
time the great body of the inhabitants (European Spaniards
and officers of government excepted) were ripe for a revolt,

168 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the moment that a respectable division of the patriots should
approach. The jealousies of Victoria and Osourno towards
Teran, were the sole cause why the latter did not put his plan
into execution.
We have been thus particular in stating these facts, because
they serve to illustrate our former remark, that the Spanish
government owes its existence at this day in Mexico, entirely
to the ignorance, jealousy, ambition, and venality, of certain
chiefs among the patriots, and that, had their efforts been di
rected by union and system, the patriots might, at any one pe
riod for nearly seven years, have established the liberty of
their country.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. I6<f

CHAPTER VII.
Intelligence of the fall of Soto la Marina, received at Sombrero
—Investissement of the fort by Arredondo — Operations
during the siege — Desertion of La Sala — His base conduct
— Gallant defence of the garrison — Its capitulation—The
terms — Their violation — Cruel treatment experienced by the
captives, in Altamira, on the road to Vera Cruz, and in the
dungeons of San Juan de UIuq — Departure of some of the
captives for Spain — Order of the minister of war at Ma
drid — Strictures on the violation ofthe capitulation, and on
•the decree ofthe Cortes, of the 10th of April, 1813 — Viola
tion of Miranda's capitulation at Caracas — The conse
quences thereof — Cruelty of the Spaniards in Puerto Ca-
vello — Dreadful : measures of retaliation adopted by general
Bolivar. WHILE Mina was making his preparations at Sombrero,
he received the Gazette of Mexico, in which was announced
the fall of the little fort at Soto la Marina. This was indeed
painful intelligence, not only on account of the loss of some
valuable officers, men, arms, and munitions of war, but because
it cut him off from an external communication, so essential to
the success of his operations.
The official accounts published in the Gazette, contained no
more information on the subject than what the royalists thought
proper to promulgate ; and, as usual, it was composed of hy
perbole and falsehood. Authentic information has since been
obtained, of the circumstances that occurred to that garrison,
subsequently to the departure of Mina for the interior.
It was a singular coincidence of events, that on the same
day, and nearly at the same hour, that Mina gained the im
portant victory of Peotillos, the garrison of Soto la Marina
was forced to capitulate. The gallant defence which it made
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1L70 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
reflects the highest honour on its garrison, and shows that the
spirit of Mina had extended itself to every individual of his
troops. After Mina's departure, great exertions had been made to
discipline the recruits, and to get up the stores from the bar
ofthe river. Amongst other arrangements, a national guard
was formed ofthe peasantry, and the command given to major
Castillo. The numerical force, under the orders of major
Sarda, amounted only to one hundred and thirty-five men.
On the 3d of June, a foraging party of twenty-five men,
under the command of captain Andreas, was despatched to
bring in a supply of corn. It was returning, on the 8th, with
twenty-three mules, laden with provisions, when it encoun
tered a party of two hundred and twenty of the enemy. The
little band maintained an obstinate action for half an hour,
when the whole, except three, were killed or taken prisoners.
The latter were all shot, except the commander, Andreas,
whose life was spared, on his promise of rendering them ser
vices. This loss was severely felt by the commander of the
fort, major Sarda, as it reduced his force to one hundred and
thirteen men.
The major had received information, on the 6th, of the ap
proach of the royalists, and immediately ordered every person
to work on the intrenchments. The labour, under a scorching
sun, was severe and unremitting; but not a murmur was heard
from any one. All were intent on preparing to withstand a
siege. Even the females of the peasantry took an active part
in the toil : they killed and jerked the cattle. The seamen were
strenuous in their exertions to remove the stores from the
beach. In the meantime, the Spanish naval squadron, recently
strengthened by a brig, had twice appeared off the river, but
showed no disposition to risk a landing.
On die Tlth, the royalist forces made their first appearance,
and occupied the rancho of San Jose, about a league distant.
Major Sarda received information of the exact force of the
enemy. They consisted of the -battalion of Fernando 7°; an
European regiment of infantry, three hundred and sixty strong;

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 171
three hundred and fifty infantry of the regiment of Fixo de
Vera Cruz; two hundred and eighty artillerists, with nineteen
pieces of artillery; and twelve hundred cavalry: the whole
under the command of general Arredondo.
To oppose this formidable force, major Sarda had only one
hundred and thirteen men ; ninety-three of whom composed the
garrison, the remaining twenty being occupied in attending to
the preservation of the stores. Colonel Myers, of the artillery,
and commissary Bianchi, had previously resigned ; and captain
Dagasan, a French officer, was appointed to succeed to the com
mand ofthe artillery. On the fort were mounted three field pie
ces, two howitzers, one eleven and a half inch mortar, and three
carronades^ The rear of the fort, however, was open, as there
had not been time to throw up the intended redoubt. Colonel
Perry, whose conduct and fate we have already narrated,
had marched, it appears, to the bar, and there supplied himself
with arms and ammunition. Major Sarda indulged a hope
that the colonel, after, deliberate reflection, would have return
ed to his comrades ; but unfortunately this expectation was
disappointed. Had the fifty-three Americans, who abandoned
the cause" with Perry, returned to the fort, it is highly proba
ble that the enemy would have been successfully resisted.
This assertion is supported, not only, by the gallantry dis
played by the handful of men who defended the fort, but by
the want of skill and good conduct on the part of the besiegers.
On the 12th^ the enemy, from a distant battery on the oppo
site bank of the river, opened a fire, which they maintained
until the 14th, without doing any material injury.
Captain Andreas, who had been taken prisoner, and whose
life had been spared, as before stated, on condition of serving
the enemy, accordingly wrote to captain La Sala, the senior
officer of engineers, and to captain Martenich, of the first regi
ment, inviting them to desert the fort, and come over to the
royalists; and, on the 13th, these two officers actually passed
to the enemy. This occurrence not only excited the indigna
tion of, but created much uneasiness among, the garrison, as
La Sala was minutely acquainted with the situation of the fort,
and might likewise give every information necessary for its

172 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
reduction. Major Sarda, therefore, called a council of war ;
and, after a short consultation, the officers crossed their swords,
and swore to defend the fort to the uttermost extremity.
The village of Soto la Marina had been burned, and almost
every thing cut down that was thought capable of affording
shelter to the enemy; but on the right of the fort had been left
a few bushes, under cover of which was stationed a party of
three hundred cavalry, who attempted to drive away the cattle
that were grazing near the fort. To dislodge these, twenty-
six infantry, with one field piece, sallied from the fort, and in a
most gallant manner attacking the enemy, put them to flight.
This affair animated the men, inspired them with confidence in
their own valour, and filled them with contempt for the enemy.
The garrison continued to work night and day to complete
the fortification, maintaining, at jhe same time, a steady fire,
whenever the enemy presented themselves ; and, in order not
to lose time, a few were employed constantly in loading mus
kets, while the others fired. A thousand muskets, loaded, and
with fixed bayonets, were kept ready, in case of an assault.
On the night of the 14th, by the direction of the traitor La
Sala^ the enemy planted a battery on the right bank of the »
river, within musket-shot; and, at three A. M. ofthe 15th,
they opened a tremendous fire, from twelve pieces of artillery,
upon the rear of the fort. Soon after day-light, they brought
up seven pieces of artillery on the left bank of the river ; and
thus the garrison was exposed to a cross fire, which spread
destruction at every shot,
Mina had taken La Sala, with two other Italians, out of a
state of mendicity, in London. The wife and family of one
of them were brought to the United States at the expense
of the general, who, as far as his means permitted, made
provision for their support. This man and a brother were
among the deserters at Port au Prince ; and, not content
with that act of ingratitude, he had, the assurance to commence
a prosecution for six months' pay. But an order from general
Boyer, the now president of the republic, prevented the court
from proceeding in so iniquitous a case. La Sala was then
indignant at the conduct of his two friends, and expressed his

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 173
determination to follow the fortunes ofthe general. This ap
parent fidelity was not lost on Mina. La Sala was promoted
to a captaincy, and he stood high in the esteem of the general;
as a proof of which, he was entrusted with the arduous and
honourable post of the engineer department of Soto la Marina.
Under such circumstances, his desertion was an act of pecu
liar baseness ; but his1 advising the enemy where to plant their
cannon, so as most effectually to destroy his former comrades,
and, as it appeared, his wantonly directing their fire even upon
the place in which he knew the women and children took re
fuge, are circumstances so monstrous as to outrage the best
feelings of human nature. Had it not been for the treacherous
conduct of this faithless Italian, the enemy would undoubted
ly have been baffled in their attempts on the fort.
The enemy, as soon as they opened the battery on the right
bank, lined the river with the light infantry of the Fernando
7°, by which they succeeded in preventing the garrison from
reaching the river. At sun-rise, it was perfectly calm ; but
the heat became most oppressive. These circumstances, com
bined with the dense state of the atmosphere,1 and the unre
mitting exertions of the troops, soon rendered their thirst in
supportable ; and, although the river was within a few paces,
so heavy and destructive was the fire of the enemy, that no
man, even the boldest, - would venture to allay his thirst. In
this situation, a Mexican heroine^ seeing the men fainting at
the guns, intrepidly sallied from the fort, and, amidst a shower
of balls, succeeded, uninjured, in bringing a partial supply of
water to the suffering soldiers.
At noon, the artillery of the fort was either altogether dis
mounted, or more or less disabled ; and the grape-shot was
nearly expended. The enemy had succeeded in making a
breach in the face of the work. Their bugles, trumpets, and
drums, now sounded the advance ; and their columns"* were
discovered moving up in close order to the assault. This was
the critical moment for the little garrison to display all their
energies ; and accordingly they prepared with firmness to re
pulse the approaching storm, or to die in the attempt. The
loaded muskets were kept in readiness ; and some of the guns

174 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
were temporarily remounted, as was supposed, for the last
time : these were loaded to the muzzles with musket balls,
the only remaining howitzer containing upwards of nine hun
dred. The enemy now advanced briskly, vociferating " Viva
el Rey!" and, presenting a formidable front, seemed deter
mined on carrying the fort. They were suffered to approach
within a hundred paces, when the garrison greeted them with
shouts of "Viva la Libertad y Mina!" accompanied by a heavy
discharge of musket balls. The enemy, unable to withstand
so vigorous an attack, fell into confusion, faced about, and fled
in the utmost consternation and disorder. They rallied, and
again advanced in columns of attack, driving before them
droves of horses, for the double purpose of covering the men
from the fire of the garrison, and filling up the ditch with those
that should be killed. The garrison retained their fire, as be
fore : the enemy approached with the same apparent resolu
tion, but were again as effectually received, and repulsed.
During this assault, Arredondo narrowly escaped destruction
from a cannon ball. Once more the enemy rallied, and made
a third attempt, which likewise terminated in a destructive
repulse. In this manner did a mere handful of brave men, attacked
in front, rear, and on the flanks, resist an overwhelming supe
riority of numbers. Heroic as was this defence, yet the gar
rison was too weak to sustain much longer a contest so unequal
and unabating, without repose or refreshment ; for incessant
labour, and intolerable thirst, had exhausted almost every
individual. The artillery was rendered nearly useless; most
of the artillerists were killed ; and the infantry, by incessant
firing, were so bruised, that they could scarcely bring a
musket to the shoulder. In this deplorable situation, the
recruits became alarmed, and some of them escaped from
the fort. The firing on both sides, as if by mutual consent,
after the third repulse, had somewhat slackened. The slaugh
ter which had been made among the royal troops, taught them
the danger of attempting another assault on a place defended
by men who had given such proofs of constancy and courage.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION, 175
At half past one, a flag of truce was sent by Arredondo,
demanding the surrender of the fort at discretion. He was
answered that such a proposal was inadmissible ; and he was
even recommended to make another attempt fo carry the place
by assault. Major Sarda. then called together the remaining
recruits, and asked them if they would share the fate of the
foreigners, who were determined to die, rather than submit to
any dishonourable" terms : " We are ready to die with you,"
was the reply of these high-spirited peasants. Another flag
now arrived, with the offer that the lives of the garrison should
be spared : the former answer was repeated. A third message
was received ; and, while the conference was going on, the
staff-adjutant of Arredondo came up, and stated, that his gene
ral would sincerely regret to be obliged to sacrifice men who
had displayed such extraordinary bravery ; and that he was
empowered to accede to the most honourable and liberal terms.
Accordingly, after some consultation, the following articles of
capitulation were drawn up, and handed to the officer: — .
I. All parties composing the garrison ofthe fort of Soto la
Marina, as well as those that are or may have been at the bar
or on the river, shall be included in the present capitulation.
They shall surrender themselves prisoners of war, every one
receiving a treatment corresponding with his rank ; and the
officers shall be paroled.
II. All private property shall be respected.
III. The foreigners shall be sent to the United States, by
the first opportunity. The natives of the country shall be sent
to their respective homes, and their past conduct shall remain
wholly unnoticed.
IV. The garrison shall march out with the honours of war,
-and stack their arms.
Those conditions being agreed on, the Spanish officer, in the
presence of the whole garrison, declared that he was authoriz
ed by general Arredondo to accede to any terms he thought
proper ; and that therefore he solemnly pledged his word of
hpnour, on behalf of his commanding officer, that the condi
tions of capitulation, thus placed in his hands, should be scru
pulously observed. Major Sarda was well aware, that the

176 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
honour of a royalist officer, thus solemnly pledged, if he were
an honourable person, was a better security than any written
document given by a dishonourable one; because, if there
exist a disposition to violate engagements, there will never be
wanting a pretext to destroy documents ; whereas, by appear
ing to have confidence in their honour, he was most likely to
ensure the faithful performance of the capitulation. Under
these circumstances, he did not deem it expedient, to insist
upon a formal written capitulation, with the signature of gene
ral Arredondo.
These points being fixed, hostilities ceased ; and, the same
afternoon, the garrison marched out with all the honours of
war. Thirty-seven men and officers were all tfiat remained of
the garrison. They grounded their arms before fifteen hun
dred of the enemy. Those who were at the bar, or on the river,
also became prisoners. Thus fell the little mud fort of Soto
la Marina, after bravely sustaining a spirited attack of eleven
hours. If such a defence had been made in Europe, in India,
or any other part of the civilized world, it would have occu
pied no ordinary rank in the gazettes and military annals of
the present age ; and at least the commander of the fort and
his brave associates would have been respected in their per
sons, and not have experienced a base and cruel violation of
the terms of surrender.
When general Arredondo saw the little band march out of
the fort and ground their arms, he approached their command
er, and petulantly asked, "Are these the whole garrison?"
Being answered in the affirmative, he abruptly turned round
to the commanding officer of the regiment of Ferdinand VII.
and exclaimed, " Is it possible ?"
The loss of the royalists was three hundred killed, and a
proportionate number wounded. The valuable depot of arms
and military stores which fell into their hands, seemed to
Console them in some measure for the severe loss they had
sustained; and for the first two days, the little band of heroes
were at liberty, and every thing indicated good faith on the
part of the royalists. Their officers in general offered major
Sarda and his men their congratulations on the happy conclu-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 177
sion of the late affair, and stated that general Arredondo had
received a recent proclamation of the viceroy, promising the
royal amnesty to all those of Mina's expedition who should
abandon it; that they should be furnished with. passports to
the United States ; money to bear their expenses ; and conse
quently they might rely on the capitulation being strictly ful
filled. These, however, were short-lived promises ; and on
the third day the unhappy captives saw the first breach ofthe
capitulation made, by their being placed under guard, and a
part being forced to bury the dead and destroy the works.
Shortly after, they saw their comrades of the foraging party,
who had been taken on the 3d of jUne, and who had experi
enced from their captor, Don Felipe La Garza, a treatment
the most humane, led to the front of the camp, and shot. No
other reason was assigned^for this barbarous act, but that they
were not included in the capitulation. One of the prisoners
was lieutenant Hutchinson, a citizen of the United States.
His wounds were so severe, that he was unable to sit up. He
was shot as he lay in his litter. This tragedy taught the other
prisoners to have little confidence in the faith of men capable
of such wanton cruelty ; and it was now generally anticipated,
that the capitulation would be wholly set aside.
The venerable prelate Dr. Mier, celebrated for his virtues
and his sufferings, was denounced by the rector of Soto la
Marina, (a European Spaniard,) for having performed the
sacred ceremonies < of the mass with vino mescal, (a spirit
distilled from one of the species of maguey,) instead of wine.
The rector, it will be recollected, received Mina with open
arms, and afterwards, on his giving a promise to return,
was permitted to leave the village ; but he came back only
when the royalists had entered the place. The denunciation
in question, however farcical it may appear to the reader, was
fatal to the venerated Dr. Mier. In vain would he have
stated that no wine could be procured, and that if he had not
substituted vino mescal, he could not have performed the duty
of celebrating the mass to the garrison. The worthy old
man, in whose countenance shone a spirit of meekness and
(23)

178 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
serenity that would have softened savages, became the object
of insulting jests and outrage. He was loaded with enormous
shackles, and in that deplorable state, he was sent under an
escort to the city of Mexico. We afterwards learned, that on
the road, from debility and ill usage, he had the misfortune
fo fracture a limb. When he arrived at Mexico, he was de
livered to the holy office of the Inquisition, and again incar
cerated in his former abode in the dungeons of that horrible
instrument of religion, perverted from its sacred and holy
design. The garrison were all kept under close arrest for ten days,
were then sent as prisoners to Altamira, and there put in con
finement. This was such a direct infraction o£-the capitula
tion, that the prisoners naturally concluded they would ere
long be treacherously sacrificed ; they therefore meditated an
attempt to escape. Accordingly, a plan was arranged among
the greater part of the prisoners, to rise upon the guard,
make their way to Tampico, and there, in case of necessity,
embark in the vessels then lying in the port. An enter
prise of this kind was not so difficult or desperate as may at
the first view be imagined. A small band of intrepid men,
indignant at the violation of the capitulation, seeing before
them no other prospect but a miserable captivity, and deter
mined to die rather than remain captives, must be, under such
circumstances, capable of performing extraordinary deeds; and
there is litde doubt, that if they had once overcome the guard,
they would have succeeded. But unfortunately for them, their
intentions were suspected, or else discovered by one of their
own party, and;- within about an hour of the time when they
contemplated striking the blow, they were astonished by the
sudden appearance of a detachment of soldiers entering their
prison. The royalist officer who commanded the party of soldiers, in
formed the captives that he had orders to put them in irons, but
knew not for what cause. Accordingly, they were all heavily
ironed, and conducted to different places of confinement in the
town. Then commenced a scene of cruelty towards these

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 179
miserable men, which, if it were possible to be described, would
find-but few readers willing to believe the horrid detail. Few,
very few of those captives are now living ; but should any of
them cast their eye on this statement of their sufferings, they
will readily perceive that the following sketch is a mere outline
of the miseries they endured.
They were conducted to Vera Cruz by the circuitous route
of Pachuca, twenty-five leagues from the city of Mexico.
Although on horseback, the weight of their irons, the length
of the journey, want of wholesome food, and oppressive heat,
brought on debility and disease. Their distress and torments
seemed to excite joy among their Spanish conductors. Some,
overcome with their sufferings, fainted on the road, and were
fastened to their horses with cords; others became frantic,
and begged to be shot or bayoneted; while the remainder
were driven along like cattle, to the end of the day's march,
and then thrown into wretched hovels, swarming with vermin.
A pittance of coarse food, barely sufficient to sustain life, was
given them, but so great was their fatigue and bodily pain,
that to eat was to add to their sufferings. Extreme debility of
course ensued, and as scarcely any rest was allowed them, it
became almost impossible for any one of them even to bear the
weight of his irons. Indeed, had it not been for the humanity
ofthe Mexican population, very few would have survived.
In this dreadful condition they atiength reached the city of
Vera Cruz, where fourteen of them were incarcerated during
anight in a room not capable of*" containing four men at their
ease. They were all huddled together, and so closely wedged,
that they were obliged to stand upright. No air entered the
place. A general suffocation had nearly taken place. An
officer, reduced to the last extremity, begged for a little water.
The sentinel who was applied to, replied, he had positive or
ders to grant nothing, and wished the officer a speedy passage
to the other world.
The dungeons in the castle of San Juan de Ulua, on a small
island opposite Vera Cruz, in which these victims were af
terwards confined, cannot be compared with any others in
the world. Situated about fourteen feet under the arches of

180 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the castle, a gloomy light can only be admitted by a small
grating at the top. There is a constant humidity ; and as the
bottom of the dungeon is below the level of the sea, water
oozes in, and has opened passages through which crabs find
access. These were finally welcome visiters to the prisoners,
serving them for occasional food. The number confined in
so small a space, soon produced a pestilential air, and disease
became general among them. The sentinels, on opening the
doors, frequently fainted away on inhaling the horrid effluvia
issuing from the dungeon. The daily allowance of food was
four ounces of bread, three of rice, and three of beans. This
however was frequently curtailed, and was cooked in so dis
gusting a manner, without salt, that nothing but extreme hun
ger could induce some of the prisoners to touch any thing but
the bread. In vain they begged that the sick should be sepa
rated from those that still retained some remnant of health.
They were all chained indiscriminately in pairs, and on opening
the dungeon one morning, two were found dead in their chains.
At length, when an order came to remove the sick, it was
only executed in extreme cases, and even then, the victim was
removed to the hospital in irons, which were never struck off,
till death had put an end to the miserable sufferer. There
was one instance of such deliberate and savage cruelty, as to
excite the indignation and reprehension of several Spanish
officers. One of the prisoners, a citizen of the United States, had
the skin of his leg chafed by the irons. From the want of
dressings, and wholesome aliment, the sore rapidly increas
ed. The irritation and pressure of the iron, caused the flesh
and muscles to become completely ulcerated to the bone ; the
whole leg became a mass of corruption. Unavailing were
his petitions to have the irons taken off; his groans and ex
cruciating agonies at length so far arrested the attention of his
keepers, that he was removed to the hospital. The physician,
on examining the horrid state ofthe leg, immediately addressed
a representation to the governor, stating, that unless the irons
were removed, death would inevitably ensue. Upon the
margin of the memorial, the governor wrote the following in-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 181
human replication, arid sent it to the officer of the guard :
" §>ue los lleva, mientras respira." Whilst he breathes, he
shall wear them. This barbarian was the brigadier Don Juan
Evia. In a few hours this victim of Spanish inhumanity ex
pired. We forbear swelling our pages with the farther recital of
these barbarous acts, and conclude by stating, that of the thir
ty-seven officers and soldiers who capitulated at Soto la Ma
rina, and about thirty others, foreigners of Mina's party, who,
before and subsequent to that affair, had fallen into the hands
of the royalists, at least thirty died, at Altamira, on the route
to Vera Cruz, and in the dungeons of San Juan de Ulua.
The few that survived the horrors of those dungeons, were
shipped for Spain, to await the farther orders of the king. On
their passage to the Peninsula, they were treated with every
indignity and cruelty, with the exception of four, who were
sent from Havana in the Spanish brig of war Ligero, com
manded by captain Martinez. This benevolent officer treated
them with kindness, had their irons taken off during the pas
sage, and gave them wholesome food.
In order to illustrate how far the Spanish authorities in Mex
ico carried their- vindictive feelings against every individual
connected with Mina's party, we must notice their conduct to
a French female^ who had accompanied the expedition from
Galvezton. The name of this extraordinary woman is La
Mar. She had formerly resided at Carthagena, and had dis
tinguished herself on many occasions, for her intrepidity and
aversion to the Spaniards. At Soto la Marina, her attentions
to the sick and wounded were unceasing; and during the
siege she acted with the spirit of an Amazon. On the march
to Altamira and Tampico, although exposed to the wanton
and scornful jests ofthe Spaniards, she sustained herself with
unshaken fortitude. She constantly displayed a cheerfulness,
which, together with her indefatigable ¦ exertions to sooth the
distresses of the prisoners, proved most consoling to them.
She is said to have been afterwards a leading character in the
revolt at Altamira. She was sent to Vera Cruz, and there
confined in the hospital, where ' she was compelled to perform

182 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the most disgusting offices to the sick. At length she con
trived to make her escape, leaving a letter addressed to the
governor of Vera Cruz, and another to the viceroy, contain
ing the most bitter reproaches for the violation of the capitu
lation, and menacing them with the revenge of the patriots.
She reached a division of the troops of Guadalupe Victoria,
with whom she remained some time, but was so unfortunate
as to fall again into the hands ofthe royalists. In July, 1819,
she was confined within the walls of Xalapa, condemned to
perform servile duties in a private family. In vain has this
woman presented frequent petitions to be permitted to leave
the country. The spirit of revenge and the cruelty of the im
mediate agents of Ferdinand VIL, appear to have taken the
place of their former- gallantry to the sex, and they hold her
of so much importance, as to determine on keeping her a pri
soner. The fate ofthe captives who arrived in Spain, was, if pos
sible, more dreadful than their previous sufferings in Mexico.
This will be more clearly perceived by the royal order, com
municated to the governor of Cadiz, from Eguia, the minister
of war, of which the following is a translation : —
" The viceroy of New Spain having communicated to this
department his intention of despatching for the Peninsula, to
be placed at the disposal of our lord the king, the individuals
named in the accompanying list, who, having been attached to
the rabble (gavilla) with which the traitor Xavier Mina invad
ed the territory of that kingdom, took the benefit of the am
nesty (indulto) which the viceroy had there proclaimed, his
majesty has been graciously pleased to command the supreme
council of war, to determine what would be the best measures
to adopt respecting them, on their arrival at Cadiz, or auy
other port in the Peninsula ; and the said tribunal having de
clared its opinion, which has been approved of by his majesty,
he has been pleased fo order, ' That the thirty-six individuals
comprising the said list, shall, on their arrival in Spain, be
distributed by fours, to the presidios of Cadiz, Malaga, Me-
lilla, Penon, Ceuta, and Alhucemas, and the remaining twelve
shall be placed at the disposal of the captain general of Ma-

MEXICAN, REVOLUTION. 183
jorca, in order that they may be distributed in the same pro
portions through the district under his command.' In these
places, they are to be retained as convicts, (presidarios,) there
to remain during the pleasure of his majesty. The said go
vernors are most scrupulously to watch over their conduct,
and give timely notice of any thing they may remark, in or
der that the greatest rigour may be enforced against them ;
keeping constantly in view, that they are responsible for what
ever disturbance may be created by them, in whom not the
smallest confidence can be placed, until by indubitable proofs
they render themselves worthy of it, and of the clemency of
his majesty. This royal decree is sent for your government,
that as far as concerns yourself, you may be prepared to carry
it into execution. Signed. " Egcia.
" Madrid, June 11, 1818."
On the arrival of these unfortunate men at Cadiz, the roy
al order just cited was strictly carried into effect, and they
were despatched to Malaga, and the presidios on the coast
of Africa. Their treatment was various, and depended on
the caprice of the several commandants. To a few, it is true,
some kindness was shown, but the majority were loaded with
chains, and linked to a galley slave, a Spanish, or a negro. ma
lefactor. Some were thrown into dungeons among the vilest
criminals; and any melioration of these scenes of cruelty,
could only.be effected by money. But the little pecuniary
supplies which were sent to them, by benevolent Americans
and Others, from Gibraltar and Malaga, were in some instan
ces extorted from them by their merciless keepers, on the most
absurd and trifling pretexts. In fact, so deplorable was their
situation, that many of them contemplated, and some of them
actually succeeded in escaping to the Moors ; thereby risking
their lives, rather than remain in the hands of the Spaniards.
It is thus made manifest, by this unadorned narrative, that
in despite of every principle of honour and humanity, the gal
lant fellows who capitulated at Soto la Marina, werenot only
deprived of most of the stipulations of that solemn capitula-

184 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
tion, but after suffering the most horrid outrages, were at last
condemned, by a royal decree, to indefinite or perpetual bon
dage, as if they had been malefactors of the worst class.
No subtlety of policy can sanction a breach of good faith so
inhuman and flagrant ; and surely no civilized nation in the
world, besides Spain, would at the present day openly avow,
that she was not bound to fulfil engagements solemnly enter
ed into under a capitulation, which her honour was pledged
to observe.
The' Spanish government may possibly have been author
ized, by some precedents in the page of history, in refusing
to extend the principles of civilized warfare, to her subjects
in a state of rebellion, and to the citizens and subjects of other
nations, who were aiding them in their struggles : but when a
capitulation was made with these banditti, (as they were call
ed by the royalists,) and when the royal amnesty had been
offered to all who should submit, surely no apology can be
found for treating such engagements and promises as mere
delusions to gain possession of the hapless victims, who were
credulous enough to rely on Spanish faith.
If the breach of the capitulation of Soto la Marina stood by
itself, a single instance of Punic faith, it is probable that the
Spanish government could have cloaked it by some fair pre
text ; but when we throw back even a hasty glance over the
record of her American history, and see the many instances
that start forth to view of capitulations trampled upon, trea
ties broken, and indultos falsely proffered and cruelly violated,
the Mexican may forget that Carthage ever existed, and hence-
forthfor Punic, adopt the stigma of Spanish faith.
The infamous decree ofthe Cortes, dated the 10th of April,
1813, appears fo have been the rule of conduct which has been
pursued by every viceroy, captain general, and commandant
of the royal troops, from that period up to the present day.
The decree alluded to, and which must sully the archives of
the Cortes, so long as it remains unrepealed, contains the fol
lowing words : — " That it was derogatory to the majesty and
dignity of the national congress, to confirm a capitulation made
with malignant insurgents."

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 185
This decree was made for the express purpose of invalidat
ing a solemn capitulation, which had been concluded in July,
1812, between general Monteverde, commander bf the royal
Spanish forces in Venezuela, and general Miranda, as chief of
the revolutionists.
The basis of that capitulation was, that the life, property
and person of every citizen should be held sacred; that no
one should be persecuted for the- past ; and that a general
oblivion and amnesty should be granted. In virtue of this
capitulation, above four thousand revolutionists delivered up
their arms to the royal commander ; but no sooner did Monte
verde find himself fixed in the seat of power, at the city of
Caracas, than he openly avowed his determination to annul
the capitulation. This barbarian appears to have anticipated
the atrocious decree of the Cortes, which we have quoted,
and seems to have been perfectly aware, that all the cruelties
he was about to perpetrate, would be sanctioned by the boast
ed Spanish congress.
As soon as the revolutionary troops were disarmed through
out the province, Monteverde sent parties of dissolute soldiery
to seize on almost, every respectable Creole in the province.
They were torn from the arms of their wives and children,
bpund to, horses' tails, and thus brought to the city of Caracas.
After being exposed to the scoffs and insults of a brutal
soldiery, they were thrown into close and damp dungeons,
crowded together in a manner more dreadful than the victims
who perished in the black hole of Calcutta. The streets were
filled with unhappy wives, crying out for their husbands, mo
thers for their, sons, and sisters for their brothers ; Monte
verde and his satellites rejoicing, as beholding in such a spec
tacle the humiliation and despair of the Creoles. Private
property was seized in every direction; distinguished females
were dragged to the public square ; there they were stripped
naked, and treated in a manner most brutal. Doctor J. G.
Roscio, who had been secretary of state under Miranda, and
had rendered himself an object of universal esteem by the
simplicity of his manners, the extent of his erudition, the in-
(24)

186 MEXICAN REVOLUTION. *
tegrity of his life, and the spleudour of his talents devoted to
fhefreedom of his native country, was loaded with chains, put
into the stocks, and there exposed to the insults and derision of
the European Spaniards. He was afterwards conveyed to a
dungeon at La Guayra, until an opportunity offered to transport
him, the venerable Canon of Chili, and other illustrious vic
tims, to Spain. The events of the South American revolution
ought to afford perpetual lessons to tyrants. The sage Roscio,
after all the vicissitudes of his life, stands on ground from
which he may look down upon the satellites of kings. He is
now one of the civil heads of the government of Venezuela;
and to him the royal authorities are now offering their suppli
cations for a truce. The decree of the 10th of April, 1813,
cannot be forgotten by one of its most illustrious victims.
Above fifteen hundred Creoles of the highest respectability
in the country, were chained in pairs, conducted to the horrid
dungeons of La Guayra and Puerto Cavello, where, in a few
weeks, many of them perished by suffocation and disease. While
Monteverde was thus displaying his system of perfidy and
revenge at the city of Caracas, his agents were pursuing the
same measures throughout every village and town of that ex
tensive country.
The catalogue of horrors committed by those agents is of
so long and disgusting a nature, that we forbear to enter into
a detail of them; suffice it to say, that one of the common
methods of punishing those who had been employed under
Miranda, or were suspected of disaffection to the Spanish
government, was to mutilate their persons in a manner so
shocking, that it is necessary to have seen, as the writer has
done, these unfortunate wretches, to believe that such horrors
eOuld be perpetrated, even by the most brutal savages.
The reader will bear in mind, that these dreadful outrages,
as well as the violation of the capitulation, are matters of such
notoriety, that neither the Spanish government, nor its subjects,
have ever attempted to palliate the accounts of them which
have been published ; but, on the contrary, have not only by the
infamous decree of the Cortes ofthe 10th of April, 1813, open-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 187
ly sanctioned the violation of such capitulations, but subse
quently have approved of all the horrors committed by Monte
verde, in decreeing him high military and civil honours.
If our limits would permit, we could furnish a long cata
logue of capitulations violated, and royal indultos disregarded
by the Spanish authorities ; but we have confined ourselves .to
the two breaches of good faith in the cases of Caracas and
Soto la Marina, because they were accompanied by such a
flagrant departure from principles held sacred even by the
rudeSt nations of the world, and by such scenes of wanton cru
elty exercised upon the Creoles, that every impartial reader
must unite with us in execrating as well the government as its
agents, who have thus dared to perform such acts in the nine
teenth century.
For such enormities no common retribution can atone, and
already thousands of Spaniards have been immolated to the spi
rit of retaliation excited among the Creoles, by the barbarous
•and impolitic conduct of the Spanish government ; we say im
politic, because such scenes have tended not only to make re
conciliation between the European Spaniards and the Creoles
almost impossible at the present day, but even admitting a
conciliation was now to take place, it can never be sincere or
durable between the parties. We shall conclude this chapter,
by stating a solemn proof of the extent of this spirit of retribu
tive vengeance among the Creoles ; and it is among the proofs
not received solely from^ public documents, but to which the
writer was an eyewitness.
In the latter part of the year 1813, or in the beginning of that
of 1814, general Bolivar, the republican chief of Venezuela,
had retaken nearly the whole of the country, and had penned up
the. Spaniards in the city of Puerto Cavello, Bolivar at that
time had in his possession above thirteen hundred European
Spaniards prisoners. The royalists had likewise in their hands,
at Puerto Cavello, about three hundred and fifty Creole pri
soners. Notwithstanding this disproportion of numbers, Bo
livar repeatedly offered, to deliver tup the whole of his Euro
pean prisoners, in exchange for the three hundred and fifty
Creoles.

188 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
These offers were not only rejected, but Bolivar's flags of
truce were treated with outrage, and the most insulting an
swers sent to his proposals. The royal commandant at Puerto
Cavello, (his name we believe to be Istuetta,) a proud and
obstinate Biscayan, was daily employed in shooting a given
number of Creole prisoners, on the ramparts of Puerto Cavello,
in full view of Bolivar and his army. The indignation excited
by this wanton and outrageous barbarity may easily be con
ceived. At length Bolivar informed the commandant that if
he persisted in refusing an exchange of prisoners, and con
tinued to sacrifice those under his power, a dreadful retalia
tion should ensue. This produced no other effect on the bar
barous commandant, than an insulting letter to Bolivar, de
claring his resolution to put to death every Creole in the
fortress. There remained no alternative. Bolivar despatched
an order to the governor of the city of Caracas, to execute
every European Spaniard that was confined in that city and
at La Guayra. This dreadful order was carried into literal and
prompt execution, and not more than twenty or thirty of the
European Spaniards, who were prisoners, were saved from
the terrible sentence.
The writer, as well as many other foreigners, was present at
the execution of above eight hundred of these victims at La
Guayra. They were taken out of the dungeons, and conduct
ed in pairs a short distance from the town^ and there shot;
after which, their bodies were burned. Many of these unfor
tunate beings, who knew that their sacrifice was the result of
the unfeeling obstinacy and cruelty of the Spanish government
and its officers, deliberately conversed on the subject while
walking to the place of execution, and several of them uttered
the most horrible curses against the authors of their calamities.
We shall now resume the narrative of Mina's operations
at Sombrero.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 189

CHAPTER VIII.

i

Situation ofthe city of Mexico, and the measures of the vice
roy — Failure ofthe expedition of Mina against the Villa de
Leon — Arrival of the army under Don Pasqual Linan, be
fore Sombrero — Forms his line ofcircumvallation — Situation
ofthe Fort— Commencement of active operations — Detail of
events— Sortie on the encampment of Don Pedro Celestino
Negrete — Sally of general Mina— Detail of events — Gallant
defence of the Fort, on the 18th of August — Evacuation of
the, Fort — Massacre of the fugitives, ofthe wounded, and of
the prisoners — Memoir of Don Pasquql Linan.
WHILST Mina was making his arrangements in Sombre
ro, opening a correspondence with the royal towns, and adopt-* ,
ing the best measures in his power for future military opera^
tions, the royalists were likewise uncommonly active. The
government of Spain had early sent orders to the viceroy, to
abandon, if necessary, every other object, and direct all his
exertions to the crushing of Mina. The viceroy had calcu
lated, that after the measures which had been previously
adopted, the large force collected in the internal provinces
was sufficient to overwhelm Mina. But when the news of
the rencounter at Peotillos reached Mexico, it aroused him
at once to a sense of his danger. The state of the capital
was also such as to aggravate his fears ; for the city of Mex
ico had long abounded in men of republican principles ; but
as the revolution unfortunately began among the most ig
norant and wretched population of the country, nearly all
the intelligent part of society, for the reasons which have al
ready been set forth, rallied round the royal standard; await
ing the moment when the revolutionary paroxysms among the
lower orders should subside, or some leader of more conse
quence than had hitherto appeared, should spring up. They

190 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
would then have thrown their exertions into the scale of their
country on the first favourable occasion. In Mina they at
length beheld the man on whom they could rely. To him
they looked as the individual who should plant the banners of
liberty on the Mexican capital. Nor was this feeling confined
to the Creoles. Many European Spaniards were enthusiastical
ly attached to Mina, and the only cause of regret was, that he
had not brought a sufficient number of foreign troops to inspire
confidence ; for although his name alone struck terror into the
royal authorities, and a party in his favour was daily augment
ing, yet it was not in his power to hold out a certainty of per
sonal protection. And since under a vigilant and despotic
government, time and caution were absolutely requisite to
form a combination; many individuals were restrained from
abandoning their families to the horrors which they knew must
result from their too premature espousal ofthe cause of liberty.
These considerations operated as a check on the patriotic in
habitants of the capital and other royal towns, but they secretly
panted for his advance, and were prepared to join him at the
first auspicious moment.
So encouraged were his partisans by his extraordinary suc
cesses, that they met in coffee houses in the city of Mexico,
discussed the news of" the day, and betrayed their hopes and
fears so openly, that it could not escape the notice of the go
vernment. Coercive measures were adopted against some
distinguished citizens, but still the ferment in the capital did
not subside.
After the defeat of the royal troops at Peotillos, the vice
roy saw that the invasion was assuming a formidable aspect,
and that if Mina was not immediately checked, all would be
lost. Roused, therefore, by this critical state of affairs, he
withdrew such of the European troops from the numerous roy
al cantonments whose situation would permit of it, and united
them with the native infantry and his best Creole cavalry. t
But great as was the emergency, he could concentrate only
about five thousand men. Upon this army hung the fate of
the government ; and if it had been destroyed, which would
have been the case had Padre Torres acted as he should have

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. „ 191
done, no similar force could have been raised. Our reasons
for this assertion will be adduced in their proper place.
The command of this army, destined for the overthrow of
Mina, was conferred on Don Pasqual Linan, a mariscal de
campo. He held likewise the distinguished rank of inspector
general of Mexico, the officer next in rank to the viceroy.
Linan, by rapid marches, arrived in the province of Guanaxu
ato, in the middle of July. Mina was accurately and regular
ly advised of the movements of the enemy, from their own
towns : but, placing a firm reliance on the arrival of the supply
of provisions, ammunition, and men, which he hourly expect
ed, according to the promises of Padre Torres, and having no
doubt, likewise, that the latter, as well as the other patriot
chiefs, would concentrate their forces to assist him, as had
been arranged, he determined to await the arrival of Linan at
the fort 6*f Sombrero. Mina's force in the fort, at that time,
had been augmented to five hundred rank and file.
At the close of the month, information was brought to Mina,
that the troops composing the garrison of the ViWsl de Leon
had that morning marched from the town, leaving only a small
detachment for its defence. Conceiving that this afforded him
a good opportunity to try the character of his recruits, and strike
a blow against the enemy, he determined to attack the place*
The Villa de Leon is an extensive, populous, and wealthy
town, situated in a plain, abounding with wheat fields. After
Mina's arrival at Sombrero, the enemy, anticipating an attack
on Leon, strengthened its works. Its garrison was likewise
augmented to seven hundred men, who were under the com
mand of brigadier Don Pedro Celestino Negrete, a man famous
in the annals of the revolution for acts of depravity and cru
elty. The streets leading to the principal square of the town
were defended by a traverse, composed of a wall, with a ditch
on the outside. This work inclosed the buildings, consisting
of lofty churches and heavy mansions. The place had hither
to been considered impregnable, having baffled all the efforts
of the patriots to take it. From their massive architecture,
every house and church was in itself a fortification. 0

192 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Mina, on the same evening that he received the information,
after having taken every precaution to prevent intelligence of
his design being conveyed to the enemy, marched from the
fort with his division and some Creole cavalry, in all about
five hundred men, and a piece of artillery. His intention was
to take the enemy by surprise, in the night. On arriving
within half a mile of the town, a picquet of the enemy was
unexpectedly encountered, which fled and alarmed the garri-.
son ; who, it afterwards appeared, had been strongly reenforced
by a division of Linan's army; a circumstance of which Mina
was totally ignorant. On arriving near the square, his troops
were received by a heavy fire from the artillery, and musketry
from the tops ofthe houses. The attack was made with vigour;
but all attempts to carry it failed : the storming parties were
overpowered by numbers. The Guard of Honour and regi
ment of the Union, succeeded, however, in dislodging the ene
my from a strong barrack, and took a few prisoners ; but they
could not force their way any farther. At dawn, the general,
finding it impracticable to carry the place, drew off his troops,
and fell back upon the fort. So well satisfied were the enemy
to get rid of him, that they made no attempt to harass him on
his retreat. This was the first reverse experienced by the
arms of Mina. It was severe : the killed and wounded were
nearly one hundred, and among them were several foreigners.
Some of the wounded, who could not be brought off, fell into
the hands of the enemy, and were immediately put to death ;
while the prisoners that Mina had taken were liberated.
On the morning of the 30th of July, intelligence was receiv
ed, that the enemy were in the plain before the fort; and, soon
after, the army of Linan was seen ascending the heights. It
consisted, according to their own official statements, of the
following troops : —
European regiihent of Zaragoza, - 617
Creole do. Toluca, - - 250
European do. Navarre - 463
Amount carried forward 1330

„_ MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 193
Amount brought forward, 1330
Cavalry — Fieles.de San Luis, San Carlos,
Queretaro, Nueva Galicia, Co
lima, Sierra Gorda, and Realis-
tas de Apan, - - - 1211
A division, under the command of colonel
Don Juan Rafol, - - - 1000
3541
r
Ten pieces of artillery, and two howitzers.
This statement we believe to be underrated ; but, even ad
mitting it to be correct, it was a formidable force for the little
garrison to contend against. Imposing, however, as appeared
the strength of the enemy, Mina felt so confident of repulsing
them, that he ordered a red flag to be displayed from the bat
tery which crowned the conical hill within the fort. ,
The situation of the fortress has already been described.
On the eminence in advance of the main entrance into the fort,
the enemy placed in battery seven pieces of artillery, from
four to twelve po.unders, and two howitzers. There Linan -
fixed his head-quarters, with > the first division of his army,
composed of the regiment of Zaragoza, and four hundred and
forty-eight cavalry, under the command of brigadier Loaces.
The second division, consisting of the regiment of Toluca,
and three hundred and eighty-four cavalry, under brigadier
Negrete, were intrenched on the southernmost of two ridges
projecting from the south end of the fort. In advance of his
encampment, upon a small knoll, he threw up a redoubt of one
gun^ about long musket-shot from the fort. The. third divi
sion, comprising the regiment of Navarra, and three hundred
and seventy-nine cavalry, under colonel Don Jose Ruiz, were
stationed at the watering place : and the section under Don
Juan Rafol was employed as a corps of observation, to watch
the movements of Padre Torres, between Leon and Guana
xuato. These dispositions were unquestionably skilful, and
well calculated to cause Mina and his garrison to view seri
ously , the coming attack : but they were strangers to appre
hension or despondency.
(25)

, .„,.. ,i#"'-v
* ' ¦.s.f.'H&iiSWf"! ''

194 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
The fort was not calculated to sustain either a formal
siege or a vigorous assault. Padre Torres had not sent any
of the expected provisions ;, and a supply for ten days was
all that the fort contained. The ammunition also was defi
cient, but twenty-five boxes remaining. But the most serious
evil was, that the third division of the enemy was so posted
as to cut off all communication between the garrison and the
water in the ravine. It was, however, hoped that this evil
would not be seriously felt, as the rainy season had com
menced. The only succour which the garrison received from
Padre Torres, was about two days previous, to the arrival of
the enemy, and consisted of sixty cavalry, under the command
of Don Miguel Borja. The whole force of the garrison, in
cluding these and a party of the cavalry of Don Encarnacion
Ortiz, did not exceed six hundred and fifty. When to these
are added the peasantry who were employed in working par
ties, the women, and children, the whole number of souls in
the fort was about nine hundred.
At day-break ofthe 31st, the enemy opened a heavy fire of
shot and shells, which continued incessantly till dark ; their
fire being occasionally returned by the fort. This cannonading
continued, with little intermission, during the whole of the
siege ; and on some days, the besiegers discharged from their
battery on the hill as many as six hundred shot and shells.
To the besieged, this appeared a useless expenditure of am
munition, unless it was intended to display the great resources
and indefatigable exertions ofthe enemy; for, as the principal
buildings were under cover of the conical hill, and the others ,
were in such positions as to be protected by the rocks, and as
no one moved from his covert unless compelled by/ duty, the
fire of the enemy was ineffectual, their shot falling harmless
among the rocks, or flying entirely over the fort. Indeed,
their artillery was so unskilfully served, that it annoyed their
own works on the south side. This random firing continued
for several days, without any casualty occurring, except among
the horses which were roaming about the fort.
The enemy undoubtedly flattered himself with the hope of
making an easy conquest of the fort, expecting that the first

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 195
assault would produce a surrender. At two o'clock A. M. on
the 5th of August, a spirited attack was made upon the fort, at
three points which were considered assailable.: but it failed, and
the enemy were compelled to retire, with some loss. In this
affair, the general, who commanded in person at the main en
trance, displayed his usual intrepidity. With a lance in his
hand, he-was foremost in withstanding the enemy, and receiv
ed a slight wound.
But now another circumstance created more serious uneasi
ness than the assaults of the enemy. The communication with
the ravine, on which the garrison was entirely dependent for
water, had been totally cut off, by the third division of the
enemy, who had intrenched themselves in an impregnable posi
tion close to the watering place, and who at night posted a chain
of videttes along the ravine. Mina, as well as Moreno, had
calculated that it was practicable to cover the watering parties
from the fort ; and to have anticipated this disaster, by pre
serving water within the fort, was impossible, as there was
but one small tank, capable of holding no more than was suffi
cient for a few hours' supply. As the rainy season had com
menced,, it had been supposed that the garrison would not
suffer for want of water. All these expectations were disap
pointed : for the watering partie's, which were sent out nightly,
generally returned without having succeeded in their attempt,
or with such a partial supply as was of no adequate use ; and,
although it constantly rained around, yet no rain fell in the fort.
The watering parties being obliged to descend to the rivulet
down the declivity of a very deep barranca, which rendered
it impossible to conduct these sallies with any degree of order,
the enemy were always apprized of their approach, and of
course prepared to resist them. Hence it was, that no supplies
of any consequence could be obtained. Those who have not
seen the Mexican barrancas, can scarcely form an idea of the
difficulties they present at every step. Abounding in immense
rocks, precipices,. and thick bushes, it is impossible to conduct
any military enterprise with compactness and order.
The small quantity of water which each individual had col
lected on the first appearance of the enemy, had been soon

196 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
expended. The only well in the fort, which was at the house
of Don Pedro Moreno, had never contained water. All the
stagnant water in the crevices around the fort, was consumed.
The horrors of thirst became dreadful. Recourse was had to
some wild celery, which luckily grew around the fort : it was
plucked, at the risk of life. But these were only partial alle
viations. Some of the people were four days without tasting
a drop of water.
The situation of the garrison was fast approaching to a
crisis. The troops at their posts were hourly becoming less
capable of exertion, from the severity of their sufferings.
Horses and cattle were wandering about, in the greatest dis
tress. The cries of children, calling on their unhappy mothers
for water, gave to the scene of suffering peculiar horror. The
countenance ofthe general showed how deeply he sympathized
in the sufferings of his associates : but he cheered them with
the hope that the God of nature would not abandon them ; he
pointed to the heavy clouds with which the atmosphere was
loaded, as the source from which relief would speedily be ob
tained ; and such was the effect that Mina's example and con
soling observations inspired, that each individual strove to vie
with another in bearing with fortitude the severity of his dis
tress. With anxious expectation, they marked the approach
of the heavily charged clouds, hoping that the predictions of
a supply from them would soon be verified. Every vessel
was ready to receive the grateful showers. The women
brought out the images of their saints, supplicating their inter
vention for that relief which Heaven only could bestow. The
clouds covered the fort : no sound was heard, amidst the gene
ral anxiety of the wretched garrison, save the thunder of the
enemy's artillery, whose troops, with savage exultation, looked
down on the besieged from their position on the hill. The
flattering clouds passed slowly over the fort, — the moment
was anxiously looked for, which was to ease their sufferings ;
— a few drops fell ; — -anxiety was wrought up to the highest
,pitch ; — but the clouds passed, and burst at a short distance
from them ! Language is inadequate to describe the emotions
of despair which at, that moment were depicted on every

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 197
countenance in the fort. For several days the clouds conti
nued thus to pass, without discharging a single drop on the
parched garrison, who had the cruel mortification of seeing
their enemies frequently drenched with rain, and the large lake
of Lagos constantly in view. Such were the trials experienc
ed at this ill-fated spot. At length, after a lapse of four days,
a slight shower fell. Every article capable of containing the
desired fluid was in readiness, and in spite of the incessant
fire of the enemy, a supply was collected, sufficient to yield a
temporary relief to the suffering garrison. A small supply was
collected in reserve. >
The bread S"tuff, which it had been impossible to use, for
want of water, now became serviceable ; and the troops were
invigorated. Many of the Creole recruits, during the late
scene of distress, had made their escape, which had considera
bly diminished the numbers of the garrison.
During this time, Padre Torres had marched from Reme
dios with a body of troops, and a small supply of provisions ;
but advancing with his aCtustomed carelessness, he fell into
an ambush, laid by the enemy near Silao. His troops made
scarcely any opposition, and were soon dispersed ; every one
fleeing to his home. The Padre made his way back to Reme
dios. The provisions were at some distance in the rear, and
escaped falling into the hands of the enemy: No further at-
temptswere made by the Padre to succour the fort, although
he knew that it must inevitably fall, if not speedily relieved.
All his promises to Mina were thus forgotten, or deliberately
violated. The enemy, notwithstanding their vast superiority,
had met with such an unexpected repulse in their late assault,
that they declined making another attempt, and directed all
their attention to reduce the fort by famine ; well knowing that
without water or provisions, it could not hold out long. To
prevent the introduction of supplies, as well as the retreat of
the garrison, they stationed picquets of cavalry, in all directions
about the fort. Nevertheless, some resolute men did bring in
a few articles every night, but they were supplies not very
essential to the garrison. The enemy still kept up an inces
sant fire from the hill, and by stationing some light troops

198 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
among the rocks, considerably annoyed the besieged ; but
very little loss resulted, from the reasons already mentioned.
The posts could only be relieved at night, and even then the
danger was great, from occasional random discharges of grape
shot from the hill. The ammunition of the besieged was fast
diminishing, and could only afford occasional discharges ; but
as the foreigners, particularly the American citizens, were far
superior marksmen to the enemy, many of their skirmishers
were killed. ,
In the meantime, the enemy occasionally held conferences
with the garrison. Some of the Spanish officers, who had
been intimate with Mina in Spain, advanced to the walls of
the fort to see him. They used every possible argument to
induce Mina to accept the royal amnesty. They urged in
support of it, his forlorn situation, and the impossibility that
relief could be given him. Mina answered them with frank
ness, and explained the motives which had induced him to
espouse his cause, and concluded by informing them, that his
determination was taken to. conquer" or die. They parted on
the most friendly terms ; the officers expressing their regret
at his inflexibility. A momentary cessation of hostilities
having taken place, upon the return of the officers to their
posts, the action was renewed.
Three nights after the attempt by the enemy to enter the
fort, Mina, with two hundred and forty men, made a sortie on
the encampment of Negrete. The remains of the Guard of
Honour and regiment of the Union, thirty in number, all
Americans, with the general at their head, surprised and car
ried the redoubt thrown up on the knoll. The main body of
the enemy, which was encamped some distance in the rear,
was alarmed, and on the alert before the Americans could
reach them. Had they been properly supported by their
Creole companions, something important might have been ac
complished. But the Creoles would not advance ; thus leav
ing the Americans to sustain a sharp conflict, until, overpow
ered by numbers, they were obliged to retreat to the fort.
This was effected under a heavy fire from the enemy, which
killed and wounded several. Among them were eleven of

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 199
the little band of foreigners. Some of the wounded men could
not be brought off, and therefore fell into the hands of the
enemy. And it will scarcely be thought possible, but such was
the fact, that the atrocious commanding officer, having ordered
those wounded men to be carried in full view of the fort, caus-
' ed them to be strangled in the sight of their commiserating
and enraged comrades, whose attention had been cruelly at
tracted to the scene. Their bodies, stripped of their clothes,
were thrown down the precipice of the barranca, to become the
feast of vultures.
The general now saw,, that unless some speedy external re^
lief was afforded, the fall of the fort was inevitable ; and find
ing that Torres fulfilled none of the promises he had made^, nor
was making any diversion in his favour, he took the bold
determination of going in person, to endeavour to procure the
necessary assistance which he still flattered himself would be
furnished by Torres. Accordingly, the night after the sortie
on Negrete, he left the fort, accompanied by only three com
panions ; his aid, Don Miguel Borja, and Don Encarnacion
Ortiz ; leaving colonel Young in command of the garrison.
They eluded, but with difficulty, the vigilance of the enemy.
Mina, in a short time, made attempts to throw some water
and provisions into the fort ; but having with him only a few
cavalry of Ortiz,, he was defeated in his object, by the number
and vigilance of the enemy.
Mina had likewise the deep mqrtification of soon ascertain
ing, that all the statements of Torres, ahout the troops he
could concentrate, were a mere fiction ; or rather, that he had
made no effort to effect the concentration, which he easily
could have done. All hopes of succour from Torres were
vain. Under these circumstances, the general sent an order
to colonel Young to draw off the garrison.
Meanwhile, the enemy prosecuted the siege with vigour.
The cannonading was incessant by day, and continued occa
sionally at night. A few of the besieged were killed, and
several wounded. The stock of water collected from the last
shower was exhausted, and the sufferings of the garrison, as
well from hunger as thirst, again became intolerable. Several

200 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
days had elapsed without water. The children were expiring
from thirst; many of the adults had become delirious, and had
resorted to the last and most disgusting of all human expedi
ents, to allay for a moment the torments of thirst; while some
few, driven to madness, would steal down at night to the
rivulet, and flying from the death of thirst, receive it at the
hands of their enemies. At this juncture, a generous trait
was manifested by the enemy. They were moved to pity at
the dreadful situation of the women, and allowed them to
descend to the water and drink, but would not permit them to
carry any up to'the fort. This solitary act of humanity was
however rather a " ruse de guerre," as the enemy, by this
means, obtained from the women correct information of the
state of things in the fort, and finally, on one occasion observ
ing a large number of women at the watering place, with
characteristic perfidy they seized them, and sent them as
prisoners to the town of Leon.
The besieged were suffering not only the extremity of thirst,
but their provisions were nearly all consumed. Every weed
around the fort was plucked, and some of the men imagined
they found relief by chewing lead. The flesh of horses, asses
and dogs, furnished a partial resource.
The stench of the animals which had died for want of food,
or from the enemy's shot, and the dead bodies of the enemy
which were suffered to lie unburied, caused such a dreadful
state of the atmosphere, as to be almost insupportable. Large
flocks of vultures, attracted by the dismal, scene, were 'con
stantly hovering over the fort, and fortunately diminished an
evil, which otherwise could not have beeri\ borne.
Their sufferings having become intolerable, many of the
troops deserted, so that not more than a hundred and fifty ef
fective men remained. The ammunition was so far expended
as only to admit of very partial firing. The guns had been
for some time served with the enemy's shot ; which, dug out
at night from the rubbish outside of the fort, was fired back
to them in the morning.
The unutterable sufferings of the garrison induced some of
the officers to entreat colonel Young to send a flag of truce to

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 201
know what terms of capitulation the enemy would enter into.
The colonel was decidedly opposed to the measure, but was
so importuned by the garrison that he unwillingly consented
to it ; telling them- to remember that the act was at variance
with his judgment.
The flag of truce returned with the answer of Linan, that
the foreigners must surrender at discretion, and that the na
tives should receive the benefit pf the royal amnesty. When
this answer was reported to colonel Young, he said, it was no
more than he expected, and that he hoped that none of the
garrison would thenceforth speak to him about capitulating
with an enemy, from whom neither mercy nor honour was to
be expected.
The enemy, amongst other operations, had latterly directed
their fire against the front wall ; and as it was built of unbaked
bricks and loose stones, the shells that entered it buried them
selves therein, and exploding, did irreparable damage to the
work. The wall was thus destroyed, and its rubbish so filled up
the ditch, as to form a fair, broad passage into the fort. The
breaches hitherto made in the wall had been repaired at night;
but it was now so completely battered down, that any further
attempts to repair it were useless. A work was therefore
thrown up within it. In fact, the fort, as well from that cause,
as the want of ammunition, the reduced strength of the garri
son, and the wretchedness of its defenders from hunger and
thirst, was no longer tenable, and colonel Young determined
upon its evacuation. While arrangements for that purpose were
making on the evening ofthe 17th, the colonel repaired to the
quarters of Don Pedro Moreno, to concert the plah ofthe sally.
There he found Don Pedro, with several of his Creole officers,
and major Mauro, who then commanded the cavalry of the di
vision. They told the colonel that the fort could yet be defend
ed, and that they would do it themselves, without the aid of
the Americans. Colonel Young, piqued at the ridiculous con
duct of major MaurP, resolved to defer the evacUation.
The conduct of Don Pedro, during the isiege, had been
base in the extreme. He did not take an active part in the
(26)

202 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
defence ; and, while the garrison was suffering from hunger
and thirst, he was living in comparative luxury, upon supplies
he had preserved in his house. Some trifling succours, as we
before observed, had been brought into the fort: he speculated
on such part of them as he thought proper, and the residue
only he permitted the importers to vend. He would not even
allow the swine that he had about his house to be killed, for
the use of the men who were defending his country, himself,
and his family. During their severe privations, he retailed,
at an exorbitant price, pork, lard, sugar, cigars, and even some
water which he had collected in the shower. It was therefore
a general opinion, that the resistance of this man to the sally,
at the time it was proposed, was merely made to gain time to
skulk off with his money. With such chiefs as this man, and
Padre Torres, were Mina and his brave officers and men fated
to act, at this critical juncture.
Colonel Young having determined to defend the fort to the
last, declared that he would be the last man to leave it ; and
to this resolution he fell a sacrifice.
On the 1 8th, the sound of the enemy's bugles echoed through
the barranca, and announced some movement of the besiegers.
Their infantry at the watering place, and at the south end of
the fort, were observed to be forming, and it was supposed an
assault was impending. Preparations for defence were made
by the besieged, who, although greatly diminished in numbers,
and emaciated by severe privations, yet resolved to prevent
the entrance of the enemy, or die in the breach. Colonel
Young, ever on the alert, made the most of his handful of
troops. Sixty men were placed for the defence of the front
wall; and the remaining few were so arranged as to be pre
pared to meet the assailants at the several points at which an
entrance might be gained. Some of the few females who still
remained, aware of the horrors to which they would be ex
posed should the enemy succeed, cheerfully flew to reenforce
the several positions, armed with missile weapons.
At one o'clock, the enemy sounded the advance from his
head-quarters, which was repeated by his respective divisions.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 203
Soon after, a strong column appeared on the hill, marching
down ; at the same time, the division at the watering place
ascended the hill, . threatening the east side ; while the other
division, at the south end, marched up the hill, carrying scal
ing ladders. The enemy boldly advanced along the causeway
to the breach, under cover of a heavy fire from their battery
on the hill, and in face ofthe galling fire ofthe garrison from
the two flanking works. When within a few paces, the heavy
fire they encountered compelled them to halt : unavailing were
the endeavours of their officers to get them up to the breach ;
they retreated in the utmost disorder. At the other points of
attack, they were equally unsuccessful. At the south end, the
hill being very steep, they ascended with difficulty, and soon
became exhausted ; artd, as they approached, a destructive fire
was opened upon them, while the women rolled down huge
masses of stone. No longer able1 to withstand so vigorous and
unexpected an opposition, they withdrew.their forces, having
sustained a severe loss.
At that moment, a copious shower of rain fell : it was the
first which had refreshed the garrison for many days. The
enemy conceived that this was a propitious moment to renew
the assault, presuming that as the fire-arms would bejxndered
unserviceable from the rain, superior numbers would enable
them to force their way into the fort. Again their martial
1 instruments sounded the advance. ' The column again moved
forward, and approached the breach with a scaling ladder, dis
playing a black flag, as a symbol of the fate which awaited the
besieged. Fire-arms could not now be. U6ed on either side.
The enemy continued to press on, and were opposed only by
missile weapons. Fortunately, at this moment, the rain ceased.
The defenders of the works were invigorated by the shower ;
and, when the fire-arms could be used, again commenced a
well-directed fire. The bearers of the scaling ladder were
killed. The enemy, urged on by their officers, still continued
to advance ; but, within a few yards of the breach, they re
ceived such a galling discharge, that they again broke, flying
for shelter among the rocks and bushes, where they remained
until night enabled them to retire.

204 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
In this affair, the garrison suffered a severe loss, but parti
cularly in the death of the gallant colonel Young, who glori
ously fell, in the moment of victory. On the enemy's last
retreat, the colonel, anxious to observe all their movements,
fearlessly exposed his person, by stepping on a large stone on
the ramparts ; and, while conversing with Dr. Hennessey on
the successes of the day, and on the dastardly conduct of the
enemy, the last shot that was fired from their battery carried
off his head. Colonel Young was an officer whom, next to
Mina, the American part of the division had been accustomed
to respect and admire. In every action, he had been conspi
cuous for his daring courage and skill. Mina reposed unr
bounded confidence in him. In the hour of danger, he was
collected, gave his orders with precision, and, sword in hand,
was always in the hottest of the combat. Honour and firm
ness marked all his actions. He was generous in the extreme,
and endured privations with a cheerfulness superior to that of
any other officer in the division. He had been in the United
States' service, as lieutenant colonel of the twenty-ninth regi
ment of infantry. His body was interred, by the few Ameri
cans who could be spared from duty, with every possible mark
of honour and respect; and the general gloom which pervaded
the division on this occasion, was the sincerest tribute that
Could be offered by them to the memory of their brave chief.
The command of the division now devolved on lieutenant
colonel Bradburn. Hopes were indulged by the garrison, that
the enemy, finding they could not carry the place by storm,
would raise the siege. But the enemy were too well aware of
the miserable state of the garrison, to allow such a prize as
Mina's officers to escape them. They had likewise found, by
the extraordinary defence of the fort, that it contained a body
of men highly dangerous to the royal cause ; and it was sup
posed that if Mina could be deprived of his foreign troops, he
would then be incapable of causing the royalists further seri
ous annoyance.
The enemy, on the following day, evinced not the least in
dication of raising the siege. And the provisions and am
munition being entirely exhausted, it became impossible to

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 205
hold possession of the fort any longer. The abandonment of it
was therefore resolved upon ; and, every preparation having
been made, it was determined that it should take place on the
night ofthe 19th.
On examining the state of the treasury, it was found that
there remained in it only about eighteen thousand dollars.
This comparatively small amount was caused by the encroach
ments that had been made on the funds, by the sums paid
Torres for provisions; the amount that had been expended for
clothing ; a sum that had been paid Don Pedro Moreno ; an
amount that had been taken in doubloons by the general, for
the purpose of procuring provisions ; and a sum that had been
given to Don Pedro, on the night ofthe 17th, when arrange
ments had been made for a sally, which money was carried
out by the peasantry. These were the causes which had re
duced the specie on hand to the sum before mentioned, which
amount, together with some spare arms and artillery, were
buried ; the limbers of the latter were burned, and shot ram
med tightly into the guns.
Every thing being in readiness, the garrison prepared to
evacuate the fort. A trying scene then took place. The ne
cessity of abandoning the unfortunate wounded, whom, from
the nature of the barranca over which it was necessary to pass,
it was impossible to carry out, was imperious. The hospital
was filled with these victims, the majority of whom were the
officers and men who had accompanied Mina from Soto la
Marina : they were incapable of bodily exertion, the limbs of
the most part being broken. The parting with such men, who
had fought so bravely, and who were so devoted to the cause
they had espoused, was a heart-rending scene. Some antici
pated the fate that awaited them, and entreated their friends
to terminate their existence ; some indulged hopes of mercy
from the Spaniards ; while others, overwhelmed with grief and
despair, covered their faces, and were unable to bid what they
considered a final adieu.
At eleven o'clock at night, colonel Bradburn proceeded with
the division to the appointed spot, whence the sally was to be
made. The route chosen was through the barranca before de-

206 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
scribed, and was the only direction by which there was any
chance of escape. On arriving at the rendezvous, colonel
Bradburn was surprised to find that Don Pedro, who had
reached there first, had imprudently permitted the women and
children to precede the march. They soon got into confusion,
and by their screams alarmed the enemy ; and thus apprized
them of what wag in agitation. From the difficulty which the
barranca presented, it was impracticable for the troops to re
main formed in their march, and from this cause, as well as
the darkness of the night, they soon dispersed; every one ex
ploring his path, and endeavouring to take care of himself.
In the bottom of the barranca, the picquets and sentries of
the enemy were encountered ; with whom a continual skir
mishing prevailed. Many of the fugitives dropped down from
weakness ; others were shot by the random fire of the enemy.
The screams of the women, the reports of the enemy's mus
kets, the cries of those who fell, the groans of the wounded,
and the intense darkness which reigned around, gave to the
scene indescribable horror. Some few were so dismayed, par
ticularly of the females, that they returned to the fort ; pre
ferring the chance of a pardon to the risk of that destruction
which then seemed inevitable. The greater part, however,
by the dawn, had gained the opposite summit of the barranca.
Here, many of them flattered themselves, the danger was over ;
but the foreigners, being ignorant of the topography of the
place, were uncertain which way to' direct their course, fear
ing that every step might place them in the power ofthe ene
my. They marched on as chance directed them, in parties of
two, three, or six. Soon after day-light, they were beset by
parties of the enemy's cavalry, who had been ordered along
the summit of the barranca, as soon as it was known that the
garrison had evacuated the fort. Another scene of horror be
gan : — the enemy's cavalry rushed in among the flying and
kneeling individuals. No quarter was given. Cut to pieces
by the sword, or perforated with lances, the greater part of the
fugitives were destroyed. The few who escaped, among
whom was Don Pedro Moreno, owed their preservation to the
dense and foggy state of the atmosphere. The clothes and

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 267
money found on the victims, were looked upon as prizes by
the cavalry soldiers, who for that reason preferred the killing
to making prisoners of them ; for if they had spared their
lives, and conducted them as prisoners to head-quarters, the
booty would not have been so great, as, in that case, they might
have lost the clothes.
The next morning, the enemy entered the deserted fort in
triumph. Then ensued a tragedy, by the orders of the infu
riated Linan, which it is in vain to attempt to depict in colours
sufficiently strong. The hospital, as we have before observed,
was filled with wounded; a large majority of whom were fo
reigners, principally Americans.
Those who could hobble to the square, a few paces distant,
were made to do so, while those whqse fractured limbs would
not permit them to move, were inhumanly dragged along the
groundio the fatal spot. There stood the ferocious Linan,
feasting on the spectacle. Regardless of their miserable situa
tion, of their former gallant conduct, of the clemency and re
spect which they had shown to royalist prisoners ; — unmindful
of all these considerations, he ordered them to be stripped of
all their clothes, and shot down, one by one.
Linan occupied three days in compelling the other prisoners
that were found in the fort, to demolish the works ; which
being effected, he ordered them to be brought to the square
and there shot. One of the prisoners, just before he was shot,
discovered the place where the treasure and other articles
were buried, but this information could not save his life.
Thus terminated the siege of Sombrero. Out of the two
hundred and sixty-nine men who had entered the fort with
Mina, fifty only escaped.
Linan, after having completed the destruction of the fort,
returned to Villa de Leon, exulting in the exploits which hehad
performed. It may not be amiss to give a short sketch of his
origin and career, from the information we have derived from
respectable sources,; — from some Spanish European officers.
Pasqual Linan, at the time that Ferdinand entered France,
was a soldier in the ranks. He followed the king in the capa-

208 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
city of a servant, and remained with him till his return to
Spain. Ferdinand became much attached to him ; and, de
sirous of displaying his generosity to Linan, for the services
he had rendered him, requested him to name the manner in
which he could best requite his fidelity. " Make me a ma
riscal de campo," said Linan. The king, although perhaps
surprised at such a request, was at the same time so pleased
with the manner in which Linan had made it, that he said
" Muy bien." Accordingly, to the astonishment of the Span
ish officers, Pasqual Linan was created a mariscal de campo,
and sent to Mexico, as inspector general. He is deficient in
education, and although his personal appearance is imposing,
his manners are so coarse, and his conversation so illiterate,
that he disgusts those of both sexes who have any intercourse
with him. He is hated and despised by his subaltern officers,
and although they allow he has animal courage, yet they can
discover in him no other than this, almost the least, requisite
for a commander in chief. During the siege of Sombrero, he
never moved from his head-quarters. He trusted to other
officers, entirely, for the planning and execution of all the ope
rations. It would be neither just nor generous to infer from the con
duct of Linan, that his officers approved of his sanguinary
measures, nor do we wish that conclusions should be drawn
against the Spanish character, generally, because many of the
agents of its barbarous and vindictive government have acted
like the monster Linan. We have seen many Spanish officers,
whose humane, generous, and noble feelings, would have done
honour to any country.
Those attached to the European regiments under Linan's
orders, particularly interfered to stop his cruel proceedings.
They begged him to defer the execution of the prisoners, until
he consulted the viceroy. Although they found him inexorable,
they continued urging the point to the last moment, openly
expressing their abhorrence of his savage acts. We after
wards understood, that a pardon for the prisoners did actually
arrive from Mexico ; but it was too late, for their blood had

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 2Q9
already satiated the vengeance of the brutal Linan. Upon his
head therefore rests the wanton slaughter ofthe gallant foreign
ers and others, who fell into his hands ; and to him do we im
pute the horrors which marked the conquest of Sombrero.
The Spanish officers speak in terms of the strongest indig
nation and disgust of the dreadful scenes committed by this
man, and even the citizens of his own politics, who have had
any public transactions with him, hold him in fear and abhor
rence. He is at present, we believe, in the city of Vera Cruz,
of which province he is governor. His conduct there has
been so base, and so scandalous, as to cover him with the
odium not only of the inhabitants generally, but even of his
©wn countrymen.
\

210 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.

CHAPTER IX.
General Mina proceeds to the fort of Los* Remedios — Arrival of
some of the fugitives there from Sombrero— Description of
the fort of Los Remedios, or San Gregorio — Advance of
Linan against the fort — Mina marches out, with nine hun
dred men — Description ofthese troops — A reflection ofgreat
importance to the United States — Meeting of the general
with the remnant of his division, near the Tlachiquero—
Siege laid to Los Remedios- — Mina advances against, and
takes Biscocho — Execution of the garrison — Advance against,
and capture of, San-Luis de la Paz — Clemency of Mina to
wards the garrison — Attack on San Miguel— Retreat there
from, and arrival at the Valle de Santiago — A description of
it — Continuation of events connected with Mind's movements
—Disgraceful conduct of Padre Torres* — Continuation of
events at the fort — Repulse of the enemy* — Sortie \on one of
his batteries — Mind's operations continued — Flight of the
patriots from the field at La Caxa — Mina visits Xauxilla,
and thence proceeds to the Valle de Santiago — Skirmish with
Orrantia, and Mina's arrival at La Caxa.
BAFFLED in every effort to succour Sombrero, Mina
remained for several days in the mountains in its neighbour
hood, with a small body of cavalry. Having sent several
messages to Padre Torres, to urge him to order up troops for
the relief of the fort, or to cover the movements of its garrison,
but receiving only trifling and evasive answers, he resolved
to repair to the head-quarters of Torres, and there personally
incite that chieftain to the performance of his engagements.
Taking with him, therefor^, an escort of one hundred of the
cavalry of Ortiz, he proceeded to Los Remedios, on the 17th,
two days prior to the evacuation and fall of Sombrero. The
road lay across the plain of Silao. While crossing it, between
the town of that name and the Villa de Leon, he encountered

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 211
a- body of two hundred of the enemy's cavalry. Mina, with
his usual gallantry and skill, led his men into action, and in
a few minutes put*the enemy to flight, with some loss. They
lost their commander, who was dragged off his horse by a
lazo* apd killed. ' .. . >.
- Mina, upon his arrival at Los Remedios, found Padre Torres
assiduously engaged in strengthening his, position, in victual
ling it, and making every preparation against the siege which
he anticipated would be laid to it,: after the reduction of
Sombrero. He had taken none of the - steps that he had
promised, and which he ought to have, taken, to afford as
sistance to Sombrero. ; Under the direction "of Mina, -the aid
he could have given might have prevented the accomplish
ment of the -plans ofthe enemy, and might probably have led
to their destruction. At the pressing solicitatiofls;of Mina,
Torres, issued an order to some of his commandants to repair
asi soon as possible with their troops to Los Remedios ; but
, * Lazo^is the name of the rope, for the use of which the Spanish Ameri
cans are so justly celebrated. In rustic life, it is usually applied to the
purpose of catching the stock of various kinds oh a farm. A child of five or
six years' old, commences his experiments with apiece of packthread, and
exercises his ingenuity oh the poultry about the house :-" afterwards, he at
tacks the pigs; andas he grows up.he.yrentures to throw hjs- lazo upon
calves and colts ; and thusj 'by the time he arrives at manhood, he has learn
ed stp use it with astonishing precision. It is a wel} made rope, of about an
inch in circumference, and in length from ten to fifteen yards.
Wild cattle are caught by peasants; mounted on horses trained for that
express jiurpose ; and, to be broken and trained to it, is one of the impor
tant requisitejs of a Mexican horse. Since the revolution, the lazo has been
often resorted to, among a flyingepemy. An expert thrower wi}l- strike his
object almost tq a certainty, at a distance of from eight to ten yards. The
instant a horse. trained to the service, finds that the rope has taken, he will
suddenly stop, although at full speed ; then wheeling oh his haunches, sets
off-in a full gallop inthe opposite direction. The effect is irresistible. .The
man is instantly brought to the ground. If it be upon cattle that the lazo
is thrown, the flight, of the animal is instantly arrested ; and he- is obliged
to follow the horse, or choke- With the greatest ease, a peasant will throw
the lazo round the horns or legs of a bull, and thus keep the wildest and
most vicious animal iii subjection, without losing his s.ea(: The constant
use of the lazo, from early infancy, can alone account for the extraordinary
dexterity he display's in casting it.

212 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
alas ! this order was issued too late to be of use to Sombrero.
For while they were collecting, advices of the disaster of the
fort, reached Los Remedios. This event affected the general
deeply. It was difficult for him to conceal his conflicting
^emotions of sorrow, for many of his brave companions, who
he presumed had fallen in the struggle ; and of indignation, at
the shameful neglect of Torres in not having made seasonable
exertions iq favour of Sombrero. He preserved, however,
his usual serenity, well knowing, that either reproaches or
despondency must produce bad effects at the then juncture of
affairs, A few of Mina's officers and men reached Los Remedios, and
from them he obtained details of the disaster that had befallen
them; but of the extent of the loss he was still uninformed.
He despatched several persons to seek out the foreigners, and
conduct them to him. Thirty-one only were found"; but,
nevertheless, Mina still indulged the hope, that as the sally
had been effected at night by the barranca, the rest of the
troops might have gained the mountains near Sombrero; where
they would be taken care of by the cavalry of Ortiz.
Advices alsp reached the fort, that Linan, flushed with his
late success, was advancing with reinforcements against, Los
"Remedios. This movement of his was anticipated, but it was
likewise supposed that it would be the close of his career.
This opinion was founded upon the strength of the fort, and
the arrangements made for harassing the enemy.
The fort of Los Remedios, or as it is called by the royalists,
San Gregorio, was situated on a lofty, though not extensive
range of mountains, rising abruptly out of the delightful plains
of Penjamo and Silao, in the province of Guanaxuato'; being
distant from the city of that name south-south-west about
twelve leagues, from Sombrero south about eighteen, and
from Penjamo east-north-east four leagues. From the plain,
the road wound up' the declivities of the mountain, (and in
some places it was remarkably steep) by a ridge, for adistance
of nearly two miles to the highest elevation of the fort called
Tepeaca. From that point the hill again descended, widen
ing a considerable distance into the heart of the mountain, to

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 213
the extremity of the fort which was denominated Pansacola.
The ascent was not fortified either by nature or art until
arriving at a place called La Cueva, at about one-third of its
height from the plain; whence the road continued, by a difficult,
narrow, and, in places, very steep ridge, up to Tepeaca. 0%
the left of La Cueva, the ridge was skirted by a tremendous
precipice of from one to two, hundred feet perpendicular height;
which continued on that side of the fort, with little variation,
to Pansacola. On the right of La Cueva, the ridge was like
wise bounded by a precipice, to within a. few paces of a small
work called Santa Rosalia. From die termination of this
precipice, a wall of three feet in thickness extended up to
Tepeaca. Between these two points the ascent of the barranca
was easy, and from thence to Pansacola, it was naturally de
fended by a continuation of bold, elevated, and broken ground.
At this place there was a small passage into the fort, but the
precipices made the access to it very dangerous. In short,
the whole of the fort, with the exception of the small entrance
at Pansacola, and that part on the right of the road ascending
to Tepeaca, in the vicinity of the work of Santa Rosalia, was
surrounded by a continuance of awful precipices, forming bar
rancas immensely deep, and from one to three hundred yards
in width; and it was at these places. only, or at the gate at La
Cueva that an entrance could possibly be gained into the fort.
At La Cueva, where the ridge ascending into the fort was only
thirty feet in breadth, a traverse wall was thrown up on which
were mounted'two guns. The work next above La Cueva was
a' smallr half-moon hattery of one gun called Santa Rosalia,
which raked the wall up to the next battery called. La Libertad.
This was a work of two guns, which enfiladed the space down
to Santa Rosalia. Above La Libertad was a small one gun
battery, and above it; Santa Barbara^ a battery of two guns,
which commanded the others ; while Tepeaca, mounting two
guns, crowned the whole, commanding the barranca, and the
heights on its opposite side ; but, from its great elevation,
it "did not command the works of the fort. Across the only
weak part of Pansacola a breastwork was thrown up, merely

214 MEXICAN .REVOLUTION.
to cover infantry, as the difficulties of its approach rendered
it secure, if defended by a few steady troops.
One height, in front pf Pansacola, commanded the fort, and
likewise a hill, opppsiteto Tepeaca ; but, from the difficulty
^of ascending the latter, owing to its extraordinary steepness,
Torres, and colonel Noboa who had examined it, Considered
it was impossible to transport artillery • to that summit. In
fact, the strength of this fort, whose natural advantages were
so much improved by art,, seemed to warrant the opinion, that,
protected by a garrison of resolute men, it would be impreg
nable. , Within the fort, near Pansacola, was a well affording a con
stant supply of water that had never yet been found deficient
even in seasons of drought; there was likewise a large rivulet
which ran through the barranca on the left- of the fort, and
washed the feet of the precipices. This stream, during the
rainy season, and foi^ two or three months afterwards, yielded
abundance of water. It was therefore deemed impracticable
to deprive the garrison of a:s,upply of water. The fort was
victualled with twenty., thousand fanegas (about one and a
half bushel English measure totfhe fanega) of Indian corn, ten
thousand of zvheat, a large quantity, of flour, six hundred head
of cattle, two thousand sheep or goats, and three hundred, large
hogs. The!sUpplyof ammunition was considerable, besides
a quantity of mtece, .sulphur, iron, copper, and lead.-, The gar
rison of the fort consisted of about fifteen' hundred troops, of
whom three hundred had been trained for< infantry by colonel
Noboa-,! and were under tolerable discipline* - The rest of the
troopsfdrmed a motly group, undisciplined, .but brave.
When Mina arrived at the fort, its works were in many
parts defective ; but, by the exertions-of his officers, and four,
foen hundred . peasantry who were kept there for, that duty,
they were placed in a more perfect order. > The whole num
ber of persons in the fort, including the peasantry, women and
children, was about three thousand.
As the enemy could hot succeed-in their attempts to carry
SOmbrero by assault, it was presumable they could never so

, MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 215
carry the fort of Los Remedios, since the latter presented so
many more obstacles to such an endeavour, than the former.
To attempt to reduce it by famine was considered as prepos^
terous, as it would consume much more time than the enemy
coidd devote to such an operation. In short, the fort was deem
ed capable of ^withstanding a siege of at least twelve months.
We have been thus particular in describing the fort of Los
Remedios, in order to show that if Torres had been a man
possessing even true patriotism, without military discernment,
and had acted with zeal and good faith towards Mina, he would
have advised the latter to have repaired with all his officers
and men to Los Remedios, there to have concentrated their
forces, and formed, their plan of future operations. Instead
of doing this, Torres induced Mina to remain at Sombrero, by
deluding him with hollow promises of supplies of provisions
and troops, until his prospects were blasted by the destruction
of his division. It is impossible therefore for us not to accuse
Torres of treachery or ignorance, and in fact of both, in all his
conduct towards Mina^ But let us' resume our narrative.
It was determined between Torres and Mina, that while the
former should remain in defence of the fort, the latter should
take the command of a boiy of cavalry, for the purpose of
harassing the enemy, by infesting the roads, • and preventing
suppliesfrom reaching them. Meanwhile, Lilian was enabled,
in consequence of the severe blow which he had struck at ,
Sombrero, to advance, with a strong reenforcement, against
Los Remedios ; and on the 27th, a division of his army made
its appearance before that place.
Mina thereon withdrew from the fort with nine hundred
cavalry, with the view already stated. He wished to take
with him all his officers, but at the earnest solicitation of
Torres, who considered them of the highest importance for
the defence of the fort, he left the whole behind him, with the
exception of his aid de camp. It is true, that these officers
were of essential consequence, for the defence of the fort,
but the loss to Mina was most serious ; . for had he taken
them with him, there would have been more likelihood of
his accomplishing his views, than when he was dependent

216 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
upon men among the patriot officers, whose characters and
abilities he had yet to ascertain. Perhaps there is no circum
stance in Mina's career, that displays more clearly his ge
nerous and magnanimous disposition, than his thus yielding to
the importunities of Torres, after the shameful manner in
Which the latter had neglected him at Sombrero. He was
now to take the field with a body of irregular troops, without
even the semblance of discipline, and without possessing ei
ther confidence in him, or in one another, and to enter on an
active campaign, which peculiarly required the aid of experi
enced officers. However, to do his best was all that was left to
him; and he consoled himself with the, reflection, that his offi
cers would essentially contribute to baffle the enemy's designs
upon Los Remedios.
The general marched to the Tlachiquero, an hacienda near
the cantonment of Ortiz, on the heights of Guanaxuato, ten
leagues north of the city of Guanaxuato, by the route of the
mountains. He had ordered Don Encarnacion Ortiz to meet
him at the hacienda, and there he expected to have found the
greater part ofthe officers and men of his own division, who,
he still flattered himself, had survived the disasters pf Som
brero. We have before noticed the loose financial and military re
gulations prevailing among the patriots, within the command
of Padre Torres ; but it is now necessary* to describe particu
larly the troops as arrayed under the orders of Mina, to de
monstrate the great disadvantages he was obliged to contend
against. In the early stages of the revolution, it will have been per
ceived by our former statements, that there were periods at
which several divisions had attained to a considerable degree
of discipline and regularity, under Morelos, Matamoros, the
Rayons, Teran, Victoria, and other distinguished patriot offi
cers ; but, from the want of a cordial understanding among
those chiefs, the cause of the republic had retrograded, as we
have already noted.
In the latter stages ofthe revolution, capable and experienced
men were scarce ; there was no opportunity for selection ; the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 217
commandants were not only illiterate men, but unfortunately
men who entered into the cause of their country, as into an
adventure or speculation, and who made their own convenience
or personal views paramount the success of the revolution, or
the interests of their country.
The funds which ought to have been appropriated for
the pay and equipment of their troops, were absorbed and
squandered by the commandants and their satellites. With
no check upon their cupidity, they enriched themselves with
impunity. The troops were allowed to live at their respec
tive homes, and were never called together but on a pressing
emergency. When they did assemble, each man was clothed
as suited his particular taste or circumstances. The soldier
received no pay, unless in active service, and then it was only
two reals per day, out of which he supported himself. On
Sunday they would assemble at a pueblo, for the double pur
pose of hearing mass, and of receiving, when the commanders
choSe to be in funds to supply them, a hat, or shirt, and
sometimes a dollar or two, not on the score of pay of which
no rolls were kept, but as a gracious donation. Beyond this
they were seldom supplied ; in short, they were generally to
be seen in their shirt sleeves, covered with a mangas' or a blan
ket. The only exception to this description were the escoltas
(escorts) of the commandants, consisting of from ten to fifty
men, agreeably to the means and consequence of the command
ants. These were picked men, who had distinguished them
selves for courage. They were well dressed, according to,the
taste of the commandant ; were mounted on excellent horses,
and were generally well armed ; they acted as a body guard
to the commandant, with whom they fled when it became
necessary. The whole of the troops, with the exception of those in the
forts, were cavalry, a horse being given to each man, which
he was obliged to protect from the enemy. Living at their
respective houses, they were constantly on the alert, and on
the approach of the enemy, instead of uniting for common
defence, each man was provident for his own safety. The
commandants of the districts asserted, that this was the only
(28)

218 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
way. to save their men, as the incursions of the enemy would
nor permit them to be embodied in troops or squadrons. This
system, it is true, had in some degree become necessary; but
it was a fatal necessity, created by the vicious character of the
commandants themselves, who amassed and dissipated the
resources of the country, for their own personal gratifications,
in place of devoting them to clothing and subsisting a respect
able body of troops.
Whenever their soldiers were to be collected, it was usually
accomplished, by despatching persons around the country,
with orders' for them to repair to an appointed rendezvous,
which they obeyed at their pleasure. The men generally ap
pointed their own officers, with the exception of the command
ants of the district, and it was not uncommon to see captains,
majors, colonels, and brigadiers, who had once been field
labourers, mayor domos, or arrieros, (muleteers.) Few of
them could read or write, and none of them had any preten
sions to military knowledge of any kind. They had been
chosen by their companions for personal intrepidity and ac
tivity, qualities, in their estimation, of primary importance ;
and which the most of them possessed in an eminent degree.
It is hence obvious, that no discipline nor military arrange
ments could exist among such troops and officers. Incapable
of forming in line with precision, unaccustomed to any sort of
uniformity in the language of command, or the practice of
even reducing or forming column, they were no more than a
disunited mob, destitute alike of the knowledge of arriving at,
and the sense of the importance of, compactness and unity of
action. The confidence which a disciplined soldier places in
the support of his companions,, the result of a simultaneous
motion at command, was unknown to them. But, notwith
standing all these defects, their natural bravery enabled them
occasionally to perform most daring exploits. They charged
desperately, in loose and broken masses ; and, if they, succeeded
in piercing the enemy's line, made great havoc ; but if checked,
they broke. It was in vain to attempt to rally them. Like
Scythians, they came down in a hail storm, and retired in a
cloud, each man seeking his safety in flight, not like disciplined

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 219
troops when broken, to rally and form at some convenient po
sition, but to save .themselves altogether. In these scenes,
the flying soldiers, and particularly the officers, frequently gave
proofs of great personal valour and presence of mind.
The Mexican, mounted on his horse on whose speed and
activity he can rely, places the most unbounded confidence in
him. Neither showers of balls nor the numbers of his oppo
nents dismay him. The officers dash in among the enemy,
and, perfectly regardless how their men act, seem only in
tent on setting them an example of courage. When com
pelled to retreat before superior numbers, the Mexican, in
stead of jading his favourite horse, proportions his flight to
the speed of his pursuers ; and if he perceive one or two of
the enemy detached from their main body, he will face round
and give them battle in presence of. the rest. In short, we
know, from frequent personal observation, that no men pos
sess more innate courage than the Mexican Creole. He
has every necessary ingredient to form the soldier ; and,
as an individual, seated , on his usually high spirited horse,
with his sword and lance, is as formidable an opponent as
any in the world. But for want of discipline and military
regulation, the -Creoles are bf little use when embodied, and
can easily be put to the rout. Hence the royalists, whose
troops are composed of artillery and trained infantry, besides
cavalry, have been enabled to gain advantages over them ; and
more especially at the period of which we are. now treating,
when the destinies of the republic were in the hands, of such
men as Padre Torres and his commandants.
This, description of the Creoles is not peculiar to those of
Mexico; but may with a little modification be considered, we
think, as a correct one of those of all the Spanish settlements
on the American continent. The natural qualities of this race,
their intrepidity, their capacity to endure hardships and pri
vations, their sobriety, their self possession, and their abste
miousness, are qualities so well calculated for military enter
prise, that the intelligent reader will at once perceive that
discipline alone is necessary to render them, in their own
country and climate, the most formidable and effective soldiers.

220 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Shall this fine race of people become free and independent,
and allies of the republic of the United States, or are they to
become like the Asiatics, in circumstances nearly similar, the
subjugators of their own country under European discipline,
and the terror and scourge of adjacent countries P Who can
foresee what mig'ht be accomplished by two hundred thousand
Mexican Creoles, versed in the tactics of this day, with ambi
tious European leaders ? This is a subject which opens a
wide field for reflection, and particularly merits the regard of
the American statesman.
The equipments of the patriots have already been briefly
noticed. Their ammunition was in general -of their own
manufacture. The physical resources of the country are su
perabundant, with any common management. For Mexico
abounds with salt petre : the craters of her volcanoes yield
sulphur; while the forests afford charcoal. Thus, although
the manufacture be rude, they can make quantities of powder.
Flints are found in the rivulets of the mountains; and from the
bowels ofthe latter are extracted lead, copper and iron, as well
as gold and silver. They have thus the means within them
selves of carrying on war ; but the want of artists and mecha
nics renders their productions of but little use to them.
The body of nine hundred cavalry, which was placed under
Mina's command, was composed of men such as we have de
scribed, who may be properly styled Mexican Cossacks. Hosts
of officers were among them : a corps of two hundred and fifty
men would be commanded by brigadiers, or colonels ; colonels
again would command a body of fifty men. The subalterns
were numerous ; in one body of two hundred and fifty men,
commanded by a brigadier, there were above eighteen captains.
Different descriptions of arms were found in the same com
pany; and a just subordination was unknown among, them.
With such troops was Mina now destined to act. Almost
any other man would have been filled with desponding appre
hensions, under such circumstances. But, although he was
aware of their want of discipline, yet as he had seen the same
description of troops behave well in the affair of San Juan de
los Llanos, and as in the recent attack on the enemy's cavalry

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 221
between Leon and Silao, he had been an eyewitness of 'thtir.
valour, he imagined that by perseverance he should be able to
remedy all their deficiencies.
The general, with great- pains and patience formed his nine
hundred men into three squadrons ; the carabineers formed the:
vanguard ; the centre was composed of lancers, ahd the rear
guard of carabineers; he assigned commanding officers to each,
division; and contemplated establishing a Guard of Honour
from his supernumerary officers, on the model of his old guardj
but he did not accomplish it.
The captain general Don Jose Maria Liceaga, whom we
have before mentioned, had joined Mina. His advice and
information were of great importance. The patriots however
viewed Liceaga with a jealous eye. He had become unpopu
lar by endeavouring to adhere to a system of strict discipline,
as is always the case where discipline is neither established
nor its advantages appreciated.
On the morning of the 30th Mina was near the Tlachiquera;
there he met Ortiz, with nineteen of the division, who had
escaped from Sombrero. There were six officers among the
nineteen men. The moment the general saw them, he put
spurs to his horse, and flew to receive them. He cordially
gave them a soldier's embrace, and with great eagerness asked;
I "Where are the rest?" He was answered; "We are all that
are left." The blow was severe : his countenance depicted
the anguish of his heart ; and placing his leg across the pum
mel of his saddle, he reclined his head on his hand. His fine
eye glistened with the warrior's tear of sensibility, but quickly
recovering himself, his countenance resumed its accustomed.
serenity. The general retained four officers and six soldiers
of the nineteen men, and ordered the rest to take commands
under Ortiz.
In the meantime the army of Linan had invested the fort,
and the formal siege of Los Remedios commenced on the 31st
of August. The barrancas and precipices which encircled the-
fort, were alike important to defend the besiegers against sal
lies, and the hesieged against assaults. The former posted
their infantry on positions with one exception inaccessible to

222 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
assault, on the opposite side of the barrancas, and in front of
the works of the fort.
The enemy, not satisfied with occupying naturally impregna
ble holds, intrenched themselves wherever they planted their
batteries. Their front was protected against the assaults of the
besieged, by insurmountable precipices ; and their rear was
secured against the movements of Mina, as it was impossible
for cavalry to ascend those heights. The grand encampment
of the enemy was formed in the plain, immediately at the foot
of the ascent to the entrance of the fort. From this position,
they could more easily reenforce their works around the fort;
thence they could cover them from Mina's attacks, and be
sides prevent thte escape of the garrison by that passage. The
only possible way left for escape, was by Pansacola. The
head-quarters of Linan were placed on the summit, on the op
posite side of the barranca, directly facing Tepeaca. After
the enemy had broken ground in front, they had, by incredible
labour, drawn up cannon, and planted on the summit a battery
of three guns and two howitzers. This battery, being within
a short range of Tepeaca, severely annoyed that position ; but,
from its great elevation, could not fire into the other works.
It was an annoyance not anticipated by the besieged, as they
had calculated that it was impracticable to raise cannon to that
spot. The enemy, however, after some time, made an exca
vation in the side ofthe precipice, below the above work, suf
ficient to mount one gun, from which they effectually raked
the works of the fort, from Tepeaca down to Santa Rosalia.
On the side of the barranca, fronting the works of Santa Rosa
lia and La Libertad, the enemy had erected two batteries, the
one commanding the other, which threw shot into the works
of the besieged, from the distance of half musket shot. In
the first work of the enemy were planted three pieces of heavy
artillery; in the second, two pieces. In the rear ofthe latter,
on a small table land, was an intrenched camp, with one piece
of artillery, and likewise naturally well defended. On a com
manding height, in the rear ofthe whole, were planted a twelve
pound battering gun and a howitzer. From this position, the
whole of that part of Los Remedios, from La Cueva up to

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 223
Tepeaca, was much annoyed. Opposite the weak part of Pan
sacola, another encampment was formed, and a battery of two
pieces of artillery and two howitzers was there opened. On the
left of La Cueva, three pieces of artillery and two howitzers
were subsequently planted in battery, which fired into the rear
of that work. Between their several positions, on every place
where escape was in any way practicable, were posted intrench
ed picquets, with the view also of cutting off from the fort all
possible external communication. A corp of eight hundred
well equipped infantry and cavalry, under the command of
Don Francisco de Orrantia, was ordered to observe the move
ments of Mina.
Thus had the enemy, with extraordinary trouble and skill,
completed a line of attack, which effectually hemmed in the.
garrison, and menaced the works, of Los Remedios. We
have already described the defences of the fort; and, although
at the time the siege was commenced many parts of the works
were defective, yet, by- the labour of the peasantry, and the
skill and activity of Mina's officers, they were daily improved
and strengthened.
Mina advanced from the Tlachiquera to the cantonment of
Don Encarnacion Ortiz, where he augmented his force with
two hundred and fifty of the cavalry of that officer, and march^
ed the same evening. His first great object was to interrupt
the enemy's line of communication between the city of Mexico
and the northern provinces. By destroying their fortifications
in that direction, their convoys would be deprived of their
strong places of depot^ and consequently would be exposed to
the incursions of the patriots of Xalpa, who were in strong
bodies about Queretaro, and on that road. Thus, also, sup
plies for the besieging army at Remedios would be rendered
precarious. Mina advanced rapidly, the first night of his march ; and, at
suu-rise next morning, came up to a fortified hacienda, called
Biscocho. Its defences were insignificant. The garrison took
possession of the church, and from the top and steeple fired on
the assailants. Mina sent a summons, demanding their im
mediate surrenders A refusal having been returned, the place

224 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
was attacked, and after a short conflict, carried. The garrison
were made prisoners, with the exception of the commandant,
who had prudently decamped on the first appearance of Mina's
troops. The recollection of the dreadful massacre at Sombre
ro, the clamours of Mina's surviving companions, and the
rage of his whole division, now operated on his feelings ; and,
for the first time, he listened to the cries of revenge. Thirty-
one of the garrison were taken out, and shot. The mere men
tion, a few weeks before, of such a sacrifice of prisoners, would
have filled the general, as well as his troops, with horror ; but
the wanton barbarity of the royalists rendered it necessary to
repress the feelings of humanity. The extension of mercy to
an enemy who spurned at every principle of civilized warfare,
.had become impolitic and preposterous; and it was now ne
cessary to repel acts of barbarism, by measures of just reta
liation. The remains of Mina's division vowed to sacrifice
every royalist taken in arms, until they had expiated the blood
of their murdered companions, or until the enemy should re
frain from immolating their prisoners in cold blood. It was
not, however, Mina's intention to cherish these views of reta
liation. On the occasion in question, he permitted the princi
ple to be acted upon; but it is the only act, bearing the appa
rent impress of cruelty or severity, with which his name can
be charged.
After ordering the hacienda to be burned, to prevent its
being immediately re-occupied by the enemy, and driving off
the cattle, the general, next morning, continued his march to
wards San Luis de la Paz; a pueblo of some importance, situ
ated about fourteen leagues to the eastward of Guanaxuato.
San Luis de la Paz had suffered much during the revolution,
and many of its principal edifices were in ruins. It was
occupied by a division of the enemy, consisting of a hundred
infantry, aided by some of the male population of the place.
On Mina's approach, the enemy had ordered them to repair
to the fortifications, and had made preparations for resist
ance. The church, the parsonage house which joined it, and
the cemetery, were the chief places of defence.. The former
was in itself a strong hold ; while the latter was surrounded

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 225
by a wall pierced with loop holes, outside of which was a dry
ditch, crossed by a drawbridge, affording the only approach
to the church. Its garrison, sheltered by the wall, gave great
annoyance through the loop holes, and every place around their
little work was commanded by infantry posted on the top of
the church and in the belfry, the openings of which had been
fiUed up with bricks, sufficient to protect the men.
The garrison, supposing that Mina would be repulsed, with
the same ease with which the attacks of other patriot command
ers had always been foiled^ had been careless in supplying
the place with provisions ; but they had water from a fountain
at the parsonage house. Against organized troops this place
could not have been defended ; and if Mina had then had with
him his former little band of foreigners, he would have carried
it in a few minutes by storm. But he now found that the
patriot troops, whom he had beheld in combats in plains
against the enemy's cavalry and infantry acting with the
greatest gallantry, when brought to scale walls, or to resist
infantry posted behind a fortified place, were totally ineffective.
The general summoned the commander of the garrison to
surrender. A refusal having been returned, Mina surrounded
the place, so as effectually to prevent the escape ofthe garrison.
He determined on making an experiment to carry it by assault,
particularly as some ruins of houses stood within twenty paces
of the drawbridge. He made the necessary dispositions, but
soon perceived that is was difficult to draw his soldiers from
their coverts among the ruined houses. In vain he tried to
make them advance in a compact body. They scattered and
fell back before the fire of the infantry of the garrison. Some
intrepid officers and men of the storming parties boldly ad
vanced, but not being properly supported, their lives were
sacrificed to their gallantry. The general was deeply mortified.
He resolved, however, to reduce the place by famine, in case
he could not otherwise effect it. The patriots at times would
seem anxious to renew the attack, and the general, enlivened,
would again lead them on : but it was in vain f they invariably
shrunk back, at the very critical moment when firmness was
necessary. Various plans were now devised to destroy the
(29)

226 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
drawbridge, but none of the troops could be prevailed upon to
carry them into execution. Bundles of faggots were prepared
to be thrown into the ditch to burn it down : but the few bun
dles, which some spirited volunteers carried to the spot, were
not sufficient to accomplish the object. The drawbridge was
suspended only by strong leather thongs, To cut these, was
one plan ; and several bold attempts were ineffectually made
to reach them. On one of those occasions of fitful animation
among his troops, Mina ordered one of his officers, captain
Perrier, to head the storming party. This brave fellow found
no difficulty in scaling the wall, and, supposing his troops
would follow him, leaped in among the enemy ; but, on turn
ing round, he found himself alone, — abandoned at a moment
when an easy victory might have been gained. The gallant
captain, with great exertions, made his escape back, but was
severely wounded.
Mina, after spending four days in these abortive attempts at
assault, resorted to sapping and running a covered way from
the ruins of the houses, to the drawbridge; which he accom
plished, and the bridge was then cut down. The garrison at
once surrendered, without further opposition, and called for
quarter. The scenes of Sombrero were still fresh in the recol
lection of his troops ; they demanded revenge, and reminded
the general of their recent oath not to spare a royalist taken in
arms. But the merciful disposition of Mina now displayed
itself. He interposed between the conquerors and the van
quished, and succeeded in preventing an indiscriminate
slaughter of the prisoners ; but, to appease the patriots, he
consented to make an example of three persons : the command
er of the place ; that of Biscocho, who was found here ; and
a European soldier. They were shot. The greater part of the
prisoners expressed a desire to join Mina's banners ; and the
rest were set at liberty.
The fortifications of San Luis were demolished, as it was
impossible to attempt to hold it against a regular siege. Colo
nel Gonzales, in whose district it lay, a celebrated warrior of
the troops of Xalpa, was left in command of the place, to
watch the movements of the enemy. Mina then advanced

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 227
against San Miguel el Grande, a town of considerable impor
tance, fourteen leagues south-east of Guanaxuato. While
making preparations for its capture, which, from its position,
he had every ground to calculate upon, he received advice that
a very strong body of the enemy were advancing for its de
fence ; he therefore considered it prudent to draw off his troops
and retreat. He now saw the misfortune of having occupied
so much time in the reduction of San Luis de la Paz. If he
had proceeded to San Miguel el Grande three days sooner, he
could have taken the place. Immense resources of every kind
would have been there acquired; he would have completed his
plan of cutting off the enemy's chain of communications ; and
the war might have assumed a new character. But to fail,
where success was justly anticipated, is an event incident to
the species of warfare in which he was then engaged. It is
ever to be regretted that he was frustrated in the prosecution
of his plan.
Mina being thus under the necessity of abandoning his
design upon San Miguel, proceeded to the Valle de Santiago,
a place of some importance, situated on the south side of the
river of that name, sixteen leagues south of Guanaxuato. The
Valle de Santiago, whose destruction by Torres has been be
fore noticed, was one of the few towns which remained in the
possession of the patriots. When Mina entered it, he found
it in ruins; the churches alone remaining uninjured. A con
siderable population, among whom were some very respecta
ble families, still dwelt amidst this scene of desolation, in huts
erected on the sites of their former handsome edifices. The
inhabitants ofthe Valle de Santiago^ animated by their hostili
ty to Spanish authority, scarcely appeared to regret that their
comforts had been sacrificed at the shrine of liberty. Enthu
siastically devoted to the cause of their country, they had al
ways rejected with scorn every overture of the royalists to
seduce them. Most tenderly did they cherish the thought of
the independence of their country,— ^most faithfully did they
cling to her through the dark night of her misfortunes ; and,
finally, sealed their attachment to her, by deserting the place

228 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
of their nativity, when it subsequently fell into the hands of
the enemy.
The district in which it is situated is not extensive ; but
valuable from possessing a soil more productive, perhaps,
than that of any other part of the kingdom. It enjoyed, at
that time, a great commerce ; the annual revenue of the coman
dancia being one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Don
Lucas Flores, the commandant, was a hardy, intrepid man,
and, as a guerilla chief, had been distinguished by his enter
prise. Being so destitute of education, as to be unable to
write his own name, the regulation of the finances was com
mitted to a treasurer. The principal care of this man was
directed to the enrichment of himself; so that the revenue of
this important district disappeared, and the public coffers were
kept empty.
Don Lucas was one of the confederated commandants un
der Padre Torres. Operated upon by the bad example of his
chief, he became dissipated and inactive, and lost his popu
larity by the commission of arbitrary and vexatious acts. It
was in the power of Don Lucas, by cordially co-operating with
Mina, to have rendered the most essential service to the com
mon cause. He had secreted upwards of fifteen hundred
stand of excellent arms, which he had taken from the enemy
in different actions ; these, with the resources of his comandan
cia, properly applied, would have been all important at that
juncture. We believe that he was sincerely attached to his
country, but from his great regard for Torres, or from ^>ride,
ignorance, or some other motive, his conduct towards Mina
was characterized by reserve. Don Lucas commanded a
body of brave troops — than whom none had displayed more
gallantry in the irregular conflicts with the enemy's cavalry.
But, as was usual, the escort of the commandant was the only
portion of them properly equipped. Gaming and disorderly
conduct of every kind, predominated among them, as it unfor
tunately did among all the revolutionary troops.
Mina had selected the Valle de Santiago for his head-quar
ters, on account of its position, its abundant resources for the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 229
supply of his troops, and the confidence he reposed in the
patriotism of its inhabitants. On entering the town, the re
spectable inhabitants received him in the most affectionate and
enthusiastic manner, conducting him to the church amidst a
concourse of people. A Te Deum was chaunted, and every
eye beamed with satisfaction at beholding Mina. The troops
encamped near the town ; where provisions and pay were fur
nished them by the comandancia and by patriotic indivi
duals. During his stay in the Valle de Santiago, Mina attempted
to remedy the want of discipline among his troops. But the
officers were so illiterate, and so entirely strangers to military
subordination, that he could accomplish but little in the short
time he was among them. A total change of system, and
much time were requisite tp eradicate their pernicious habits,
and establish discipline. To change or instruct the officers,
to regulate anew the finances, to repress the excesses of anar
chy and establish order and subordination, were objects to be
executed only by degrees. Besides, had Mina attempted to
introduee the change at once, his measures would have beeu
viewed as harsh and despotic, and he would have created
enemies among those whose good will at that crisis was so
important to him. Under these circumstances, there remain
ed no alternative for him but to make the best use of the
means which were presented to him, and to adopt such a sys
tem of tactics as was best suited to troops undisciplined, and
unacquainted with the importance of military subjection,
until time and events should enable him gradually to effect a
change. He flattered himself that this would be more speedily
accomplished, could he only succeed in raising the siege of
Los Remedios.
While waiting for reenforcements, he advanced with a select
corps to attack a fortified hacienda, called La Sanja, a few
leagues distant from the Valle de Santiago. This position is
strong, and being in a low situation near the lake of Jurida,
the country around it is capable of being inundated at pleasure.
It is likewise encompassed by broad and deep ditches. These

230 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
difficulties were not to be surmounted by inexperienced troops,
and the attempt to take it by storm proved abortive. He
therefore returned to the Valle de Santiago.
After his return, he issued orders to the surrounding com
mandants, urging them to direct all their exertions to cut up
the intercourse by the roads to Los Remedios ; pointing that
out, as the most effectual measure to defeat the views of the
enemy. Having received a small reenforcement of troops, he
marched, with nearly one thousand cavalry, to the vicinity of
the fort, for the purpose of attacking, the enemy, upon the first
favourable opportunity. With this view, he proceeded to the
hacienda of La Hoya.
The enemy, when apprized of his approach, despatched
a strong division under the command of Don Francisco de
Orrantia, to attack him. The general made his dispositions
for battle ; but finding, on reconnoitring, that the force con
sisted of a body of infantry and cavalry against which it would
be imprudent to contend, he ordered a retreat. The enemy
pursued him to the foot of the mountains near Guanaxuato,
where the patriots adopted the usual mode of eluding the ene
my, by separating into small detachments, each one following
the route to its own comandancia. The general, with a small
party, hung on the rear of the enemy, skirmishing with them,
until they entered the town of Irapuato, He then proceeded
to the Valle de Santiago, and issued orders to the command
ants to reassemble their troops as early as possible. The junc
tion of their forces being accomplished, he marched to the
plain of Silao, between the place of that name and Los Reme
dios, where he was reenforced by other divisions of patriots;
with one of which came Don Pedro Moreno, the ci-devant
commandant of Sombrero. The general's force then amounted
to about eleven hundred men, a great proportion of whom were
miserably equipped. He menaced the enemy's fortified towns,
and, by his rapid and unexpected movements, kept the Baxio
in a state of constant alarm, thereby preventing supplies from
reaching the besieging army at Los Remedios ; while Orrantia,
with a division of picked troops, followed the movements of

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 231
Mina, but did not attempt to attack him. The royalists gene
rally bivouaced in the same positions which Mina had occu
pied on the preceding night.
Mina was in close correspondence with some ofthe leading
inhabitants of the enemy's towns; and, as he found; that the
enemy at Los Remedios drew their principal supplies from
the city of Guanaxuato, he considered its capture as the most
effectual means of cutting them off, and thus raising the siege
of the fort. Mina well knew the strength of Linan's position
at Los Remedios. He was aware of the deficiency of disci
pline among the patriot troops ; and that the numerical force of
the enemy was nearly seven times greater than his own, con
sisting principally of European veterans, with their best caval
ry, adapted to the nature and circumstances of the country.
To attack the encampment of Linan, therefore, in the plain at
the foot of the hill of Los Remedios, under such circum
stances, would have been a disregard of all military principles;
it would have been rashness in the extreme ; and, much as
Mina liked dashing operations, he was too prudent to attempt
to perform them, with such troops as those then under his com
mand. To attack 'the enemy's intrenchments around the fort,
was impracticable. Besides, could he have ascended the heights
with cavalry, he had seen enough to convince him that the pa
triot troops were not capable of assaulting by escalade. These
considerations united in confirming his purpose ; and, having
received the most flattering assurances of support from some
ofthe niost respectable citizens of Guanaxuato, he decided on
the attack of that city.
Mina communicated these intentions to Padre Torres, by
couriers. But this man, either from ignorance, or from the ap
prehension of the consequences that would arise in favour of
Mina, if the latter should take Guanaxuato, opposed the plan;
insisting that the only possible mode of relieving the fort was
by attacking the besiegers. In vain did the general represent
to him the advantages that must arise from the capture of Gu
anaxuato, and the disadvantages attendant upon attacking the
besiegers, from the relative strength and composition of the
adverse forces; and that therefore the only effective blow whieh

232 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
could be struck against the enemy, would be the capture of
Guanaxuato. Torres at length threw off all reserve ; he not
only disapproved of Mina's plan, but resorted to the disgrace
ful step of sending an order to Don Lucas Flores, and to
others of the commandants, to put their best troops under Mi
nd's command only in the event of his attacking the enemy at
the fort ; otherwise, that they must afford him only partial
succours, ofthe worst of their troops. This was an unexpect
ed blow to Mina. He could scarcely repress his indignation
at the baseness of Torres ; but it was not the moment to in
dulge in expressions of displeasure, and he therefore strove
to accommodate himself to circumstances, which it was not in
his power to resist or to modify.
Mina continued his operations by a system of guerilla war
fare in the Baxio, and actually reduced the enemy to so great
a degree of want, that desertions from their ranks commenced.
A sergeant and two men, of the European regiment of Fer
nando 7°, presented themselves to Mina in the hacienda de
Burras, five leagues from Guanaxuato. From these men he
learned that the enemy had been compelled to subsist chiefly
upon the green corn, which their cavalry brought in from the
neighbouring ranchos ; that their troops received no pay ; and
that discontent was becoming general. They also stated, that
he might expect soon to be joined by a number of deserters ;
that many soldiers, before that time, would have passed over
to the patriot standard, had it not been from an apprehension
of being put to death by some roving band of patriots, before
they could reach Mina.
During these operations of Mina in the Baxio, the enemy
was carrying on the siege of Los Remedios with vigour.
They had already been employed twenty days in throwing up
intrenchments, to protect themselves from the assaults which
they feared Mina might attempt to make on them. The lines
of approach, for the reduction of the fort, were daily becom
ing more formidable.
The garrison, in the meantime, was not inactive. Under
the direction of Mina's officers, the curtain, if it may be so
termed, and the works extending from Santa> Rosalia to Tepe-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 233
acja, had been nearly completed ; and to their unintermitted
exertions was Padre Torres wholly indebted for the fort's be
ing placed in a state capable of making so gallant a resistance,
against an enemy so much more numerous, and so far supe
rior in the character of his troops, and in artillery.
From the opposite heights, which were within musket-shot,
the enemy frequently held conversations with the besieged,
and vauntingly expressed their confidence of gaining posses
sion of the fort by storm, at the very first attempt. Accord
ingly, about the 20th of September, they advanced in three
columns, and assaulted the fort at the points of Pansacola and
Tepeaca ; but directed their principal efforts against a part of
the curtain which was then unfinished. The battery of La Li
bertad, which had been planned by Mina, and which his officers
had laboured to complete, was also unfinished. They advanc
ed against each point simultaneously, and upon the opening in
the curtain, in admirable order; but they were received in a
manner which they expected not. After an inveterate conflict of
three hours, finding their attempts to enter the fort were abor
tive, they were Compelled to retire after suffering very severely.
Linan, being thus disappointed in carrying Los Remedios on
the first assault, determined to open a mine under the work at
Tepeaca. In this effort he also failed ; twice was he disap
pointed in his attempts to destroy the battery by explosion.
Could he have accomplished that object, the fort must have
fallen into his possession, as Tepeaca commanded the whole
line of works. But the engineers of Linan must have been
deficient of skill ; for, on springing the mine, the explosion
each time issued by the mouth of the gallery, killing and
wounding many ofthe miners. This, conjoined with the fre
quent sorties from the fort on the mining parties, at length
compelled the enemy to abandon the project of undermining it.
Meanwhile, they had erected batteries in front of that of
La Libertad. From- these they opened a heavy fire, which
seriously injured the curtain and works generally. As Linan
'had been foiled in his attempts to blow up Tepeaca, he deter
mined, once more, to resort to open assault. Having succeed-
(30)

234 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
ed in making a breach in the curtain, below Santa Rosalia, the
enemy prepared to storm it, making, at the same time, judici
ous diversions on Pansacola and Tepeaca. The design of the
enemy being soon perceived, the gun from Santa Rosalia was
carried down and planted in the breach, supported by infan
try, and peasantry armed with, missile weapons. A strong
column of European infantry moving up to the breach, under
cover of a fire from their works, advanced intrepidly to within
a few paces of it, when they were received with so much spi^
rit that they soon fell back. They rallied and returned to the
attack, but on approaching the fatal breach were again repuls
ed.. At the other points of assault they were received with
the same gallantry ; and, after having suffered a severe loss in
each attack, the enemy beat the retreat and retired within their
intrenchments. The garrison, animated by their recent exploits, determined
to become the assailants. The batteries opposite to La Liber
tad had seriously annoyed the besieged ; for the superior ar
tillery of the enemy, placed there within short range of the
works, did them great injury. The damage committed there
by during the day, was repaired by night with stones and sand
bags. But, wearied with the great and repeated fatigue, the
garrison resolved to attempt the destruction of the enemy's
first battery, on which were mounted three heavy pieces of ar
tillery. This enterprise was to be performed against Europe
an troops, strongly intrenched.
A party of two hundred and fifty men was selected for this
daring operation, commanded by captains Crocker and Ram
say, and lieutenant Wolfe, three officers of Mina. Lieutenant
Wolfe, with a detachment of fifty men, was ordered to gain
the rear of the enemy's first work, by a circuitous route, and
act simultaneously with the remainder of the party, which was
to advance in front. Favoured by the obscurity of the night,
the parties gained their positions unobserved by the enemy.
Lieutenant Wolfe opened a fire from the rear ; and, scarcely
had the enemy directed their attention to that point, when the
party in front gallantly rushed forward. The enemy, being

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 235
in a state of continual alarm of Mina, arid not expecting an as
sault from the besieged, finding themselves attacked in front
and rear at the same instant, supposed, that the attack, in front
was in co-operation with that of Mina in the rear. Under this
impression, we presume, they discharged a couple of guns
loaded with grape shot, at the party in front, but without any
effect; and, struck with a panic, exclaiming, Mina! Mina ! they
leaped their works in confusion, and fled to their second bat
tery. The two heaviest guns were spiked, and their limbers
destroyed ; the work was levelled, and the party retired with
out the loss or injury of a man. They brought off the third
gun- from the enemy's works, but could not carry it further
than the foot of the barranca^ where it was rendered unser
viceable and abandoned^
Thus was executed an enterprise entirely unexpected on the
part of the enemy, the effect of which on their minds must
have been very considerable, however unimportant it may be
viewed in relation to the force on either side. The enemy,
however, shortly after replaced their artillery, and thencefor
ward limited their operations to a cannonading and blockade.
The damage which their artillery effected on the works of the
fort, was speedily repaired by the ordinary means of war.
The siege did not excite much uneasiness, for in despite of
the enemy's vigilance, some ofthe brave peasants found their
way into the fort almost every night, with powder and other
articles. Provisions were abundant in the magazines. The
finest fresh bread was daily served out ; meat was plenty ;
and in fact the garrison had not only necessaries but luxuries.
The enemy's situation presented, a striking contrast. They
had scarcely any other subsistence, than unripe corn, as be
fore mentioned ; for Mina had effectually cut off their supplies.
All the country, for several miles around Los Remedios, had
been deserted by the inhabitants, who had likewise driven off
their cattle. The situation of the enemy was soon known to
the garrison ; and, in order to show them the hopelessness of
an attempt to obtain Los Remedios by famine, presents of fresh-
baked bread, meat, brandy, and even fruit, were frequently
placed at about half way between the hostile works.

236 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
The general was still pursuing his guerilla warfare, harass
ing the enemy incessantly, and cutting off their provisions,
with an effect which every day made their situation more
critical. While Mina was marching through the hacienda of La
Caxa, on the 10th of October, a peasant brought him the in
telligence, that Orrantia was approaching, and was but a short
distance in the rear.
Having had some opportunities of instilling a little more
confidence in his troops, Mina thought the present a fit occa
sion to try them in the field, and therefore determined to give
battle to Orrantia.
The experiment recently made in attacking fortifications-,
had convinced him, that they could not be relied upon for
such operations ; but as his force was then numerically supe
rior to the enemy's, he entertained expectations, that they
would feel a confidence in themselves, and that amidst the
fortuitous occurrences of an engagement, his experience might
enable him to seize upon some advantageous moment to
decide the conflict. To succeed in destroying this enemy
would be in effect to raise the siege of Los Remedios, as
Linan could not detach from his force such another body of
infantry and cavalry, as that of Orrantia's ; and Mina would
thereby be enabled to prosecute other plans against the ene
my with facility, in which he had been hitherto frustrated
by the position of Orrantia's division. Mina, it must be ac
knowledged, was not very sanguine of the result of the bat
tle ; but as in war, under such circumstances, delay itself is
disadvantageous, and as he hoped, at all events, to occasion a
severe loss to the enemy, as well as to give the patriot troops
an opportunity to distinguish themselves, he therefore took his
determination to await the attack. The hacienda of La Caxa
is situated on elevated ground, in a pass between two hills,
distant from the enemy's town of Irapuato three leagues.
The buildings of the hacienda were strongly fenced in. In
front of them extended large plantations of Indian corn, which
at that time was in full growth. The whole was enclosed by
a very strpng wall, with a small gate in one side, through

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 237
which lay the road to the hacienda through the corn fields.
Immediately contiguous to this wall, on both sides, the ground
was laying fallow.
Mina had with him, at this time, about eleven hundred
men ; but their character as soldiers must be borne in mind :
for, in consequence of the disgraceful order issued by Torres,
these troops were composed of the most ordinary men of the
different comandancias, and many of them only armed with
lazos and machetas. Desertion, as might be expected from
such troops, was frequent, and from the deficiency of all ideas
of discipline, was practised with an impunity the most pernici
ous,' because irremediable. Whenever tiiey were wearied with
service, or were anxious to return to their families, they re
tired in pairs or dozens; and sometimes,- at, a critical moment,
when an action was about taking place, they went off in still
more considerable numbers. Mina, at length, finding it indis
pensable to interpose a check to this practice even at the
risk of losing his popularity, issued an order declaring the
penalty of death on the deserters. He sentenced to be shot
two deserters, one of whom held the rank of a colonel. This
act of firmness on the part of Mina, at least put a temporary
check on desertion. Another evil had considerably injured
the troops ; it was a custom they had adopted of permitting
females to accompany the expedition. At the time we are
speaking of, Ortiz had reenforced Mina with -some cavalry,
and many of the officers had brought with them their wives.
Whether this was from anticipating jut attack on the city of
Guanaxuato, where the females would expect to come in for
a share of the spoil, or from some other cause, is immaterial,
but it was the first; time that Mina had been encumbered with
such auxiliaries, and they were of very serious disadvantage
to him on this occasion.
The general, under all these embarrassing circumstances,
made his dispositions for action. He posted a' picquet at the
gate of the enclosure ; and, at some distance in the rear, on an
elevated position, established his advanced guard, composed
of two hundred and fifty men, such as he thought the best
adapted for that duty, under the command of a dashing Creole,

-\

238 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
nicknamed "El Giro." In the corn field, in front of the ha
cienda, on each side of the road, he posted the main body,
resting obliquely upon it as a centre, and within the fence of
the hacienda, was the rear guard of two hundred men, with
the women, ammunition, &c.
These dispositions were scarcely made, when the enemy
were descried in motion upon the fallow ground before men
tioned, outside the fence, where they halted for a considerable
time, apparently undecided how to act. Mina, thereupon,
having given his instructions to the commander of the main
body, proceeded to the advanced post, whence he could better
reconnoitre the enemy, and seize upon any opportunity for a
favourable movement. At length the enemy attacked and
drove in the picquet, and passed within the fence ; and again
halted on the clear space within it, in close order. Apprehen
sive of an ambuscade, the enemy threw out some light troops
among the corn, but these were soon recalled, and whether or
not they were afraid to advance by the high road, we cannot
say, but after a considerable time spent in preparation, they
filed off to the right, thereby appearing to menace the left of
Mina, and turn his flank. In executing this movement, their
infantry fell into disorder, and Mina supposing that he could
reach them before they could form anew, made a charge on
them with the advanced guard. It was executed with spirit;
but his distance from the enemy was so great, that they had
time to form, and thereby save themselves. Mina, with only
two hundred and fifty men, now found himself engaged with
the enemy's whole force. In the height of the action, a party
of thirty of the enemy's cavalry, having made a circuit, ap
proached the hacienda where the women were placed, who be
came alarmed, and fled. This created a panic in the rear guard,
who took to flight. The main body, seeing the flight of the
rear guard, without knowing the cause, likewise broke and dis
persed, while Mina, with his little corps, was left to sustain the
whole brunt of the action. The enemy's cavalry, seeing the
confusion, pursued the fugitives, and the rout became general.
Upon this unexpected disaster, no other resource was left to
Mina, than to cut his way through the enemy, which he most

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 239
gallantly effected, after sustaining some loss. Orrantia then
proceeded to the haeienda, where he shot some of the peasant
ry for not having remained in the place during the action :
their houses he gave up to pillage. Mina, with the brave
little party who had supported him so well, bivouaced near
the scene of action, while Orrantia passed the night at the ha
cienda, without venturing to attack the general. Next morn
ing, Mina proceeded to a small place, about four leagues off,
called Pueblo Nuevo, where he found some of the fugitives,
but the greater number had crossed the river on whose banks
the place stands, and had returned to their respective homes.
In the late affair, the general again experienced the lamenta
ble evil, of the want of discipline, among the patriot troops,
and of the fatal consequences of allowing females to accompa
ny them. But he was so highly pleased with the valour and
conduct ofthe advanced party, under his immediate command,
that he felt a renewed conviction, that he should be able to
produce a considerable reformation among the patriot forces,
by their example and success. He was convinced that if the
unlooked for panic-terror we have mentioned, had not taken
place, and that if his main body had been once closely engaged,
the defeat of Orrantia would have been certain, or at the least
that he must have been seriously crippled, and compelled to
retire. Despondency under any circumstances formed no ' part of
Mina's character. His first care was therefore to adopt mea
sures the best calculated to remedy the 'evils by which he was
encompassed ; and as he knew that it would take a considera
ble time to reassemble ,the scattered troops, he resolved, in the
interval, to visit Xauxilla, the seat of the patriot government,
with which he wished to consult as to his future operations.
With this view he selected an escort of twenty men, and dis
missed the rest, after despatching orders to the different com
mandants to assemble with their troops on a certain day at La
Caxa. He proceeded in the evening for Xauxilla, and arrived
there the next day.
Xauxilla was a small mud fort, the construction of which
displayed the exercise of some military science. It was situ-

240 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
ated on an island just large enough to contain it, in the lake
of Zacapo, a short distance from the village of that name, in
the intendancy of Valladolid, about twenty leagues south
west ofthe Valle de Santiago, and eighteen north-west ofthe
city of Valladolid. It was surrounded by a swamp or pond
containing from five to six feet of water in depth, and could
only be reached by canoes. Its garrison was composed of
one hundred tolerably well disciplined infantry. At this place,
the Republican Gazette was printed. There was likewise
within the fort an extensive manufactory of powder, whence
supplies had been sent to Los Remedios. The members of
the government (if it may be so called) received Mina with
cordiality. He frankly unfolded to them his plans, particu
larly that of attacking Guanaxuato. But this plan did not
meet with their approbation. They did not believe that it
could be accomplished with such troops as could then be placed
under Mina's command. They were aware that with undis
ciplined men, nothing could be effected that would shed a
lustre on Mina, or be of essential benefit to their country.
They strongly recommended to the general, to withdraw his
remaining officers and men from the fort.of Los Remedios,
the place being impregnable, and well stored with provisions;
and there being consequently no apprehensions of its falling
into the hands of the enemy, there was no absolute necessity
that called for the presence there of Mina's officers.
The members of the government endeavoured to impress
upon Mina's mind, the importance of organizing a body of
troops, before he should undertake any momentous enterprise,
and that, for the accomplishment of that purpose, the country
between Xauxilla and the shores of the Pacific ocean was the
most proper place, as the enemy there were less numerous
than in the Baxio, and the people were universally earnest in
the patriot cause ; besides, that the fertility of the country
yielded ample supplies, and its natural positions afforded
complete security. They made use of the most cogent ar
guments to persuade Mina to adopt this plan : but after giv
ing them all the solidity to which they were entitled, he re
mained unconvinced of its feasibility. His primary object

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 241
was to relieve Los Remedios. Knowing the critical situa
tion to which the enemy were reduced, by the failure of their
supplies of provisions, and believing that if the design of .
compelling Linan to withdraw from the siege of that fort,
by the extremity of hunger, was abandoned, such another op
portunity might not again occur, he flattered himself that if
he could effect this his favourite point, that the affairs of the
revolution would then assume a different aspect. He was, it
is true, sensible that full reliance could not be placed upon the
troops he commanded, but he thought that if he could obtain
fifty infantry from Xauxilla, to be added to a like number from
among the prisoners of San Luis de la Paz, whom Ortiz had
undertaken to train, that with these, and an overwhelming
force of cavalry, he should be able to capture the city of
Guanaxuato. Mina likewise informed his counsellors, that
his honour was • implicated in relieving the fort of Remedios,
and that he had also pledged himself to attack Guanaxuato.
The government, on finding his resolution taken, ordered
fifty infantry of the fort to march to his place of rendezvous.
Although the members of the government much regretted
Mina's determination, yet they all admired the generous sen
timents by which he was actuated in support of his plan, and
earnestly wished him full success.
The general marched from Xauxilla, taking, on his return,
a circuitous route through Puruandiro, formerly a considerable
and rich town, but which, by the mandates of Torres, had been
reduced to a heap of ruins, with the usual exception of the
churches. It lies about sixteen leagues north of the city of
Valladolid, and was at that time in possession of the patriots,
who hailed the arrival of Mina among them by illuminations
and other public demonstrations of joy. After remaining there
two days, for the purpose of procuring some pecuniary aid,
to carry into effect his intended object, he proceeded to the
Valle de Santiago. He there found a small party of the pa
triot troops from Xalpa, awaiting his arrival. But he had
been in the town only a few minutes, when the approach of
a strong body of the enemy was announced from the look-out
posts on the heights. It was the division of Orrantia. Mina,
(31)

242 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
who entertained the most sovereign contempt for Orrantia, as
a military man, could not endure the thought of making a
passive retreat, although he knew the enemy's superior num
bers. He therefore placed his few men in ambush, in the corn
that was growing in the vicinity of the place, and close to the
road by which he presumed the enemy would pursue him ;
intending, if their cavalry only advanced in pursuit of him,
to draw them into the ambuscade, in which case the destruc
tion of a portion of them was certain. Orrantia, having enter
ed the town, and receiving information that Mina, with some
troops, was hovering about the place, halted his troops. After
a considerable lapse of time, he again advanced from it, but so
cautiously, that Mina, finding it impossible to succeed in his
designs, withdrew his men from their ambuscade, covering
their retreat in person, with a few men. By taking a circuit
ous route through the heights, he descended in the rear of the
enemy, and proceeded to La Caxa, passing through Pueblo
Nuevo. A Spanish officer, whose name we do not think fit to
mention, there presented himself as a deserter to Mina. He
obtained the confidence of the general; and, after having been
furnished by him with some money, was despatched upon a
secret mission. A sergeant and two soldiers of the regiment
of Zaragoza likewise there deserted to him. They confirm
ed the accounts which had been previously received of the
enemy's famished condition, of the discontent which prevail
ed among their troops generally, and of the numerous deser
tions which took place every night among the Creoles in
particular. But the spirit of desertion which Mina's opera
tions had begun to excite in the enemy's ranks, was at once
checked by the unexpected and disastrous events we are to
narrate in the succeeding chapter.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 243

CHAPTER X.
Mina advances against Guanaxuato— -Description of that city
— He attacks it — Failure — He proceeds with an escort to
the rancho del Venadito — Movements of Orrantia — Mina
made prisoner — Brutal conduct of Orrantia towards him—
Death of Mina — Reflections— State of Society in Mexico-
Remarks on the present state ofthe royal forces, and the fa
cility with which the country could be invaded, and its eman
cipation accomplished.
AT the hacienda of La Caxa, Mina assembled about eleven
hundred troops, with which he advanced to the hacienda of
Burras. In the night of the 23d, avoiding the high roads, and
having made a circuit through the cultivated grounds, he pass
ed along the heights immediately over the city of Guanaxuato,
and gained, by day-light, an unfrequented spot called La Mi'
na de la Luz, in the mountains, about four leagues therefrom.
He halted there during the day, awaiting the arrival of some
reenforcements of infantry and cavalry, despatched by Don
Encarnacion Ortiz. They joined him in the afternoon, and
his force, thus augmented, amounted to nearly fourteen hun
dred men, of whom ninety only were infantry.
Before relating the disastrous attack on the city of Guana
xuato, it will be proper tp present the reader with a brief view
of this celebrated town, because, in point of wealth and natu
ral advantages, it holds the next rank in importance to the
capital of New Spain ; and indeed, as respects its physical
resources, is equal, if not superior, to any city in Spanish
America. These circumstances alone were such as to render
its capture an enterprise worthy of the gallant Mina, and of
the greatest importance to the revolutionary cause.
Guanaxuato, the capital of the intendancy of that name, is
situated amidst the rich metalliferous mountains, which bor
der upon the plains of Silao, Salamanca, &c. on the east. Those

244 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
plains, (usually called by the inhabitants the Baxio,) are the
most beautiful and fertile to be found in all New Spain. The
glowing description given by the baron de Humboldt, of the
beauty and agricultural richness of this region, is not, in any
respect, exaggerated; indeed it is impossible for the traveller
to pass through that highly favoured country, without expe
riencing emotions of admiration and delight. The softness
and purity of the atmosphere are soothing and invigorating ;
and the effect on the vision is such, that in no place have we
ever beheld a verdure so vivid, as that of the vegetable pro
ductions of those plains.
The mountains in its vicinity are abrupt, lofty, and rugged,
like all those which abound in minerals. They are intersect
ed with deep barrancas, many of them from two to three hun
dred yards wide, and the awful precipices with which these
barranca's abound, strike the stranger with surprise. The
highly cultivated plains, and the chains of mountains, present
the most sublime scenery, mingling the extremes of light and
shade in the most striking and exquisite contrast ; equalling
the most celebrated of European scenery in grandeur and mag
nitude, and rivaling the softest landscapes of Lausanne or
Italy. Along the windings of one of these barrancas is situated the
city of Guanaxuato. It is so completely bosomed by sur
rounding mountains, that it can only be seen after ascepding
the heights around it, when the novelty of its location strikes
the stranger with astonishment. In some places, the city
spreads out like a broad amphitheatre; at others, it stretches
along a narrow ridge : while the ranges of the habitations, ac
commodated to the sinuosities of the ground, present the most
fantastic, but perhaps the most varied and elegant, groups of
dwellings. Prior to the revolution, its population was esti
mated at seventy thousand souls; but at present that number
has experienced a great diminution.
During the rainy season, it is exposed to injury from the
violent torrents that rush from the mountains down the bar
ranca in which the city stands, in their passage to the plain pf
Silap. Large sums have been expended on works to restrain

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 245
these torrents within a channel ; but, nevertheless, accidents
happen to the city from them almost every year.
The finest silver mines of all America are in its immediate
vicinity, particularly the famous one of Valenciana. Previous
to the revolution, this mine yielded to its proprietor the clear
annual revenue of half a million of dollars.
The mines of the Mexican kingdom, and particularly those
of Guanaxuato, form an important and interesting exception to
the remark, that death reigns in the mines of America. The
mines of Peru, as well as those of New Granada, are in gene
ral situated in uncongenial regions, or those of perpetual snow.
Vegetation is not seen for many leagues around them. Provi
sions are brought to them from a great distance. The miner
has to undergo the transition from extreme heat to that of cold ;
to abandon delightful vallies, blessed with a fine temperature,
to inhabit a frigid region, where everlasting sterility prevails.
He is forced by the law of the Mit a to abandon his family, or,
if they accompany him, it is only to partake of his hardships
and his"sorrows. Widely different is the lot of the Mexican
miner. At an elevation of from six to seven thousand feet
above the. ocean, he enjoys all the blessings of the temperate
zone. In Mexico, we see the highest cultivation in the vicini
ty of mining stations. The intendancy of Guanaxuato is the
smallest, and contains the most dense population of any other
in Mexico. According to M., de Humboldt, it is fifty-two
leagues in length, and thirty-one in breadth ; covering a sur
face equal tp nine hundred and eleven square leagues, which,
in 1803, contained a population of five hundred and seventeen
thousand three hundred, souls, or five hundred and sixty-eight
to each square league. The beautiful plains of Guanaxuato,
extending in length thirty leagues, from Celaya to the Villa de
Leon, and immediately around the mines, are in the highest
state of cultivation, studded with three cities, four towns, thir
ty-seven pueblos, and four hundred and forty-eight haciendas.
The mountains abound with fine forests, and provisions and
luxuries are abundant in all directions around these mines.
Hundreds of miners of Guanaxuato came under our obser
vation, and a more robust race of people we beheld not in

246 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Mexico. Thus, from personal observation, we were led to
adopt the opinion, that the labour incident to their course of
life, was not so deleterious as we should otherwise have
thought. In the mine of Valenciana, for example, previous to the
revolution, (for since that period, it has, in a great measure,
become filled with water,) the business of a, large portion of
the labourers was the continually carrying upon their backs
burthens of minerals, averaging three hundred pounds, from
the bottom to the mouth of the mine, by an ascent of eighteen
hundred steps, passing too through a temperature varying
from forty-five to ninetv-three degrees. Nevertheless, the
miner enjoys perfect health ; and the proportion of births to
deaths, as given by M. de Humboldt, at once demonstrates,
although a large proportion of the inhabitants are Indians, the
salubrity of the mining station. In the city of Guanaxuato,
the average number of births for five years exceeds that of
the deaths two hundred for one hundred ; and in the adjoining
mines of Santa Ana and Marfil a hundred and ninety-five to a
hundred. That the labour in the mines may have been pernicious in
former years, when it was compulsory, and when the barba
rous law of the Mita was in force, when the pits and galleries
were charged with impure air, and less attention was bestowed
on the accommodation of the miner, we cannot deny ; but the
improvements which have been made within the last twenty-
five years by the school of mines established in the city of
Mexico, have lessened these evils, and introduced a system
by which the mines are ventilated, and the air purified. The
wages of the miner are more liberal, and his labour being vol
untary, consequently, when he feels dissatisfied, he retires,
and his place is supplied from the superabundant population
of the adjacent fertile country. No doubt can be entertained,
that when foreign arts and sciences are introduced into Mexi
co, where so spacious and favourable a field for their culture is
at present fenced round by Spanish policy, human labour in the
mines will be greatly diminished ; and instead of the tedious
and laborious occupations, now resorted to from necessity,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 247
machinery will^ in a great measure^ effect these objects, di
minish human suffering, and diffuse happiness over those de
lightful regions. It is there that the power of steam remains
yet to be successfully applied.
Historians and travellers have been so much accustomed to
copy each other in depicting the horrors of the unfortunate
miner, that the galley slaves of Europe have been considered
happy when compared with the individual who descends into
the mines of Spanish America; and,-although some of these
poetical descriptions of Raynal, Pauw, and the Scottish histo
rian Robertson, may have b/en in past times applicable' to the
mines of Potosi, and others among the Andes of Peru, we
feel satisfied that such descriptions will not apply to the con
dition of the miner in Mexico. It has likewise been a vulgar
opinion throughout the civilized world, that an immense pro
portion of the Indian population were employed in the mines.
Leaving the consideration of what occurs in South America
to the future observer, we confine ourselves to Mexico, when
we state, that in the year 1807, according to the returns trans
mitted to the school of mines, the whole number of persons
employed in all the mines of New Spain were thirty-two thou
sand three hundred and forty. So that, when we reflect that
the population of New Spain is between six and seven millions,
we at once perceive how small, to the general population of
the country, is the proportion of persons engaged in this
species of labour. But since the present revolution com
menced, some ofthe mines have been abandoned, others have
become choked up with water, and therefore, the above num
ber must necessarily be considerably reduced. Should our
hopes that a liberal government may at no distant day be es
tablished in New Spain be realized, it is plain that the intro
duction of machinery will not only lessen the number of men
hitherto employed in those works, but will augment the pro
duce of these mines far beyond what they have yet1 yielded,
so as to keep pace with the necessary demands of an augment
ing population, and the additional calls of the world in its
career of improvement.

248 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
It is not, however, the mines of Guanaxuato which consti
tute the real wealth of that important intendancy of New Spain.
Its riches are founded on a more durable basis. The benig
nity of the climate, the fertility of the soil, and the hardy race
of men susceptible of every polish and refinement, and with
genius calculated to pursue every intellectual enterprise with
ardour and success, are blessings which will exist, even should
the silver of its piled-up mountains be exhausted.
All the nutritious grains necessary for human enjoyment
and support, find a congenial soil and climate in the intendancy
of Guanaxuato. Those adjoining,it are equally blessed. No
part of the earth yields a more abundant product to the la
bours of the agriculturist, nor do we believe there is any cli
mate so favourable to longevity, or a territory which would
sustain a more dense population on each square mile, than the
climate and territory of the intendancy of Guanaxuato. Not
only its fertile plains, but its loftiest summits appear destined
for the abodes of rural felicity.
The future race of Mexicans which is to flourish in this fa
voured part of New Spain, is not destined to depend on the
caprices of artificial policy, nor the casualties of foreign com
merce, for the supply of either necessaries or luxuries. The
inhabitants of this intendancy, as well as of Mexico generally,
are sure of the jealousy of selfish or less favoured nations ;
and it is, perhaps, fortunate for them, because they will the
more readily apply the energy of their genius, and their indus
try, to supply from their own resources those commodities, by
supplying the wants of which, other nations might be enabled
to interfere in their prosperity, and subject them to the dele
terious system which has already made South America suffer
three centuries of wretchedness, and has not spared any part
of the world from its vexation. As we have before observed,
whatever foreign productions of the temperate zone may
hereafter be introduced into this intendancy, will there flou
rish ; while its indigenous productions, and the few of foreign
origin at present introduced, are alone amply sufficient for hu
man comfort and subsistence. Although the agriculture of

MEXICAN REVOLUTION, 240
Mexico is a century behind that of Europe or the United
States, still its products are astonishingly great. As wheat is
sown in the dry season, it is raised by irrigation. M. de Hum
boldt makes the average produce of Mexico from twenty-two
to twenty-five for one. But it varies in different situations from
eighteen and twenty to seventy and eighty for one fanega
sown ; — its average thus exceeding four or five times the mean
produce of France. Indian corn grows variously ; in some
parts of the Baxio it yields the astonishing increase of eight
hundred for one fanega sown ; in some parts, the harvest is
considered bad at one hundred and fifty for one. The mean
produce of the equinoctial region of Mexico is taken by M.
de Humboldt at one hundred and fifty for one*
The fruits, whether indigenous or exotic, .grow to great
perfection in Guanaxuato ; and in any of the markets are ex
hibited in the same basket, as well the products of the tem
perate as those of the torrid zone. There, in the highest state
of perfection, are offered for sale, pineapples, grapes, oranges,
bananas, peaches, apples, pears, &c, gathered within a few
leagues of each other. The animals of Guanaxuato are of a
superior kind. The sheep which browse on the mountains
afford a delicious meat, and yield a remarkably fine wool.
The horses, in point of beauty, form, muscle, bone and high.
mettle, are no where surpassed. ¦
In no part of New Spain is there a finer race of men than in
Guanaxuato, and the character is common to Indians and Cre
oles. Robust in their limbs, comely and athletic, with an
eye-denoting extraordinary acuteness, these men create emo
tions in a stranger rarely excited at first sight ; and whenever
the blessings of a liberal government shall be obtained by
them, and the advantages of an extended and liberal educa
tion be diffused among them, we 'predict that the province
of Guanaxuato will ocCupy a distinguished place among the
Mexican provinces. But let us resume the operations against
the city.
It is evident from the description we have given of Guan
axuato, that artillery, placed on the heights which encompass
it, would soon cause it to succumb. However, as the enemy
(32)

250 MEXICAN REVOLUTION!
entertained no apprehensions of formidable attacks from the
patriots, they had neglected to fortify the passes of the moun
tains leading to the city, and relied for their defence on a castle
or strong barracks which stood in a central position.
Mina was not provided with the necessary artillery to oc
cupy the heights ; and as Orrantia was following him, he
resolved to carry the city by a coup de main. His intention
was communicated to the troops, who manifested an anxiety to
be led on. Pleased with their enthusiasm, and flattering
himself that he was about to strike a blow which would give a
decisive turn to the revolution, he made his arrangements
accordingly. Filled with these presages, he appeared more
than usually animated, and at dark advanced upon the city.
At eleven o'clock the advanced guard arrived in the suburbs.
A considerable halt was there made, to enable the division to
close up, as the defiles through which the place had been ap
proached were very narrow ; in some places not affording a
passage for more than a single file of men. The troops at
length reunited, and although the sentinels were proclaiming
within a short distance their " all's well," yet such had been
the silence and good order on the part of Mina's troops, that
tbe enemy were not apprized of his approach until after mid
night ; they received the first intimation of it, by the surprise
and capture of one of their outposts. The alarm of the ene
my became general, and a firing commenced from thei castle.
But habits of discipline were again found wanting, and scenes
even more disgraceful than those we have formerly described as
having occurred at San Luis de la Paz, were here reacted at the
critical moment when order and obedience were most required.
Mina found himself surrounded by a military mob* In vain
did he employ persuasion or threats ; his mildness won them
not ; his orders were not obeyed ; and although the enemy's
fire had slackened for some time, thereby offering an opportu
nity for the assault, all his attempts were fruitless — he could
not induce them to move forward. Until near the dawn did
the general fruitlessly exert himself to restore some order, and
prevail on the troops to advance; but finding it impossible, and
knowing that Orrantia was approaching, he was compelled to

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 251
abandon the assault, and to commence a retreat. With such
troops as these, after the failure of an enterprise, a retreat
must be synonymous with flight. Insensible that they could
pass with more celerity and safety by preserving a regular
order of march, they crowded to the defile by which they had
entered, each one endeavouring to precede the other ; they
soon choked up the pass, and a tumult ensued. A few of the
enemy perceiving the retreat, ventured from their position,
and fired some random shots. The confusion augmented
with the alarm of the fugitives, lest they should be over
taken by the enemy, as they were thus huddled together. At
length the general, with infinite difficulty, succeeded in allaying
their apprehensions, and restored some little order among
them. During this disastrous scene, Don Franeisco Ortiz,
one of the patriot officers, had with part of his troops gained
the height on which stand the works of the Valenciana mine ;
and most wantonly set fire to them. This act highly incensed
Mina as he had uniformly given the most positive orders
against the destruction of private property.
The troops were at length extricated from the defile, and
a little after sunrise reached La Mina de La Luz where a
halt was made. The general could no longer conceal his
deep mortification, nor restrain his exasperated feelings. To
a body of patriot officers who were assembled arpund him,
he observed, that they were unworthy that any man of charac
ter should espouse, their cause. " Had you done your duty,"
said he, " your men would have done theirs, and Guanaxuato
would have been ours." The order of the day passed a cen
sure on those who deserved it, and commended a few who
had merited his applause by their good conduct.
Having thus failed in his favourite enterprise against Guan
axuato, and having now no immediate object in view to em
ploy the troops ; in order to deceive the royalists as to his
own movements, he dismissed them to their respective co-
mandancias, where he believed they might be useful in ha
rassing the enemy, until he again required their services;
thereby, at the same time, preserving his men and horses from
the marches and countermarches to which they would have

252 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
been subject from the pursuit of Orrantia, and recruiting them
for his next attempt. He strictly enjoined those commandants
whose stations were around Guanaxuato not to allow supplies
of any kind to enter the city; still fondly persuading himself
that he would be able to renew the attack upon it with more
effect. Retaining with him forty infantry and thirty cavalry,
the general determined to proceed to the residence of his
friend Don Mariana Herrera, at a neighbouring rancho called
El Venadito. Accordingly, on the same evening, after having
dismissed the troops, he took up his march for that place, but
passed the night at a short distance from La Mina de la Luz.
The Rancho del Venadito was composed of a few houses
on the lands of the Tlachiquera, about one league distant from
the hacienda, and eight from the town of Silao. Its owner,
Don Mariano Herrera, was a native of Guanaxuato. A man
of high respectability, and of a mind well cultivated. He had
suffered severely from the royalists. Orrantia had laid waste
the hacienda, burned the buildings, and pillaged the church,
converting it into a stable. The unfortunate Don Mariano
had fallen a prisoner into his hands, and had been carried off
by him, together with all the property that could be collected.
After being thus despoiled, and his fine estate destroyed, he
was compelled to ransom his life by paying twenty thousand
dollars. Upon being set at liberty, he returned to his estate,
and there employed himself in the pursuits of agriculture.
His mansion and buildings being burned, his crops destroyed,
his cattle and moveables taken away, and his funds exhausted,
he was unable to restore his estate to its pristine condition; and
it became a place for his personal subsistence and rest. Indeed,
had he possessed the means of recalling its former comforts
and beauties, it would only have exposed him anew to the de
predations of an insatiable rapacity. He therefore constructed
only a small house, and as his dependants were devoted to
him, he hoped from the peculiar situation of the Venadito to
enjoy a secure, retreat,
The Venadito was placed in a small circular barranca, in
front of which was a small plain. The barranca was more or
less covered with a copse, among which were interspersed

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 253
large masses of rocks. Through these wound the only path to
the high grounds surrounding, — a spacious table land, bound
ed at its extremity by barrancas. The road from Guanaxuato
and Silao running through a long, narrow, and intricate bar
ranca, in which dwelt a numerous peasantry warmly attached
to the cause of liberty, and devoted to Don Mariano, was sup
posed to afford complete protection from a surprise by the ene
my in that direction, as their approach fould be communicat
ed fo Don Mariano in sufficient time to enable him and his at
tendants to take refuge among the barrancas in the rear of the
Venadito. On the other side, there were no royalist posts for
a considerable distance, and as the patriot troops under Ortiz
ranged unmolested in that direction, no danger was thence
apprehended.. The Venadito was therefore deemed perfectly secure from a
surprise by day, and at night it was the custom of Don Mariano
to take refuge in the mountains ; so that although living in
constant apprehension, yet he considered his person as secure.
In this solitary spot Don Mariano passed his time, solaced by
the attentions of a beloved sister, who had torn herself from
her friends in Guanaxuato, to partake of her brother's fortune.
Mina and Herrera had formed for each other a warm friend
ship; the former gave to the latter his entire confidence, of
which he was in every respect deserving. Mina arrived the
next day, about noon, at the Venadito, where he was most
cordially received by his friend. He understood that Orrantia;
wasin Irapuato, at a loss to discover what direction he had
taken, and he knew that he would be more confounded when
he heard of the dispersion of the patriot troops. From these
circumstances, and the position of the Venadito, Mina thought
himself perfectly secure. He therefore determined to pass the
night at the rancho with his friend, and ordered the horses of
the cavalry out to pasture. During the afternoon Don Pedro
Moreno, who resided in the neighbourhood, visited Mina and
remained with him. The troops encamped in advance of the
house ; videttes were posted ; and the general was so satis
fied of his security, that, contrary to his usual custom, he re
tired to rest on the floor in the house. We mention these cir-

254 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
cumstances, because the sequel will show, that the general, in
this rare instance of a departure from his usual habit of sleep
ing with his men, committed a most unfortunate error.
Among the pernicious and impolitic practices of the patri
ots, was that of permitting priests to come out of the enemy's
towns to perform mass among them. Many of these men
were spies and agents of the royalists, and never failed to
collect every possible information for the advantage of their
masters. The road by which Mina had that morning passed,
lay through a small pueblo to which a padre repaired weekly
from Silao. It was Sunday when the general passed through
it. The padre waited on him to pay his respects, conducting
himself with all that humility and sycophancy which his fra
ternity so well know how to use, when a point is to be gained.
Mina treated him as he always did persons of his description,
with attention and respect, but at the same time with caution.
The padre either was informed of or conjectured Mina's des-
tination ; but be that as it may, he was so very anxious to car
ry the gratifying intelligence to the royalists, that the instant
Mina departed from the pueblo, without waiting for his din
ner, he mounted his horse and set out for Silao, distant about
five or six leagues.
Mina's suppositions of Orrantia's incertitude of the course
ot his proceedings were well founded ; for the latter was total
ly at a loss where to look for the general, and had marched to
Silao in that state of uncertainty. The dispersion of Mina's
troops increased the perplexity of Orrantia ; but while he was
in this state of confusion, (as he expressed himself in his des
patches to the viceroy,) he received from the priest the unex
pected but important information, that Mina had gone to the
Venadito. Had not Orrantia by accident arrived in Silao
that very evening, the padre's intentions and information must
have been of no avail, because it was the intention of Mina to
have marched from the Venadito the ensuing morning. A
concurrence of unfortunate circumstances, however, seems to
have led to that catastrophe which we are about to narrate. Or
rantia, notwithstanding the fatigue of his troops, lost not a
moment in putting them in motion, and having gained a posi-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 255
tion suitable for his design, placed them in ambush near the
Venadito, intending, as soon as day-light should enable him to
discern objects,- to fall upon Mina's party.
At dawn of the morning of the 2,7th, Orrantia's cavalry
sallied from the ambush, and advanced in full speed on Mina's
encampment. The alarm was given. The troopers of Mina,
finding themselves cut off" from their horses at pasture, min
gled with the infantry, whose first impulse was to save them
selves by flight. If thirty infantry only had united at that
juncture, such was the situation of the ground, that they could
have repelled the whole force of Orrantia, or at least could
have held him in check and made good their retreat. But
officers and soldiers thought of nothing but their own safety;
in the utmost disorder they rushed forward to gain the sum
mit of the hills, and thence escape by the barrancas in the rear.
Mina, awakened by the noise and tumult of his flying troops,
started from the floor, and rushed out of the house in the same
apparel in which he had passed the night, without coat, hat,
or even his sword. Regardless of his person, his first object
was to attempt the rallying of his flying troops : but all his
exertions were unavailing. He soon found himself alone. He
beheld the enemy pursuing and cutting down his flying com
rades; and attempted, when too late, to secure his own safety :
but the enemy were upon him. Still hallooing to the fugitives
to halt and form, he was seized by a dragoon >: having no arms
whatever, resistance was useless.
If Mina, on first leaving the house, had attempted to escape,
he might have succeeded with as much ease as many others:
but we suppose such a thought never entered his mind. His
favourite servant, a coloured boy of New Orleans, after the
general left the house, saddled his- best horse, and went in
pursuit of his master, carrying likewise his sword and pistols ;
but unfortunately he found him not.
The dragoon who captured Mina was ignorant ofthe rank
of his prisoner, until informed of it by the general himself.
He was then pinioned, and conducted into the presence of
Orrantia, who in the most arrogant manner began to reproach
him for having taken up arms against his sovereign, and to

256 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
interrogate him concerning his motives in thus becoming a
traitor, insulting him, and lavishing upon him the bitterest
criminations. Mina, who on the most trying occasions never
lost his presence of mind and characteristic firmness, replied
to the interrogatories in so sarcastic a strain, and with such
strong expressions of contempt and indignation manifested in
his countenance, that the brutal Orrantia started from his seat,
and beat with the flat of his sword his disartned and pinioned
prisoner. Mina, motionless as a statue, endured this indig
nity ; and then, with a crest brightened by conscious greatness,
and an eye glowing with the fires of an elevated spirit, he
looked down upou his conqueror, and said ; " I regret being
made a prisoner ; but to fall into the hands of one regardless
of the character of a Spaniard and a soldier, renders my mis
fortune doubly keen." The maganimity of Mina filled every
man present with admiration, and even Orrantia stood con
founded with the severity of his rebuke.
The capture of Mina was considered by the Spanish govern
ment as an event of such high importance, that they have ho
noured the present viceroy, Don Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, with
the title of Conde del Venadito. Linan and Orrantia have been
presented with military crosses ; and to the dragoon who ac
tually took Mina, a yearly stipend has been assigned, accom
panied by promotion to the station of a corporal.
A letter, purporting to be written by Mina to Linan, on the
3d of November, after his capture, has appeared in the Mexi
can Gazette, which, although it contains nothing but what
might be expected from a man whose mind was soured by the
conduct of such men as Padre Torres, yet is couched in a style
that renders it a suspicious document ; besides that the whole
tenor of Mina's conduct, from the moment of his capture to
that of his execution, forbids the belief of his having written
the letter in question. We further know, that subsequent to
his capture, he wrote a letter to his countryman, Don Pablo
Erdozain, who commanded at the work of Tepeaca, in which
letter, written in the provincial dialect of Nayarre, he gives
some instructions about his own private affairs, and concludes
by wishing Erdozain success, and exhorting him to pursue a

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 257
conduct marked by honour and consistency. We have thought
proper to mention these circumstances, in order to counteract
any erroneous impression that may have been made by the
publication before alluded to in the Mexican Gazette. We
have, on other occasions, noticed the recantations and peniten
tial documents published in that Gazette, relative to Hidalgo,
Morelos, and other patriot chiefs, all of which are now well
known to have been forgeries of the royalists, for the purpose ;
of deceiving the people.
Five of the officers of Mina's division, and some few of the
soldiers, escaped from the Venadito. Don Jose Maria Lice
aga succeeded in his flight on horseback. The Creole troop9
in general began their flight so early in the alarm, that they
had time to conceal themselves in the broken ground* Of
the division, four men were killed. Don Pedro Moreno, who
had fled up the side of the barranca, was overtaken, killed, and
his head severed from his body: this trophy was afterwards
stuck on a pole. Don Mariano Herrera, and about fourteen
ofthe troops, were made prisoners': these, with the exception
of Don Mariano,* were executed.
* The fate of this generous friend of Mina is marked by so many singular
circumstances, that it would be unpardonable to pass over it without notice.
Don Mariano was conducted to Irapuato, and there thrown into prison. His
affectionate sister accompanied him. Her exertions were unremitting to save
her brother's life. On her knees, in his behalf, she implored the mercy of
the leaders of the royalists. Her intercession at length prevailed. After
he had been sentenced to death, and was blindfolded at. the place of execu
tion, he was reprieved. Unexpectedly snatched from the threshold of the
grave, he was bereft of reason j and, in the close confinement in which he was
Subsequently placed, became permanently deranged. His only arid constant
employment was twisting his beard, which had grown very long. He became
unconscious even ofthe presence of his sister; and his few incoherent expres
sions were lamentations for the fate of his friend Mina. The exertions of the
sister to alleviate the situation of her wretched brother, were unceasing.
The last account we received of Don Mariano and his estimable sister, was
in September, 1818; at which period the latter was in the hacienda de Bur-
ras, on her return to Irapuato from GjlanaxUatOj whither she had repaired
to obtain from the royal authorities permission to adopt some means for the
relief of her brother. She had so far succeeded as to procure permission
'(33) ' .

258 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
i
Orrantia, after the disgraceful scene we have already no^
ticed, inquired the force of , the patriots in his neighbour
hood. Mina informed him ; when, conceiving perhaps that a
desperate effort might be made to rescue the general, he im
mediately retreated upon Silao with his prisoner, who was
treated with every indignity. This ungenerous treatment was
borne by Mina with his characteristic fortitude. The situa
tion of his companions engrossed his reflections ; and while on
the road, his endeavours to cheer them up were constant.
On reaching Silao, he was put into irons by his savage con
ductor. Thence he was removed to Irapuato, and finally to
Linan's head-quarters in front of Tepeaca at Los Remedios,
where he was committed to the care of the regiment of Na-
varra. There, his treatment was such as a brave man deserv
ed ; every humane attention was shown him, and his situation
was made as comfortable as possible.
We have understood that among the few of the papers which
fell into the hands of the enemy were some in cipher. To ob
tain an explanation of these was a matter of great consequence,
because they would develop the names of certain patriots who
resided within their walls, and who had held correspondence
with Mina. Fortunately for the writers, Mina had been accus
tomed, on receiving any communication of importance, to copy
it, and destroy the original. All his answers to their inqui
ries breathed fidelity to a cause in which he had been so shame
fully treated, and thus displayed in a new light the nobleness
of his character. We have conversed with some royal officers
who were present at these conversations ; and they have as
sured us, that such was the admiration excited by his conduct,
that there were few officers in Linan's army who did not sym
pathize, in Mina's misfortune, and were much more disposed
to liberate than to sacrifice him.
from Linares, the commandant general, to remove him, on giving two secu
rities, each under heavy penalties, that he should return to his prison in
Irapuato, in the event of his being restored to his reason, to his hacienda of
the Tlachiquera, whe're she hoped, by the change of scene, to calm his ima
gination. How far she had succeeded in her pious intentions, we regret that
we cannot ascertain.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 259
Upon the arrival at Mexico of the express which had been
despatched to announce the capture of Mina, couriers were
sent by the viceroy to every part ofthe kingdom, to convey the
cheering intelligence. Te Deums were chanted in the churches;
salutes of artillery, illuminations, and rejoicings, took place in
every town in possession of the royalists ; and such was the
general joy among them, that they hailed the capture of Mina
as the termination of the revolution. These demonstrations
on the part of the government and its adherents, are in them
selves rto common'eulbgium on the character of Mina.
In the city of Mexico," a great anxiety prevailed to behold
Mina, and had he reached that place, great interest would
have been made to save his life ; but the viceroy, fearing the
consequences that might ensue should he be brought thither,
and being in constant dread lest he should escape, despatched
an order to Linan for the immediate execution of his prisoner.
When 'this order was Communicated to Mina, he received
it without any visible emotion. He continued to resist all
overtures for the purpose of drawing information from him,
but regretted that' he had not landed in Mexico one year
sooner, when his services would have been more effective.
He likewise regretted quitting life so deeply indebted to cer
tain individuals, who had generously aided his enterprise.
'" On the l'lth of November (as well as we can now recollect)
he was conducted under a- military escort to the fatal ground,
attended by a file of the Cazadores of the regiment of Zara
goza. In this last scene of his life was the hero of. Navarre
not unmindful of his character ; with a firm step he advanced
to the fatal spot, and with his usual Serenity told the soldiers
to take good aim, " T no me hagdis sufrir" (and don't let me
suffer.) The officer commanding gave the accustomed signal ;
they fired ; and that spirit fled from earth, which, for all the
qualities which constitute the hero and the patriot, seemed to
have been born for the- good of mankind.
So anxious was the government that his death should be
confirmed, that Lilian was instructed that a surgeon from each
European -regiment, and a captain of every company, should
attend the execution, who should certify that Mina was dead,

260 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
and moreover describe the manner in which the balls entered
his body, and note the one that caused his death. This was
done, and the singular document was afterwards published in
the Gazette of Mexico.
Thus perished this gallant youth, in the twenty-eighth year
of his age. His short but brilliant career entitles him to a
distinguished place on the list of those heroes who have shed
their blood in bold and generous exertions to break the tyrant's
sceptre, and to extend the blessings of freedom afnong the
humjn race.
No man was ever better calculated to execute an enterprise
of hazard than Xavier Mina. H'? person was slight, but well
formed, and about five feet seven inches in height. His phy
sical structure was well adapted for action. His moral quali
ties were great ; personal valour he possessed in an eminent
degree. Serene in the hour of danger, he was always prepared
to seize upon any advantages that were offered by the' conjunc
ture of events. At the head of his men, he infused into them
his own spirit. In his diet, he was frugal in the extreme; no
privations nor hardships seemed to affect, him. He always
preferred the simplest beverage, His cloak and saddle were
his usual bed ; even in the worst of weather, when every ac
commodation could have been afforded him, he encamped with
his troops. He was affable, generous, and candid ; his mo
deration and humanity were alike conspicuous, and to all the
qualities of the soldier he united the manners and accomplish
ments of the gentleman.
To fail in great undertakings has been the lot of many a
gallant man as well as Mina, and the world is ever ready to
point out the measures which would have averted such failures.
Inexperience may be excused for liberties of this nature, be
cause they are generally the expression of wishes, rather than
of judgments, as to what might havebeen done. "
We think that the facts developed in the course of this
work, unequivocally demonstrate that Mina was sacrificed to
ignorance, to' jealousy, and to a combination of unfortunate
circumstances, which no foresight could haye anticipated, and
which led to the melancholy termination of a career, as full of

..A. MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 261
lustre as any of the same duration recorded on the historic
page. Mina, at his outset in this undertaking, had to depend
on the liberality bf the mercantile world. The support he
received as well in London as at Baltimore, was limited to a
few generous individtfals ; he was in hopes that their example
would inspire others, but he was disappointed at a time when
liberal succours were most wanted.
We have, in the early part of this work, noticed, that at
New Orleans a proposal was made to him, to attack and take
Pensacola, an operation perfectly accordant with Mina's views,
because Pensacola would have been to him a centre, where he
might have collected troops, and might have organized his
expedition against Mexico in a suitable manner; but he found
that the parties at New Orleans not only were niggardly as
to the resources they offered, but so ungenerous in the terms
upon which they would assist the expedition, -that he found
it incompatible with his dignity and 'ulterior plans to under
take it. It is not necessary to go into a detail of all the disap
pointments of the general, such as we have found them to have
been from an examination of his papers, because we should
thereby wound the feelings or excite the ill will of certain indi
viduals, Who perhaps may not be so much to blame as we infer
from the perusal ofthe papers in question. But of this point
we are certain, that, if Mina had been in possession of funds,
he could with the greatest facility have taken Pensacola^ there
raised two thousand men, and have decided the fate of Mexi
co in a few months. Indeed, with one thousand foreigners
he wduld have beaten all the royalists under the command of
Arredondo, apd could then have penetrated into the internal
provinces of Mexico, or have moved towards the capital if
circumstances should justify it, or he would have had his
choice of a route through Old Mexico, where he would have
been joined by as many thousand natives as his situation re
quired. ' ;
When Mina formed his plans in London, for the emanci
pation of Mexico, and even after his arrival in the United
States, there did not exist any positive laws of either Great
Britain or of the United States to interfere with his enterprise.

262 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
Besides, the royal forces receiving at that time succours of
arms and ships from the private enterprise of both countries,
the laws of neutrality, which require that both belligerents
should be treated alike, necessarily entitled the patriots to the
same privileges. The occasion was therefore favourable for
his undertaking ; but, as we before have said, funds were not
forth coming, and Mina had no alternative, but either to aban
don it entirely, or pursue it under all the straitened and un
fortunate circumstances which surrounded him. That spirit
of enterprise which once distinguished the mercantile body in
the United States, splendid, adventurous, and successful, has
become more narrow and personal than in former times. This
change, from broad and comprehensive adventures to partial
and separate undertakings, had a most pernicious effect on the
expedition under Mina. The few merchants, who generously
afforded aid,— suffered ; the majority of their countrymen who
embarked in the sacred cause, together with their leader, —
perished; and instead of a field of commercial enterprise being
laid open, embracing the richest regions pf North America,
the whole expedition was lost. It is not now practicable to
estimate accurately the extent of the commerce that would
have been opened, the amount of wealth that would have
been acquired, or the number of ships and seamen which
would have been employed, had the cause of Mexico beeti
suitably sustained.
We have heard much of the assistance which the Mexican
patriots have received from individuals in the United States;
and indeed if we were to believe the one-tenth part of what
the chevalier Onis has stated on this subject, we might sup
pose that the American merchants had been liberal in the ex
treme, in the supplies afforded to the Mexican people ; but the
real fact is, that a single house in London has supplied a larger
amount of arms and clothing to Venezuela, than has been af
forded by all the merchants of the United States to Mexico ;
at the same time that the royal armies were fed, and furnished
with ammunition, ships, and every species of supply, from our
principal sea-ports.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 263 '
The resources which Mina obtained at Baltimore were
small, although Don Onis magnified his expedition greatly.
In his terrified imagination, it was converted into a formida
ble army, a vast train of artillery, and moreover, a la^ge body
of the-imperial guard. This exaggeration served the minister's
purposes ; and the impressions made by his romantic tales
excited such an alarm in the Holy Alliance, as to produce
orders for a diplomatic attack on the government ofthe United
States ; the further notice of which does not properly belong to
these memoirs. It was in vain that Mina endeavoured to con
vince some merchants of the United States of the advantages
they would derive from the political and commercial emancipa
tion of Mexico. It was in vain that he offered the most flat
tering terms for ample supplies; while the influence of the
Spanish agents, through the contracts which they were enabled
to 'hestow, produced such an influence on the monied men,
and the monied institutions of some of our principal cities, as
to interfere materially with the necessities of Mina, and the
emancipation of Mexico.
The want of proper support from the mercantile world, was
the first- great obstacle which Mina had to contend against.
The second, and most serious impediment to his enterprise,
was the jealousy of Padre Torres. When Mina, with his lit
tle band of three hundred men, scarcely two-thirds of whom
were foreigners, had fought his way into the interior of the
kingdom, after a march of more than six hundred miles, gain
ing successive battles, confounding the royalists by his chi-
valroUs exploits, and at length effecting his junction with the
patriots, in the intendancy of Guanaxuato, eighty leagues only
from the seat of government, we find that he had to encounter
a perfidious enemy in the very man who ought to have been
his firm and cordial friend. The proofs we have furnished of
the jealousy and hatred of Mina which Padre Torres nourish
ed, leave not a shadow df doubt that the sacrifice of the latter,
as well as the failure of his undertaking, is to be attributed in
an especial measure to this vindictive priest. Even after the
capture ofthe heroic Mina, Torres gave further proofs ofthe'
jealous .and rancorous feelings that actuated his conduct.

264 MEXICAN. REVOLUTION.
We have already stated that Mina had been conducted to
the head-quarters of Linan, in front of Tepeaca, and there re
tained a prisoner. This was known to the garrison in Los-
Remedios, and also that his fate was suspended till the return
of a courier from the viceroy. During this interval, several
of the foreign officers of the division, as well as some gallant
Creoles, proposed forming a select corps of two hundred de
termined men, to storm the enemy's works, and rescue the ge
neral at every hazard. The design was as bold and feasible,
as it was noble and practicable : evejy officer in the fort be
longing to Mina's division was willing to have perished, ra
ther than not to have succeeded in the attempt. It would have
cost some lives ; perhaps those of one-half of the adventurers,
but there can scarcely be a doubt that the plan would have
succeeded, as the enemy, confiding in the natural strength of
their position, were lulled into entire security. Doctor Hen
nessey was deputed to lay the proposal before Padre Torres.
His urgent requests were discountenanced by the unfeeling
monster, whose uniform excuse was, that it would cost too
great a sacrifice of lives. The sacrifice of Mina was his dar
ling wish. He well knew the injuries he had already done the
general, and that if the latter survived, such was his popularity
that it was probable he would become the leading chief of the
revolution. In fine, Torres refused permissionfor a single man
to leave the fort, and denounced the enterprise as an act of
rashness. He was supported in this opinion by colonel Noboa,
the second in command in the fort. We deem it necessary,
in justice to Mina, to state some facts relative to Noboaw He
was a Spaniard. In the expedition, Mina appointed him chief
ofthe staff. He possessed some theoretic knowledge, and was
conversant in the smaller details ; was an excellent drill officer,
but whenever he ventured beyond the duties of that station,
his deficiencies became manifest. In his manners he was ar
rogant and supercilious. In such service as that in Mexico,
these defects might have been overlooked^ but his conduct in
the action at Peotillos, at Pinos, and at San Juan de los Llanos,
had been such as to divest him of the necessary confidence.
At the Jaral, his negligence was the cause of the marquis's

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 265
escape, and on that occasionhe likewise committed such a dis
graceful excess, that Mina ordered his aid, lieutenant-colonel
Arago, to Communicate to him a severe reprehension. For
this act he never forgave Mina, and became his secret enemy.
His conduct during the siege of Los Remedios was by no
means on a par with that of his comrades, and badly suited the
important command he held in it. He rarely left his quarters
during day-light, occasionally visited the batteries at night,
but on no occasion displayed either zeal, activity, or energy.
He became, in fact, the creature of Torres, and consequently
the enemy of Mina. For this reason, he disapproved of the
daring scheme to attempt the rescue of the unfortunate pri
soner. We have thus touched on the prominent causes which led
to the failure of Mina's undertaking, and to his own death. It
will likewise have been seen, from what we have before re^
marked of the state of the revolution at the time of his land
ing on the Mexican coast, that the moment was unpropitipus
for the execution of his enterprise, and that he was prevented
by untoward circumstances from uniting his small force with
that of either Victoria or Teran. It is true, that both of those
generals, at the time Mina was at Soto la Marina, had experi
enced serious reverses, yet neither of them was entirely over
come ; and as Mina had with him a considerable number of
arms, if fortune had not frowned he could have raised, either
in the intendancy of Vera Cruz, or at Tehuacan in that of La
Puebla, any number of men that might have been required ;
for we know from personal observation, that in either of the
two last named intendancies, as well as in the populous one of
Oaxaca, Mina would have been cordially received by almost
every class of inhabitants. It is also true, that according to
the Mexican Gazette of that epoch,the insurrection is stated to
have been nearly quelled; that is, the revolutionists had then
no armies that deserved the name. But the spirit of the people
was unsubdued, and their feelings of hatred to the Spanish go
vernment was unchanged. The , document of the bishop of
Mechoacan, which was published about that time, gave a his
tory of the state of Mexico, which could not have been sus-
(34)

266 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
pected of exaggeration, since it was addressed to the monarch
of Spain by one of the few of his adherents who dared to
speak the truth. There had no doubt been many disasters, and
there was that kind of calm which succeeds to all storms ; but a
spark would then have lighted up a new flame, and would.now,
in every section of the viceroyalty. That hatred of Spain
and a desire to be free from her cpntrol are the predominant
feelings of the Mexicans, no one acquainted with their real
character can deny; and that they will again develop their ir
revocable alienation from the Spanish government, on the first
favourable occasion that may offer, is beyond a doubt.
Although it might be more in place to introduce the ensu
ing observations as the concluding portion of our narrative,
yet to ward off from that gallant youth, whose career we have
just been tracing, the charge of rashness in invading Mexico,
we think proper to introduce here our views of the practica
bility of expelling the Spaniard from, the throne of that king
dom, evincing thereby the truth of the remark we have so of
ten urged upon the reader, that Mina's disasters were altoge
ther owing to the intervention of causes which prudence could
not have anticipated, nor wisdom remedied.
The whole number of European Spaniards in the viceroy
alty do not exceed sixty thousand. . Even the fidelity of many
of these to the royal government is very equivocal. We have
frequently heard them utter sentiments as strong and as ar
dent in' favour of the emancipation of Mexico, as we have
ever heard from any Creole. The, Spanish troops, we know,
have become weary of, and alarmed at, the warfare practised
in Mexico. The European soldiers at present there, as, well
as those who may in future be sent from Spain, will be found
reluctant combatants, in the event of further military. opera
tions in those parts of the viceroyalty that are at present tran
quil. Privations and death, under the most horrible shapes,
stare the Spanish soldier in the face, in whatever part of the
New World he sets his foot, under the royal banner; freedom,
wealth, and independence are at his choice, whenever he
thinks proper to forsake it. Officers and soldiers, on depart
ing from Spain for America, take a final adieu pf their families

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 267
and friends. The sailing of an expedition from Cadiz has
become almost a funeral ceremony; indeed, it may be strictly
so called, because, within the last tea years, Spanish America
has become either the adopted country or the sepulchre of
almost every officer and soldier who has left the Peninsula.
The diseases incident to the coasts of Spanish America, and
the barbarous warfare carried on in its interior, would not only
destroy all the armies of Spain, but those of any other Eu
ropean nation, not even excepting those of the empire of the
Russias. The whole number of Spanish European troops, at
the period of the latest advices, in all the viceroyalty of Mexi
co, was short oifour thousand eight hundred. This force, or
even five times the number, would be insufficient to maintain
the sovereignty of Spain over Mexico a single week. It is on
the Creole royal troops that the government of Spain has had
to depend for several years, and on them now rests the pre
servation of the viceroyalty. Of these last mentioned1 troops,
a great proportion are men who at some period of the revolu
tion have been in the patriot service, but, for reasons which
have been assigned in the course of the work, are at present
in the service of the crown.
Prior to the revolution, the Spanish government had been
very careful to prohibit the body of the people from the use
of fire-arms, and indeed all other military weapons. Since
the present struggles, necessity has compelled the Spanish go
vernment to place arms in the hands of the Creole population,
and to conciliate them by means never before employed or
permitted; so that these,^as well as those who have been in
the service of the patriots, have acquired the use of arms, and
they now feel an importance in society which they can never
relinquish nor be divested of, and which must bring to their
minds a constant comparison of the present, with their condi
tion ten or twelve years ago ; so that if the Spanish govern
ment were now to attempt disarming these royal Creoles, their
authority would not be longrlived.
The interchange of sentiments between that portion of the
Creoles Who have been insurgents and those who have con
tinued faithful to the royal cause, has already produced effects

268 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
which fill the authorities in Mexico with great alarm; and
there is scarcely any abatement of those effects, since the
period that the eloquent Bishop of Mechoacan so forcibly re
presented them. Indeed political rights and personal wrongs
now constitute the private, and perpetual theme of conversa
tion between the royal and patriot Creole. Among the latter,
not one in ten thousand will ever be a sincerely faithful sub
ject of the Spanish government, while the transition from a
royalist to a revolutionist is easy, without danger or peril, and
congenial to the feelings of nearly every Mexican Creole.
The present viceroy, who has conducted himself with ex
traordinary address in a critical situation, has stated in his
despatches to the court of Spain, that he has reduced all the
fortifications, and pacified nearly all the parts of the country
in which were bodies of patriots ; that he has captured such
a party ; that another has capitulated ; and that more than
eighty thousand of the deluded wretches have received the
royal pardon, and adhered to their oath of allegiance to their
legitimate sovereign. He assures the Spanish cabinet, that
only some small bodies of banditti remain, which he hopes
soon to exterminate. He states, that since the capture and
execution of Mina, all hopes of success on the part of the in
surgents in Mexico have been abandoned, and he even car
ries his consolatory assurances so far as to say, that no more
European troops need at present be sent from Spain to Mexi
co, as he has the firmest reliance on the fidelity of the Creole
royalists. These flattering accounts are received at Madrid
with the same credulity as were the advices of Mina's embark
ation with a splendid train of artillery at Baltimore ; they have
been published in the Gazette of Madrid, and circulated over
Spain and the rest of Europe.., The facts already noticed, and
others which we have yet to state, will probably remove the
veil of deception which has hitherto been thrown over the
affairs of Mexico by the artifices and influence of the Spanish
agents; and to every impartial reader present a view of the
actual state of society in that country. We say that the roy
al forces at present in Mexico, consist of but few European
troops, the main body of them being composed of pardoned

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 269
insurgents, and disaffected Creoles. We have stated that
these forces are only royalists by accident or necessity, and
that nine-tenths of them are impatient to abandon the Spanish
standard. On the first occasion that they find a rallying point
in a moderate force of disciplined foreign troops, with judici
ous leaders, they will use the opportunity to effect the inde
pendence of Mexico.
We have already depicted the conduct ofthe royal troops, in
their different marches, sieges, and battles with Mina ; and we
have seen the exploits that this youth performed, with a mere
handful of only three hundred men, of which, as we have be
fore observed, less than two-thirds were foreigners. A gene
ral opinion prevails, as well in Europe as in the United States,
that to make Mexico independent will be a very difficult un
dertaking. Taught by experience, we are of the contrary opi
nion ; and have no hesitation in saying, that if a number of fo
reign troops, equal to that which within the last three years has
been raised in Great Britain, and translated to Venezuela, had
landed in Mexico, its independence would have been accom
plished within three months from their disembarkation. The
brave men who have been recently raised in Ireland, by the pa
triotic general D'Evereux, would have been more than sufficient
to have decided the destinies of Mexico. Our assertion is sup
ported, not merely by what we have shown was effected by
Mina, with his small band of foreigners, and by other facts
which we have stated, but also by our personal knowledge of
the general solicitude of the Mexican people to be emancipated
from Spanish domination.
We admit that the conquest of Mexico, with the view of
its being held dependent on any foreign power, would be an
impracticable undertaking ; for it is their Subjection to foreign
rule that excites their abhorrence ; and in resisting such an
attempt by any other nation on earth, the Spanish government
would be aided by the united exertions of all classes of Creoles
and Indians ; and the war would become like that in Spain
against France. But if an invading army should erect the
banners of freedom, and proclaim the emancipation of Mexico

270 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
from all foreign dependence, they would be hailed as deliver
ers, and would receive the cordial support of the great mass
of the Mexican population.
We have seen the difficulties which the Spanish govern
ment experienced in concentrating a sufficient force to check
the operations of Mina, and to subdue the patriots under such
incapable officers as Padre Torres and his subalterns. Indeed,
our opinion is, that had Linan been defeated by Mina, the
royalists could not have collected another army, sufficient to
oppose him. That Linan was not defeated, is solely to be
attributed to the ignorance and want of energy of Padre Tor
res, and his jealousy of Mina. We are aware that it may be
said, that any other distinguished foreigner would be liable to
be treated as Mina was, from the jealousy of the Creole chiefs.
One thousand foreign bayonets would place him above the in
fluence of their jealous feeling ; and besides,1 we hope, for the
honour ofthe Mexican Creoles, that there are but a few among
them capable of acting the base part that Torres and Moreno
acted towards Mina. We feel great pleasure in stating, that
we have seen hundreds of Creole officers, possessing the most
generous and grateful feelings towards such foreigners as had
come among them, either as visiters or with a view to aid
them. Among the old Spaniards, jealousy towards foreigners
is a principle flowing from education and interest ; it is the
necessary consequence of the knowledge of their own weak
ness, and has been particularly fostered by their government.
Among some of the elder Creoles likewise, some prejudices
towards strangers are occasionally perceptible ; but among the
rising generation of Creoles, and particularly among those
who have risen from youth to manhood since the revolution,
we have scarcely met with an exception to their attachment
to foreigners, with which the sentiment of liberty: is always
united. The young Creole of Mexico is perhaps the most
ingenuous and generous of the human race ; and, so far from
his viewing the stranger as an intruder in his country, he la
vishes on him unbounded hospitality, and appears only eager
to acquire knowledge, and to form his manners from every
pleasing example he sees.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 271
We confess, that when we entered the Mexican territory,
we were astonished to find the character of the Creoles so dif,
ferent from the representations that had always been made
concerning it ; and when we reflected on their mode of edu
cation, their entire non-intercourse with the people of civilized
nations, and their limited literature, we were the more aston
ished to find them so liberal in their sentiments. In truth, we
are perfectly convinced, that when the Mexicans shall enjoy
the blessings of a free government, and the advantages of a li
beral education, they will speedily become as estimable a peo
ple as can any where be found. We likewise think it of some
importance to remark, that the Creole female, whether united
in marriage to a European Spaniard, or to one of her own
countrymen, is secretly or openly an enemy to the Spanish go
vernment : — this trait in their character we have seen frequent
ly evinced, in the most striking manner. The threats of pun
ishment have no effect in restraining them. During the revo
lution, they have been the faithful friends of the patriots ; and,
on many occasions, have given proofs of their intrepid spirit.
Every defeat of the revolutionists clouded their brows with
sorrow ; while their fine eyes would beam through tears of
joy, when they heard of the triumphs of the patriots over the
Gachupins. The maternal songs they chant to their babes,
are conceived in the spirit of liberty, and marked with hatred
to the despotism of Spain. Ask a child of only five or six
years old if it is a, Spaniard, and it will with indignation re
ply, " No soy Gachupin, soy Americano." — I am not a Gachu-
pin, I am an American.
No gift of prophecy is necessary to predict the consequen
ces that must ensue, when mothers, thus inspire their children.
Those consequences have already, in the short space of nine
years, developed themselves in a manner that may well excite
the fears of Spain for the tenure of her dominion over the Mexi
can kingdom. Tp preserve her tottering sovereignty, she has
been obliged to establish garrisons in almost ..every city and
village in the Viceroyalty. Even on the haciendas, royal
troops must be stationed, to keep the inhabitants in subjection.

272 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
In the intendancies of Vera Cruz, La Puebla, Mexico, Gua
dalaxara, Zacatecas, Valladolid, Guanaxuato, and in part of
that of San Luis Potosi, detachments of from fifty to four hun
dred men are stationed at every few lekgues distance from
each other; thus their military force is scattered over an im
mense surface, so that in the event of an invasion, the govern
ment has only this alternative — to withdraw their troops from
their scattered outposts, or expose them to be beaten in detail.
Whenever their troops are withdrawn to any central point, the
inhabitants will immediately break out in insurrection. The ve
ry circumstance of the troops being thus quartered in villages
and on estates, betrays to the people the fears of the govern
ment, while the soldiers themselves, (being generally Creoles,)
by forming connexions in the districts where they are quar
tered, are much more likely, in the event of future insurrec
tions, to take the side of the people, and the cause of .their
country, than to adhere to a government which they already
dislike. We consider, in fact, every Creole regiment at present
in Mexico, under the Spanish standard, as training for the
establishment of the future freedom of their country. This as
sertion is founded on a knowledge of their character and feel
ings ; and indeed many European Spanish officers have con
fessed to us the important fact.
The Creole officers in the royal regiments we pronounce al
most without an exception to be royalists only in appearance ;
they are at heart sincere patriots, ardently desirous of seeing
their country emancipated from Spain, the moment it can be
accomplished in a proper manner. Repeatedly have several
of these officers said to the writer, " Ah ! if the insurgents had
not stained the first steps of the revolution with outrageous ex
cesses which alarmed us all, we should have joined them, and
established the independence of our country six years ago."
This opinion is not expressed alone by the Creole royal offi
cers, but by every enlightened native with whom we have con
versed ; and although the viceroy Apodaca says, in his late
official despatches, that tranquillity is restored throughout the
kingdom, we conceive that he is too well aware, that it is only

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 273
a deceptive calm. It is true, that in the great provinces of
Vera Cruz, La Puebla, Oaxaca, and Mexico, the insurgents
are no longer organized in hostile bodies, but the character
and feelings of the inhabitants are unchanged, and they are
daily becoming better acquainted with their true interests.
The pardoned insurgents, in those provinces, now mingle with
those who have been called royalists. They discuss among
themselves their errors, their misfortunes, and their rights.
A certain Spanish officer of distinction stated to the writer,
that " although much had been said about shooting die insur
gents, yet it was now useless to pursue that system, for he
conceived that every Creole and Indian in the country either
already was, or would shortly become, an insurgent ; and be
cause about eighty thousand oi those dangerous men, who were
before scattered in forests, are now in our towns and cities,
where they are circulating their poison in the bosoms of our
families ; therefore," said he, " the royal indultos have only
prepared the way for those eighty thousand men to contami
nate the royalists, and to organize new convulsions."
We have no doubt, that every one of those pardoned insur
gents would be shot to-morrow, if their fate depended on the
Spanish government ; but at the present day, such an experi
ment would be too dangerous, because there is not a royal
Creole who would not turn his bayonet against any authority
that should dare to violate the faith which has been pledged to
the insurgents. We likewise have not the least doubt, that if
the Spanish government could pour into Mexico myriads of
European troops, so as to- garrison every town and village of
the kingdom, that every royal .Creole would be deprived of
his arms ; but as Spain never can send a force capable of effect
ing such an object, it follows, that her sovereignty now de
pends, and must continue dependent, on the fidelity of the
Creole troops.
The actual state of society in Mexico having been thus
illustrated, it must be obvious to the reader, that the under
taking of the enterprising Mina, was by no means of that des
perate nature which it has been represented to have been in
various publications. It failed from causes which we think
' (35)

274 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
have been amply explained ; but he and his brave little band,
by marching from the Mexican coast to Guanaxuato, have
shown what may be accomplished at a future day by some
more fortunate heroes.
Two thousand foreign infantry led by intelligent and gallant
officers would overturn the Spanish government in Mexico,
in less than six months from the day of their landing either on
the coast of the Pacific ocean, or that of the Gulf of Mexico.
The moment that it was known that a respectable invading
army had landed with the avowed object of assisting the peo
ple to throw off the yoke of Spain, we repeat what we have
before suggested, that they would be joined by as many Mexi
cans as it would be possible to arm and organize. The go
vernment would be compelled to withdraw the royal troops
from their present positions ; insurrections would follow ; and
the fate of Mexico would in all human probability be speedily
decided. Along the range of coast in the Gulf of Mexico there is not
a single spot, excepting Vera Cruz, where two thousand men
would' be unable to effect a landing ; for, although the coast
cannot be closely approached by ships drawing much water,
yet every part of it will permit the landing of troops from
open boats ; and by marches of three days they could reach
the Table Land of Mexico. The line of coast is so extensive,
as totally to preclude the possibility of its being guarded at all
points against the invasion of a large body of troops.
The same facility for landing is offered on the coast of the
Pacific ocean, from Guatimala to California. Acapulco and
San Bias are the only two places at which a landing could be
resisted; and even those places might be carried by a coup de
main, without much danger or loss.
The beautiful and rich intendancy of Oaxaca offers the most
secure and important field for the operations of an invading
army of any part of the whole kingdom. There are several
fine bays along its coast on the Pacific, where an army could
land, at a distance of not more than thirty-five leagues from the
city of Oaxaca. The whole province abounds in all the essen
tials for the subsistence of an army. The city of Oaxaca is the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 275
neatest, cleanest, and most regularly built city in the kingdom.
The edifices are built of a green stone, which preserves its co
lour perpetually, and gives fo the city an appearance of fresh
ness such as we have never seen in any other. The convent of
San Francisco, built more than two hundred years ago, looks, at
this day, as if it had just come from the hands of the architect.
Streams ofthe purest water flow through all the streets; and
in all the squares are beautiful fountains, for the use of the
inhabitants. The fruits of the torrid and temperate zones are
to be seen every day in the market place. We have seen on
one side of the road trees loaded with oranges, and on the
other fields of wheat. The temperature of this city is consi
dered equal to that of any other in New Spain. The thermo
meter rarely falls below sixty-three, nor ranges higher than
seventy-eight, degrees. The inhabitants are well made, and
remarkable for longevity. The women are likewise distin
guished, for their beauty and vivacity. ^Along the coast of
Oaxaca the climate is destructive of health ; but the greater
part of, the province, and particularly the mountains of the
Misteca, are famed for their pure and salubrious air. The
most populous Indian villages of all New Spain are found in
this province. The Indians of Tehuantepec are noted for their
activity and beauty. The whole of these Indian villages may
be considered as containing true friends to the patriot cause,
who would afford their cordial support to an invading army.
From the port of Guasacualco, at the bottom of the Gulf of
Mexico, an army could march in forty-eight hours to the
Table Land of Oaxaca. We know of no part of New Spain
so accessible to an invading army as this province; nor do we
know of any other which presents so important a rallying point
for the patriots of the provinces of Vera Ci"uz, Pueblay and
Mexico, as this on the banks of the noble navigable river of
Guasacualco. The resources for the payment of an army are
also abundant in this province. It is here that the article of
cochineal is most extensively raised, to the value of above a
million of dollars per annum. .
All the preceding suggestions, respecting the facility of in
vading and emancipating Mexico, are not offered with a view

276 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
of inviting the attention of desperate adventurers, but with the
hope of their being useful, at no distant day, to the govern
ments of the republics of Colombia, Buenos Ayres, and Chili.
Although the writer is not fastidious as to the means that may
be employed to effect the emancipation of Mexico, yet he has
no hesitation in saying, that if it ever should be accomplished
by foreigners, he would wish them to be citizens of the United
States. This view may perhaps be displeasing to many of our
peaceable citizens ; but, as we are living in an age of revolu
tions, when the happiness of man is the great purpose and end
of society, it is not only a natural desire on the part of a citizen
ofthe United States, but would be on that of every liberal mind
throughout the civilized world. The New World may soon
have to exert all its physical and moral resources against the
ambitious and antisocial schemes ofthe Old World, and rescue
the fairest portion of the earth from the odious debasement
under which it has so long suffered. It is not extravagant to
believe, if geographical positjpn and other circumstances be
considered, that there should arise a conviction among the in
habitants of the United States and those of Mexico,' that it is
their policy and interest to form a political and commercial
alliance. In the following chapter, we shall resume the detail of the
operations of thewroyalists against Los Remedios ; and, in its
sequel, it will be seen, that notwithstanding all the disasters of
the patriots subsequent to Mina's death, and the flattering
statements made by the viceroy of the general pacification of
the kingdom, the revolutionists maintained last year formida
ble parties in the provinces of Guanaxuato, Mexico, and Val
ladolid, and more especially on the coast of the. Pacific ocean,
in the last named province.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 277

CHAPTER XI.
Assault of Los Remedios, on the 16th of November, and repulse
ofthe enemy — Sortie by the garrison on the enemy's intrench-
ments — Cause zvhich led to the evacuation of the fort — Los
Remedios evacuated, on the night ofthe 1st of January, 1818
—Barbarities of the royalists there — Operations ofthe con
tending parties, after the reduction of Los Remedios — Loss
of Xauxilla — Detailed account of the subsequent events ofthe
Revolution, and its actual ' state_ in the month of July, 1819 —
Reflections,
THE royalists, encouraged by the death of Mina, redoubled
their exertions to obtain possession of the fort of Los Reme
dios ; but they found that the spirits of the besieged grew
sterner as necessity pressed upon them. The forces of the
enemy, relieved from those apprehensions of Mina which had
before paralyzed their exertions, now came forth with confi
dence, denouncing the severest vengeance upon all those places
which had rendered him assistance.
The patriot government appointed colonel Don Miguel de
Borja, a Mexican officer, commander of the troops in the field;
and colonel Arago, aid to the late general, second in command.
But some ofthe patriot chiefs, jealous of being commanded by
one of their own number, carried on an independent partisan
warfare against the besiegers, without paying much attention
to the orders of the government or its officers.
The enemy, in the interval since the affair at Los Remedjos,
mentioned in Chapter IX., had kept up a brisk cannonade,
which considerably damaged the works of the besieged ; the
battery of Santa Rosalia having been thereby rendered unte
nable. As soon as Mina was shot, they made an exulting and
menacing communication of the event to the garrison, recom
mending them to confess themselves, as they intended carrying

278 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the fort by storm, when every individual within it should be
put to the sword. Immediately afterwards, as if intending to
carry this threat into execution, they concentrated their fire
upon the curtain between the batteries of Santa Rosalia and
La Libertad; and, on the morning ofthe 16th of November,
succeeded in making a practicable breach therein. In the after
noon, the enemy were observed to be making preparations for
the assault. About two o'clock, their bugles sounded the ad
vance, and the columns moved up, at the same time, to La
Cueva, and towards the breach ; other detachments also ad
vanced upon Tepeaca and Pansacola : but it was soon ascer
tained that the latter movements were feints, and that the real
attack would be directed against the breach. Accordingly, the
necessary preparations to receive them were made : the women,
and even grown children, who on these occasions vied with
the men in point of daring, soon flocked with the peasants to
the threatened point, to bear their share in the danger and
glory of the day.
The enemy advanced very steadily to the breach, under
cover of a fire from their works, bearing before them the sym
bol of extermination. They moved up with great resolution,
though exposed to a galling fire of musketry and grape-shot,
and showers of missile weapons discharged by the peasants
and women, the latter of whom, regardless of danger, mount
ed the ramparts, with their aprons and baskets filled with
stones, and hurled them at the astonished assailants. The
enemy, nevertheless, preserved their order of close column,
until within about twenty paces of the breach, when they sud
denly halted ; some few determined men precipitated them
selves from the head of the column, actually entered the
breach, and there perished : among these intrepid men was the
officer who bore the black flag. But the rest of the assailing
column remained as if petrified, — their dismay had completely
mastered them ; which being observed by the defenders of the
breach, they sallied forth, made a vigorous attack, and com
pelled the enemy to give way, and fly in the utmost disorder,
leaving the side of the barranca covered with their killed and
wounded. An irregular fire was maintained, from different

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 279
pointSj for some time ; when the enemy, relinquishing the at
tack, retired within their intrenchments, having suffered se
verely.* The loss of the garrison was considerable, the sur-
vivers of Mina's division bearing a large proportion of it.
Linan, after this discomfiture, directed his attention to the
reconstruction of the mine under the work at Tepeaca ; and,
having succeeded in his approach by means of a covered way,
effected the dislodgement of ftie besieged from a breastwork
which had been thrown up in front of the gallery to prevent
any further attempts of the enemy at mining. In this opera
tion, and in a vigorous cannonade, the enemy dissipated the
remainder of the month of November, and the whole of De
cember. Their repeated, efforts failed to blow up Tepeaca.
We have before mentioned, that considerable quantities of
charcoal, saltpetre, and sulphur, were in the fort, from which
a sufficiency of powder should, have been made : but, either
through the bad management of the chiefs, or a dependence
upon supplies from Xauxilla, only one man had been employed
in the composition of this indispensable article. The operation
was performed by the patriots in a very tedious manner, by
means of metates. By this stone the ingredients are ground,
and afterwards grained in sieves. This process is so slow, that
a man cannot manufacture more in a day than an expert arti
ficer would make in an hour. Being manufactured without
art, or a scientific knowledge of the necessary proportions of
component materials, its grain is bad, it frequently hangs fire,
and can seldom be relied upon. Bad, however, as would have
been the quality of the powder, a sufficient quantity might
have been made if proper measures had been timely employ
ed : but, from the defects in this point, and the length of time
that- the garrison had maintained the cannonade, it was disco
vered, in November, that the magazine was nearly exhausted.
* The official despatch of the royal commander acknowledges his loss, in
this affair, to be forty -four killed, including seven officers; one hundred and
seventy-seven wounded, including twenty-three officers ; and one hundred and
thirty -six bruised by missile weapons, including eleven officers : — total, three
hundred and fifty-seven.

280 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
To remedy the want of ammunition, which the partial suc
cours from Xauxilla were insufficient to supply, it was deter
mined to make a sortie on the enemy's infcrenchments, whence
it was hoped that a supply might be obtained. Accordingly,
the enemy's works opposite to La Libertad were selected as
the point of attack, it being, indeed, the only position fairly
open to such an enterprise. Three hundred men were detach
ed for this service, and the command was given to captains
Crocker and Ramsay, the two intrepid youths who distin
guished themselves, on a former occasion, against the same
position. Preparations were made; at night, the party sallied; and,
gaining the rear of the enemy's first battery, stormed the
second line, under the expectation that the enemy would aban
don the first, and that possession would thus be gained of
both. In this they were deceived : the second line was car
ried ; when the enemy retired within their third intrench-
ment, whence a brisk cannonade and fire of musketry prevail
ed, which seriously annoyed the assailants. The gallant party,
however, having succeeded in obtaining a small quantity of
ammunition, spiked the artillery, dismantled and rolled the
guns down the barranca, and then retired; but with the loss
of twenty-seven killed, and several wounded.
Towards the last of December, the ammunition was entire
ly exhausted; and, as Xauxilla, whence the fort had been
hitherto supplied, had in the meantime been closely invested,
it was impossible to obtain further supplies from that place.
The garrison was thus reduced tp the alternative of either
evacuating the fort, or awaiting another assault of the enemy.
This last course would have been highly imprudent ; for the
want of ammunition would have exposed them to the ultimate
discretion of the enemy. The evacuation was therefore re
solved upon. The only two points by which this could be
effected were La Cueva and Pansacola. If made from La
Cueva, it would be necessary to descend into the plain, and
encounter the main force of the enemy, which would have "
been certain destruction. The only remaining alternative was

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 281
to proceed by Pansacola. The enemy were weakest at that
point ; but great obstacles to the attempt also existed there,
arising from the asperities of the route by which it must be
effected ; for the way ran through the barrancas, in which it
was impossible to move in compact order ; besides that, they
were so hemmed in by precipices, as to render it extremely
difficult to ascend to the elevated ground; and even there, the
enemy had thrown up a chain of intrenchments. The pros
pects of the garrison were therefore more discouraging than
those of that of Sombrero when reduced to a like extremity ;
but a hope was indulged that the mountains might be gained
before the enemy could reenforce thelr'posts, or despatch par
ties from the grand encampment in pursuit. Pansacola, there
fore, was the point determined upon, as affording the best and
indeed the only possible means of retreat ; and the night of
the 1st of January, 1818, was fixed upon for the evacuation
of the fort.
It had been the custom in the fort for the sentinels to pass
the watch-word during the night ; but, as soon as the evacua
tion was determined upon, colonel Noboa ordered the discon- '
tinuance of this practice. This, in the event, was a fatal
measure, because it indicated to the enemy that the garrison
was about to undertake some movement, which they naturally
supposed must be the evacuation of the fort. They there
fore made every preparation to cut off the retreat, and to in
tercept as many ofthe fugitives as possihle. Within the fort,
the greatest secrecy had been observed; not even Mina's offi
cers were informed ofthe proposed evacuation, until the mo
ment it was about to be carried into execution ; but they, as
well as the enemy, had anticipated the plan, from the change
that had taken place in the practice of the sentries.
At the appointed hour, on the night of the first of January,
the whole ofthe garrison, the troops, peasantry, women and
children, assembled at Pansacola. Scenes of distress then
took place which exceeded even those of Sombrero. The aban
donment of the wounded, whom it was impossible to remove;
the certainty of their falling into the power of a remorseless
enemy ; the recollection of the fate of those who had remained
. (36)

282 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
in a like situation at Sombrero, — were circumstances that irn^
pressed the final parting of companions and relatives with un
utterable horror.
Every thing being arranged, the advanced guard, with which
marched Padre Torres, descended into the barranca. The other
divisions of the troops followed ; but, owing to the peculiar
difficulties of the pass, their progress was so slow, that before
half the garrison was out of the fort, the advanced guard
encountered an enemy's post. The sharp skirmishing that
•took place between the parties, breaking upon the dead still
ness of that midnight retreat, roused the enemy, and put them
on the alert. From their head-quarters, a column entered
the fort by Tepeaca. Finding it deserted, they communicated
the information to their comrades in front of Pansacola, that
the garrison was sallying from that point. Immediately
large fires blazed up in every direction, which, throwing a
strong glare of light into the barrancas, and over the summits
of the contiguous hills, pointed out the direction taken by the
fugitives. The enemy's troops, who had entered by Tepeaca,
now descended in pursuit of those who were waiting to pass
out of the fort. Then, horror and confusion put to flight the
death-like silence which had been maintained on the part of
the fugitives. The air was rent with the shouts of the men,
the screams of the women and children, and the jeers and
hallooing of the enemy, united with the discharges of musket
ry. Numbers, attempting to fly from the bayonets which
threatened momentary annihilation in the rear, rushed in
crowds to the fatal pass, which being too narrow to contain
them all, they tumbled over each other down the precipices-,
where they met instantaneous death, or had their limbs dread
fully fractured and mangled. Those who came last were more
fortunate than their comrades, for, rolling over the dead, dying
and wounded who had preceded them, and had reduced the
fall by their number, many of them escaped with life. Sounds
of wo re-echoed through the barrancas, and were answered
by the scoffs of a vindictive enemy. As soon as the alarm
had been given, the enemy so posted their infantry as com
pletely to guard every practicable pass to the hill-tops ; many,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 283
nevertheless, did succeed in forcing a passage to them ; while
others concealed themselves in the barrancas. At length, the
dawn broke upon this night of horror, and enabled the enemy
to adopt new precautions to secure the fugitives. Every cleft
and bush was then explored by the enemy's infantry; and num
bers of both sexes, there found, met with instant death. Don
Cruz Arroyo, dragged from his concealment, met his death be
neath the bayonets of the soldiers. Being recognised by them,
they inflicted upon his lifeless body the most shocking barbari
ties, in revenge for the destruction which the spirit that once
animated it had showered upon them. They cut off his head,
tore out his entrails and his heart, and satiated their worse
than savage eyes with the sight of his yet quivering members.
The cavalry scoured the plains, and took and killed many,
who, having escaped the horrors of the night, had proceeded
on their way, rejoicing that they had so far, and, , as they
hoped, altogether, escaped the enemy.
Among, those who escaped were Padre Torres and twelve
of Mina's division. The rest were killed during the siege,
or fell in the darkness of the night in the barrancas. Among
the latter were the brave captain Crocker and doctor Hennes
sey. Among the prisoners were colonel Noboa, the only one
of the division who fell into the enemy's hands, and the two
brothers of Padre Torres. Numbers of women were made
prisoners, with the details of whose treatment delicacy forbids
us to pollute our pages. It is impossible to depict all the bar
barous excesses of the brutal soldiery : the acts committed at
Sombrero, though melancholy in the extreme, cannot approx
imate those at Los Remedios. The sick and wounded in the
hospital calmly anticipated death, but not in the dreadful shape
in which they were destined to meet him. The building
in which these hapless victims were huddled was fired, and
when any ofthe unfortunate wretches, who had strength enough
left to attempt crawling out of the flames, made their appear
ance, they were 'thrust back or bayoneted, and in less than
an hour their cries were succeeded by the silence of death
— their ashes alone remained. This is one of those savage
exploits, any notice of which would of course be excluded

284 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
from the columns of the Mexican Gazette ; but its authenti
city does not depend on such authority ; it has been related
by those who were at that moment prisoners of Linan, and by
Spanish officers, who shuddered while they told the melan
choly tale. Denials of these acts of savage barbarity might
be listened to, or excuses for their commission might be of
some avail, upon the plea of the uncontrouled frenzy of a few
individuals, had not a frightful catalogue of similar horrors,
practised rby the royalists during this revolution, stained the
annals of the Spanish arms. A few of them we have already
noticed, and the black list will be swelled by a detail of others
in the following chapter.
The majority of the combatants, who were taken prisoners,
did not long remain in doubt as to their fate. Linan, ever
anxious to render more distressing the situation of his unfor
tunate prisoners, not content with the prospect of the fate which
awaited them, was unceasing in heaping acts of indignity up
on them. He compelled them to labour in the demolition of
the works, and immediately afterwards shot them. Among
those who thus suffered death was colonel Noboa, who, in his
last moments, displayed great fortitude, and died exclaiming
" Viva la republica."
Of the females who were made .prisoners, those belonging
to the families of the chiefs were sent to the enemy's towns.
In this number were two sisters of Padre Torres, one a most
amiable and interesting young lady, and the whole ofthe fe
male part of the family of Don Miguel de Borja. The wo
men of the lower orders were set at liberty, after having their
heads shaved bare.
The enemy found a considerable supply of grain in the ma
gazine of the fort, but nothing else ; although Linan boasts,
in his despatch, of having found a quantity of ammunition —
a pitiful fabrication, the like of which has often characterized
the official accounts of the royal commandants.
Thus fell the fort of Los Remedios, having withstood, for
four months, the attempts of an enemy vastly superior in nu
merical force, in artillery, in ammunition, and in the superior
experience and discipline of their troops, a large proportion of
i

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 285
them having belonged to the royal armies in the campaign in
the Peninsula.
The death of Mina, and the fall of Los Remedios, enabled
the royalists to take active measures to dispossess the patriots
of their remaining strong hold. They flattered themselves,
that, when this was effected, the long protracted insurrection
would soon be terminated. They do not appear to have been
fully aware, of the fact, that the patriots were animated by a
spirit of hatred which could not be subdued, and that if driven
out of forts, they would retire to the mountains and barrancas,
and instead of acceding to terms, would suffer every possible
privation, and eventually become, (what they are generally
Called,) a body of banditti.
In the brief view we have taken in the course of this work,
of the military operations of the patriots, we have exhibited
their alternate successes and defeats, and have shown that the
latter arose from ignorance, want of organization and disci
pline, a deficiency of muskets, and especially from the want of
combination among the patriot chiefs. To the two last men
tioned tircumstances, more than to any others, may be ascrib
ed the success of the royalists ; for there does not exist the
least doubt in our minds, that during the years 1814, 1815,
1816, and 181 7", a union ofthe patriot forces, and a supply of
eight or ten thousand foreign muskets, would have decided the
struggle in favour ofthe revolutionists in a very few months.
It is not now necessary to enter into a detail of the scene of
disasters and confusion which took place among the patriots
subsequent to the death of Mina, except so far as may tend to
show the unconquerable spirit of hostility to the Spanish go
vernment, which predominates in the people in arms in the in
tendancies of Guanaxuato, Valladolid, and Mexico.
We have made mention of the little fortress of Xauxilla^ as
being the place where the members of the patriot government
held their sittings. During the month of December, the roy
alists of the intendancy of Valladolid had raised a force of one
thousand men, for the reduction of Xauxilla. The direction
of this operation was given to Don Matias Martin y Aguirre,

286 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
commandant general pf the province of Valladolid, in which
province Xauxilla was situated. Don Matias, a distant rela
tion ofthe unfortunate Mina, was a most able and active offi
cer. His exertions contributed much to preserve the jewel of
Mexico, in the diadem of Spain. Unlike his contemporaries,
he never wantonly died his hands with blood. He obeyed
with reluctance many of the cruel mandates of his govern
ment ; but at the same time mercy influenced all his conduct,
and tempered his sword with clemency. On account of his
distinguished services, he was appointed commander of the
regiment of dragoons, called the Fieles de San Luis, which, al
though composed of wretched troops, was among the best ap
pointed, best organized, and finest cavalry in the royal ser
vice. He enjoyed, at the period we are now speaking of, the
confidence of the viceroy ; and warmly seconded his exertions
to attain the object of their government with as little effusion
of blood as circumstances would permit. He enjoined it up
on all the officers within the sphere of his command, to act
with mercy; an injunction obeyed by some of them, while
others, freed from his immediate control, continued to give
loose to their long indulged spirit of cruelty. His conduct to
the prisoners that fell into his hands, was not merely merciful,
but generous ; and on several occasions he took upon himself
the responsibility of disobeying superior orders, rather than
deprive them of their lives. We feel great pleasure in thus
offering our faint tribute of respect to one whose sentiments
present so great a contrast to those of the major part of the
Spanish chiefs. Some of the officers of Mina's expedition,
who fell into the hands of Don Matias, were most humanely
treated ; and the soldiers who were made captives, were libe
rated on condition that they should serve two years in the
royal armies. One of them, an American, through his inter
cession was pardoned, liberated, and sent to the United States.
Not one of Mina's associates suffered death at his hands, and
although some of them were sent to Europe by orders of the
government, it was contrary to the wishes of Don Matias.
Some of Mina's officers, now in the United States, owe their
lives to the humane Aguirre.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 287
Don Matias, on investing Xauxilla, found, that from its
strength, and its. peculiar situation, it was capable of making
a formidable resistance. The fort was commanded by a man
of the, name of Lopez de Lara, supported by two officers of
Mina's division, captains Lawrence Christie and James De
fers, both Americans. A few days after the siege commenc
ed, the members of the government retired to the Tierra Ca
liente of Valladolid.
Don Matias, prior to the commencement of hostilities, sent
a flag of truce, offering terms of capitulation to the garrison,
which were immediately rejected. Approaches were then made,
and after several ineffectual attempts to carry it by storm, the
enemy were compelled- to await its reduction by famine.
While these operations were going on at Xauxilla, Padre
Torres escaped from Lps Remedios, and retired to the pue
blo of Penjamo. The plains and mountains in its vicinity
afforded him a temporary refuge. The pueblo of Penjamo is
located, as has been before observed, about four leagues from
the fort of Los Remedios, upon a declivity near the foot of
the range of hills in which the fort was situated, overlooking
a fine plain, highly cultivated with Indian corn, and forming
an amphitheatre with the surrounding hills. The inhabitants
of the plain, of Penjamo were, generally speaking, in easy cir
cumstances, and many of them, prior to the revolution, had
possessed considerable wealth. The pueblo of Penjamo was
the general residence of those farmers, who were distinguished
for urbanity and hospitality. Exclusive of their agricultural
pursuits, they carried on an extensive trade in provisions,
particularly in live hogs, which were sent to the city of Gua
naxuato. The inhabitants of the pueblo, and indeed of all the plain,
had been conspicuous, during the whole of the revolution, for
their enthusiasm in favour of the patriots ; and it was in this
place that Torres had commenced his military career. He was
at that time the curate of a little village near Penjamo, called
Cuitzeo de las Naranjas. Subsequently becoming command
ant of the place, at the time when Mina penetrated info the
province of Guanaxuato, Penjamo formed his immediate

288 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
comandancia. Notwithstanding the despotic sway which he
exercised over his friends from his head-quarters at Los Re
medios, a great portion of the people still remained attached
to him. "Amidst the general destruction of towns and villages,
Penjamo had not escaped. Its handsome buildings had all
been razed to the ground, and on their sites had been erected
a few huts. It was here that Padre Torres established his
nominal head-quarters, after the evacuation of Los Remedios : i
we say his nominal head-quarters, because the circumstances
of his situation effectually prevented him from remaining per
manently in any one spot, even had his coward nature permit
ted him; for the enemy covered the plain with their troops in
pursuit of him, and strained every nerye to overtake him.
But his activity being excited by his fears, he never slept two
successive nights in the same place or on the same mountain.
During this period of pursuit and danger, which continued
nearly a month, Torres retained with him a small escort of ca
valry; and, without leaving the plain and mountains of Penja
mo, was enabled to elude the vigilance of his pursuers. Had he
displayed the same activity, when it would have preserved the
troops under his orders, or infested the enemy, he would have
deserved and received commendation. Aware of his inability
to cope with his pursuers, he was compelled to use unremitting
personal exertions to guard against a surprise. Whenever it
became dark, he invariably conducted his escort, through by
paths and circuitous routes, to secret places in the mountains,
always distant from the place where he had passed the pre
ceding night. He laid down with fear and trembling, with a
servant near him to give the alarm in case of danger, and a
horse ready saddled and bridled, not with the view of acting
on the defensive with his troops, but of securing his personal
safety by instant flight. He possessed some of the fleetest
horses in the kingdom, was an expert rider, and always kept
near him three or four horses ready to be mounted. In the
occasional actions which his troops had with the enemy, he
invariably acted in a manner ill becoming a soldier and a com
mander, always taking post in a commanding situation in the
rear, instead of animating his soldiers by his presence in the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 289
fight; and, on discovering among his men the least appearance
of confusion or dismay, he would put spurs to his horse, and
leave them to shift for themselves.
The enemy, in the meantime, were not idle: their light
divisions scoured the country in every direction. Neither
Torres nor his subaltern officers opposed any resistance to
their prpgress, each individual being occupied in providing
for his own safety. They passed the night in the mountains,
sub dio, regardless of the inclemency of the weather ; and in
the day time, a watch was kept from the steeple of a church,
or some commanding height, to guard against a surprise from
the enemy. Such was' then, and is now, the manner of life of
these unfortunate people;" and nothing can more forcibly illus
trate their abhorrence of the royal government, than that they
should thus submit to such privations, rather than accept the
protection of the royal amnesty.
The enemy soon fortified themselves in the Valle de Santi
ago, thereby depriving the patriots of the resources of that
district. They also occupied the hacienda of Queramaro,
about a league from the foot of the hill which ascended to the
late fort, which prevented its being reoccupied by the patriots,
and deprived Torres of a valuable portion of his comandan
cia. In the Tierra Caliente of Valladolid, they, were equally
active. Over the whole country, the patriots seemed panic-
struck ; and such was the want of unity in their operations,
that even skirmishes with the enemy at length became of rare
occurrence. Torres, finding that the enemy relaxed the vigour of their
pursuit, made a faint exertion to relieve the garrison of Xau
xilla, the siege of which place had been vigorously prosecuted
by Aguirre. When arrived within a league and a half of the
enemy, he despatched Don Pablo Erdozain, an excellent caval
ry officer, (of whom we have before made mention) with a
party of three hundred men, to lay in wait for a party of the
enemy, of about the same number, who left their camp every
morning for the purpose of foraging. The measures of Don
Pablo were judiciously taken. Placing his troops in ambush,
(37)

290 MEXICAN REVOLUTION,
he anxiously awaited the approach of the enemy.- They were
soon descried advancing; and every thing promised a suc
cessful result. They entered the ambush unsuspectingly, and
without order. At that favourable moment, Don Pablo- or
dered the charge ; but, to his inexpressible mortification and
astonishment, his troops, instead of obeying his orders, after
wavering for a moment, turned their backs upon the enemy,
and fled. They were immediately pursued ; and the gallant
Erdozain with difficulty effected his escape.
A rencounter with a party of the enemy occurred, about the
same time, at an hacienda called Surumuato, situated a few
leagues from Penjamo, which terminated as fruitlessly as the
action we have just narrated: for, although the royalists were
actually defeated, and might have been totally destroyed, yet
they finally came off victorious, in consequence of the flight of
the patriots at a critical moment.
Padre Torres, instead of being humbled by his recent mis
fortunes, became every day more capricious and despotic;
and at length committed an act which caused his subalterns to
tremble for their personal safety, and drew down upon him
their odium. Don Lucas Flores, the commandant of the Valle
de Santiago, who had been one of the firmest and most useful
friends of Torres, was, upon some frivolous pretext, arrested;
and, without a trial or a hearing being allowed him, was con
ducted to the mountains,, and there privately shot. The man
ner of his arrest displays the treacherous and barbarous cha
racter of Torres. He sent an order to Don Lucas to meet
him at a certain place : the order was obeyed ; and Torres,
with his staff, there met him. The customary embraces passed
between them; a social intercourse followed; and cards were
introduced. Don Lucas lost all his money, of which the padre
won a considerable proportion ; they dined, with their usual
cordiality. After dinner, Flores was arrested, without the
least previous explanation. His personal effects were imme
diately shared hy the staff, Torres himself taking the best
horse. With savage indifference, Torres turned to Flores, and
ordered him to retire. The unfortunate officer was conducted,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 291
as before observed, to some secret place in the mountains,
above Penjamo, and shot.
While Torres was committing these excesses, and flying
about the country to elude the enemy, the siege of Xauxilla
was steadily persevered in by Aguirre, It had held out three
months; but the eommandant, Lopez de Lara, and some of his
officers, became alarirfed. Foreseeing that the fort would be
eventually reduced by starvation, and presuming that the same
fate would attend the garrison that had befallen the patriots at
the other forts, Lara thought it best to take measures in due
season for the safety of himself and his party. He concealed
his intentions from captains Christie and Devers, as he well
knew that they wOuld never consent to surrender the fort as
long as it was tenable. Accordingly, he sent a secret overture
to Aguirre, offering to deliver up the fort and the two Anglo-
Americans. The overture was of course readily accepted.
Lara and his associates then seized the persons of Mina's offi
cers, and delivered them with the fort into the hands of the
enemy. Aguirre displayed the magnanimity of his character,
by adopting a line of conduct directly the reverse of that pur
sued by the barbarous Lifian and other Spanish chiefs. Dis
gusted with the perfidy of Lara, ' he upbraided him in the se
verest terms for his unmanly and dishonourable conduct to his
allies the two Anglo- Americans, whom he immediately orders
ed to be treated with as much indulgence as was consistent with
their safe keeping, and instead of shooting the troops that thus
fell into his hands, he disarmed and set them at liberty.
Aguirre, after destroying the fort, and leaving a garrison in
the village of Zacapo,\to prevent its being reoccupied, return
ed to Valladolid^ taking with him his two American prisoners.
They were put into close confinement, and orders from the
viceroy were received to put them to death. The generous
Aguirre resisted the repeated orders of the viceroy to that
effect ; and finally, by persevering in their behalf, prevailed
on the government to spare their lives. But, notwithstanding
all his exertions to have them liberated and sent to the United
States, they were removed to the capital, and subsequently
transported to Europe,

292 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
The infuriated Torres was still pursuing his mad career,
wandering about the country, arbitrarily seizing on every
man's property, and burning towns and haciendas, under the
pretext of depriving the enemy of the means of fortifying
themselves in their progress through the country. The unfor
tunate town of Puruandiro underwent a sdcond conflagration.
Penjamo shared the same fate. Only one church was spared ;
and the inhabitants were forbidden to live among the ruins.
In fine, this man's tyranny and excesses became so great, that
the people in his comandancia at length hated and feared him
more than they did the enemy.
The revolutionary government, in the meantime, had ex
perienced several vicissitudes. After its seat had been re
moved from Xauxilla, it was established in the Tierra Caliente
of Valladolid, where the enemy were not quite so numerous
as in the Baxio, and where, from the natural advantages pf
the country, it could occupy positions that would be secure,
or at least favourable for escape in the event of a surprise.
Three of its members, either from disgust, or a conviction
that their services could no longer be of any use to their coun
try, signed and sent in an instrument of their resignation.
Their names were, — Ayala, the president; Loxero, the secre
tary; and Tercera. Doctor San Martin proceeded to a small
place called Zarate, where Don Antonio Cumplido, Don Pedro
Villasenor, and Don Pedro Bermeo, were appointed gover-
nantes, in lieu of the others; and San Martin became president
by reason of seniority.
The new government was encompassed with difficulties,
which it was almost impossible to overcome ; and, however
great may have been its zeal to restore order, and give a new
impulse to the cause ofthe revolution, an event occurred that
prevented it from displaying its exertions ; for, in the month
of February, 1818, its members were surprised by a party of
the enemy, who entered Zarate, and took prisoner the presi
dent, San Martin ; the infirmities of the old gentleman prevent
ing him from escaping with his coadjutors. Cumplido resigned
his place, under the impression that matters were in so despe
rate a state, as to render nugatory the establishment of any

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 293
regular government. Nevertheless, a form of civil authority
was still kept up ; and Don Jose Pagola, a worthy and intelli
gent patriot, and Don Mariano Sanchez de Ariola, were ap
pointed to fill the places of San Martin and Cumplido. The
two new members, with Don Pedro Villasenor and Bermeo,
therefore constituted the government ; and Villasenor was
elected president.
The first subject that occupied the attention of the new go
vernment, was a dissension between Padre Torres and two of
his officers, Don Andres Delgado and the brigadier Huerta.
Both these officers commanded strong bodies of patriots. Del
gado was at the head of the troops lately under the command of
the murdered chief Flores. The conduct of Torres had become
so insupportably outrageous and tyrannical, that Delgado and
Huerta refused longer to submit to his authority, and called a
meeting of the patriot chiefs, in the month of April, at Puru
andiro, (at which Torres attended) for the purpose of nomi
nating a new commander in chief. Colonel Don Juan Arago
was named to fill the place of Torres. The padre sullenly
retired from the meeting, accompanied by a few of the least
respectable of the chiefs. He had the address to induce'them
to sign a petition to the government in his behalf, in which
they declared -their satisfaction with his conduct, and prayed
that he might retain his station. The government, however,
ratified the nomination of Arago, and appointed him com
mandant general of the province of Guanaxuato ; permitting
Torres to retire with all his honours, and to draw the pay
corresponding with his rank. The appointment of colonel
Arago was a most mortifying circumstance to the padre, who
had always regarded him with envy.
The restless and ambitious priest was not, however, dispos
ed to submit, without an effort to re-establish himself in the
supreme command. On the 28th of April, having with him
nearly fifteen hundred troops, including infantry, he received
intelligence that a light division of the enemy, four hundred
strong, under colonel Bustamante, was in the rancho de los
. Frijoles. As a means of regaining his popularity, he deter
mined to attack the enemy. He took them completely by

294 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
surprise ; but, notwithstanding, the action was most disgrace
fully lost, in consequence of his injudicious dispositions, and
his own personally bad conduct. Scarcely had the engage
ment commenced, when the cavalry, from one of those unac
countable terrors with which they were occasionally seized,
without entering into the action, fled. Torres, who was some
distance in the rear, seeing the"confusion, instead of attempt
ing to rally, outstripped them in the flight. The infantry, thus
abandoned, and left to contend, without even a hope of suc
cess, against overpowering odds, regarding their situation as
desperate, formed under some trees, and, with determined
valour, defended themselves until every individual, but one,
was killed. The head of their commander, lieutenant Wolfe,
was struck off, carried to Irapuato, and there elevated upon
a pole. As soon as Arago received his appointment from the go*
yernment, he communicated the information to Torres ; who
answered, that the appointment was illegal, and would be re
sisted. Among the chiefs who had been instrumental in de
priving Torres of his command, was Don Andres Delgado,
well known to the Gachupins by the name of " El Giro." He
was an Indian ; and, though destitute of education, was parti
cularly acute, and admirably calculated for partisan warfare.
His courage was impetuous, and his activity astonished the
enemy. He was only twenty-five years of age, and in his
short military career had received twenty-two wounds. The
dragoons of the Valle de Santiago, the finest and most efficient
body of patriots in Mexico, were under his command. Few
pf the royal troops were equal to them in the field, — none ex
ceeded them in courage, They were mounted on the finest
horses the country could afford; and, unlike other bodies of
patriots, were constantly in operation against the enemy, keep
ing that part ofthe Baxio about Salamanca and Zelaya in a state
of continual alarm. El Giro, and his whole troop, hated and
despised Torres; and they anxiously awaited an order to force
him into obedience : but Arago was aware of the evil conse
quences attendant upon dissension, and therefore determined
to try pacific measures, before he resorted to force.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION, 295
Torres was attended by the ex-president, Don Ignacio
Ayala, a man full of duplicity and cunning, by whose advice
he had opposed the recent changes. The force that Torres
had under his immediate command was about one hundred and
twenty men; but he was privately upheld by Don Encarna
cion Ortiz and Don Miguel de Borja.
Mina's division was now nearly annihilated, -nine officers
and four soldiers only surviving. Those who had been with
Torres, neglected and ill-treated, had, with one exception, left
him : and that Solitary individual, as soon as Arago received
his preferment, abandoned the padre^ and rejoined his com
rades. Arago, finding that all his attempts to bring Torres to an
acknowledgment of his authority proved abortive!, reluctantly
had recourse to arms. Torres, unable fo cope with the forces
of Arago, fled to his friends, Borja and Ortiz. Conceiving '
that with their aid it was still possible for him to regain his
lost power, he issued an arrogant and absurd proclamation,
declaring the establishment of the government in the Tierra
Caliente fo be illegal, commanding obedience to Don Ignacio
Ayala as the only legitimate head of the civil authority, and
calling on all true Americans to aid him in the vindication bf
his title. From Burras, the padre set out, with about three
hundred men, furnished him by Borja and Ortiz, for Penjamo,
of which place, Arago, as successor to the comandancia, had .
taken possession, in the month of July. Arago soon received
a communication from these friends of Torres, stating, that a
desire to arrange matters amicably, and not an intention of
acting with hostility, had induced them to afford the padre an
e'scort, and to accompany him themselves. After some cor
respondence, it, was agreed, that at Surumuato, on the bank of
the Rio Grande, with the river between the parties, the differ
ences should be discussed. Arago, as well to avoid the effu
sion of blood, as to avert the fatal consequences which must
arise to the cause of their country from these dissensions, and
which had hitherto been its destruction, deemed it 'expedient
to assent to the conference, although he was perfectly aware of
the perfidious intentions of Torres and his partisans.

296 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
With two hundred men, he therefore repaired to Surumuato i
but, soon after the discussion was opened, it became obvious
that nothing short of reinstating the padre in his former power,
and acknowledging the acts of the government to be illegal,
would setde the dispute. Arago, after spending two days in
fruitless attempts at pacification, perceiving that his Opponents
were only amusing him in order to gain time and receive reen-
forcements of troops, broke up the conference, by giving them
a certain number of hours finally to make up their minds
whether they would or would not obey the orders of the go
vernment. No answer being returned within the time, Arago
immediately adopted measures to reduce the refractory padre
and, his partisans by force of arms. Accordingly, El Giro,
with only a few of his brave Santiago dragoons, soon decided
the maftter. Gallantly'swimming the river, about twenty of his
men attacked their opponents, and routed theim Torres was
saved from capture only by the speed of his horse. He, fled
to the mountains of Penjamo, where he collected some of the
fugitives. His friends, finding that disaster only would attend
the struggle, finally sent in their adherence to the government.
Various skirmishes took place between the contending parties,
in which Torres invariably came off with disgrace ; but, not
withstanding all the exertions of Arago to obtain possession of
his person, the wily priest eluded him, as he-had formerly done
the royalists. This contest between Arago and Torres was ter
minated by the advance of a division of royalists, in September,
under the command of colonel Marquez Donallo, to Penjamo.
A post was established in that pueblo, which cut off Torres
from his places of retreat in the mountains and plains. The
padre thenceforth found his situation daily becoming more
desperate ; and at length, in' utter despair, he disbanded his
few remaining troops, and, with his adviser Ayala and a few
domestics, threw himself on the protection of the brothers
Ortiz. They interceded with the government in his behalf;
and, notwithstanding his previous infamous and treacherous
conduct merited severe punishment, yet he was allowed to
remain unmolested in that part ofthe country, on the express
condition that he should neither directly nor indirectly interfere

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 297
in the public affairs. This condition was guarantied by Ortiz;
and thus terminated the disgraceful career of this ambitious
priest. In the month of June, last year, he was wandering
among the mountains within the range, of Don Encarnacion
Ortiz, in the vicinity of San Felipe, eluding the pursuit of the
royalists, and trembling for his safety even among his former
friends. ' It was fortunate for him that he did not fall into the
hands of El Giro : ,for such was the,conviction-of Mina's offi
cers of his treachery towards their deceased general, and so
exasperated were they at his shameful conduct with regard to
themselves, that they certainly would have permitted him to
have fallen a sacrifice to ,the vengeance of that chieftain and
his men.
The situation of the patriots in the province of Guanaxuato
was daily becoming more critical; but, although every pueblo
pf any importance was occupied by the royalists, still the pa
triots carried on an irregular warfare. They roamed among
the mountains and through the plains, occasionally skirmishing
with the enemy; but neither observing order among them
selves, nor aiming at a combined plan of operations. With
the exception of El Giro and his troop, they at length merited
an appellation little better than that of banditti, so often ap
plied to them, by the royalists.
In the western Tierra Caliente, the cause of the patriots
assumed a brighter aspect. The enemy had there steadily
pursued the system adopted in Guanaxuato, of throwing bo
dies of troops into every pueblo : by which means, they had
so far subdued opposition, as to flatter themselves that the
pacification of the western part of the province of Valladolid
would soon be accomplished, the more especially as they had
compelled the patriots under the command of lieutenant general
Don Vicente Guerrero to retire into the mountains near the
shores of the Pacific ocean. This officer is one of those ex
traordinary men whom revolutions bring into notice. During
the life, and after the death, of general Morelos, Guerrero had
distinguished himself by his intrepidity and activity. On one
occasion, in the mountains of the Misteca, with only about one
hundred and forty Misteca Indians under his orders, whose
(38) '

298 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
oniy weapons consisted of clubs and slings, he greatly elevated
himself by brilliant exploits. v
The royalists were frequently careless in their encamp
ments at night, and particularly in the Misteca, where they
knew that Guerrero had not an armed force to attack them.
A party of three hundred royalists having encamped a few
miles from where Guerrero was stationed with his Indians,
he proposed to his men to make an attack on the enemy dur
ing a rainy and stormy night. The plan was agreed on, and
executed with such silence and celerity, that Guerrero was in
the midst of the encampment before the enemy were aware of
his approach. The royalists were panic-struck, and attempted
to fly : many of them were killed, and the whole of their arms,
baggage, &c. &c. fell into the hands of Guerrero. This, and
other similar exploits, had made him renowned among the
patriots of the Misteca, but towards the latter part of 1817,
he had been so severely pressed by superior numbers of the
royalists, that he was obliged to retire from the Misteca, and,
with a servant, passing through the lines of the enemy, reach
ed the Tierra Caliente of Valladolid ; where, after encounter
ing various vicissitudes in the fall of the following year, with
eighty men he surprised a strong party of four hundred of the
enemy, destroying nearly the whole of them. This exploit
threw some arms into his power, with which he lighted up a
flame that rapidly spread over the Tierra Caliente; and, before
the enemy could recover from the surprise which this new
antagonist created, he attacked their different posts, beat them
in detail, and roused the drooping spirits of the patriots in
the western parts of Mexico, as well as of Valladolid. The
viceroy, alarmed at this rapid and unexpected progress of
the patriots, transmitted orders to adopt the most vigorous
measures against Guerrero : accordingly, brigadier Negrete
was ordered to advance with a strong division to the Tierra
Caliente, threatening at once to annihilate Guerrero and his
party. In conformity with his orders, Negrete proceeded to
the village of Churumucoo, situated on the right bank of a river
which flows from the east, and unites with the Marquez near
the village ; the junction of these rivers forming the Zacatula.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION, 299
He found the patriot chief posted on the opposite side of the
river ; but, not deeming it prudent to attack him, and finding
that he could not long maintain his position for the want of
provisions and the destructive influence of the climate, he
made a retrograde movement, and, much to the annoyance Of
the royalist subjects, returned to Valladolid Without achieving
any thing.
At this period, Don Miguel de Borja was chosen by some
part of the troops of Xalpa, for their commander in chief; to
accept of which station it was necessary for him tp give up*his
comandancia of Burras.
The occupation of Penjamo by the enemy had deprived
Arago of those pecuniary resources on which he had calculat
ed to raise and equip forces ; and, believing that by good
management ample resources might be obtained at Burras,
and that great advantages would result from the communica
tion he could establish with the patriotic inhabitants of Gua
naxuato, from the vicinity of that city to Burras, he took the
command of that district. His expectations^ however, were at
the outset frustrated ; for, on investigation, he found that his
predecessor had levied so many contributions on the unfortu
nate farmers, that they had little left, and as he was averse to
the system of exactions which Torres, Borja, and others, had
pursued, he was compelled to depend on a few individuals for
the urgent supplies of his , few troops. A short time before
Borja gave up the command of Burras, he had received, from
the inhabitants twelve months' revenue in anticipation ; which
circumstance, united with those already mentioned, rendered
it absolutely impracticable for Arago to realize any of the
plans he had previously contemplated.
Before Borja left Burras, an event occurred which filled
with sorrow the breast of eye>y true patriot. Don Jose Ma
ria Liceaga, whom we have before mentioned as a distinguish
ed and stanch defender of his country's rights, was treach
erously murdered. Strong grounds exist for believing that
Borja was the principal instigator of this murder. Liceaga
had retired from public life, and resided on his hacienda in

300 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the district of Burras. Journeying along the high road, he
met a party of Borja's men, headed by one of his captains.
Without any previous explanation, they furiously attacked
him : he attempted to save himself by flight, but a shot from
Borja's officer brought him to the ground, when he was in
stantly put to death. Borja has endeavoured to vindicate this
horrid deed, by alleging that Liceaga was proceeding to the
town of Irapuato, to deliver himself up to the enemy, and to
accept the royal pardon.
All who knew Liceaga pronounced this to be a calumnious
accusation. His undeviating adherence to the cause of the
revolution, through all its vicissitudes, his refusal of the re
peated overtures of the enemy for reconciliation, and the firm
ness of his character, displayed on numerous trying occasions,
made the accusation of Borja appear as absurd as it was un
founded. The fact, however, we understood to be, that Borja
had, some weeks before this event, demanded one thousand
dollars from Liceaga, which was accordingly furnished him ;
and, in order to avoid its repaynsent, as well as to get rid of
a man who constantly expressed himself hostile to such law
less proceedings, he resolved on his destruction, and effected
it in the manner we have related.
The patriots shuddered at the tale ; for, although Liceaga,
by his love of order and strength of character, had become ob
noxious to the military chiefs, yet by the people in general he
was respected.
About the time this melancholy circumstance took place,
the forces under Guerrero were daily augmenting, and the po
litical horizon in that part of the theatre of the revolution once
more assumed an aspect favourable to the patriots. Three of
Mina's officers, who had retired to the Cahadas de Huango,
eleven leagues north of the city of Valladolid, placing them
selves under the orders of brigadier Huerta, were author
ized by him to organize a body of infantry and cavalry. Hu
erta, like most of the chiefs we have before described, had
been raised, by the vicissitudes of the revolution, to a situa
tion which he was totally unqualified to fill. He was illiterate,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 301
vicious, and jealous of his superiors ; but at the same time he
was daringly brave, and ready to undertake any project, how
ever hazardous. He assumed the title of commandant gene
ral of the province- of Valladolid. We believe that he meant
well to his country, but his extreme ignorance prevented him
from being of much service ; and, like Torres, he could not
bear the sight of any man whom he thought likely to interfere
with his ambition. He viewed the brilliant successes of Guer
rero with a jealous eye ; and although the latter was extreme
ly anxious to obtain the co-operation of all the patriot chiefs^
he could not accomplish it with Huerta. '
Colonel Bradburn (one of the three officers who had retired
to the Canadas de Huango) was assiduously engaged in rais
ing and organizing a body of infantry and cavalry, relying on
the promises which had been made him by Huerta, of being
furnished with every thing he wanted. Bradburn and his two
comrades found recruits flocking into them from all direc
tions ; barracks were erected ; an armoury and powder manu
factory were established ; arrangements were made to procure
clothing from the enemy's towns ; and every thing went on
prosperously, until the moment arrived when the new troops
were to receive arms. Huerta, under various pretexts, with
held them. Bradburn was some time before he could pene
trate the -cause of Huerta's strange conduct; but at length he
discovered that it arose from jealousy. Huerta, on seeing
what he thought a body of well trained troops under the com
mand of Bradburn, conceived it possible that the latter would
co-operate with? or enter into the views of, Guerrero, and
thereby diminish the authority which he himself was aiming
to obtain. This was the real cause of his refusing Bradburn
the necessary supplies.
Matters continued in this state for upwards of two months,
in the Canadas,- and although the enemy were within a few
leagues, and four times superior in numbers, yet Bradburn,
with a hundred men wretchedly armed, held them in check.
At length the enemy determined to destroy him, and in March,
1819, advanced with fifteen hundred men, under the command

302 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
of Don Vicente Lara. Against this formidable force resist
ance was useless. Bradburn retreated for two days; but,
being closely pursued in the mountains,- his party was de
stroyed, with the exception of about thirty who made their
escape. The prisoners were conducted to the neighbouring
pueblo of Chucandiro, and there instantly shot.
Huerta could, at that time have mustered four hundred ca
valry ; and as he had received timely advice of the move
ments of the enemy, could have reenforced the little party ;
instead of which, he quietly permitted it to be completely bro
ken up. His subsequent conduct to Mina's officers was dis
graceful, and serves to confirm what we have before stated,
that during the last three years, the patriot chiefs were gene
rally ignorant, incapable, and licentious men, who studied only
their separate interests, to the ruin of their country. Under
such unfortunate circumstances, it is almost incredible that the
royalists did not completely quell the insurrection ; and that
they have not been able so to do^ arises from the general hos
tile feeling of the people, and the occasional appearance of such
men as Don Vicente Guerrero.
The conduct of Huerta, and the distracted state of the pa
triots in Valladolid, prevented the patriot government from
possessing a place of security in which to hold their sessions.
The late president, Don Jose Pagola, and his secretary, were
taken prisoners by surprise, and shot. Don Jose Castaneda
was appointed in the place of Pagola, and the presidency de
volved on Don Pedro Villasenor. The government removed
to a place called Las Valzas, near the village of Churumucoo,
adjacent to the conflux of the Rio Grande and the Marquez.
Here it considered itself secure from surprise ; and confided
in the vigilance and abilities of general Guerrero, with whom
they now resolved to co-operate in exertions to give to the
cause of the revolution a new aspect.
The enemy, in the upper parts of Valladolid, had fortified
themselves at Puruandiro, at Chucandiro, and at several other
places. Huerta's troops were daily abandoning him, and some
of them had accepted the royal pardon. The famous El Giro

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 303
had been surprised, taken prisoner, and shot. The royalists
were therefore less annoyed, in that part of the country, than
they had been for along time previous.
The revolutionists were in no condition to carry on a series
of harassing operations. Their system of defence, however,
was such, that they suffered little loss : their guerilla parties
were still numerous : in the rainy season, they retired to the
mountains, and there recruited their horses and repaired their
arms ; on the return of the dry season, they descended into
the plains, and attacked the enemy with renewed vigour.
In the month of July of last year, the revolution may be
considered as having reached a lower ebb than at any previ
ous period since the commencement of the struggle. But the
royalists were very far from being in an unmolested state :
they were still obliged to keep within their fortified places.
The patriots still continued to possess the plains in the under
mentioned parts of the country, and in fact were masters of
the country up to the very walls of the fortified towns.
In the intendancy of Guanaxuato, there were still,
under various patriot chiefs, at least, men 1,000
In the Tierra Fria and Caliente of Valladolid, 1,500
Over an extensive surface in the intendancy of
Mexico,  2,000
Bordering on Guadalaxara and Valladolid, near
the lake of Chapala,  500
On the Coast of the Pacific ocean, in the province
of Mexico, under the orders of general Guer
rero and the brigadier Mondesdeoca, all de
termined troops, and principally infantry, 1,400
6,400
In the foregoing statement, we conceive that the numbers
are within the actual force of the patriots bearing arms ; and,
in the estimation, we do not include that portion of the pea
santry whom circumstances have compelled to a pretended
neutrality, but who are ripe for revolt, whenever they again
behold the patriot cause assume a favourable aspect.

304 MEXICAN -REVOLUTION.
We omit making any observations relative to the state of the
other intendancies, because there the royalists, have succeed
ed, by military presence, in causing a momentary pacification.
By referring the reader to what we have previously remarked
on the character' and feelings of the population of the great
intendancies of Vera Cruz, Puebla, and Oaxaca, it is obvious
that the present tranquillity is a mere temporary calm, liable
at any moment to be succeeded by a revolutionary tempest.
Various writers, within the last seven years, have published
the most gloomy and absurd stories relative to the revolutions
of Mexico and South America ; and on no other subject have
the public been more egregiously misled. Among the books
abounding in false statements, none is more conspicuous than
a work which was republished in Philadelphia, in 1819, enti-
tied " A Descriptive, Historical, and Geographical Account
of Spanish America, &c. &c. By R. H. Bonnycastle, Captain
in the Corps of Royal Engineers," So long as captain Bonny
castle exercises the office of a plagiarist, in faithfully copying
from Humboldt, Clavigero, and other celebrated authors, he
is excusable for the errors of his statements : but when he
undertakes to give us a detail of the present contest in Spanish
America, with his speculations and predictions, and sentiments
upon political subjects, he must bear upon his own shoulders
the charge of writing with the servility of a Spanish stipendi
ary, instead of the impartiality and manliness which ought to
characterize a British officer ; and of displaying the grossest
ignorance of facts which would scarcely have escaped the ob
servation of any one who had paid the least attention to the
affairs of Spanish America. For instance, —
In page 316, he informs us, that " Mina, who had been con
cerned in the Caracas revolution, undertook an expedition
against New Spain, where he was taken prisoner, and beheaded,
in Mexico."
In page 243, after having given a confused account of the
insurrection at Caracas, he states, that Miranda was taken,
and beheaded.
In page 315, he eulogizes the ferocious Boves, a man whose

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 305
career of horrid cruelties in Caracas causes even the royalists
to blush that he was a Spaniard.
In page 317, speaking ofthe state ofthe revolution in 1816
and 1817, he tells us, that "'In New Grenada, Florida, §>uito,
Peru, and Mexico, the insurgents have very little1 sway?'
In page 57, he gives the most ludicrous and false account
ofthe situation ofthe insurgents in New Spain; and gravely
states, that " Neither the Indians nor • people of the interior
take any part of the struggle."
In page 348, speaking of Buenos Ayres and Chili, he states
that " the insurgent privateers still dare to show their flag in
the Pacific."
-In several parts of his book, he asserts that the royal autho
rity is generally restored throughout Spanish America, and
that he has not the least doubt of the ability of Spain to pre
serve her sovereignty- over all those dominions.
Should his book ever pass to a second edition, we advise
the captain to correct the errors we have noticed, and candidly
to confess that events have occurred totally at variance with
his confident predictions.
We have thus conducted our reader through some of the
prominent scenes of the Mexicau revolution, up to July, 1819:
we have given a faithful detail of the daring achievements and
misfortunes of the gallant Mina and his little band :* we have
shown what a few foreigners did actually accomplish in Mexi
co : and, finally, we have endeavoured to convey a correct idea
of the state of society in that kingdom, and to exhibit the very
precarious tenure by which Spain there maintains her authority.
The picture we have drawn of Padre Torres and other of the
patriot chiefs may possibly induce a belief that it is difficult for
the patriots to obtain proper leaders to guide them to victory :
but the reader should bear in mind, ' that the men with whom
Mina was unfortunately obliged to co-operate rose to their sta
tions during seasons of anarchy and confusion: they had been
heaved to the surface of the revolution by its currents and
* The survivers of Mina's division, still in Mexico, are, colonels Bradburn,
Arago, and Don Pablo Erdozain, captain Don Antonio Mandietta, Mr. Ger-
hard Honhorst, two soldiers, and two coloured boys.
(39)

306 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
agitated waters, and were no way else distinguished than by
their ambition, licentiousness, and ignorance. Should Mexico
ever be invaded by a respectable foreign force, with a view of
Co-operating with the people in the establishment of their inde
pendence, there will not be found any deficiency of worthy and
able Creole officers, willing to lend their exertions to the cause
of their country, as well from among those who have formerly
headed the insurgents, as from those who have hithertp been
in the royal service ; and, with respect to the population in
general, legions of friends to independence will be found in
every province of Old Mexico.
The royalists, in the intendancies of Guanaxuato, Vallado
lid, Mexico, La Puebla, and Vera Cruz, are walking among
ashes still warm from the recent eruptions; — 'they are passing
a precarious existence, surrounded by volcanoes. The spirit
of hostility to the Spanish government is smothered but for a
season ; and when the flames of resistance shall again burst
forth in those provinces, an ocean of blood will not extinguish
them. It will moreover be difficult to prevent the revolution
ary fire that is now burning along the shores of the Pacific
ocean from spreading into the, interior. The patriot general
Guerrero and his partisans occupy a part of New Spain from
which it will be almost impossible for the royalists to dislodge
them. This chieftain has his principal establishment at the
Orilla de Zacatula, situated on the right bank of the river of
that name, about a league and a half from its mouth. The
river Zacatula discharges itself into the Pacific ocean, about
the latitude of eighteen degrees north: it has two mouths,
about a league distant from each other; both these are ob
structed by bars, but the northernmost one affords an entrance
for boats. About sixty miles east- south-east from this river,
is the harbour of Siguatanejo, which, for beauty, spacious
ness, and security, is exceeded by none on the shores of the
Pacific ocean. The Spaniards, fearful that it should become
known to foreigners, have rigorously prohibited , all traffic
whatever at this port. Lord Anson, we believe, was the first
and has been the only foreigner that ever entered it. About
fifteen miles north from Zacatula, there is likewise an excel-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 307
lent bay (ensanada) called Petacalco. The anchorage therein
is convenient and secure, and the water is smooth through
out the greater part of the year. The sea breeze sets in
regularly at eight o'clock in the morning, and continues
until sun-set,- when it is succeeded by a land breeze, which
usually blows until six or seven o'clock next morning. The
whole line of this coast, from Zacatula down to Siguatanejo,
is at present under the control of Guerrero. The positions he
has chosen are not only secure from surprise by the enemy,
but that at Orilla is even capable of sustaining a formidable
siege. It is defended on the south-east by a deep, wide, and
rapid river; and between it and a place called Colima, is a wil
derness impassable by an army. From Tierra Fria, it can only
be approached by a road on the right bank of the river, which
road passes over mountains for nearly thirty leagues^ every
mile of which offers defiles where one hundred resolute men
could arrest the march of one thousand* In fact, the country
occupied by Guerrero is the most favourable part of New
Spain for defensive operations ; and so long as this experienced
chief remains on the defensive, it will be almost impracticable
for his enemies to subdue him. His advanced posts extend to
Las Valzas.- The country, being thinly settled, affords not the
means of subsistence for an army of royalists ; while the pa
triots, to whom privations are common, have a sufficiency.
Guerrero has adopted the plan of collecting the cattle into a
herd, so 'that, on the approach of the enemy, he has only to
drive them to the rear, thus cutting off the means of subsist
ence from his opponents. The latter must therefore receive
their supplies from a great distance, which almost precludes
the possibility of attempting a formal siege of Guerrero's
strong hold, the only manner in which he can be dislodged. ¦
The people of all that part of the province of Mexico are
remarkable for their hatred to the Spaniards ; and in the* ad
joining provinces of La Puebla and Oaxaca, the whole of the
population along the coast, of the Pacific ocean are ready to
co-operate with Guerrero. The inhabitants of the mountains N
ofthe Misteca are particularly attached to him; and, should
he make his future advances in that direction, he would be

308 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
cordially supported. It is probable, however, that Guerrero
will remain at his present position on the river Zacatula, until
some favourable circumstances occur in the other provinces,
or until he receive a supply of arms and munitions of war.
Should the cruizers of Buenos Ayres and Chili direct their
attention to that part of the coast of the Pacific ocean within
the jurisdiction of Guerrero's command, they could, with the
aid of the latter, fortify Siguatanejo, and make it a place of
rendezvous, of high importance to themselves, and of very
serious annoyance to the enemy. By the adoption of such a
measure, the whole commerce of the coast from Guaquil to
Acapulco and San Bias could be annihilated, and the trade
between Manilla and Acapulco obstructed or destroyed. We
presume the reason why such an attempt has not yet been
made, must arise from the want of information in the govern
ments of Buenos Ayres and Chili, with regard to the position
occupied by Guerrero, and the character ofthe population of
the whole range of the coast.
Two thousand troops, with an extra supply of ten thousand
muskets, landing on the coast near Guerrero's position, and
uniting with that chieftain, would decide the fate of Mexico in
less than six months ; and should those troops be Creoles of
Chili, of Buenos Ayres, or of the republic of Colombia, they
would be received with joy and gratitude by the Mexicans,
and would moreover be their fittest auxiliaries.
These observations, combined with the facts which we have
related in the preceding chapters, will make it obvious to the
reader that the sovereignty of Spain over Mexico is suspend
ed to a fragile thread, and that the emancipation of the latter
from Spanish thraldom is an event that must take place at no
distant day.
We shall close our Memoirs of the Revolution, in the fol
lowing chapter, by briefly noticing the cruelties committed by
the Spanish authorities in Mexico and South America during
the last nine years.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 309

CHAPTER XII.
Cruelty a predominant feature in Spanish history; exemplified
hy a brief view of the conduct of Spain in Europe,, .and. by
the horrors committed,1 by her authorities, in Mexico and
South America, since the year 1810— Reflections.
THE scenes of cruelty which we have related in the course
of our Memoirs ofthe Mexican revolution, may startle some
of our readers, and incline them to doubt the correctness of
our statements. We therefore deem it necessary to state, that
in almost every instance which we have noticed of the atroci
ties perpetrated by the royalists, we have derived our informa
tion from the records of facts, either acknowledged or never
denied by the Spanish government, and generally obtained
from Spanish official documents, published in Spanish Ame
rica, and in the- Madrid Gazette. In the early years of the
present revolutions in Spanish America, the viceroys, cap
tains general, and nearly all the royal officers, appear to have
emulated each other in vituperating the American character,
and in boasting of the inhuman deeds they had performed.
They appear to have been regardless of the opinions of the
civilized world, and exulting in that which should have caused
the deepest shame, have placed on record the bloody deeds
performed by their orders. But while they have thus set at
defiance the judgments of the present generation, they have
created a tribunal in the posterity of America, that will pass
upon them a severe but righteous condemnation.
An inquiry into the causes which have distinguished Spain
among the nations of Europe for deeds of horror, may de
serve the attention of the future philosopher and statesman.
The chivalrous exploits of the ancient Castilians, the gene
rosity and nobleness which characterized the Spaniard of the
olden time, have been the theme of admiration for many

310 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
centuries ; but an attentive examination of their history will
convince us, that even in the era of their brightest glory,
cruelty was a prominent trait in their character. In vain have
they styled themselves the most Christian nation on earth, — in
vain have they called themselves the favoured people of God,
—in vain have they crowded their cities, towns, and villages,
with temples dedicated to religion, and spread legions of
priests over their territories,-^— in vain do they perpetually
ring in our ears their pre-eminent piety, when all these advan
tages have been insufficient to check their propensities to the
odious vice of cruelty, which, even among savages and Pagans^
excites our abhorrence and reprobation. Does this arise from
physical causes, or does it originate in that vindictive and re
lentless spirit which has ever characterized ecclesiastical des
potism, whether existing among Christians or Pagans ?
In all the wars on the European continent in which Spain
has taken a part, her officers and soldiers have been distin
guished for their ferocity and cruelty, and particularly in those
of the reign of Philip III. It was in that monarch's reign,
that Spain prosecuted a war in the Netherlands, accompanied
by scenes of licentiousness and barbarity which cause her name,
even to this day, to be execrated by the Dutch people; and it
was during his reign, about the year 1609, that unparalleled
scenes of horror were committed, in the expulsion of the
Moors from Spain. These people had lived in the country
eight hundred years ; and were distinguished from the Span
iards by their language, religion, character, and manners.
After a series of bloody wars, the Spaniards at length over
came and reduced them to a state of vassalage, when the
greater part of them submitted to receive Christian baptism.
They were an industrious and frugal people ; and, while the
Spanish villages all over Castile and Andalusia were falling
into decay, those of the Moors increased and flourished. In
consequence of this, their numbers rapidly augmented; and
the Spaniards entertained fears, that if some remedy was not
speedily applied, the Moors might regain the ascendency they
had formerly possessed. The two schemes that presented
themselves to the Christian cabinet of Philip III., were, to

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 311
put the whole of them to the sword, or to transport them to
foreign parts. There were numerous advocates for the indis
criminate slaughter of these unfortunate people: but»it was
apprehended that such a deed would fill, all Europe with in
dignation, and therefore it was resolved to expel the Moors
from the kingdom.
Among the ecclesiastics of those days, who bore a distin
guished part in this act of violence and injustice, was Don,
Juan de Ribera, patriarch of Antioch and archbishop of Va-
lentia, an aged prelate, highly venerated, for his piety and
learning, and eulogized by the Spanish and Italian historians
as one of the brightest ornaments that ever adorned the Chris
tian church. The memorial addressed to the king, on this
occasion, by this so much lauded patriarch, breathes in every
line the darkest spirit of fanaticism, and is the most outrageous
violation of the principles of humanity and Christianity that
was ever penned. According to the bishop's doctrine, even
the Moors who had, been baptized and converted to Chris
tianity, .were still to be considered as "dangerous heretics."
He carried his intolerance and, blasphemy to such an extrava
gant length, as to state, in his memorial; " In baptizing the
Moresco children, therefore, our consciences are greatly dis
turbed with the apprehension that we are guilty of violating
the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has, pro
hibited the giving of holy things to dogs, and the casting of
pearls before swine."
It was finally determined by Philip, with the advice of all
his counsellors spiritual and temporal,, that the Moors were to
be considered as obstinate heretics, and appStates from the
faith, whom the king, if he, thought fit, might justly punish
with death; that therefore there could be no ropm to doubt
the lawfulness of the milder punishment of banishment; and
accordingly it was resolved that they should be immediately
expelled the kingdom.
The manner in which this unfeeling sentence, was carried
into execution, is calculated to thrill the heart with horror.
We shall content ourselves with exhibiting a brief outline of
the horrid enormities which ensued.

312 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
By the edict of expulsion, all the men, women, and children,
were commanded, under pain of deatb, to be ready, within
three days, to repair to the sea-ports for embarkation. All
their effects were confiscated ; and death was pronounced
against those who should attempt to conceal any part thereof.
The numbers that were massacred on their route to the coast,
and that perished on their voyage to Barbary, have been vari
ously represented by different historians, not one of whom
makes the number less than one hundred thousand men, women,
and children. They were barbarously murdered at sea, by the
officers and crews of the ships which they had freighted. There
are instances recorded of inhuman cruelties exercised on this
injured and defenceless people, surpassing in atrocity what
ever is related in sacred or profane history. Men were but
chered in presence of their wives and children, and the latter
afterwards thrown alive into the sea. Some of the females,
on account of their beauty, were preserved alive for a short
tinie, to glut the brutal lust of the murderers of their hus
bands or brothers, and then either slaughtered or committed
to the waves. Such were the deeds of horror which were
revealed, upon the trials to which these inhuman barbarians
were brought, in consequence of their quarrelling with them
selves concerning the division of the spoil.
The fate of those who reached the coast of Barbary was not
less deplorable. They were furiously attacked by the Bedouin
Arabs, a wild banditti, who subsist by plunder. Of six thou
sand Moors, who set out together from Conastal, a town in
the neighbourhood of Oran, with an intention of going to Al
giers, only one person survived to reach that place.
Had these unfortunate people been exterminated by the
sword, as was at first proposed, it would have been an act of
mercy, compared with the fate to which they were actually
doomed; but their sufferings, so far from exciting commisera
tion in the authors of their calamities, were made a subject of
exultation; and the act was pronounced by the Catholic clergy
to be acceptable in the sight of God, and a signal instance of
divine judgment against heresy.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 3 j$
In some parts of Spain, where the Moors either resisted the
order fof expulsion, or could not comply with it under the
peremptory terms prescribed, they were butchered in the most
horrible manner. No mercy was shown to age or sex ; while
rolling in the dust, imploring mercy of their savage con
querors, they were indiscriminately slain. Some had shelter
ed themselves among the woods and rocks ; but Philip fixed
a price upon their heads, and soldiers were sent to hunt foP
them as for beasts of prey. Scarcely an individual escaped.
Those who were taken alive in the mountains of Valentia,
were conducted to the city ; and, after suffering every species
of mockery and insult, were put to death by excruciating tor
tures. Such of our readers as wish to examine the details of
these dreadful transactions, are referred to Watson's History1
of the Reign of Philip III. and to contemporary historians.
A government that could sanction such scenes of atrocity,
and a people who could rejoice in the barbarous spectacles of
an auto defe, and in the other horrors of the tribunal of the
Inquisition; were of course prepared for the execution of all
those inhuman acts which have taken place in the New World
since the epoch of its discovery, and more especially of those
enormities which have occurred during the present revolution
in Spanish America, which it has become our duty to notice
in the present chapter.
We shall first recapitulate the cruelties that have been ex
ercised in Mexico. The proclamations and decrees of vice
roy Vanegas outrage every principle of humanity and civi
lized warfare ; and his despatches to the court of Madrid,
which have been published in the Gazette of that city, contain
little else than an account of the number of insurgents he has
slain in battle, or murdered after he had tdken them prisoners.
Commandant Revollo, in his official despatch to the viceroy,
recommends the promotion of a Serjeant for having slain a
nephew among the insurgents. Commandant Bustamante re
commends, in like manner, a dragoon for having killed his
kneeling brother. General Truxillo boasts of having murder*
ed the bearers of a flag of truce. General Calleja, on several
occasions, writes in the most exulting style, of the thousands
(40)

314 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
he had butchered, while on their knees imploring his mercy.
In the action of Zamora; the royal commander states, that all
the prisoners were deliberately despatched. General Cruz,
in almost every despatch to the viceroy, boasts of the number
of prisoners he had shot, and of the towns and villages he
had reduced to ashes. Captain Blanco states, that his troops,
eager for blood, destroyed persons of every age and sex, until
no more victims could be found. Don Caetano §>uintero, in
his despatch of the 29th of August, 1811, says, that in the
attack of Amoladeras, which continued two hours, no quarter
was given. Commandant Villaescusa states the manner in
which he entrapped the bearer of a flag of truce, and subse
quently murdered him. General Calleja issues proclamations
and edicts of the most sanguinary nature, and carries into
execution all his threats. The burning of towns, the butchery
of prisoners, and the annihilation of a defenceless population,
are the perpetual themes of this monster, in his official des
patches. Yet, as we have before stated, for these eminent
proofs of his loyalty to his beloved monarch, he was promoted
to the rank of Mariscal de Campo, made viceroy of Mexico,
decorated with the cross of Charles III., and was last year
nominated to the command of that expedition which was in
tended for new scenes of butchery in America, but which the
influence of justice and regeneration has baffled.
It must be understood, that the preceding outline of hor
rors committed in Mexico by the royalists, is only a very
small part of the tragic scenes yet brought to light : they are
merely a part of those which have been confessed in public
documents even by the royalists, and which we have casually
met with, in various writers, prior to the year 1814.
While we were in Mexico, we carefully examined the offi
cial papers, respecting the cruelties referred to in the work
of William Walton Esq. published in London in 1814, en
titled " An Expose of the Dissensions of Spanish America;"
and we found that they corresponded with Mr. Walton's
statements. But when we reflect on the vast number of dread
ful acts which were related to us by individuals who were
witnesses of the transactions, and of which not the least ac-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 315
count has yet be"en published, We feel justified in asserting, that
Hot one-eighth ofthe long catalogue of cruelties committed by
the royalists in Mexico, has yet been exhibited to public notice.
We perused a manuscript history of the Mexican Revolu
tion up to 1816, written by a distinguished Creole, (whose
name honour and prudence forbid us to disclose,) which con
tained a minute detail of the royal massacres and devastations.
The enormities that were there related have no parallel on
the page of history. The writer of that manuscript; trembling
for his life in case such a document should fall into the hands
of the royalists, committed it to the flames; fortunate was it
for him that he did so ; for, a few days afterwards, he was un
der the necessity of delivering up his person to the royalists.
He still lives, and we hope will yet have an opportunity of
exhibiting to the world a faithful history of the revolution ;
for, until such a work shall appear, civilized nations will not
be able to form a complete Opinion of the sufferings which the
Mexican people have experienced, during their struggle for
freedom. Having thus noticed the bloody scenes acted by Spanish
policy in Mexico, let us take a cursory view of those which
have taken place in other parts of Spanish America.
Venezuela, New Grenada and Quito, at present constituting
the republic of Colombia, have been the theatres of greater
horrors, if possible, than those committed in Mexicp. The
reader, Overcome with disgust, would turn from the page that
contained the recital of but a thousandth part of the executions
which have taken place at Carthagena, Mompos, Santa FS de
Bogota, Popayan, §>uito, Caracas,' Barcelona, Cumana, La
Guayra, Puerto Cavello, Valencia, and other cities of those
countries. Of the extent of those horrors, some idea may be
formed, when we state, that, within the last nine years, it
appears, from Spanish oficial documents, that there have been
sacrificed in cold blood, by hanging, shooting and other modes
of execution, eighty thousand prisoners, in those three pro
vinces. We must bear in mind, that in these eighty thousand
victims are not included many thousand others who were put
to death by a brutal "soldiery, whenever they visited a village

316 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
the sentiments of whose inhabitants they suspected to be fa
vourable to the insurgents. How many inoffensive men,
women, and children, have been slaughtered, of whose fate no
further notice has been taken, in the official despatches of the
royal commanders, than in the following words : " The town
or pueblo of  : — r, with all its inhabitants, has disappeared
from the face ofthe earth! ! /"
In June, 1816, the Spanish general Morillo entered the
city of Santa Fe de Bogota, then called the capital of New
Grenada. In one of his despatches from thence, which was
intercepted in its passage to Spain, he boldly describes the
measures which he had pursued,*in the following words :
" every person, of either sex, capable of reading or writing,
were treated as rebels." " By thus cutting off" all who could
read or write, he hoped effectually to arrest the spirit of revo
lution." The authenticity of such an extraordinary official
communication might admit of some doubt, if the monster
who penned it had not in reality executed the savage deeds
therein announced. Every person in Santa Fe and in Car
thagena, who had been distinguished by their learning or
their eminence in science, or who had held- stations in the
provincial administrations, and in the congress ; with their
¦wives and daughters, were thrown into loathsome dungeons.
Six hundred of them were hanged or shot, and their bodies
exhibited on gibbets. All the females who were accomplished
in literature, of which there were many, suffered the same fate.
The learned and benevolent Mutis, of whom Humboldt has
spoken in terms of admiration, Lozano and Caldos, who were
his disciples in philosophy, a distinguished chemist, and se
veral other men of science, who had not borne arms, nor held
any public trust, were put to death by order of Morillo. Some
of the females were indebted for the preservation of their
lives merely to the fatigues of the executioners. These wo
men were afterwards exiled. Nearly the whole population of
Santa Fe supplicated Morillo to spare the life of the venerable
Mutis ; but the savage was inexorable, openly avowing, that
learned Creoles were more dangerous enemies than the insur
gents in arms. Yet, after having committed such acts of vin-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 3 17
dictive cruelty, " this Spanish apostle of pacification ; this
practical and preventative philanthropist ; this monster of in
humanity ; this pillar of the Spanish constitution ;" this very
same Morillo, issues a proclamation from his head-quarters
in Caracas, the 12th of June last, addressed to the emigrants
from Costa Firme, in which, after reminding them of his in
cessant efforts for the pacification of that country, since his
arrival in 1815, he assures them that his sole object has been,
and continues to be, that of rendering them happy ! In ap
prizing them of his determination to return to his native coun
try, he expresses his ardent desire, that, before his departure,
he may be enabled to give them a. fraternal embrace; and, for
that purpose, conjures them earnestly to hasten their arrival
at Venezuela, that he may not be deprived of that great satis
faction, it being the only consolation remaining to him, on the
eve of this cruel separation !
To what emigrants, it may be asked, can this pacific over
ture be addressed ? Few are they indeed, unless those be
included, " who, under the special passport of Morillo, have
emigrated to another world, but whose spirits are heard around
their tombs."
We are still more astonished in beholding this same Don
Pablo Morillo, who for five years has lavished upon the peo
ple of the Costa Firme the grossest epithets and execrations,
suddenly addressing, for the first time, on the 17th of the same
month, a letter to the Congress of Colombia, on the subject of
his proclamation, and styling them, with the most consummate
hypocrisy and adulation, " Their High Mightinesses, the Con
gress assembled at Guyana," In this letter, after beginning
with " High and Mighty Lords," he dares to insult them by
advancing the gross falsehood*, that the present constitution of
.Spain was adopted by the universal suffrage of the represent
atives of both hemispheres ; and informs them, that he had re
ceived " positive orders, from the constitutional monarch of
the Spains, to enter into a just and generous accommodation,
which shall reunite all the family, in order to enjoy the advan
tages of their political regeneration, and to put an end to the
fatal effects of a division, generated by a desire to be free from

318 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
oppression, that, by a false calculation, had been considered
peculiar to those countries, notwithstanding that it had been
transcendental to all the empire."
The brief view we have taken of the murders committed on
the unfortunate Creoles, in the three provinces before men
tioned, we are well convinced embraces but a small part of the
numbers which have perished ; and were we to say, that one
hundred and fifty thousand, instead of eighty thousand, have
been deliberately slaughtered by the royalists, we conceive
that we should still be short of the actual number of victims.
Similar scenes of carnage have taken place in the provinces
of La Plata and Chili ; and, although we have no recent ac
counts of such events, yet we find enough to make us shudder,
on perusing the eloquent manifesto,' addressed to all nations,
by the Congress of the provinces of Rio de la Plata, dated at
Buenos Ayres, the 25th of October, 1816, from which we
make the following extracts : —
u The town of Cochabamba was taken, and delivered up to
plunder for three hours. The commandant of the royal trpops,
Goyeneche, entering, with one-half of his cavalry, the gate of
the principal church, the host being exposed, killed with a
stroke of his sword the fiscal Lopez Andreu, who presented it,
trembling with terror. He ordered the respectable governor
intendant, Antesana, to be shot; and, observing with compla
cency from the balcony of his house this iniquitous assassina
tion, ferociously cried out to his troops not to shoot the victim
in the head, as it was wanted to be stuck upon a pike. When
it was severed from the body by his command, the headless
trunk was dragged through the streets, while at the same time
the brutal soldiers were permitted to dispose at pleasure of the
lives and properties ofthe inhabitants, during many successive
days. Wherever this Nero went, death and devastation mark
ed his path. A gesture, a clouded visage, an indiscreet word,
or a tear stealing down the cheek, was a crime of state. The
royalists have adopted the dreadful system of putting men to
death indiscriminately, for no other purpose than to diminish
our numbers ; and, on entering our towns, have been known
to massacre even the unfortunate market people, driving them

I /

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 319
to the public square in groups, and shooting them down with
cold-blooded, wanton cruelty. The. villages of Chuquisaca
and Cochabamba have more than once been theatres of this
shocking barbarity.
" They have compelled our soldiers, taken prisoners, to
serve against their wills in the ranks of their armies, carrying
the officers in irons to distant outposts, where it was impossi
ble for them to preserve health for a single year, while others
have been starved to death in dungeons, and many have been
forced to labour on the public works. They have wantonly
shot the bearers of flags of truce, and have committed the ut
most horrors upon chiefs after their surrender, and other prin
cipal personages, notwithstanding the humanity that had been
shown by us to those prisoners who fell into our hands. In
proof of this assertion, we need only mention the deputy Mar
tos of Potosi, captain general Pumacagua, general Angulo,
and his brother, the commandant Munecas, and other partisan
chiefs, shot in cold blood, many days after they had surren
dered themselves prisoners.
; " In the district of Valle Grande, they indulged themselves,
in the brutal sport of cutting off the ears of the natives, and
transmitting a pannier full of them to head-qUarters. They
afterwards destroyed the town by fire ; burnt about forty popu
lous villages of Peru ; and took a helljsh pleasure in shutting
up the inhabitants in their houses before setting them on fire,
in order that their unhappy victims might be burnt alive.
" They had not only shqwn themselves implacable in mur
dering our countrymen, but they have thrown aside all decen
cy and morality, parading old men of the religious profession,
and women, in the public places, made fast to a cannon, and
their bodies exposed to shame.
" They have established an inquisitorial system for all these
punishments; they have dragged out peaceful inhabitants from
their houses, and transported them across the ocean, to be tried
for pretended offences, and have executed, without trial, a
multitude of citizens.
" They have attacked our sea coasts, and murdered defence
less inhabitants, without sparing clergymen and those in ex-

320 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
treme old age. By the order of general Puzuela, they burnt
the town of Puna ; and, meeting with no others, they put to
the sword old men, women, and children. They have com
pelled our brothers and sons to take up arms against us, and
have compelled them, under the command of Spanish officers,
to fight against our troops. They have excited domestic in
surrections, corrupting with money, and every species of se
duction, the pacific inhabitants of the country, in order to
involve us in a frightful anarchy, and to enable them to attack
us weakened and divided. They have displayed a new inven
tion of horror, by poisoning fountains and food at La Paz ;
and, in recompense for the kind treatment they received when
obliged to surrender at discretion at that place, they blew up
the barracks, with one hundred and fifty patriots, which had
been previously mined for that purpose.
" They have abused the sacred privilege of flags of truce,
tampered with our governors and generals, and they have
repeatedly written letters inciting to treason. They have de
clared that the laws of war, recognised by civilized nations,
ought not to be observed towards us; and, with contemptuous
indifference, replied to general Belgrano, that treaties could
not be entered into nor kept with insurgents.
" It is in the name of Ferdinand of Bourbon, that the heads
of captured officers have been stuck up on the highways ; that
a distinguished partisan leader has been actually impaled; and
that the monster Centano, after having murdered colonel Ga-
margo in the same horrid manner, cut off his head, and sent it
as a present to general Puzuela, informing him that it was a
miracle of the Virgin del Carmen.
" It is Ferdinand of Bourbon who has sent his generals with
decrees of pardon which they caused to be published, with no
other view than to deceive the simple and ignorant, in order to
facilitate their entrance into cities and towns ; but giving, at
the same time, private instructions, authorizing and command
ing them, after having thus obtained possession, to hang, burn,
confiscate, assassinate, and inflict every possible suffering on
those who had availed themselves of such supposititious par
dons.

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 321
" What could America expect from a king, actuated, at the
very moment of seating himself on the throne, by sentiments
so inhuman ? — of a king who has no other rewards but chains
and gibbets, for the immense sacrifices of his Spanish subjects
in releasing him from captivity,— of subjects, who, at the ex
pense of their blood, and of every privation, have redeemed
him from a prison, in order to adorn his temples with a crown?
If these men; to whom he owed so much, received death,
were doomed to ^perpetual imprisonment, or to base slavery,
for no other cause than that of having framed a constitution,
what might we not expect to be reserved for us ? To hope for
a benign treatment from him, and from his bloody ministers,
would have been to seek among tigers for the mildness of the
dove. Then, indeed, would have been repeated towards us
the ensanguined scenes of Caracas, Carthagena, and Quito.
We should then have spurned the ashes of the eighty thousand
persons who have fallen victims to the fury of the enemy, and
whose illUstrious manes justly call for revenge; and we should
have merited the execrations of every succeeding generation
of our posterity, condemned to serve a master always disposed
to tyrannize over them, while, by his nullity on the sea, he has
become unable to protect them from foreign invasion."
The Madrid Gazette has published the following, among
many of the blood-stained despatches from America :
" Battle of Santa Helena, in Peru, April 3, 1816.
"I can assure your excellency, that I never saw rage nor
energy equal to that of our enemies. They throw themselves
on our muskets, as if they had nothing to fear from them : our
soldiers were mixed with them ; they grasped our men by the
body, and endeavoured to wrench the arms*out of their hands.
A shower of stones fell upon us : we were obliged to fight with
the bayonet. The wretch Lamargo died by my hand : I did
not cease striking him with my sabre, until his swOrd fell from
his hand. I send it to you, together with his head. More
than six hundred men were despatched with the bayonet, or
shot by the soldiers. I intend that the celebrated Pedro Vil-
larubia shall be beheaded in the public square. He is about
to be conveyed to Pesit; accompanied by two sergeants, who
(41)

322 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
deserted from the regiment of Lima. They will be shot, toge
ther with all the other prisoners."
Where is the citizen of the United States, where is the lover
of liberty, or where is the man possessing even a spark of hu
manity, whose bosom does not throb with indignation against
a polity such as that of Spain, after perusing this eloquent and
dignified manifesto, and the relation we have given ofthe hor
rors that have taken place in Mexico, New Grenada, Quito,
and Venezuela ? What ought to be the feelings excited in
the breast of every citizen of the United States, at the very
mention of the inhuman treatment, and the cold-blooded mur
der, of their fellow-citizens, whom accident of the chance of
war placed in the hands ofthe Spaniards'in Mexico, and who
were cruelly put to death, not to afford an example which
might deter other foreigners from aiding the patriots, (for the
cruelties exercised towards them have not yet been told to the
worfd by the perpetrators) but to satiate that thirst for revenge
which has always formed a component part of the Spanish
character ? Although Mina's comrades acted in contravention
to the existing laws of their own country, that circumstance
cannot possibly palliate the inhumanity they experienced, —
inhumanity the more outrageous, as the conduct of the victims
had been marked by honour, justice, and clemency; — inhu
manity which can only be equalled by the wild and savage
inhabitants of unexplored countries ; — a degree of inhumanity
which adds its mite to the load of infamy with which the an
nals of Spanish history are already burthened. The recollec
tion of the scenes which occurred at the abandonment of Som
brero, and in the dungeons of San Juan de Ulua, cannot be
easily effaced ; and we hope, nay, we feel confident, that there
does not exist an American citizen, from the Sabine to the
Passamaquoddy, whose breast burns not with indignation
against a nation which, in the present day, can sanction deeds
of so heart-rending a nature.
If the causes which arrayed the colonies of North America
in opposition to the authority of Great Britain, have been
proclaimed by the world to be justy — with how much greater
reason may the colonists of Spanish America appeal to the

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 323
universe for approbation and support, during their present-
struggles for emancipation from Spanish thraldom ! Yet,
strange and incredible as it may appear, thejse are in free
North America many who, far from sympathizing with their
southern brethren, or even wishing success to a cause in which
they themselves , have- contended successfully, — condemn the
exertions of those who are imitating their example in striving
to obtain the blessings of freedom, support Sjpain with all the
weight of argument, and are almost brought to deprecate the
independence of Spanish America. Every trifling opportunity
which presents itself is seized with avidity by many, to mis
represent and falsify the efforts of the ill-fated Spanish Ame
ricans. Their victories are burlesqued, their reverses are mag
nified, and their -sufferings are derided, by those who, enjoy
ing the blessings of security and plenty, know not, except by
hearsay, the toils, th^ dangers, and the hardships, endured by
this oppressed people. Incapable of appreciating their exer
tions, they are callous to their appeals, and even withhold their
applause from the perseverance and intrepidity which they
have displayed against the tyranny of the Old World. Because
the union, energy, and wisdom, which accomplished the inde
pendence of the United States, have not directed the opera
tions of a people who are only now emerging from a state of
the most complex slavery, and involuntary ignorance, under
which colonies ever groaned, they are shamefully disregarded
as unworthy of protection, and the voice of humanity is suf
fered to waste itself in vain. Such principles should be found
only in the satellites of crowned heads. That misrepresenta
tion and falsehood on this subject should be propagated by
Spanish agents, and foreigners who come into our country
imbued with monarchical and aristocratical principles, cannot
excite surprise; but can we refrain from expressing our re
gret and indignation, when we behold some of our own citi
zens espousing the cause of Spain, with as much zeal as if
their very existence depended upon the continuance of her
wide-extended dominion in the western hemisphere ?
In the course of this work, we have merely glanced at some
of the grievances which America has endured for the space of

324 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
three hundred years. Ponderous volumes would be filled with
a detail of them. They are, however, so far known as to
supersede the ^necessity of our enlarging farther upon the
subject. It must, nevertheless, be'remarked, that we did
not observe in the former Cortes of Spain any disposition to
relax the iniquitous system so long maintained in Spanish
America; but, on the contrary, that body, in. unison with-the
Cadiz monopolists, exhibited more rancorous hostility to the
Spanish Americans than had been displayed during any pe
riod since the Conquest. We have already noticed the infa
mous decree ofthe Cortes, ofthe 10th of April, 1813, wherein
they declared, that it was " derogatory to the majesty and dig
nity of the national congress, to confirm a capitulation made
With malignant insurgents?' On examining the decrees of
the Cortes, of _ the regency, and of the different juntas who
exercised the functions of the Spanish government during the
late war in the Peninsula, we do not find a single instance of
paternal and generous conduct towards the Americas. But
a few years ago, the Consulado, or board of trade of Mexico,
composed of European members, in its solemn deliberations,
manifested to the Cortes, that the Americans were a race of
monkics, filled with vice and ignorance, — automata, unworthy
of being represented, or representing. This silly and singular
communication, instead of being treated with scorn, ' and its
authors severely reprehended, gave rise to serious debates, in
which the Americans were most grossly vituperated, as may
be seen by examining the proceedings of the Cortes for Sep-J
tember, 1811.
The representation of America, as well in the former as in
the present Cortes, is the greatest farce, or rather the most out
rageous insult that was ever offered to a body of rational beings.
Spain, with a population of nine to ten millions,, elects one hun
dred and fifty representatives to that body; while America,
with' a population of eighteen millions, has thirty representa
tives ; that is, one for every six hundred thousand souls. But
the most extraordinary feature in the farce, is, that an electoral
junta assembled at Madrid, in May last, and there named the
thirty representatives who are to represent Spanish America

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 325
in the Cortes. To say that the decrees of such a Cortes are
binding even on that portion of Spanish America at present
under the royal authority, would be an assertion rather difficult
to maintain : but to suppose that the people of Chili, of Buenos
Ayres, of Venezuela, and of New Grenada, are represented by
men nominated at Madrid, and bound by'the acts of a Cortes
thus constituted, is indeed an absurdity that has no parallel in
the annals of legislation. In fact, the orders issued iby the late
Cortes to the royal commanders in America, were more bar
barous and imperious than those issued by Ferdinand, after
his return to the Spanish throne ; and we have seen how faith
fully those orders were executed by the Spanish officers.
Every revolving hour, since the present revolution com
menced in Spanish America, has been marked with new inju
ries towards its inhabitants; and considering the extent and
nature of those injuries, we are astonished that there 'exists a
Creole from Cape Horn to the Floridas, who does not exe
crate the Spanish name.
¦Ify during the revolutionary contest ofthe North American
colonies, any attempt on the part of the mother country to
refuse the rebels, as they were then called, the rights of
civilized warfare caused general indignation, — if, in the case
of a single citizen put to death contrary to the usages of
war, the whole nation took a common interest in the murder,
and adopted immediate measures of retaliation, what ought to
be the feelings and conduct of the South Americans towards a
government which has acted as Spain has done \during the pre
sent dontest ? If an Indian ally was reprobated by many of the
most enlightened members of a British parliament, during the
struggles of North America for independence, what language
should now be used towards a nation, that has ordered and
sanctioned such horrors as those we have related ? Le^ us
recall to the recollection of our readers the speech made by the
venerable earl of Chatham, at the time when lord Suffolk, then
British secretary of state, contended in the British house of
peers for the employment of Indians in the war against Ame
rica. The secretary undertook to maintain, that " besides its
policy, the measure was also allowable on principle, for that

326 ^MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
it was perfectly justifiable to use all the means that God and
Nature put into our hands"
Earl Chatham replied, in a burst of eloquence, not surpassed
for strength, beauty, and effect, by any thing history has re
corded. " I am astonished," exclaimed the dignified statesman, —
"shocked, to hear such principles confessed; to hear them
avowed in this house or even in this country. My lords, I
did not intend to have encroached again on your attention, but
I cannot repress my indignation, — I feel myself impelled to
speak. My lords, we are called upon-as members of this house,
as men, as Christians, to protest against such horrible barba
rity. ' That God and Nature put into our hands !' What
idea of God and Nature that noble lord may entertain, I know
not ; but I know that such detestable principles are equally
abhorrent to religion and humanity. What ! to attribute~"the
sacred sanction of God and nature to the massacres of the
Indian scalping knife ! to the cannibal savage, torturing, mur
dering, devouring, drinking the blood of his mangled victims !
Such notions shock every precept of morality, every feeling
of humanity, every sentiment of honour. These abominable
principles, and this more abdminable avowal of them, demand
the most decisive indignation. I call upon that reverend
and this most learned bench to vindicate the religion of their
God, to support the justice of their country. I call upon the
bishops to interpose the unsullied sanctity of their lawn ;
upon the judges to interpose the purity of their ermine, to
save us from this pollution. I call upon the honour of your
lordships to reverence the dignity of your ancestors, and to
maintain your own. I call upon the spirit and humanity of
my country, to vindicate the national character. I invoke the
genius of the constitution. From the tapestry that adorns
these walls, the immortal ancestor of this noble lord frowns
with indignation at the disgrace of his country. In vain did
he defend the liberty and establish the religion'- of Britain
against the tyranny of Rome, if these worse than popish
cruelties and inquisitorial practices are endured among us.
To send forth the merciless cannibal, thirsting for blood !

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. " 327
against whom? Your Protestant, brethren! — to lay waste
their country, to desolate their dwellings, and extirpate their
race and name, by the aid and instrumentality pf these hor
rid hell-hounds of war ! Spajn can no longer boast pre-emi
nence in barbarity. She armed herself with blood-hounds
to extirpate the wretched natives of Mexico; but we, more
ruthless, loose the- dogs of war against our countrymen in
America, endeared to us by every tie that should sahctify
humanity. My lords, I solemnly* call upbu your lordships,
and upon every order of men in the state, to stamp upon this
infamous procedure the indelible stigma of public abhorrence.
More particularly- I call upon the holy prelates of our reli
gion to do away this iniquity ; let them perform a lustration,
to purify tiieir country from this, deep and deadly sim My
lords, I am old and weak, and at present unable, to say more;
but my feelings and indignation were too strong to, say less.
I could npthave slept this night in .my bed, nor have re
posed my head upon my pillpw, without giving this vent to
my eternal abhorrence of such* enormous and preposterous
principles." J
What would the patriotic and high-minded earl of Chat
ham have said, had he lived in the present times, and heard
ofthe barbarities of Spain towards her colonists ?
When the Russians put fo the swprd thirty thousand Turks
at the capture of Ismail, all. Europe shuddered. When it
was said that Bonaparte had. put to death his sick in Egypt,
all Europe was shocked. When Indian savages are, taken as
the allies of Great Britain in modern warfare, the British
people, as well as the whole civilized world, condemn the
barbarous alliance. When the city of Washington was en
tered by the British, when the* public edifices which had been
erected there for civil purposes, and the national library, were
\ set fire to by the merciless foe, Europe frowned on the de
stroyer's, and registered the transaction in her records as an
act of Vandalism, disgraceful to the exalted nation whose offi
cers directed it, and dishonourable to the age in which it was
committed. What then should be the denunciation which the

328 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
conduct of Spain to her transatlantic brethren has merited ?¦—
a nation, which, hugging itself in the cloak of religion; brand
ing every other, that differed from her in tenets, with the
stigma of heresy ; proclaiming herself through the world as
the champion of Christianity, and boasting of her peculiar
adherence to its doctrines, , orders and sanctions a system of
atrocities, unknown in the darkest ages of society, and re
wards with honours and distinctions those who show them
selves to be animated with the spirit of her sanguinary edicts ?
Will it be believed by posterity, that the rest of the world
looked on this tragic scene without making one single effort
to stanch the bleeding wounds of eighteen millions of people ?
By this sanguinary course of conduct, more than a million of
human beings have perished in Spanish America, since the
year 1810; and no small proportion of these victims have
perished, not on the field of battle, but by death inflicted in
all its most hideous forms, by the hand of cold-blooded cruel
ty. " Have not sufficient victims been already immolated on
the altars of vengeance, have not sufficient families been ruined,
have not sufficient cities and towns been plundered and de
stroyed ?" " Is it not time to put an end to such a vast and
fruidess effusion of human blood, and to stanch the horrors
of so destructive and protracted a war ?"
" Are not the enormities we have related sufficient to fill
the heart of every friend of his own species with alarm, and
chill every feeling of humanity ?"
The horrors we have noticed are not such as are insepara
ble from a state of warfare; they have been engendered by a
spirit of revenge, and executed with a barbarity unpractised
even in the darkest ages of Paganism. The stipulations' of
society, in all Christian states, have meliorated the afflictions
of war by certain usages generally held sacred ; but on the
American continent, Spain has given to the ravages of war
every infernal atrocity which the malice of a demon could
suggest. Is there no generous or eloquent Spaniard to be found inthe
present Spanish Cortes, who will raise his voice in that body,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 329
and, emulating the renown of Chatham, step forward to stig
matize the dreadful system which Spain has pursued, and is
still pursuing towards America ?
If no European Spaniard can be found capable of divesting
himself of his natural (orgullo) pride, or of elevating his mind
above the prejudices of his education, are there no natives
of America, in the present Cortes, who, like Mexia, Lardi-
zabal, Arispe, Teran, Calatrava, Palacios, Couto, and Ribera,
members of the former Cortes, will stand forth in behalf of
America, at the present crisis, and raise their voices against the
inhuman practices of this frightful and extraordinary contest?
If no such generous statesmen appear in the saloon of the
present Cortes, or if Spain pursues the system that has hi
therto prevailed in her councils, humanity may still have to
deplore, for a few years longer, scenes of carnage and desola
tion ; but the arm of dreadful retribution cannot be long stay
ed ; it will fall with accumulated weight on the head of every
European Spaniard now in America, or who may hereafter
dare to set his foot on its soil.
Nations, like individuals, when excited by powerful passions,
soon pass to extremes in their conduct. The affection of a
slave to a master is in some few instances strong and steady,
but in general it is weak and precarious. The ties between a
colony and a mother country, bear a much closer analogy to
those between the master and slave, than Jftetween the parent
and offspring.
Is it not an abuse of reason as well as a violation of every
natural law, to suppose that the parent state (as it is called,)
situated at a distance of two thousand leagues, should dictate
to, and control an empire vastly superior in extent of territory
and population ? Can any thing account for the submission of
colonies, under such circumstances, but an absolute ignorance
of their physical and moral strength. Will not every attempt
made by the parent state to keep those Colonies in subjection,
after the latter have discovered their rights and their strength,
tend tp destroy the little affection that may still linger in the
bosoms of the colonists towards their former madre patria ?
Will not such outrages as Spain has been in the habit of
' (42)

330 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
exercising towards the Spanish Americans for upwards of
three centuries, and more especially during the last ten years,
not only destroy every principle of attachment, but give birth
to an inextinguishable hatred ? Is it possible that the wise
Europeans of the Peninsula, have not yet discovered the
inutility of all their menaces and savage edicts, and of all
their murders, to effect the pacification of America ? Are
they so infatuated or blinded by pride and prejudice as not to
see, that the constitution, which would have been received
some years ago with joy and gratitude by the Americans,
will now be rejected with disdain? or if received by any por
tion, that it will be for no other purpose than a temporary ex
pedient to enable them with more ease and certainty to ac
complish their, ulterior views in favour of the independence
of their country ?
We entertain very little expectation that the presentCortes
will adopt a more liberal system of policy towards America
than the last. It remains, however, yet to be seen, whether
the lessons of experience will dissipate the mists in which the
former Cortes were involved, and whether some ofthe mem
bers of the present body have become -regenerated by adver
sity. We shall gratefully acknowledge our mistake, should
the Cortes generously come forward and prove themselves
just and wise, by respecting the rights of mankind in America,
and by magnanimously confessing that the inhabitants of Ame
rica, as well by reason as the laws of nature, are entitled to the
privileges and blessings of self-government.
Should any enlightened Spaniard peruse these remarks, we
pray that he will bear in mind, that they have been penned by
a citizen of the United States, not with a view to wound the
feelings of a Spaniard, but to show the dreadful effects of ec
clesiastical and civil despotism on the human character. We
know not any natural causes to make the natives of the Penin
sula of Spain more sanguinary than the rest of the human race.
The greater portion of the Spanish Peninsula enjoys as fine a
climate as any in Europe ; its soil is capable of yielding every
thing necessary for human subsistence ; and Christianity has
shed its rays in every corner of the kingdom ; but, neverthe-

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 331
less, there is a vindictive spirit in the Spaniard; there is hau
teur in his deportment, cruelty in his conduct in war, and a
jealousy the most absurd and constant, against the people of
all other nations. These are characteristics of the, Spaniards,
attested by the pages of history, and by. almost every travel
ler who has visited Spain. The exceptions to this general cha
racter are more rare among the Spaniards than among any
other people of the earth. It is possible their character may
be changed by a new course of education. Bigots always
have been, and ever will be cruel ; but when we see civil des
potism blended with religious intolerance, we may cease to
wonder, that the Spaniard, in his individual as well as national
character, is proud and vindictive.
These traits have, in a most striking manner, been exem
plified in the conduct of Spain and, of Spaniards towards Ame
rica ; and, with a view to illustrate the subject, we shall close
our memoirs of the Mexican revolution with the following pa
raphrase of the sentiments of a celebrated modern writer. -
" Humanity hath lifted Up her voice, and is invoking every
heart of generous sentiments to frown upon the execrable
scenes that are acting in America, and which, under names the
most specious and venerated, are covering her with crimes of
the deepest die. The men who tread the soil of that unhap
py country have lost their natures. The eye there sees none
but ferocious enemies, bent on mutual slaughter. Every thing
is devastated — every thing is consumed by the sword and the
flames. The Spanish soldier, made savage by his ideal wrongs,
has proclaimed extermination to be the only law of those vast
regions. How long shall we unmoved contemplate these hor
rors, which strip the human character of its noblest attributes,
and degrade manto the level of the ferocious beasts of the
forest ? Shall havoc still elevate her ensanguined brow in the
New World, within the eyeshot ofthe Old ? and after so much
has been done to ameliorate the intercourse between Europe
and Africa, shall nothing be done for America ?
" A king of Syracuse imposed no other law on conquered
Cdrthage than the abolition of human sacrifices. The Catho
lic religion had cast down the blood-stained altars of Mexico ;

332 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
but Spain has rebuilt the fearful shrines, and now, armies of
inhuman priests offer up prostrate America, at her command,
as a victim to appease the irritated^manes of her rejected
crown • Will Europe never cease to be the curse of the in
habitants of those climes, and to force from them their gold
by their blood, and shed their blood, by armies paid with that
gold ?
"The senate of Rome once listened with submission to a
savage, and rewarded the ingenuous frankness of his words
by suspending the exactions of his country. Ah ! how nobly
was Rome then represented by her senate, and how much more
glorious would Europe appear, should she, in the name of hu
manity, interpose her august judgment to stem the tide of wo
which overwhelms America, and should she, placing herself
between these fierce combatants, exact a truce of their rage !
When,' then, America and Spain should present themselves
before'this Areopagus, what emotions would* not the former
excite, and how speechless would* the latter be, if America,
discovering her wounds, and showing her opened and almost
bloodless veins, should exclaim; 'Cruel Spain! did Heaven
form me for thyself alone ? In tranquillity and happiness I
had passed the peaceful ages that preceded the fatal hour, when
the hand of thy Columbus tore aside the veil which from cre
ation's dawn had hid, me from thine eyes. But I learned to
know thee by my tearful eyes and shed blood. For, soon as
thy soldiers had landed on my shores, they poured among my
unoffending children an unknown and appalling fire — and thy
fiery coursers smote them with their mailed hoofs. Thou de-
stroyedst my thrones, and the altars erected by my gratitude
to that great luminary whose rays fertilize my soil, ripen the
juices of my peerless vegetables, and beautify, with splendid
hues, my flowers and my fruits — the inhabitants of my groves
and of my wide-spread plains. The bowels, of my lofty moun
tains give thee riches ; the freshness and medicinal virtues of
my plants give thee health ; and the only acknowledgment that
I have yet received from thee has been death, and death alone !
" ' From the time that thou deliveredst to the flames the
last scion of my Incas, and transportedst to another hemir

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 333
sphere the race which occupied my throne of Mexico, hast
thou forborne one instant to heap outrage upon outrage, and
to add ruins to ruins ?
" ' With extended arms I receive thee in my territory, and
thou instantly declarest me a slave ; and to arrogate to thyself
the right of subjecting me, thou placest the widest and most
unnatural distinctions between thy children and mine, and con-
demnest them to form the last link in the chain of being.
" ' It was necessary that Rome should command thee to view
in them human beings, and thy ohedience to her orders was
for once without reproach. But, thenceforth, thou entrustedst
to chains and to the knife the duty of maintaining that distinc
tion thou hadst placed between mine and thine. Surely, be
ings so inferior to the cherished sons of thy bosom merited
extermination, and they have disappeared. Then at least thou
wast not a parricide ; but now, is it not thine own blood that
thou art shedding ? Have those who sprung from thy loins,
my adopted sons, lost in thine eyes all traces of their origin ?
Dost thou not acknowledge them as brothers ? In the first
tempest of thy wrath, thy vengeance fell on strangers ; but
now thou hast risen up against Spaniards, — thou warrest
against thine own family. No longer do strange and different
forms of worship divide us. My voice now utters the sounds
of that majestic language which you have diffused throughout
the vast extent of my dominions. Oh Spain ! how canst thou
assume the tender name of mother ? A mother studies the
¦ happiness of her offspring, — their felicity constitutes her de
light. But hast thou ever attempted to sooth my sufferings,
or enlighten my mind ? Speak, and inform me, in which of
thy acts or sentiments can I recognise thy fosteriug care ?
" ' From the commencement of thy reign over me, thou hast
trembled for the preservation of thy power. The extent of
my territory fills thee with alarm, when compared with thy
straitened limits in one corner of Europe. My wealth makes
thee blush for thy poverty; — my fertility, for the barrenness
of thy soil. The population which my vast regions are des
tined by the God of nature to subsist, frightens by anticipation
thy unpeopled cities and deserted plains : and, to quiet thy

334 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
jealous fears, thou repressest the principles of strength and
felicity within me, and withdrawest from my soil its exube
rant fruitfulness, that the tree may bear no more fruit than thy
own hand can pluck. Like the Dutch, who, with hoe in hand,
traverse the fruitful Moluccas, and extirpate the luxurious
shoots, lest their superabundance should interfere with the
value of the produce to which avarice has limited those isles,
thou hast commanded nature, prodigal of her favours to me,
to become steril : thou hast forbidden the olive to yield its oil
to me, — the mulberry tree, to nourish the insect whose indus
try would yield me robes-of comfof fcand splendour, — the vine,
to beautify my hills, or allay my thirst with its juice. To
extract for thee the gold from my mountains, is all that -thou
permittest me to do. Thou hast debarred me from commu
nication With the rest of the world ; and if I am known to it,
it is yet undiscovered to me. The products of human indus
try, the embellishments of art, and the advantages of science,
thou withholdest from my enjoyment. My noble rivers flow
through solitary forests and unpeopled regions. My ports
are capable of containing all the ships of the world ; but thy
iron laws condemn them to a solitude that is never broken,
but by some meanly freighted ship, despatched by the avarice
of thy ministers, or by the intrigues of thy courtiers.
" ' To whom hast thou committed thy authority over me ?
To ungrateful strangers. By whom have they been succeed
ed ? By men equally unknown and ungrateful, whose rapacity
has long since ceased to excite my surprise, and whose for
bearance I have never known. Behold what thy reign has
cost me : and add to this, thy wars that interest me not, which
blockade my ports, ravage my coasts, and convert the vast
circumference of my territory into the barrier of a prison.
" ' But the endurance ofthese wrongs has reached its height.
For a long time, thou hast ceased to exist in relation to me.
Events, over which I had not the slightest influence, have
occasioned this separation, and established new relations be
tween us. Other views have burst upon my enraptured sight,
and have created for me a new existence. Shall I renounce
that existence for thy sake, and become again a hewer of wood

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 335-
and a drawer of water ? Leave me, oh leave me, to pursue
in peace that path which is fitting to my age, and which the
march of mind has formed for me. Deceive not thyself, nor
think that it is I who have burst asunder, the bonds that united
us. It was nature herself, — it was that world from which
thou hast excluded me, to which I now belong, and from
which I must never again.be parted.
" ' Tell me, did thy king alone reign over me ? No : every
Spaniard, every factory, every workshop, in the Peninsula,
considered me its subject and its slave. Trembling under the
load of multiplied wrongs, my groans were punished with
stripes and death ; and when I spoke of civil rights, thy sword
was unsheathed, and the fire of extermination was lighted.
Blood and ashes smoke on every side; and the lion of Castile,
emulating in ferocity the monarch of my own forests, is pre
paring to reign, like him, in deserts.
" ' When the Supreme Being created man, was it 'that he
should be a vassal ?, Has his neck been only formed to bear
the; yoke ? Is the exercise of his reasoning powers to be denied
him ? Is the act of reflecting and comparing criminal ? Does
he merit extermination, for daring to resist oppression ? Dost
thou not know that it is the oppressor who makes the rebel ?
Is it not a law of nature, for manhood fo feel and assert the
rights belonging to that stage of existence ? Do not children
separate from their parents after a certain age, and hast thou
never seen them become parents in their turn ? Is it a crime
then for me to throw off my swaddling clothes, when they no
longer correspond with my growth ? When every thing within
reminds me of my maturity, when every thing without is en
lightened, is in motion, still advancing to perfection, must I
be held in leading-strings, and live in that darkness in which
thou wouldst retain me ? Where are thy means to effect it ?
Whence are thy treasures, but from the bowels of my moun
tains ? Whence are thy ships, but from my woods ? Whence
thy revenue, but from the harvests that thou art now destroy
ing, and from the plains, that thou art now laying waste ?
Whence are thy soldiers ? Alas ! thou draggest them to die
their hands in the blood of brothers. Dost thou rely on their

336 MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
support ? Will it not fail thee, if once they rivet their glance
upon the fascinating ore that I can pour into their hands, in
stead of the miserable pittance that thou givest them? — if once
they taste the fruits which I can offer them, instead of a sub
sistence measured by avarice, and diminished by fraud? — or
if once they behold the brides to whom I can unite them, in
stead of that gloomy celibacy to which thou wouldst doom
their youth, and by which thou wouldst extinguish their race ?
May hot those very soldiers, under circumstances so new and
unexpected to them, become my friends, and thy enemies ?
Forget not that the barbarians who invaded Greece, refused
to quit it, when they had once tasted its delicious fruits, and
caught a glimpse of those beauties which had served as models
to the chisel and to the pencil of the artists whose works have
filled a world with admiration. But suppose that these sol
diers, with whom thou threatenest me, should not prove faith
less to thee : sent for my destruction, they will find their graves
on my shores, and their tombs will be seen in my mountains.
Dost thou for a moment believe that the sight of them will
intimidate me ? The days of Cortez and of Pizarro have past
away for ever. My sons and thy sons descend from them.
No longer do thy arms and thy horses create surprise ; and
if for an age thy sons were believed immortal, for an age has
that illusion been dispelled. Receive from me the ofttimes
salutary advice of an enemy. Abjure an empire thou canst
no longer control ; and confess that the period has arrived,
when America, by the decrees ofthe God of heaven, must be
separated from your unnatural sway. Know that the day is
fast approaching, when all nations will learn that their true
interests consist in cultivating amity and intercourse with each
other, instead of struggling for the crown of domination.
Anticipate my future prosperity, and behold in it the real
source of thine own happiness and regeneration. Get rid of
thy watchfulness and thy remorse. Come and settle on my
soil, as brothers and as friends. Participate in those harvests
which all-bountiful nature, in my favoured climes, yields to
industry. Let us interchange with each other our respective
productions : let us terminate the murderous struggle between,

MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 337
our own kindred. Imbrue thy hands no longer in the blood of
my sons. Let the powers of youthful America no longer re
main dormant, but let her dispute the prize of improvement
with Spain. Cultivate thy fields, and reanimate the languish
ing industry of thy people. With the riches of my mines will
I pay for the produce of thy industry. But look to obtain
them no more by the sword. Remember, too, that riches are
the wages of industry; nor will this decree of nature be chang
ed for thee. If my entreaties, thus founded in justice, reason,
and fraternal sentiments, should fail to soften thy heart,-!— if,
deaf to the voice of my sufferings, nothing will content thee
but the return of my neck to the yoke, — if thou fearest not
that America may one day deny to Spain, what Spain now
refuses to America, — if thou wilt draw thy vengeful steel, and
strive to enforce thy will at the point of the sword, then be it
so. My sons shall answer thee with theirs; and thou wilt find
engraved upon their blades, ' My ultimatum !' "

END OF THE MEMOIRS.

(43)

ROUTE

TO

THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

CHAPTER XIII.

Examination of the different routes to the Pacific Ocean—'
Doubts respecting a passage to the north-west — The com
munication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, at the
province of Choco, examined — Observations upon the routes
by the Isthmus of Darien or Panama; by the Isthmus of
Costa Rica; and by that of OaxaCa— General observations
on the importance of this passage to the civilized world in
general, and to the United States in particular.
HAVING thus far occupied the attention of pur readers
with an account of the civil wars of Mexico, we turn with
satisfaction from those tragic scenes, to an object ofthe high
est importance to the whole civilized world, and which we
deem particularly interesting to the citizens of the United
States, as well as to the present and future generations of the
whole continent of America.
To shorten the navigation between the eastern and western
parts of our globe, either by discovering a passage in the high
northern latitudes, or by cutting canals and opening routes
through some parts of the American continent, so as to afford
either a navigable or rapid communication between the Pacific
and Atlantic oceans, is most certainly an object which all the
nations of the earth ought to rejoice in seeing accomplished.

340 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
For the two last centuries, large sums have been expended
in attempting the discovery of a north-west passage to the
Pacific ocean ; and even at the present day, expeditions for
that purpose are annually fitted out, either by the European
governments or by enterprising private companies. To say
that no such passage exists, and that for several degrees around
the pole there is an impenetrable and eternal congelation, would
be controverting the opinions of many enlightened men : but
we believe they will all agree with us, that if ever such a pas
sage should be discovered, it will be in latitudes encumbered
with floating ice the greater part of the year, perpetually ex
posed to tempestuous weather, in a region where vegetation
is scarcely visible, and where no supplies could be obtained by
the unfortunate mariner, in the event of detention or shipwreck.
These dangers may be encountered, and in part surmounted,
by human courage and enterprise ; but the time that would be
required to perform a voyage in that direction would always be
uncertain. It would at least occupy as many months as the
present circuitous route to the western shores of the Pacific
ocean. It is therefore our opinion, that should such a north
west passage eventually be discovered, its utility to the com
mercial world would be very trifling. Waiving, then, any fur
ther consideration of this point, we will proceed to examine the
different sections of the continent, where nature requires but
little aid from art, in order to effect the great object of a com
munication between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
The Spanish and British governments have at various times
received the most flattering statements respecting the feasibi
lity of opening this communication, either entirely by water in
some places, or by land and water in others.
Nine different routes have been proposed : but we shall con
fine our examination to such places where we think the project
of cutting a canal may be successfully undertaken, and where
a land and water communication appears to be perfectly within
the compass of human exertion to accomplish.
More than two centuries ago, the Spanish government knew
that in the province of Choco, in New Grenada, the cutting of
a canal of a few leagues would effect a navigable communica-

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 341
tion between the two oceans ; and that, during the rainy sea
son, when the vallies of Choco were overflowed, canoes passed
with produce from one sea. to the other. But they prohibited,
under pain of death to those concerned, all communication
whatever by that route. A monk, (the curate of Novilla)
ignorant of the interdiction, or pretending to be so, assem
bled all the Indians in his parish, and in a short time cut a
canal between the rivers Atrato and San Juan, — called since
the canal of the Raspadura. Large canoes, (bongos) loaded
with cocoa, actually passed through it. This communication
was speedily stopped, by order of the government; and, the
unlucky curate with great difficulty obtained a pardon.
In the year 1813, we conversed with some intelligent Span
iards and Creoles, at Carthagena, respecting the Raspadura
canal ; and they stated, that although it was at present choked
up with sand and bushes, yet it might soon be cleared. They
also stated that there were several places between the sources
of the rivers Atrato and San Juan, where a canal might be cut
by a shorter route than the one which had been opened by the
curate of Novilla. The distance between the navigable waters
of Atrato and San Juan is only thirteen leagues; and from the
Pacific to the Atlantic ocean, following the course of the ravines,
is only eighty leagues. No doubt, therefore,- can exist, that a
water communication between the two oceans might be accom
plished, in the province of Ghoc6, by either opening the for
mer canal of Raspadura, or by cutting a new one between the
two rivers we have mentioned. This communication would
not admit the passage of vessels of large burthen, owing to
impediments in the two rivers, and to the shallowness of the
water on the bars at their mouths ; but as the ordinary pur
poses of commerce could be answered by the use of large flat-
bottomed boats, this route merits great consideration ; and it
will doubtless at some future day be the channel of an impor
tant commerce.
Besides this route, there is, in the same province, another,
and, as we were informed, a preferable one, by the river Nai-
pi, which empties into the Atrato, of which indeed it is only
a branch. From the port of Cupica, on the Pacific ocean, to

342 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
the head of the navigable waters of the Naipi, is only twen
ty-four miles, and the country between the two places is a
dead level. A canal might therefore be cut without diffi
culty. The course of the Naipi is stated to be very cir
cuitous, and makes the distance of the navigation a few
leagues longer than by the route of the Raspadura ; but the
circumstance of the waters of the Naipi being so near the
port of Cupica, gives to this route an important advantage.
The want of correct topographical knowledge prevents us from
forming an opinion upon the merits of these two routes : but
there cannot exist a doubt that by either of them a communi
cation between the two oceans may be established for the navi
gation of boats;, and it is possible that at some future period,
when population becomes dense, and a free trade shall be
permitted between the inhabitants of the Atlantic and Pacific
shores, the province of Choc6 may afford a channel for the
navigation of large vessels.
Secondly. The Isthmus of Darien, or, as it is usually called,
of Panama, is the section of the American continent most ce
lebrated among geographers, authors, and projectors, as the
point at which the two oceans may be united, by means of a
danal, with greater facility than at any other place. The Span
ish government have at different times endeavoured to obtain
accurate surveys of the Isthmus ; and for that purpose, engi
neers of eminence and capacity have been employed. Some
of the reports that were officially made on this subject contain
the most extravagant statements, — such as, that by cutting a
canal of about twelve leagues, following the course of the ra
vines at the foot of the mountains, a passage may be opened
as wide as the Gut of Gibraltar, from the bay of Panama to
the navigable waters of Cruces or Chagre. Other reporters
have stated, that such water communication cannot be accom
plished but by locks and tunnels, passing over an elevation of
at least four hundred'feet. In one point, however, all these
statements accord, — viz. that by a good road from Panama to
the place of embarkation on the river Cruces, property of any
description or weight might be conveyed in carriages; and, as
the distance is only about twenty-three miles, this place would

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 343
undoubtedly afford a more rapid and shorter route between
the two oceans than any yet pointed out.
During the administration of William Pitt, various projects
Were presented to him, tending to show the feasibility of cut
ting a canal through the Isthmus, sufficiently wide and deep
to admit vessels of the largest size ; and it is well known that
this statesman frequently among his friends spoke with rapture
on the^ subject, and that it constituted one of the great consi
derations in his mind when forming his plans for the emanci
pation of Spanish America.
So late as the year 1810, the Edinburgh Reviewers appeared
to have entertained the same opinion; for we find, in the num
ber for January of that year, the following observations : —
"In enumerating, however, the advantages of a commercial
nature which would assuredly spring from the emancipation of
South America, xve have not yet noticed the greatest, perhaps,
of all, — the mightiest event, probably, in favour ofthe peaceful
intercourse of nations, which the physical circumstances ofthe
globe present to the enterprise of man — / mean, the formation
of a navigable passage across the Isthmus of Panama, — the
junction of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is remarkable,
that this magnificent undertaking, pregnant with consequences
so important to mankind, and about which so little is known in
this country, is so far from being a romantic and chimerical
project, that it is not only practicable, but easy." The writer
proceeds to point out the means by which this great work can
be effected ; and then launches forth into a detail of the advan
tages which would result to the commercial and civilized
world, by thus bringing Asia nearer to Europe, &c.
It is with diffidence we venture to combat opinions emanat
ing from such respectable sources ; but all details, tending to
disembarrass this important and interesting question, must be
acceptable. Our information on this subject has been obtained from re
spectable individuals at Carthagena and Jamaica, who visited
the Isthmus from commercial views, or for the express pur
pose of a personal examination into the facilities or difficulties
of cutting the so much talked of navigable canal. It is there-

344 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
fore presumable, that intelligence from such sources is correct.
We have likewise carefully examined the observations of Wil
liam Walton Esq., of London, on this subject, published in
the fifth and sixth numbers of the Colonial Journal of March
and June, 1817; and as Mr. Walton's remarks have likewise
been founded on personal investigation, during a visit he made
to Panama, we think his opinions worthy of great attention,
more especially as all his works on South America are cha
racterized by liberality, and bear the impress of his ardent at
tachment to the cause of rational liberty, and his consequent
desire to promote and extend the commercial intercourse be
tween the Old and New World.
The river Chagre empties itself into the Atlantic ocean,
about the latitude of 9° 18' north, and 80° 35' west longitude;
it is navigable for boats (or large bongos) about twenty leagues,
to the town of Cruces : the bar, at the entrance of the river,
will not admit of the passage of a vessel drawing more water
than ten feet. The current in the river, at certain seasons, is
extremely rapid ; so that boats are sometimes fifteen or twenty
days getting to Cruces ; but this disadvantage could be reme
died by steam vessels.
A chain of mountains, which Humboldt considers a prolon
gation of the Andes of New Grenada, runs through the Isth
mus, following the curvature of the coast, and is flanked by
other lofty hills, rising on both sides. The road from Cruces
to Panama winds round the sides of those hills, or rather along
their central base. Supposing a canal to be cut at the fpot of
those hills, pursuing the sinuosities of the ravines, it would
nevertheless be necessary for the engineer to make use of
arches in some places, and subterraneous passages in others,
in order to obtain a level ; and he would likewise have to car
ry the canal over an elevation of some hundred feet. But even
admitting that human ingenuity and labour should surmount
the physical obstacles, and that a canal should be completed
from Cruces to Panama, we nevertheless encounter at the lat
ter an impediment that we firmly believe to be insuperable.
The water along the coast, in the bay of Panama, is so shal
low, that none but flat-bottomed boats, of one or two feet

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 345
draught of water, can approach the shore. The city of Pana*-
ma is situated at the head of the gulf of that name, on a penin
sula washed by the waters of the Pacific ocean. A mariue
gate faces the port, which by the Spaniards is called "El Pu
erto de las Piraguas" frOm its being the place, of resort of the
boats so called. On the other side, facing the Isthmus, is an
other gate, called "La Puerta de la Tierra" or land gate. To
the south, the town is surrounded and defended by a range of
small islands. The anchorage place for all vessels of large
size, is at two small islands, called Perico and Flaminco, dis
tant about seven miles from the city. The lading and unlad
ing of vessels is therefore tedious and expensive ; and in fact
the bay of Panama is nothing, more than an open roadstead.
The extreme shallowness of the water near the beach, not
only in the bay, but along the Whole coast, opposite to those
places where the projectors of the canal have contemplated
cutting a passage, seems, as we have before observed, to pre
sent a most serious obstacle to its execution. Supposing that
by locks and tunnels, and excavation*, the Isthmus should be
perforated from Cruces to the shores of the bay of Panama,
the canal must then be continued to a distance of seven miles
into the ocean, to admit the navigation of large vessels. We
conceive it possible to make such a channel into the ocean, but
it appears to us to be an Herculean task. Besides, such a
channel would be liable to the operation of the same causes
that have thrown up the sand along the shore of the bay, and
would consequently be perpetually filling up. But even ad
mitting that all these impediments could be overcome, and that
a passage should be opened sufficient to allow vessels drawing
eighteen or twenty feet of water to proceed as far as Cruces,
they would not then find a sufficiency of water to descend the
Chagre and to pass the bar at its mouth : it would be necessa
ry therefore to continue the canal by another route, through
the entire Isthmus, before it could be used as a passage for the
navigation of large vessels.
We shall rejoice if future surveys of the Isthmus prove that
the obstacles we have suggested either db not exist, or that
they may be surmounted. For we readily confess, that there
(44)

346 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
is not a point where it would be more desirable to carry this
design into execution, than the Isthmus of Panama, not only
on account of its central position, but from the short distance
between the two oceans.
Some writers have suggested, that the cutting of a canal at
this Isthmus would produce a serious physical revolution in
the adjacent country, arising from a supposed difference in the
height of the waters on the Pacific and Atlantic shores. Some
have gone so far as to say, that the whole Isthmus would be
inundated, and the present course of the Gulf Stream be en
tirely changed. But we consider that Humboldt and other
scavans of the age have completely refuted the theory of a
difference in the elevation of the waters of the Pacific and At
lantic oceans. The only difficulty, in our estimation, is, to
find out a practicable route for a canal capable of admitting
large vessels to pass from one ocean to another ; but although
such a route cannot be discovered, and the obstacles we have
suggested cannot be surmounted, yet the Isthmus of Panama
must be viewed as a place which from its geographic position
and other advantages appears destined to enjoy a Considerable
future trade, but never to become a great commercial empo
rium. Thirdly. We now come to treat of a section of the Ameri
can continent, where the magnificent scheme of cutting a na
vigable canal, between the two oceans, appears unincumbered
with any natural obstacles.
The province of Costa Rica, or, as it is named by some ge
ographers, Nicaragua, has occupied but the very cursory no
tice of either Spanish or other writers ; they have all, however,
stated, that a communication could be opened by the lake of
Nicaragua, between the two seas, but no accurate description
of the country has ever been published, and indeed so com
pletely has the mind of the public been turned towards the
Isthmus of Panama, as the favoured spot where the canal
should be cut, that Costa Rica has been disregarded.
In looking over th^ excellent maps of Melish and doctor
Robinson, recently published, we perceive that the river called
San Juan discharges its waters into the Atlantic ocean, in the

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 347
province of Costa Rica, about the latitude of 10° 45' north.
This noble river has its source in the lake of Nicaragua. The
bar at its mouth has been generally stated as not having more
than twelve feet water on it. About Sixteen years ago, an en
terprising Englishman, who casually visited the river, examin
ed the different passages over the bar, and -discovered one,
which, although- narrow, would admit a vessel drawing twen
ty-five feet. It is said that some of the traders to that coast
from Honduras, are likewise acquainted with the passage just
mentioned, but it has never been laid down on any map ; and
if the Spanish government had been informed of it, they would,
conformably to their usual policy, have studiously concealed
it. After the bar of the San Juan is crossed, there is excel
lent and safe anchorage in four and six fathoms of water. It
is stated that there are no obstructions to the navigation of the
river, but what may be easily removed ; and at present large
brigs and schooners sail up the river mto the lake. This im
portant fact has been communicated to us by several traders.
The waters of the lake, throughout its whole extent, are from
three to eight fathoms in depth.
In the lake are some beautiful islands, which, with the coun
try around its borders, form a romantic and most enchanting
scenery. At its western extremity is a small river, which com
municates with the lake oi Leon, distant about eight leagues.
From the latter, as well as from Nicaragua, there are some
small rivers which flow into the Pacific ocean, — .the distance
from the lake of Leon to the ocean is only about thirteen miles,
and from Nicaragua to the gulf of Papagayo, in the Pacific
ocean, is only twenty-one miles. The ground between the two
lakes and the sea is a1 dead level. The only inequalities seen
are some isolated conical hills, of a volcanic origin. There
are two places where a canal could be cut with the greatest
facility : the one, from the coast of Nicoya, (or, as it is called
in some of the maps, Caldera,) to the lake of Leon, a dis
tance of thirteen or fifteen miles; the other, from the gulf of
Papagayo to the lake of Nicaragua, a distance of about twenty-
one or twenty-five miles. The coast oi Nicoya and the gulf of
Papagayo are free from rock's and shoals, particularly in the

348 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
gulf, whose shore is so bold that a frigate, may anchor within
a few yards of the beach. Some navigators have represented
the coasts of Costa Rica, as well on the Pacific as on the At
lantic side, as being subject to severe tempests ; and hence
these storms have been called Papagayos : but we have con
versed with several mariners who have experienced them, and
have been assured that they are trifling when compared with
the dreadful hurricanes experienced among the Antilles, in
the months of August, September, and October. The Papa
gayos are merely strong north-east gales, which last about the
same time, during the winter season, as the northern gales in
the gulf of Mexico. More than half the year the seasons are
perfectly tranquil, and more especially on the coast ofthe Pa
cific ocean. We have conversed with persons, residents of
the city of Leon, who assured us, that for twenty years past
they had not experienced any thing deserving the name of a
hurricane. The climate of Costa Rica has none of the deleterious qua
lities of the province of Choco and the Isthmus of Panama.
The sea breezes from the Pacific as well as Atlantic set in
steadily every morning, and diffuse over the whole Isthmus of
Costa Rica a perpetual freshness. We think it is not hazard
ing too much to say, that this part of the American continent
is the most salubrious of all the tropical regions. The most
finely formed and robust race of Indians of any part of the
American continent, are here to be seen. The soil is peculi
arly fertile, particularly in the vicinity of the river San Juan,
and around the borders of the lakes Nicaragua and Leon.
From the preceding outline, it will be perceived that nature
has already provided a water conveyance through this Isth
mus, to within a few leagues of the Pacific ocean ; but, sup
posing that the route we have mentioned, up the river San
Juan and through the lake of Nicaragua, should, when accu
rately surveyed, discover obstructions (which we do not anti
cipate) to the navigation of large vessels, where would exist
the difficulty, in such case, of cutting a canal through the en
tire Isthmus ? The whole distance is only one hundred and
ninety, or at most two hundred miles from the Atlantic ocean

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 349
to the gulf of Papagayo. There is scarcely ten miles of the
distance but what passes over a plain; and by digging the ca
nal near the banks of the river San Juan, and, the margin of
the lake of Nicaragua, an abundant supply of water could be
procured for a canal of any depth or width. Surely the mag
nitude1 of such an undertaking would not be a material objec
tion, in the present age of enterprise and improvement, espe
cially when we look at what has been accomplished in Europe,
and at the splendid canal now cutting in our own Country, in
the state of New York. It may be said, that the present
poverty of the country, and its spare population, are powerful
obstacles to the execution of the project. If Costa Rica were
in possession of a liberal government, willing to lend its en
couragement to the important object, capital in abundance
would speedily be forthcoming, either from Great Britain or
from the United States. Enterprising companies could soon
be formed ; and we hazard little in predicting that the canal
stock of such an association would yield a profit far greater
than that of any other company in the world. With regard to
the difficulty of procuring labourers in the present state of the
population of the country, it could soon be obviated. The
Indians of Guatimala and Yucata,n would flock to the Isthmus
of Costa Rica in thousands, provided the banners of freedom
were hoisted there, under any government capable of affording
them protection, and rewarding them for their labour. The
present condition of those unfortunate people is wretched be
yond conception, particularly of those in the, interior of Yuca
tan. We have seen them attending Mass, and accompanying-
religious processions, in hundreds and thousands, almost in a
state of nudity. Adults had a covering over their loins, and
sometimes a shirt and a pair of drawers; but children of both
sexes, under ten and twelve years of age, were literally naked.
The fruits of their labour are absorbed by the exactions of
their civil, military, and ecclesiastical, despots : they feel no
stimulus to industry, when they are debarred from enjoying
or inheriting its fruits : they pass a life of ignorance and apa
thy, and die in misery. Unfold to these unfortunate beings
a new and rational mode of existence, offer them moderate

350 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
wages and comfortable'clothing, give them personal protection,
and allow them the advantages of a free external and internal
commerce, and they would soon display a different character.
Offer to the view of the Indians these blessings, and multi
tudes would repair to the proposed point, from all the adja
cent countries. Under such circumstances, we do not enter
tain any doubt that twenty, thirty, or even fifty thousand
Indians could be procured for the work in question, who would
give their labour with gratitude for a moderate compensation.
Every Indian among the natives of Gosta Rica would rejoice
at the' prospect of being employed and paid for his labour, —
and more especially in the execution of an undertaking that
even to his untutored mind would present such obvious ad
vantages to his country and to his posterity.
We feel great pleasure in stating, that many of these ideas
are derived from an interesting and able memoir, written by
the late Bryan Edwards, the celebrated historian of the West
Indies. We perused it, several years since, at Jamaica; and,
although we have not seen it among' any of the published
works of that distinguished writer, we believethe memoir was
laid before the British government. Bryan Edwards was per
fectly aware of the importance of Costa Rica to <he British
nation, and of the practicability of forming the communication
between the two seas in the manner we have suggested ; and
he made use of the most cogent and eloquent reasoning, to
induce his government to seize the Isthmus of Costa Rica by
conquest in xvar, or to obtain it by negotiation in peace. We
presume the British government have not lost sight of those
representations, nor of other interesting communications on the
same subject which have "been made to them by several intel
ligent individuals who had resided in the bay of Honduras.
The Isthmus of Costa Rica may hereafter become to the New,
what the Isthmus of Suez was to the Old World, prior to the
discovery of the route to Asia by the Cape of Good Hope.
Should a canal be cut through Costa Rica, of sufficient di
mensions to admit the passage of the largest vessels, and ports
of free commerce to all nations be established at the mouths
of this canal on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans,' there cannot

- ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 351
be a doubt that in less than a century this Isthmus would be
come the greatest commercial thoroughfare in the world. Let
the reader cast his eye upon the map, and behold its important
geographical position. Nearly central as respects the distance
between Cape Horn and the north-west c.oast of America, —
in the vicinity of the two great oceans, super seding-the neces
sity of the circuitous and perilous navigation around Cape
Horn, — it appears to be the favoured spot destined by nature
to be the heart of the commerce of the world.
The most ardent imagination would fail in an attempt to
portray all the important and beneficial consequences which
would result from the execution of this wprk, whose magni
tude and grandeur are worthy the profound attention of every
commercial nation. It is indeed a subject so deeply and ge
nerally interesting, that the powerful nations of the Old and
those of the New World should discard from its examination
all selfish or ambitious considerations. Should the work be
undertaken, let it be executed on a magnificent scale ; and,
when completed, let it become, like the ocean, a highway of
nations, the enjoyment of which shall be guarantied by them
all, and which shall be exempt from the caprice or regulations
of any one kingdom or state. This idea may at first view
appear as extravagant as it is novel ; but we cannot perceive
any thing in it that is not in unison with the liberal and enter
prising spirit of the present age ; and we feel perfectly assured
that if it receive the encouragement and support of the nations
of the Old World, those who will hereafter govern in the New
will not hesitate in the relinquishment of a few leagues of ter
ritory on the American continent, for, the general benefit of
mankind ; and more especially when America herself must
derive permanent and incalculable advantages from being the
great channel of communication between the Oriental and
Western World.
Fourthly. Having thus attempted to elucidate the extraor
dinary and peculiar advantages which Costa Rica possesses
for the establishment of a navigable intercourse between the
two seas, we will now proceed to examine another position,
which, although it is deficient in some of the natural advan-

352 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
tages of Costa Rica, still possesses others of so important a
character as to render it almost doubtful with us at which of
the two places the desired communication ought first to be
opened. Were we to consult the present and future interests
of Mexico, and of the republic of the United States, we should
say that the Mexican Isthmus, or, as it is more properly de
signated, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, is the section of all
others on the American continent, where the communication
between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans should be made : but
as we are desirous of seeing the blessings of commerce ex
tensively diffused for the benefit of the human race gene
rally, and not of any nation in particular, we should rejoice
to see the communication between the two seas simultane
ously opened at every place where it is practicable, whether
by land or water, or by the latter solely, thereby exciting
emulation, and widening the range of commercial enterprise.
We do not advocate a system of commercial aggrandizement
which seeks to raise itself by the oppression and ruin of other
nations, nor a system of restrictions at variance with the
laws of nature and the happiness of mankind. We wish to
see the two great oceans of our globe brought nearer to each
other by canals and high roads, at such places as the God of
nature has evidently destined for channels of communication;
and that they should no longer remain dark and dreary deserts,
such as they have been for ages, under the antisocial princi
ples ofthe Spanish government.
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is comprised in a tract of ter
ritory embracing the intendancy of Oaxaca and part of that of
Vera Cruz. On the coast of the Pacific ocean, it extends from
a place called Tonala, on fhe^borders of Guatimala, to the pro
vince of La Puebla. On the Atlantic coast, or rather in the
great bend of the Mexican Gulf, it extends from the bay of
Alvarado to Yucatan, including the province of Tabasco. The
greatest breadth of the Isthmus, within those limits, is about
one hundred and twenty-five miles. The narrowest part is
between the port of Guasacualco in the Gulf, and the bay of
Tehuantepec on the Pacific ocean. The latitude of the former
is about 18° 30', and of the latter about 16° 30'. From the

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 353
summit of a mountain called Chillilo, or La Gineta, on a clear
day,, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans can be distinctly seen.
We have conversed with many persons in the city of Oaxaca,
who had visited the mountain for the sole purpose of enjoying
this interesting spectacle; and they speak in the, most raptur
ous strains ofthe sublimityof the surrounding scenery, as well
as of the beauty and grandeur -which the view of the two
oceans presents* A chain of mountains, which may be termed
a continuation of the Andes, runs through the centre of this
Isthmus, the elevation of which above the ocean varies, from
five or six thousand to three or four hundred feet. From
some extraordinary convulsion of nature, vast chasms or ra
vines have been formed among those mountains, which we
shall hereafter speak of, as it is by means of those fissures that
nature appears to point out to man the practicability of form
ing a water communication between the two seas. During the
rainy season, these chasms contain a vast body of water, which
seeks its discharge by rivers flowing into the Pacific and Atlan
tic oceans. The Indians of the Isthmus, particularly those of
Tabasco and Tehuantepec, assert that they pass with their
canoes entirely through the Isthmus. We endeavoured, while
at Oaxaca, to ascertain that fact; and we are convinced that
when the waters are at their height during the, rainy season,
a canoe may.pass, by the sinuosities of the ravines, from the
river Guasacualco to die. rivers Chimalapa and Tehuantepec.
There is no part of the Mexican kingdom watered by ¦such
noble rivers as this Isthmus, We shall merely notice a few
of the most considerable. Guaspala, Tustepec, Canas, ahd
several others with, whose iiames we are unacquainted, dis
charge 3foeir waters in the bay of Alvarado, a few leagues to
the south-east, of the city of Vera Cruz. The St. Pierre and
Tabasco disembogue near each other on the coast of Tabasco.
Those rivers have their sources in the mountains of Oaxaca,
Vera Cruz, and Chiapa. They flow, through a country as fer
tile as any1 in New Spain, abounding in forests of the most
Valuable timber ; and are navigable at all seasons for large
boats, (bongos,) and during the floods have water sufficient
t for the largest vessels. On these rivers^ at some future time>
(45),

354 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN-
steam navigation may be made to afford similar benefits' to
those it now yields on the Mississippi and Ohio. On the
western side of the mountains,* there are several important
streams descending into the Pacific ocean. Chimalapa and
Tehuantepec discharge into the bay bearing the name of the
latter. The majestic river Guasacualco empties into the bay
of the same name,, in the Mexican Gulf. The sources of the
three last named rivers are within five leagues of each other;
but, as we have before mentioned, when the ravines of the
mountains, are filled with water, canoes may pass from the
rivers Chimalapa and Tehuantepec to Guasacualco. We will
not positively assert that a navigable canal may be formed, so
as to unite the waters of these three rivers. We however
believe it practicable. The point will be decided, when the
Isthmus shall hereafter be properly surveyed. In the mean
time, we will examine the importance of the Isthmus, as a
means of communication between the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans, even should a canal never be formed.
At the mouth of the river Guasacualco, is the most spacious
and secure harbour of any on the Adantic coast of Mexico.
It is the only port in the Mexican Gulf, where vessels of war,
and others of a large size, can enter'; and is far superior
either to Pensacola or Espiritu Santo. There are, at all sea
sons, on the bar at the mouth of the port, twenty-two feet
water ; and it is said, that during the flood of the river, the
bar occasionally shifts, and affords passages in five and six
fathoms Water. Some years ago, a Spanish ship of the linej
called the Asia, crossed the bar of Guasacualco, and anchored
in the port. We have heard of some ports to the northward
of Vera CrUz, capable of admitting vessels of a large size ;
of these, Matagorda has been stated to have twenty feet water
on the bar at the mouth of the harbour : it is in latitude 28° 30',
about half-way between the rivers Sabine and Del Norte. But
from recent information which we have obtained from the
officers of the United States' navy, who have been cruising in
that vicinity, we are induced to believe that there is not a sin
gle safe port in the whole range of the coast in the Gulf, with
the exception of Guasacualco. Vera Cruz is little more than

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 355
an Open roadstead; and during the northern gales, vessels are
frequently driven ashore in that port. Ships of war, and other
large vessels, are moored by cables made fast to rings in the
walls of the castle of San Juan de Ulua, situated on a small
island in the centre of the harbour ; but during heavy gales^
they are even here exposed to the danger of foundering. ,
The river Guasacualco is navigable for vessels of the largest
size, to within twelve leagues of the navigable waters of Chi
malapa and Tehuantepec. The latter river admits from the
Pacific ocean vessels drawing twenty feet water. It was on
this river the celebrated Cortez constructed ships, when he
sent Pedro de Alvarado to conquer Guatimala. No doubt
therefore exists, that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec can be en
tered on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, by the rivers before
mentioned, and that a good carriage road might be made, of
from twelve to fourteen leagues, along the sides of the moun
tains, by which all species of merchandise could be transport
ed with ease, in a few hours, from the navigable waters of Chi
malapa and Tehuantepec, to those of Guasacualco.
There is no part of New Spain where such a road could be
made with so much facility ; and indeed, if on a topographical
survey of the Isthmus, it shall he found practicable to cut a
canal, there is no place where such an undertaking could be
accomplished with such ease as in the province of Oaxaca.
It is proper that we, should here;' present the reader with a
brief description of this intendancy, in order to give him some
idea of its present and probablei future importance. •
The intendancy of Oaxaca is bounded on the north and north
east by that of Vera Cruz, by the captaincy general of Guatima
la on the south-east,, by the intendancy of La Puebla on the
west and north-west, and by the Pacific ocean on the south. In
its boundaries are comprehended a great part pf the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec^ as before described. It is about one hundred and
twenty-five leagues in length, from east to west, and its greatest
breadth about ninety leagues, Notwithstanding the contracted
limits of this province, and although not one-eighth of it, is yet
cultivated, it has a population; in proportion to its surface, far
greater than any otner province in New Spain. According to a

356 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
census taken in 1808, it contained six hundred thousand inhabi
tants. The number of cities, towns, and villages, exceeds eight
hundred. We have visited several villages, containing six and
seven thousand inhabitants. The city of Oaxaca (or Ante-
quera) contains about thirty-eight thousand inhabitants ; and,
as we have observed in a former chapter, this city equals, if it
does not surpass, the capital of the Mexican kingdom, in hs
beautiful streets and squares, as well as in fhe-splendour of its
edifices. Its salubrity is unequalled on the American cpnti-.
nent ; even its shores on the Pacific ocean appear exempted
from the usual diseases which afflict the inhabitants ofthe At
lantic and South Sea coasts.
The population of Tehuantepec, which is situated on the river,
only six leagues from the ocean, and about the latitude of 16°
30', are among the most active and healthy race of Indians we
have ever seen. The Indian females of Tehuantepec may be
properly called the Circassians of Southern America. Their
piercing eyes give to their countenance an extraordinary ani
mation ; their long black hair is neatly plaited, and adorned
with combs made of gold or tortoise shell ; while the celerity
and grace of their, movements strike a stranger with astonish
ment; They are very industrious, and manufacture nearly all
their own clothing. They are remarkable for their cleanliness,
and are fond of bathing. The Spanish government, during
the present revolution, have looked upon these Indians with a
jealous eye, in consequence of their known predilection to the
insurgents. The propinquity of the town to the sea coast, and
its being, situated on a navigable river, are circumstances that
give the government much uneasiness, because they are aware,
that if a foreign enemy should land on the coast of Oaxaca,
they would be received with open arms by the Indians of Te
huantepec, and indeed by the greater part ofthe population of
the whole province, as we have suggested in a former part of
this volume. The intendancy of Oaxaca, therefore, not only at
present possesses an immense population, but is of the highest
importance for its valuable productions. It is the region of
New Spain that appears the most favourable for the produc
tion of the important article of cochineal. In no other part of

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 357
Mexico does the Nopal (on which tree the cochineal insect
subsists) flourish so well. Its propagation has been unsuc
cessfully attempted in various other provinces ; but not only
do the climate and soil appear peculiarly adapted to this plant
in Oaxaca, but the Indians have, by a long course of habit,
acquired so much experience in the. manner of cultivating the
Nopal, and collecting the insects, as to preclude all rivalship
in any of the other provinces. In some years there have been
produced in Oaxaca, foufhundred thousand pounds weight of
cochineal : — this is worth; in Europe, even during peace, about
one million six hundred thousand dollars. During war, it has
frequently sold in England at twenty-five shillings sterling a
poundt The poor Indian who collects this precious commodity,
barters it for dry goods to the Spanish storekeepers in the villa
ges. The extortion of these men, together with the exactions of
the government and priesthood, leave to the Indian a miserable
return for his care and industry ; but we have no doubt that if
these unjust and unnatural restrictions oh the labour of the
natives were removed, the intendancy of Oaxaca would in a
veryfew years produce above a million of pounds of cochineal ,
per annum.
The mountains of this intendancy, particularly those of the
Misteca, are likewise peculiarly adapted to the growth of the
mulberry tree. Many years ago, the experiment was made,
and it succeeded so well that it awakened the jealousy of the
European Spaniards, and they created so many Obstacles to
the manufacturing of silk in Oaxaca, that the Indians became
exasperated, and in one night destroyed every mulberry tree
in the intendancy; since which time, no attempts have been
made to renew its culture.
-The indigo, in the district of Tehuantepec, is superior in
quality to that of Guatimala ; but as there are no ports open
to foreign commerce along the coast of the Pacific ocean, in
thd vicinity of Tehuantepec, nor indeed on any part of the
coast of Oaxaca, the inhabitants have not been stimulated ei
ther to the culture of that, of the cotton plant, or of the sugar
cane, except so far as is absolutely necessary to supply their
own immediate consumption.

358 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
In all the mountainous districts of Oaxaca, and more espe
cially in the spacious vallies which are situated from twenty-
five hundred to six thousand feet above the level of the sea,
we find a soil and climate at least equal, if not superior to any
on the globe.' There is not a single article raised in the tem
perate zone that would not here find a congenial region.
Wheat, and all kinds of grain, yield a return to the cultivator
equal to that of the most fertile parts of Europe. The fruits
ahd vegetables of Oaxaca are unrivalled for luxuriance and
delicacy. Peaches, pears, apricots, and strawberries, are here
to be found of a size and flavour superior to those of the south
of France ; and the variety and excellence of the grape point
out the vallies of Oaxaca as the great future vineyards of New
Spain. Asparagus, artichokes, turnips, cabbages, and all the
various productions of horticulture, grow to a size and per
fection we have never beheld elsewhere.
To all these important natural advantages of this favoured
country, must be added that of its mineral productions. Some,
of the most valuable gold mines of New Spain are in this pro
vince; but they have not yet been extensively worked, inas
much as the attention of the directors of the mining establish
ments in Mexico has been principally directed to the mines of
Guanaxuato and of other provinces, silver mines being con
sidered more profitable than those of gold. The Indians of
the upper and lower Misteca, as well as those of the district of
Tehuantepec, collect grains of gold in the beds of the rivulets
that flow through the mountains, and larger masses of gold
have been found in Oaxaca than in any other part of New
Spain. Indications of silver ore are likewise discoverable in
all the mountainous districts, but as yet scarcely any atten
tion has been paid to them. In fact, there cannot be a doubt
that this province abounds in all the precious minerals; and
When the use of machinery shall be introduced, and the re
strictions on human industry and enterprise be removed, this
province will yield as much gold and silver as any other in
America. It is worthy of remark, likewise, that copper and
iron ore have been found in different parts of Oaxaca. In the
village of Tanhuitlan, there is a large piece of metal, which

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 359
the blacksmiths of the place use as an anvih It was found on
the summit of a hill near the village. It is of an extraordinary
weight for its dimensions. Various attempts have been made
to fuse it, but it has resisted the most intense heat.*
From the preceding outline of the great resources of this
province, including its dense population, it will be evident to
the reader, that to make a carriage road of fourteen, or even
(should it be necessary) of twenty leagues, over the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec, sp as to form a rapid communication from
the navigable waters' of the Chimalapa and Tehuantepec to the
Guasacualco, or to cut a canal through such parts ofthe Isth
mus as an accurate survey shall show to be fittest for the pur
pose, are operations which could be performed with the great
est facility by the inhabitants of Oaxaca.
The idea of such an undertaking has long been familiar, to
several enlightened men of Oaxaca. So early as the year 1745,
a memorial was presented to the viceroy of Mexico, signed by
several distinguished Creoles, praying him to represent to the
court of Spain the- immense benefits that would arise to the
¦ ¦ , , i' , - ¦ '
kingdom, from making Guasacualco a port of entry, and the
great depot of commerce, instead of the port and city of Vera
Cruz. A copy of this interesting document was put into our
hands, while in the city of Oaxaca, in the year 1816, and we
were forcibly struck with the importance of the facts noticed,
therein. It displays an intelligence, a foresight, and a spirit of
liberality, such as could scarcely have been expected, in those
days, from men reared amidst that political and commercial
darkness in which Spain enveloped her dominions. After
giving a topographical description of the Isthmus of Tehuan
tepec, and expatiating on the fertility and, beauty of the coun-
i
* We feel great hesitation in adding-, that this mass of metal is platina,
although it is so named in some manuscript notes upon the intentfency of
Oaxaca, at present in our possession, by Teran and Bustamante, names with
which our readers are familiar. Beside their being men of general informa
tion, it may not be improper to add, that Bustamante was at one time con- '
nected with' the School of Mines in Mexico. We at least learn, from their
so terming it, that it is a very general belief that the mass is platina. The
mineralogist will, of course, immediately pronounce it to be impossible, —
and, we are content. !

360 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
try, the memorialists explicitly declare that a canal can be cut,
so as to unite the waters of the rivers before mentioned; and
they likewise state, that should political reasons prevent the
formation of the proposed canal, at all events a great road
might be made across the ridge, by means of which property
could be transported in carriages at a moderate expense. The
memorialists then proceed to unfold the great advantages that
would result to the kingdom of Mexico, by opening a traffic
between Manilla and the coast of Oaxaca, instead of the trade
being restricted (as it still is) to the port of Acapulco. The
superior advantages of the port and harbour of Guasacualco
over that pf Vera Cruz, and the number of valuable ports on
the coast of Oaxaca, are then noticed ; and of the latter they
particularly mention Tehuantepec, San Diego, Santa Cruz.de
Guatulco, Cacalutla, San Augustin, Puerto, de los Angeles^ Es
condido, (hidden port,) and the ensanada or bay of Mazuntla.
The port of Escondido has a narrow but excellent entrance,
which is only discovered upon a very near approach to the
coast; but it is as spacious as Acapulco, and would afford
perfectly secure moorings for hundreds of vessels. It could
easily be fortified so as to render it impregnable to external
attacks. The port of Santa Cruz de Guatulco is likewise equal
to any on the Pacific shore, and is situated only thirty-five
leagues south of the city of Oaxaca.
The whole of the memoir alluded to is full of interesting
information and luminous arguments, and Would have excited
the profound attention of any other government than that of
Spain. The merchants of Vera Cruz no sooner heard of the
memorial, than they adopted every possible measure to pre
vent its even reaching Madrid; but nevertheless it was trans
mitted to the court. The Cadiz monopolists, and the Philip
pine company, viewed with great alarm a project that threat
ened to divert the trade out of its ordinary channels. The
mercantile establishments they had already fixed at Acapulco
and Vera Cruz, and the expensive edifices they had erected at
those places, would become valueless in proportion as this
should be effected. These parties, therefore, and their agents
in Vera Cruz and Acapulco, put in action every engine of in-

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 361
trigue, in order to defeat the wishes of the Qaxaca memorial
ists. The memorial was placed among the secret royal ar
chives at Madrid, that is, it was laid on the shelf of oblivion;
and the only notice that was ever bestowed on it was by an
order from the court, prohibiting the parties from ever again
reviving the subject, under pain of the royal displeasure; and
severely reprimanding, or stigmatizing, the Qaxaca memo
rialists, as audacious innovators of the established regulations
and commerce ofthe kingdom.
The only viceroys who have displayed liberal sentiments,
or shown the least regard for the internal improvement of
New Spain, and the establishment on liberal principles of the
internal and external commerce of the country, were the count
oi Revillagigedo and Don Jose Iturrigaray. Both of those
viceroys were men pf enlarged minds, who viewed with dis
gust the unnatural and impolitic regulations imposed by Spain
upon her colonies.' During their administration, they made
some important improvements in Mexico. The formation of
a canal to unite the waters of Guasacualco with those of Chi
malapa and Tehuantepec, was a favourite project with both ;
and convinced of its practicability, they made urgent repre
sentations to the court of Madrid, to induce it to sanction the
undertaking. Their applications were of no avail, and in the
end, they both incurred the displeasure ofthe cabinet of Ma
drid. The character and fate ofthe noble-minded Iturrigaray
have been noticed in our first chapter of the Memoirs of the
Revolution. Having shown the practicability and facility of opening a
communication, either by a navigable canal or b)r a land and
water conveyance, at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, between
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, we will now proceed to draw
an outline of the great advantages to the commercial world in
general, and particularly to the inhabitants of Mexico, .Guati
mala^ and the United States, that will flow from such a com
munication. It is necessary to remark, that the following ob
servations are founded upon our conviction, that New Spain
will become independent on European control. At what pe
riod this great event will be accomplished, we will not venture
(46)

362 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
to predict ; but we may express a belief that it will take place
in a very few years.
In viewing the map of the American continent, we perceive
that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Isthmus of Costa
Rica are the two great points at which to concentrate the com
merce ofthe New World, and to facilitate the intercourse be
tween it and the Old World. It is immaterial at which of
those two points the communication be first opened; it matters
not which of them will become the more important. If both
communications be simultaneously opened, we conceive there
will be no want of commerce to render the districts through
which they will pass flourishing in the highest degree.
The Isthmus of Costa Rica will be the proper and natural
route for part of the commerce of Guatimala, Peru, and Chili.
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec will be the route for the com
merce of the vast range of .coast on the Pacific ocean, stretchr
ing from Guatimala to the north-west extremities of the Ame
rican continent. The advantages which this last named Isth- *
mus enjoys, by being in the heart of a thickly settled, rich,
and healthy country, have been already described; and its
proximity to the United States renders it, in our estimation,
the most important spot at which to perfect the first commu
nication between the two oceans.
Tehuantepec on the Pacific ocean, and Guasacualco on the
Atlantic, ought to be declared free ports for the commerce of
all nations. Property passing by this route should pay only
a toll or trifling duty, for the purpose of keeping the canal or
the road in a constant state of good order. We have stated
that large vessels can enter the rivers Tehuantepec and Gua
sacualco, and ascend the same to within about fourteen leagues
of each other. We have shown that a good carriage road
could be promptly made, so as to transport property of every
kind to and from the respective rivers. Making, therefore,
large allowances for unexpected obstacles, we think that by
this route cargoes of all kinds of merchandise could be trans
ported from one ocean to the other, in less than six days.
The productions of Guatimala, of Oaxaca, of La Puebla, of
Mexico, of Valladolid, and of Guadalaxara, instead of being

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 363
conveyed, as they are at present, an immense distance by land
to Vera Cruz, would be carried to the ports of those provinces
on the Pacific coast, and embarked for Tehuantepec, thence
pass over to Guasacualco, and from the latter be embarked for
Europe, the United States, or elsewhere. The future, pro
ducts of the great province of Sinaloa, of Old and New Cali
fornia, and of all the north-west regions of America, could be
brought to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Th& fabrics of
Europe and of .the United States could be carried to Guasa
cualco, passed over to Tehuantepec, and thence be circulated
through thev vast regions we have just mentioned. The pro
ducts of China and of the East Indies would likewise be
brought to, this Isthmus, dispersed over Guatimala, Oaxaca,
and all the eastern sections of the Mexican empire adjacent
to the Gulf of Mexico, and be carried with rapidity to the
river Mississippi, to Florida, and indeed to all parts of the
United States, and to Europe.
The intercourse between the United States and its territory
on the north-west coast of America, would be carried on with
safety and rapidity ,'b'y the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, instead
of by the present tedious and perilous route around Cape
Horn : and steam navigation might be introduced in the Pacific,
ocean-, so as to effect an entire revolution in the present com
merce of the whole Southern Sea. It is not only along the
vast coast of the Pacific ocean, from Valparaiso to Columbia
river, that steam vessels could be used, so as to triumph over
the obstacles which have hitherto impeded the navigation of
those seas, but we perceive no difficulty to the traversing of
the whole- Southern ocean in steam vessels. The voyage
from Manilla to Acapulco has frequently been made, by dull-
sailing Spanish ships, in seventy-five days. At certain seasons
of the year, it has been performed by vessels whose top-gallant
sails were not once taken in during the voyage. Violent
storms are seldom experienced in the Pacific ocean, excepting
in- the vicinity Of Gape Horn and in the high latitudes to the
inorth-west. Such a vessel as the steam-ship Fulton could
perform a voyage between Oaxaca and China, with infinitely
less sea risk than attends the voyages she is now performing

364 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
between New York, Havana, and New Orleans. A steam
vessel could perform the voyage from Tehuantepec to China,
in from fifty to sixty days; and indeed, were we to' calculate
on the favourable winds at certain seasons ofthe year, united
to the power of steam, it can be proved that it is practicable
to perform the voyage between Oaxaca and Canton in less than
fifty days. We forbear dilating on the importance of this in
valuable art to the commerce of the Southern ocean, lest some
of our readers should deem our sketch an enthusiastic flight
of fancy: but to those who are conversant with steam navi
gation, who are acquainted with the wonders it has already
performed in the internal navigation of our country, who have
examined the structure of the steam-ship Fulton, and who
have marked the improvements that are yearly adding strength
to the power of steam, our expectations will not appear too
sanguine. From the river Mississippi, a steam vessel could with ease
perform a voyage to the port of Guasacualco in six days.
Allowing seven days for the transportation of property across
the Isthmus, and fifty for the voyage to China, it will be seen
that by steam navigation a voyage could be performed from
the United States to China in' sixty-three days. This will be
more clearly evinced, by the actual computation of the dis
tances : — > <
¦ i Statute milei.
The ordinary route from Philadelphia to Canton, - - 16,150
By steam boat navigation and conveyance through the Isthmus
of Oaxaca, from and to tlie same places: —
From Philadelphia to Guasacualco, .--,. - 2,100 '
Passage over to Tehuantepec, by land and watey, 120
From" Tehuantepec, by the islands lying nearly in
the direct course, to Canton, —
To the Sandwich islands, - - - 3,835
Xadrone do. . - - . •- 3,900 . .
Canton,  2,080
 9.815 „
 12,035
Actual distance saved, - - - , . . 4,115

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 365
• Statute miles.
From Philadelphia, to Columbia river, by the usual route of
Cape Horn, '"-'.. - - . . . 18,261
From the same to the same,, by the proposed route .- —
To Guasacualco, and overland, ... . 2,220
From Tehuantepec to the Columbia, - - - 2,760
 4,980

Actual distance saved, - - - - 13,281
[The preceding calculations -mere fwrfashed by Mr. Melish."]
We calculate, likewise, that steam vessels could perform the
voyage from Columbia river to Tehuantepec, mfrom eighteen
' to twenty-four 'days, more especially by taking advantage of
the proper seasons. Along the whole range- of -the Mexican
and Californian coasts, there are safe and convenient harbours,
which would afford refreshments, and shelter from storms.
It is true that this immense extent of territory is at present
thinly settled,- and that the wretched inhabitants, by the bar
barous policy of the Spanish government, have been excluded*
from all intercourse with the civilized world.*1 The whole of
the country adjacent to the Pacific ocean, with its noble rivers
and fertile soil, is nearly in the same state as at the period of
its discovery by-the Spaniards!. The only ports on the Mexi
can coast that have been permitted to enjoy any trade, are
San Bias and Acapulco; but even this trade was so complete
a monopoly, and encumbered by so many restrictions, that it
scarcely deserved the name of commerce, and was of compa
ratively little utility to the inhabitants in general^ The west
ern sections of Mexico have beeiii supplied almost exclusively
with articles carried by land from Vera Cruz. The impost
charges at that place, the enormous expense of land carriage
over such a vast extent of territory, and the numberless exac
tions on the route,, increased the price of foreign merchandise
to four or five times its original cost; whereas, had the articles
been landed 'at Guasacualco, conveyed across the Isthmus*,
and then-be transported by water to the fine bays and rivers
along the coast, the'expense would have been trifling, and the
route performed in one-third of the time that was occupied in
transporting them by land.

366 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
When those restrictions shall be removed under which the
Mexican people have so long suffered, that is, when their
country shall no longer be subject to the control of Spain,' —
when human industry shall be allowed the scope which reason
and nature dictate,-^and when the inhabitants of Mexico shall
be permitted to enjoy an unshackled traffic with all nations,
how extraordinary will be the change in their condition ! Not
only, will the beautiful intendancies of Guadalaxara, Vallado
lid, La Puebla, Mexico, Oaxaca, and Vera Cruz, become the
regions of comfort and opulence, but all the internal provinces,
and even Old and New California, will soon become flourish
ing and populous countries. Let the reader cast his eye upon
the map, and beholdi the position of the great provinces of
Sonora, Sinaloa, and Biscay, adjacent to the Gulf of California;
let him trace the route ofthe river Colorado, from its source
to; its discharge in the Californian Gulf; and , view the noble
rivers of Tinpanogos, Buenaventura, and Felipe, j discharging
their waters on the coast of New California; let him then
anticipate the future importance- of this country, when a go
vernment made by and for the people shall there be establish
ed. The country through which those rivers flow, and the
coasts of both the Californias, have remained a desert, not
because the soil and climate are, as some writers have repre
sented, unfavourable to the residence of man, but because the
Spanish government had studiously barred the door to their
settlement and improvement.
We have perused some interesting manuscripts respecting
the Californias, and .the provinces of Sinaloa iand Sonora; one
in particular, written by Padre Garcia, who travelled from the
mouth of the Colorado to its source, a distance of more than
six hundred miles. We have read others, written by the friars,
who resided at the different missionary establishments on the
coast of California. They represent a very small part of the
peninsula of Old California as being a rooky and sterili'coun-
try: but all- New California, nearly up to the Columbia river,
and all the interior of the province of Sonora, they extol for
its fertility of soil and purity of climate.

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 367
It may not be amiss here to remark, that about eight years
since, we met with a Russian gentleman, who had visited
Monterey, on the coast of California, and who was in posses
sion of a great stock of valuable information respecting those
coUntries. He spoke in the most favourable terms of the cli
mate, and represented the soil to be excellent. We have little
doubt but that the journal of this Russian was laid before his
government; and it may have given rise to those projects ofthe
Russian cabinet which have been recently spoken of. It has
been rumoured, that a secret treaty was actually entered into
between Ferdinand VII. and the emperor of Russia, by which
the former transferred to the latter a considerable part of New
California; but, owing to the remonstrances of the government
of Great Britain, upon receiving information of such treaty,
the court of Madrid have never openly avowed it, nor carried
it into effect. Whatever credence may be given to this report,
we know that the Russians, in pursuance of their system of
advancing their power wherever a foothold can be gained,
have planted their banners on several parts of the American
continent. Their settlements commence at the island of Kodia,
in 57i° north latitude, and 152£° west longitude. They occu
py an important position in Norfolk Sound, in 37° north lati
tude, and 135° west longitude, where they have a strong fort,
mounting upwards of one hundred pieces of heavy cannon ;
and in the year 1813, they had descended as far south as 385°
north latitude, and settled at Badoga, distant about thirty
miles from the northernmost Spanish settlement in California.
Let the Russian imperial flag bevplanted On the American
continent by force or by negotiation, it will be better for man
kind than that the country should remain a desert under the
dominion of Spain. Whether Russians, citizens of the United
States, or Mexicans, shall predominate among the settlers
along the north-west coast of America, is a point that can only
be determined by time; but in proportion as the whole coast'
shall become thickly settled, will the importance of the Isth
mus of Tehuantepec be augmented, because it must eventually
be the great channel of communication between Europe, the
United States, and the north-west coast of America.

368 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
The fine rivers we have before mentioned have their sources
on the confines, and some of them within the limits, of the
United States. The whole of the region lying west of the
Rocky Mountains, or Northern Andes, abounds in excellent
streams, which discharge themselves into the Pacific, along
the coast, or in the Gulf, of California ; and consequendy, in
proportion as the interior of that vast country shall become
setded, so will its intercourse with the civilized world, by
the route of Tehuantepec, gradually become more important.
In fact, it is impossible for the imagination to form any
proper conception ofthe magnitude of the. commerce that will
pass through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, when Mexico and
South America shall' enjoy the blessings of liberal govern
ments. The Mexican dominions alone are capable of yielding sub
sistence and comfort to more than treble the present popu
lation of all Spanish America. The rapid progress of the
United States may serve as an example of the growth of popu
lation in new countries blessed by liberal governments. The
calculations of Franklin and Jefferson have been fully realized.
We more than double our population every twenty -two years ;
an increase which, regulated by the laws of population, will
continue until the surface of our territory shall become as ge
nerally cultivated, and as thickly inhabited, as that of Europe
and Asia. Give to Mexico the advantages of a good govern
ment, open her pbrts to the commerce of the globe, encourage
emigration from all parts of the world, and, in fine, let her
pursue the course marked out for her by reason and nature,
and she will soon become as flourishing as any part of the New
World. We have before remarked the great physical advan
tages possessed by Mexico, as respects the climate and soil;
and we do not believe that there is any part of our globe capa
ble of sustaining a greater population upon the same space of
territory. We therefore do not doubt, that from the day that
Mexico takes her rank among the nations of the earth as an
independent power, governed by wise and liberal institutions,
she will continue to double her numbers every twenty-two
years, until the whole of her vast regions be covered with

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 369
inhabitants. Let us calculate ker probable population, a cen
tury hence. Fixing on the year 1825, as the epoch of the
commencement of her independence, and supposing her popu
lation at that time to be - 7,000,000
In 1847, it will be 14,000,000
1869, ,28,000,000
,1891, ,56,000,000
19,13, , 112,000,900
We are aware that such calculations would have been deemed
visionary, thirty, or forty years ago ; and that even at present
then; accuracy may be doubted by many of our readers : but
in the minds, of those who have noted the increase of popu
lation in our own country, and have reflected on the happy
and important influence of liberal civil institutions, we feel
assured our estimations, will not excite surprise nor incredulity.
Several enlightened writers of the present day, and, among
others, the Abbe de Pradt, admit the correctness of this rate
of increase.
Every successive, census of the United States displays an
increase greater than the calculation alluded to. If, then, by
this ratio, our country, a century hence, shall contain one hun-
1 dred and forty millions, and Mexico one hundred arid twelve
millions, of persons, how deeply important will the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec become to those two nations ! To Mexico.,
in particular, this Isthmus is the great bridge that unites her
northern and southern with her eastern and western sections.
To the United States, it is no^ only of high importance as
respects the possessions ofthe republic on the north-west coast,
and the great share, of the carrying trade that will be secured
to our citizens by their enterprise and the superior advantages
derived from their proximity to the Mexican Gulf, but because
the maritime superiority of the New World appears destined
to remain wifh the United States. The vast extent of our
coast from Passamaquoddy to the river Sabine, the immense
internal navigation of our great rivers, and our fisheries, will
ere long employ a greater number of individuals than are en
gaged in the pursuits of navigation in all Europe. In the
event of the United States being engaged in any future war,
(47)

370 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
that is popular, (and in no other do we hope they will ever be
engaged) there can be procured a sufficient number of seamen,
from the great sources just mentioned, to man a fleet equal to
that of any nation in Europe. We therefore will not only be
capable of protecting our future commerce along pur Coasts,
but also of extending that protection to whatever place our
enterprise and interests may carry our flag. . At a distant pe
riod, it is not improbable that some of the.great states in South
America may possess a respectable marine, but none that will
ever vie in strength with the navies of the United, States.
Mexico can never become a great maritime power. Although
her rivers are numerous, and several of them flow through an
immense extent of territory, yet, from the great elevation of
more than four-fifths of the country, these rivers are not navi
gable, except for boats of small burthen, to any great distance
from the ocean, and consequently the internal navigation will
never employ a considerable number of people. On the coast
of the Pacific ocean, Mexico has some excellent harbours, and
it is possible that at some future period she may have a naval
force of some importance in those seas. But along the coast
in the Mexican Gulf, the port of Guasacualco is the only one
suitable for naval arsenals, or that would afford security to
vessels of war. We have before noticed the objections, to the
port of Vera Cruz ; and all the others, from Alvarado to the
Sabine, are difficult of entrance, and obstructed by bars. The
whole coast of Yucatan is likewise without a single port capa
ble of admitting large vessels. It is therefore obvious, from
these important obstacles, that Mexico can never become a
maritime rival of the United States in the Mexican Gulf; but,
on the contrary, the whole of her future commerce therein
must be under the protection and control of the latter; and
consequendy, it must always be of deep importance to Mexi
co, to cultivate the amity of, and to seek a. political alliance
with, the United States. The expediency of this friendly and
political bond will be further evident, on viewing the map pf
the two countries. In examining the delineation of the widest
part of the continent, from Monterey, on the coast of New
California, to the town of St. Louis, at the confluence of the

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 371
Mississippi and Missouri, a distance of about eighteen hun
dred miles in a direct line, we are struck with admiration at
the peculiar manner in which nature has provided, by means of
water communications in eVery direction, for the intercourse
ofthe future inhabitants of those vast regipns.
Our topographical knowledge of that section of America is
yet imperfect; but we know sufficient to enable us to form
some idea of the great advantages that must be reciprocally
enjoyed by the inhabitants of Mexico and the United States,
when an unrestrained intercourse shall be permitted between
them, and when the productions of industry shall be inter
changed, through the medium of internal navigation, between
the two nations. The important river Del Norte has its
sources in New Mexico, not far distant from the heads of the
rivers which flow to the Pacific ocean; and empties into the
Mexican Gulf, about 25° 50' north latitude. Descending
through a mountainous country, it is in mahy places extremely
rapid, and hence it is usually called El Rio Bravo ; but it is
nevertheless navigable for boats, from its mouth nearly to its
source. The Red-River, and the Arkansa, have their heads
near the source of Del Norte. In the course of these rivers
to the- Mississippi, they receive the tribute of innumerable
smaller streams. The Kanzas, and the Platte, which empty
into the Missouri, have their origin in the same mountains
that give birth to Del Norte. Throughout the whole of this
country, whether among its lofty mountains or extensive prai
ries, the traveller Can scarcely proceed five leagues, without
meeting a stream capable of boat navigation. The navigation
ofthe Mexican rivers, for the reasons we have before, assign
ed, will never employ large vessels : they will, however, greatly ,
facilitate the intercourse between the respective interior pro
vinces. But the great rivers that discharge themselves into
the Missouri and Mississippi, some of which we have named,
are destined to afford employment to many hundred thousands
of persons, in vessels of all sizes.
When we reflect that the great country we haVe thus briefly
glanced at, is throughout its whqle extent susceptible of high

372 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
cultivation, the greater part of it enjoying a climate equal to
any on earth, it is not within the reach of the most ardent fancy
to draw a sketch of its future importance ; nor can we form an
estimate, with strict accuracy, ofthe millions of human beings
which at some future day are to find subsistence and comfort
in those regions. The population of the United States is ra
pidly rolling towards the Mexican settlements. Already have
the banks of the Red River, the Arkansa, and the Missouri,
become the residence of American citizens. The arts, the
sciences, and, if we may use the expression, the blessings of
rational liberty, are spreading in that direction. Territorial
limits present but feeble barriers against the diffusion of light
and knowledge. Their progress cannot be impeded by edicts
of the present or of any future government in Mexico. The
Mexican on one bank of a river, living in wretchedness and
smarting under oppression, cannot long remain blind and in
sensible to the advantages and happiness of the citizens of the
United States on the opposite bank.
From this brief outline of the topography of Mexico and the
adjoining territory of the United States, some faint idea may
be formed of the vast internal commerce that is to take place
between the two nations, as population shall increase, and re
strictions upon their intercourse be removed. How many arti
cles will be raised from the soil of the two countries, that are
at present scarcely thought of! How many manufactories
will be established, in regions calculated to produce all the
raw materials for the mechanic and artist ! Is it because the
two countries may cultivate the same products, and establish
the same kind of manufactories, that some writers have broach
ed the opinion that the future commerce between the United
States and Mexico will be unimportant ? Might they not as
well argue, that because wheat is raised in Kentucky, it is in
jurious to the culture of that article in Pennsylvania ? or that
because certain manufactories are established at Pittsburg,
they are rivals to those of the same class at Boston ? Do we
not see, that in proportion as population spreads over a coun
try, the consumption of the products of the soil is augmented ?

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. ,373
and that human industry receives a new stimulus from a thou
sand artificial wants that are created in society as they increase
in numbers and opulence ?
Is it possible, that in the nineteenth century, we have heard
the ambassador of a civilized nation stating in a formal diplo
matic communication to the government ofthe United States,
that they ought to oppose the extension of the blessings of
freedom and commerce to Mexico, because wheat, and other
staples of the United States could be raised with greater faci
lity in that country, and because its superior climate would
invite the emigration of our citizens, and thereby diminish
our strength ? These were the sentiments, openly and official
ly avowed, of the Chevalier Onis. He did not scruple to re
commend these abominable and antisocial principles to the
serious consideration of our cabinet ; and, what is still more
extraordinary and disgraceful, the same doctrine has found
abettors in some American writers, who have endeavoured to
prove that the independence of Mexico would be injurious io
the commercial interests of the United States.
We humbly conceive that the sketch we have given of the
advantages which our country will derive from Mexico's be
ing under a liberal government, is a mode of refutation to the
principles advanced by the Chevalier Onis and his partisans,
as unanswerable as it must be grateful to every American citi
zen, who feels, as we do, the absurdity, and iniquityof sacri
ficing the happiness of millions of the human race, at the
shrine of political ambition and mercantile calculation. We
conceive that the independence of Mexico will be an event
next in importance, to the whole civilized world, to that of the
declaration of the independence of the United States, on the ,
4th of July, 1776; and to promote such an event, by every
fair and honourable means, is in unison with the wishes and
interests of all classes of our fellow-citizens.
It is possible that Spain may, for a few years longer, endea
vour to preserve her tottering sovereignty over Mexico, but
even admitting that her sway should continue longer than we
anticipate, it will be of little or no use to her, because her mo
ral as well as physical supremacy is no longer felt, nor can

374 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
ever again be exercised over her former subjects in that king
dom. She can no more expect to find obedience and respect
among the Mexican Creoles and Indians, than she can com
pel the waves of the ocean to subside, when agitated by the
winds ; but even admitting that it is still possible for Spain to
resubjugate the Mexicans, may we not ask how is she to pre
serve her empire there, in the event of a war with Great Bri
tain, the United States, or any other maritime nation ? Have
we not proved that on the fidelity of her American subjects
she can no longer place any reliance, even for a moment ?
Where are her fleets to protect her commerce with Mexico,
or to prevent its being invaded by an enemy in every direc
tion, as well on the Atlantic as on the Pacific coast ? If, then,
during peace with alienations, Spain finds it difficult to pre
serve Mexico, and to repress the revolutionary spirit of the
people; — if, during war, she is exposed to have Mexico torn
from her by conquest, where is the policy of exhausting the
blood and treasure of the inhabitants of Spain, to maintain a
sovereignty over an empire liable every instant to break from
her grasp ? If these observations are applicable to the rela
tive situation of Spain with Mexico, and indeed with all her
possessions on the American continent, do they not apply with
still greater force to the islands of Cuba, Porto Rico, and the
Philippines? Will the most prejudiced Spaniard undertake to
say, that those great islands can be held by a nation without
a maritime force ? Of what use are their vast fortifications and
garrisons, against a rigorous blockade ? Let us examine the
present state of the important island of Cuba, in order to de
monstrate the precarious tenure of Spanish sovereignty in that
island. The port of Havana has been very justly called the greatest
maritime key in the West Indies, inasmuch as its position
gives it a control not only of the. immense commerce at pre
sent existing, but of all the indefinite future, trade of the vast
countries lying between the Isthmus of Panama and Florida ;
for, by the laws of nature, the whole of such trade must pass
from those regions, by the route between the Cuba and Florida
shores. Fast-sailing vessels, it is true, may occasionally beat

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 375
up from Jamaica and from the Isthmus of Panama, so as to
pass between Cuba and St. Domingo, but rapid currents, and
the trade winds, will compel the great body of commerce to
be carried on by the passage through the Gulf ; it is therefore
undeniable, that Havana is a key of the highest maritime con
sequence in the Western World ; a key that can lock and un
lock at pleasure the commerce alluded to, and more especially
that of Mexico. Indeed it is not saying too much to assert,
that the political and commercial destinies of the Mexican em
pire must be very materially influenced by the conduct of that
power which holds the port of Havana. How long the island
of Cuba will continue under Spanish banners, whether it will
be seized by Great Britain by force, or be Obtained by her
through negotiation, or whether the people of Cuba will de
clare their independence, are all-important questions to the
civilized world, and to the United States deeply interesting.
Within a few years past, the British Journals have teemed
with essays, tending to prove, not merely the great commer
cial benefits that will arise to Great Britain from possessing
Cuba, but also that its possession is absolutely necessary, as
well for the security of the British West India commerce, as
to repress the growing power of the United States. However
extravagant many of the opinions contained in those essays
may be, and however marked with illiberal and hostile fea
tures towards the United States, yet they are so flattering to
the domineering spirit of the British nation, that we should not
be surprised to> see them realized by the British cabinet, on
the first opportune occasion.
Should Great Britain get possession of the island of Cuba,
it would, no doubt be in her power to retain it for a long time ;
and by the establishment of extensive arsenals at the port of
Havana, she would likewise be able to keep there an immense
fleet; so that, in the event of a war with the United States,
the vast commerce of the river Mississippi, and that of all the
Mexican Gulf, would be seriously annoyed, and perhaps en
tirely suspended. All this we admit ; but nevertheless we do
not hesitate to predict, that in less than half a century hence,
when the United States will have a population exceeding^cr^

376 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN,
millions, and a naval force, such as the extent of their mari
time resources will then enable them to maintain, the island of
Cuba, as well as all the Antilles, and the commerce of the
Mexican Gulf, will be under the control of the republic. This
idea does not spring from any ill will towards other nations,
but is merely a hint to the governments of the Old World,
that their establishments in the New are limited to a short du
ration, and that every new attempt, whether on the part of
Great Britain or any other nation, to oppose the natural and
inevitable progress of the United States, by planting rival
posts either on the continent or islands adjacent, will only tend
to an earlier development of our resources, and consequently
will accelerate the epoch when -the power of our republic will
be felt and acknowledged over the western hemisphere.
East and West Florida must be incorporated in our federa
tive states, either by treaty or conquest. We have already
experienced the fatal consequences of permitting that section of
the continent to be held by nations hostile to our interests and
jealous of our prosperity. Our citizens on the frontiers of
Georgia and Louisiana, must no longer be exposed to inva
sion and massacre, in consequence of the impotence and dis
positions of a neutral power in the Floridas. The security of
the vast commerce of the Mississippi, and the prosperity of
our great western states, must not be jeopardised by allowing
any foreign nation to possess the important maritime keys of
East and West Florida.
If Great Britain should hoist her royal banners at Havana,
and make it the depot of her navy, and the Gibraltar of the
West Indies, we must then make Pensacola and Espiritu San
to our two great southern arsenals ; and if we are to become
rivals for supremacy on the western shores of the Atlantic,
then be it so.
Before we close our remarks on this important subject, We
deem it necessary to say a few words on the probability that
Cuba will not remain long under any foreign flag, but will be
come an independent power; under the protection of the Uni
ted States. We know that this is the wish, and we are like
wise certain that it is the interest oi the people of that island.

ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 377
It has not escaped the penetration of all the enlightened inha
bitants of Cuba, that Spain cannot protect them during war,
and consequendy they know that every war in which she may
in future be engaged, exposes them not only to have their com
merce destroyed, but to invasion and conquest. Under these
circumstances, independent of all political enmity to the go
vernment of Spain, the inhabitants of Cuba have no common
interests with her. The products of the island are valuable
in proportion as they can, without restriction, be sent to every
part bf the world ; and the articles necessary for the subsist
ence and comfort of the inhabitants cannot be supplied from
Spain, and therefore must be furnished by other nations.
The city of Havana and its environs, at this day consume
more flour and provisions, of the growth ofthe United States,
than Jamaica, or any other island in the West Indies. One
hundred and twenty thousand barrels of flour, besides an im
mense quantity of other provisions, are now annually carried
to Havana from the United States.
The enormous influx of negroes into the island of Cuba with
in the last few years, and the inattention of the planters to the
culture of provisions, have rendered the island completely de
pendent on foreign supplies for the subsistence of the inhabi
tants. Suspend all commerce with Havana, by a strict block
ade of its port, for only four or five months, and the city with
all its famous fortifications would be compelled to surrender,
without firing a gun.
The United States at present have a greater tonnage em
ployed in the trade to the island of Cuba, than to all the rest of
the West India islands. From our proximity, as well as the
enterprise of our citizens, and more especially from our being
the great source from which must be derived flour and other
provisions, we must always enjoy a considerable portion of its
commerce. If it become independent, we shall be perfecdy
satisfied with such portion of the trade as will fall to our lot
from the circumstances just suggested. We shall feel plea
sure in beholding the island in the enjoyment of an intercourse*
with all nations, giving to none any exclusive privileges.
(48)

378 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
We do not hesitate to declare our wishes for the indepen
dence of Cuba ; because, as we know that Spain cannot possi
bly long retain it, without a navy, we certainly would rather
see the island under a self-constituted government, than to be
hold it under the domination of a European power, jealous of
our prosperity, and capable of seriously annoying the com
merce of our coasts.
But it is to Mexico that we turn, and turn again, with fond
delight. We invoke the reader to ponder what we have written
of her present situation, of her capacity for future greatness,
and ofthe career that she has yet to commence and run. For
ourselves, we disguise not our admiration of her, we conceal
not our affection for her. We have visited her, and we have
found her sons our friends, our admirers, our disciples. We
look towards her, and we see the day-spring of a glorious na
tional existence arising within her bounds: and vain will be
the effort to obscure its light. It will lead her in the path of
success. If cast down, Antaeus like she will rise again — if
overpowered, her throes and struggles will convulse her terri
tory. Mexico will, she must be free. For the seeds of in
dependence have already been scattered there upon the moun
tain and in the vale : they are now germinating ; — they will
strike deep roots into the earth, for they are watered with the
tears of oppressed millions ; — they will flourish till their
strength shall laugh to scorn the fiercest blast of opposition ;
and then, beneath the serene and cloudless sky of liberty, they
will grow a beauteous grove, whose shade shall refresh no
heads but those of Freemen.

THE EVD.

APPENDIX.

STATEMENT OF
THE CLAIMS OF W. B. ROBINSON
UPON
THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT.
IN the year 1799, 1 visited the cityof Caracas as a merchant,
and presented letters of introduction to Dan Manuel Guevara
de Vazconcelos, captain general of Venezuela, and to Don Este-
¦van Fernandez de Leon, intendant thereof. They received me
in the most friendly manner, and each offered me his assistance
and protection so long as it suited my convenience to remain in
the country.
At that period, the province of Venezuela was ih a most deplo
rable condition. War existed between Great Britain and Spain ;
British cruisers blockaded, all the ports ; and intercourse with the
mother country was almost wholly suspended. The inhabitants
were deficient in clothing, and in many of the necessaries of life ;
the products of agriculture were rotting in the ware-houses ; in
fine, the want of external commerce had spread wretchedness and
discontent through the province.
The intendant, knowing that I was a citizen of the United
States, and judging, from the respectable manner in which I had
been introduced to him, that I might be able to suggest some
plan, by which, through the medium of neutral commerce, the
evils which so seriously oppressed the province might be reme
died, treated me with particular confidence ; and, after various
conferences, proposed to sell me forty thousand quintals of Va
rinas tobacco, belonging to the crown of Spain, then deposited,

380 APPENDIX.:
as he stated, in the royal stores in various parts of the province.
Many advantageous privileges, and flattering inducements to
make the purchase, were held out to me by the intendant, pro
vided that I would engage to introduce into Venezuela, in a short
time, certain articles which were then indispensably necessary
for its welfare.
The magnitude of the undertaking, and the difficulty of exe
cuting it during the war then existing between England and Spain,
were deliberately weighed ; but, as I had commercial connexions
upon whose assistance I could confidently depend, I resolved on
embarking in the speculation; and accordingly, after several ver
bal and written discussions between myself and the intendant,
all the essential and preparatory points being settled, on the 5th
of September, 1799, a contract was signed, by which the inten
dant, in the name and by virtue of ihe special authority of his
Catholic majesty, sold me the whole of the Varinas tobacco then
in the province, as well as the crops of the three following years*
On my part, I was bound to pay for, and export, this tobacco
within three years, ^n the mode prescribed by the stipulations of
the contract. I was likewise bound to procure the house of the
American consul at Curacoa, trading under the firm oi Phillips is"
Corser, to become my securities for the due execution of the
contract. This security was duly given, and the saicl house of
Phillips & Corser likewise became parties interested in the con
tract. The privileges secured to me, by the stipulated terms,- were
more ample than any that had ever before been conceded to a
foreigner. The jealousy of the Spanish merchants at Caracas
was therefore excited. Although these men were absolutely in
capable of relieving the wants of the province, or his Catholic
majesty's treasury, yet their selfish and contracted dispositions
would not allow them to view without discontent the probability
that a foreigner might reap advantage from so extensive a com
mercial speculation. They adopted every possible expedient,
through their agents at Cadiz, to prevent the contract from re
ceiving the royal sanction. But their exertions were ineffectual ;
for, in a few months, the ratification of the contract by his Catho
lic majesty was transmitted to the intendant ; who was directed,
at the same time, to afford me every possible facility in the exe
cution of the same.

APPENDIX. 381 t
Another obstacle to the completion of the contract was created
by the marquis Casa Yrujo, then ambassador of Spain in the
United States. The marquis had received letters, a long time
previous to the formation of the contract into which I entered,
from the intendant of Caracas, requesting him to take preliminary
measures with the merchants in the United States, relative to the
disposal ofthe aforesaid tobacco; but reserving the ratification df
those measures until they should receive his approbation. The
marquis, in his zeal to promote the interests of his Catholic ma
jesty, entered into absolute contracts with the houses of John
Craig of Philadelphia, and James Barry of Baltimore, in the
month of July, 1799 ; and with the house of John Juhel & Co. of
New York, in the month of August of the same year; whereby
the tobacco was to be taken from Caracas to the United States,
and thence to Holland and Hamburgh, on account of the Spanish
government, but to be covered as American projierty. The
correspondence on that subject between the marquis Casa Yrujo
and the- intendant of Caracas, and the contracts formed by the
marquis with the houses before, mentioned, were furnished me at
Caracas, and I now possess authentic copies of all those singular
documents. Without troubling the reader with a detailed account
of these papers, I deem it necessary to observe, that from the
conditions of the contracts, his Catholic majesty would have re
ceived far less than one hundred thousand dollars neat proceeds
from the same quantity of tobacco for which I have paid upwards
of eight hundred thousand dollars into his treasury. This will
not appear extraordinary to the mercantile world, when I state,
that according to the marquis's contracts, the houses before men
tioned were to receive as high as twelve dollars, and in no in
stance less than ten and a half dollars freight per barrel, for car
rying this tobacco from Caracas to Europe. Insurance was to be
effected on the property, and charged to the account of his Ca
tholic majesty. Commissions were likewise to be allowed thesa
houses, on the arrival of the tobacco in the United States; and
commissions were to be paid to the agents sent out to Caracas to
receive the tobacco. Certain -privileges were also granted to the
vessels employed in this business; and, in short, the whole of his
Catholic majesty's tobacco would scarcely have sufficed to pay the
freight and other charges, which the marquis had generously
guarantied in his contracts.

382 APPENDIX.
i In virtue of these strange arrangements, the before mentioned
American houses actually despatched several ships and brigs to
La Guyra, where they arrived just as I had concluded the contract
With the intendant. Although the intendant at once, perceived
the very great difference in favour of the royal treasury between
the engagements he had entered into with me, and those Which
the marquis had formed, — notwithstanding that personage had
undertaken to make positive engagements without waiting for
the intendant's approbation, yet it was with difficulty that I could
persuade him to declare null and void the whole ofthe marquis's
contracts. I understand that the marquis made loud complaints
to his court, accompanied by heavy demands on the part of the
individuals with whom he had contracted.
Having surmounted these obstacles which had arisen in the
early stages of the business, and having delivered to the intendant,
in the latter part of the year 1799 and in the beginning of 1800,
a considerable amount in those articles most needed by the pro
vince, I proceeded to the United States, and thence to London,
Hamburgh, and Amsterdam, in order to make the necessary ar
rangements for the speedy fulfilment of my engagements.
Having introductory letters to some respectable capitalists of
those cities, and as the contract itself was a document calculated
to command particular attention, from the circumstance of the
good faith of the Spanish government being solemnly pledged to
its faithful execution, I found no difficulty in obtaining the neces
sary capital. The house of John & Abram Atkins, of London,
furnished two ships, with valuable cargoes, on the faith of the
contract. Other houses, at Hamburgh, Amsterdam, and Embden,
likewise furnished cargoes to a great amount. Several houses in
the United States also entered into similar arrangements with me.
The whole of this property was faithfully delivered, in the
course of three or four years, to the royal treasury at Caracas;
the amount of which was nearly nine hundred thousand dollars,
as is proved by the account current rendered me by the ministers
of the tobacco department in 1803, and by other official docu
ments now in my possession. The merchandise thus delivered
consisted of the choicest articles that had ever been introduced
into Spanish America; and the prices. stipulated in the contract
for said merchandise were so moderate as to enable the intendant
to sell them to the inhabitants of the province at an immense

APPENDIX. 38S
profit. For the saleof these goods, the intendant appointed ad
ministrators, auditors, treasurers, &c. ; in fact, he created a new
department, under his sole patronage. But notwithstanding that
all these individuals employed therein did not lose sight of their
own interests, yet the ultimate profit, accruing to the royal trea
sury, was very great.
While the revenue was thus in the receipt of above a million
of dollars, and while the intendant was laying a foundation at court
for future promotion and honours in recompense for, the great
services he 'had rendered his Catholic majesty's treasury, the
•tobacco contractors, and the foreign merchants who had, so libe
rally supported them, became victims to his rapacity, ambition,
-and bad faith. Were, the various instances of exaction and injus
tice practised by this man to be related, they would scarcely be
deemed credible ; but as I have all the documents necessary tq
establish the facts, I shall, at some future time, publish the ex
traordinary detail, in order that the mercantile world may see
what acts of baseness caii be perpetrated by the royal authorities
in ' Spanish America, when foreign property unfortunately falls
within their grasp.'
There is, however, one circumstance in this business so pecu
liarly stamped with iniquity, that I will here briefly state it. It
was mentioned in the contract, that some part ofthe forty thou
sand quintals of tobacco was partially injure'd by worms, but ne
vertheless I was to receive it, provided it was in a merchantable
state. It was, however, expressly stipulated that the whole of
the tobacco should be oi good quality, (buena calidad,) and it was
with that yiew that I procured an article to be inserted which
required: that I should be furnished with the crops of the three
years following, the, date of the contract, so as to complete the
quantity of forty thousand quintals of " buena calidad." Indeed,
when forming the contract," the idea never presented itself to my
mind, that in a solemn engagement, for the performance of which
the good faith and honour of a nation were pledged, rotten tobacco
would be offered me in payment for so large an amount of money
furnished to the royal treasury : but, to my utter astonishment,
and to the ruin of myself and associates, such was the, disgraceful
fact ; for when my agents at Porto Cavello, at La Guyra, at Cu
mana, and at Guyana, received the tobacco, they found more than
four-fifthsoi it,notin a state of partial deterioration, but absolutely

384 APPENDIX.
rotten and unmerchantable. So soon as I was made acquainted
with the fact, I entered a legal protest, and resisted the receipt of
the worthless commodity. I remonstrated in strong terms with
the intendant, and prayed he would pay me in some other produce
of the country. My remonstrances were either disregarded, or, if
answered, it was to inform me that my language was too strong;
that his Catholic majesty's authorities must be addressed by sup
plication! and, finally, I was informed, that ii was not convenient
for the royal treasury to pay me in any other commodity than in
the tobacco then existing, and that I must receive the whole ofitt
in whatever condition it might be found. If my previous remon
strances were deemed too strong, they were now called insulting,
because, unable longer to restrain my indignation at such out
rageous injustice, I did not hesitate to accuse the intendant of
palpably fraudulent conduct. He continued to menace me, while
I persevered in my accusations, until finally I commenced against
him and his government a judicial process, under all the disad
vantages and obstacles naturally attending the claim of a foreigner
placed in such a dilemma in Spanish America.
While this lawsuit was progressing^ I endeavoured to prevail
on the supercargoes, captains, and agents, not to receive any of
the rotten tobacco, but to return to England and to the United
States with the contract vessels in ballast. In some instances,
my wishes were acceded to, and the vessels departed without
lading, after making the proper protests : but generally the par
ties preferred taking cargoes of the tobacco, in the hope that
some portion of it would be saleable in Europe. The result was
(as I had anticipated) that several of those cargoes sold at Ham
burgh and Amsterdam for less than was sufficient to defray the
expenses of freight and other incidental charges. The original
capital furnished by the parties in Europe was not only all lost,
but in some cases that loss was increased by the expenses,
amounting to more than the proceeds ofthe tobacco.
Thus were my associates and myself sacrificed : my credit was
destroyed, — my prospects in life were blasted, and those who had
confided in the honour of the Spanish government, and in my
representations, seriously injured or entirely ruined, by the bad
faith and iniquitous conduct of Don Estevan Fernandez de Leon,
superintendant general of his Catholic majesty's province of Ve
nezuela.

APPENDIX. 385
It is not easy to estimate the extent of such injuries, not merely
as they affect the immediate interests of individuals, but in regard
to the irreparable wounds they inflict on mercantile character;
and it is in this latter point of view that the parties concerned
can receive no adequate redress, even should the Spanish govern
ment refund every dollar of principal and interest which it has so
unjustly and shamefully withheld for eighteen years.
To .the preceding outline of the injuries received by me from
thejspanish government up to the period at which I commenced
legal proceedings against the intendant, I have now to detail out
rages of a more flagrant nature, exercised towards my person as
well as my interests.
In prosecuting the lawsuit, I was impeded at every step by
obstacles almost insurmountable. To those who are unacquaint
ed with the formalities attending a Spanish lawsuit, the arbitrary
character of Spanish tribunals, and the enormous expenses of
Spanish litigation, it is' scarcely possible to convey au adequate
idea of the difficulty of the task I had undertaken. It was neces
sary not only to contend against the intendant and the officers in
the tobacco department, but against the whole phalanx of indivi
duals within the sphere of their influence. My rightful demands
were not only opposed by sophistry and falsehood, but I was
even threatened with expulsion from the country if I persisted in
urging them. These threats were treated with scorn; and indeed,
as I had been ruined in my interests, I was indifferent to personal
outrage; more especially as I knew that the execution of such
menaces would strengthen my case, when it should become ne
cessary for me to implore the protection and interference of my
government. I was perfectly aware, that by the treaty then ex
isting between Spain and the United States, my rights were un
der its guardianship; and had I not produced a copy of that trea
ty, and insisted on the benefit of those stipulations whereby the
courts of the respective nations were thrown open to the subjects
of each, ,in all cases of debt, demand, Sec, I should certainly have
been ordered out of the country. But the intendant thenceforth
became more cautious ; and, although at first he denied the exist
ence of the treaty, alleging that the copy I presented was not
genuine, yet he subsequently admitted its authenticity, and I was
permitted to proceed with my suit against the royal treasury.
(49)

386 APPENDIX.
But the most important difficulty I had to contend against was
a decree of the intendant, whereby he refused to admit in evi
dence any memorial or document relating to my demands, un
less it was sanctioned by the signature of some respectable law
yer of the city. Some of those professional men declined af
fixing their names to my representations, because the argu
ments therein used, and the documents annexed, contained truths
fatal to the honour and reputation of the intendant, and inju
rious to the interests of the royal revenue. They in general
trembled at the idea of incurring the intendant's, displeasure : but
at length I succeeded in inducing some of the most distinguished
lawyers in Caracas to examine my papers and to espouse my
cause, particularly Doctor Don Jose Mora, a man renowned for
• his talents. My principal memorial in, this affair, which was
drawn up by doctor Mora with great ability, and accompanied by
all the proper documents, cost me the sum of one thousand dol
lars for his signature, as is proved by examining his charges at
the foot ofthe memorial.
The representation in question was presented, with every legal
requisite, to the intendant, on the 17th of January, 1804. The
amount of my claims, for the violation of the contract, against the
royal treasury, thus legally stated by doctor Mora, was five hun
dred and sixty-four thousand three hundred and twenty-seven
dollars. In my own statement, which I had previously present
ed, on the 24th of September, 1803, to the intendant, my demand
for balance of account and losses amounted to four hundred and
sixty-four thousand two hundred dollars ; but doctor Mora aug
mented the sum by charging interest and damages, which I, had
omitted, and which, indeed, I would even then have very cheer
fully relinquished, could I have been reimbursed, the principal.
The reimbursement of a sum of such magnitude was not to be
expected without a serious contest, more especially as it would
have been an acknowledgment on the part of the Spanish autho
rities, of their previous fraudulent conduct ; but nevertheless,
neither the tribunal of the intendancy, the director general of the
tobacco rents, nor the administrators of that department, ever at
tempted legally'to invalidate a single item in the account pre
sented, annexed to- doctor Mora's memorial. All they had to
say, consisted in denouncing vengeance against the doctor, for

APPENDIX. ' 387
having dared to sustain the demands of a stranger against the in
terests of the crown, and threatening me with expulsion from the,
country if I. persisted in the lawsuit. I persevered, however,
with an obstinacy which excited their alarm as well as displeasure,
because I was gradually obtaining, new proofs to sustain my ori
ginal demands.
In the course of the year 1803, there arrived at Caracas a new
intendant, to take the place of Don Estevan Fernandez de Leon,
who was called to Madrid. This was a fortunate circumstance
for me, because, had De Leon remained in office, I never could
have obtained either originals or copies of various documents,
which were important for the establishment of my claims ; but the
new intendant, with a liberality (which I now feel great pleasure
in stating) rarely to be met with among the Spanish authorities
in America, gave an attentive ear tp my remonstrances, and fur
nished me with authentic copies, from the archives of the inten
dancy, of such papers as I solicited. He did not attempt to de
fend the conduct of his predecessor, but, on the contrary, so well
convinced was he of the force and equity of my demands, and so
sensible of the injuries I had received in my various transactions
with his government, that while I was prosecuting my lawsuit he
showed every disposition to render me justice, consistent with his
duty to defend the interests of his sovereign.
Thus has the reader been presented with an account of but
part of the accumulated and aggravated injuries which I receiv
ed from the Spanish authorities in Venezuela. The recital ends
not here. Indeed it would seem that to enter into engagements
with the Spanish government, was, as far as concerned myself, to
become the victim of its perfidiousness and injustice. For, during
the period when I was carrying on the opefations of the tobacco
contract, I was appointed by Edward Barry and Company, of the
island of Trinidad, their.sole agent to execute certain important
privileges which had been granted to them by the crown of Spain,
This agency was of high importance to me, inasmuch as I be
came a partner with the said Barry and Company ;- and having
suffered so seriously by the tobacco contract, and being uncertain
as to the species of redress that would be ultimately afforded by
his Catholic majesty for the losses and injuries I had sustained, I
was anxious to adopt any new operations in commerce that af^
forded a prospect of lessening my misfortunes.

388 APPENDIX.
Previous to the arrival of the intendant Arce, the government
had recognised me as the agent of Barry and Company, and I
was in a fair way of speedily retrieving some part of my recent
losses. But between the captain general and - intendant there
arose conflicting opinions about my residence in the country, and
whether or not, as a stranger, I could enjoy the privileges which
the king had granted to Edward Barry .and Company. The re
sult of the disputes between the two officers, was a suspension of
Barry and Company's contract, until his Catholic majesty should
be consulted ; of course all the arrangements I had made to car
ry said contract into effect, were suddenly interrupted, thereby
creating serious losses, and affording me new grounds of demands
against the government, in addition to those which were pending
on account of the tobacco contract.
On the 19th of September, 1803, I presented a memorial to
the intendant, setting forth the injuries that would inevitably re
sult to my interests and character, by the unjust and extraordina
ry decrees of the captain general, as well as those of the intendan
cy; and I demanded the immediate revocation of those decrees,
or an indemnification for the losses I had sustained. The inten
dant and his assesor (legal adviser) were so well satisfied of the
correctness of the facts set forth in the memorial just mentioned-,
juid being desirous not to give me any new motives of complaint,
that they promptly determined to grant me a liberal indemnity, ¦
and accordingly, on the 9th of November, 1803, the intendant
passed a decree granting me some highly important privileges,
particularly specifying that such privileges were granted me as
an indemnification for the injuries I had sustained by the suspen
sion of Barry and Company's contract. This indemnity had no
relation to my pending demands on account of the tobacco con
tract ; but as I feared it might hereafter be interpreted' as a re
linquishment of my claims, I requested and obtained from the in
tendant an express declaration to the contrary.
The most important point in this indemnity was, that the in
tendant agreed to sell me a large quantity of tobacco, aXflve dol
lars per quintal, in consequence of its being of inferior quality.
This tobacco was exactly of the same quality as that which the
intendant De Leon had compelled me to receive on account of
the tobacco contract, at the rate of seventeen, nineteen, and rtnea-
ty dollars per quintal, and indeed a large portion of that very to-

APPENDIX. 389
bacco which I had rejected, constituted a part of the present sale.
I had then an indisputable and solemn official acknowledgment of
itsdeteriordted condition, by its being valued by. the royal autho
rities, and resold to me zifive dollars per quintal.
This act of the new intendant was in itself of more value to me
than all the privileges conceded to me in the indemnity in ques
tion, because it furnished me with an unequivocal and irresistible
proof of the extent of the fraud which had been practised upon
me by the intendant Leon, in having insisted on my receiving
worm eaten tobacco j at seventeen, nineteen, and twenty dollars,
Which was afterwards valued by the tobacco administration at
five dollars per quintal. This circumstance, united with other
considerations, induced me to be highly satisfied with the indem
nity; inasmuch as it gave me a hope of not only repairing some
of my losses, but of proving to his Catholic majesty and the su
perior tribunals at Madrid, the services I had rendered to the
royal treasury, and the injuries I had suffered by my contract
with De Leon.
The captain general made some difficulties about granting his
assent to the indemnity, but at length acquiesced, and transmit
ted the necessary orders to all the commandants of the different
ports in Venezuela, to throw no impediment in my way, at the
same time that he informed the intendant and myself, that he
should communicate his objections to his Catholic majesty against
allowing any stranger to enjoy such privileges as had been con
ceded to me by the intendant. As I had suffered severely from
the collision of opinion in the-Spanish authorities, and as I knew
that every species of intrigue would be employed in Caracas, and
perhaps in Cadiz, to prevent my enjoying the fruits of the indem
nity, I resolved on acting with caution in my mercantile arrange
ments, until I ascertained whether his Catholic majesty sanction
ed or rejected the arrangement which the intendant had made.
On the 25th of August", 1804, the indemnity in question re
ceived the royal approbation, and the minister Soler, under that
date, transmitted ihe royal order to the intendant. On the arri
val of this important document at Caracas, it was immediately
communicated to me officially, by the intendant. I was thus inspir
ed with new confidence, and made my arrangements accordingly.
Scarcely had I begun to carry into effect this flattering indem-

390 APPENDIX.
nity, when I again became a victim to new outrages, not only
against my interests, but my person.
On the 29th of August, 1805, the captain general communi
cated his determination to the intendant, not to permit the exe
cution of the indemnity which had been conceded to me, alleging
that he had (ordenes reservados ) secret orders from his court,
which justified this extraordinary determination. The intendant,
in a firm and indignant manner, opposed this resolution, and stat
ed to the captain general the serious consequences that would
follow to the injury of a stranger, who had rendered important ser
vices to the Spanish government, and already had heavy pending
claims upon the royal treasury, and he urged the consideration,
that as his Catholic majesty had given express orders for the
strict fulfilment of the indemnity conceded to me, it would endan
ger the honour and good faith of the king, to violate engage
ments which- had been thus solemnly entered into. Iii vain the
intendant protested against the arbitrary conduct of the captain
general, and in vain I implored the latter at least to permit me
to pursue my operations under the indemnity, until we heard fur
ther from his Catholic majesty. To all these just remonstrances
and petitions he was deaf, and in fact issued orders to the com
mandants of the ports not to permit a single vessel to enter under
my contract. Thus far the captain general's arbitrary and un
just measures affected only my interests, but on the 7th of Janu
ary, 1806, he issued a decree commanding me to leave the pro
vince immediately. On receiving notice of this decree, I waited
on his excellency, and requested him to state to me his reasons
for thus precipitately expelling me from the country. He repli
ed, that he did not feel himself at liberty to state any reasons,
further than his having received orders from the Prince of Peace
to send away every foreigner, without any exception, from the
Spanish dominions under his control. I asked him if he had any
special orders respecting me ? He replied, No ; but that he con
ceived me to be included in the general instructions he had re
ceived. He permitted me to enter into a friendly expostulation
with him, wherein I endeavoured to convince him that it was
impossible that his Catholic majesty could have intended to
comprehend me in the orders which had been transmitted by the
Prince of Peace, more especially as my residence in Caracas had

APPENDIX. 391
been specially sanctioned by his majesty's approbation. I urged
upon his attention all the services I had rendered his government,
and the serious claims I had then pending. He replied, with
great urbanity, that he was perfectly sensible ofthe force of all I
said, and professed to be sincerely sorry for the peculiar hard
ships of my case, but that if I suffered in my interests, the door
was always open for me to obtain redress, through the honour
and justice of his sovereign ; and whatever might be the conse
quences, he had made up his mind to compel me to depart from
the country, and particularly as he had reason to doubt whether
I was a citizen of the United States or not. On his making
this remark, I replied that it was in my power to furnish him
with undeniable evidence of my being a native of the United ,
' States ; that, in particular, in all the public documents, since
^the year 1799, when I first entered the province, I had been
recognised as a citizen of the United States; and that, in vir
tue of being such, the intendant De Leon had entered into a con
tract with me, during the l,ate war between Great Britain and
Spain. He then replied, with a gobd deal of petulance, " Well,
it may be so, but as you cannot pursue your commercial opera
tions but by an intercourse with English subjects, it is danger
ous to his Catholic majesty's interests that you should remain
here, therefore you must depart." I attempted to repel this un
generous and unfounded suspicion, by showing that, the disputes
with Spain, and Great Britain ought not to endanger my interests
aud personal rights as a citizen of the United States ; and I fur
ther stated, that even if a war, were declared between Spain and
my own country, there was a special provision, in a treaty exist
ing between the two nations, whereby the respective subjects and
.citizens of each should be allowed one -year from the date of a de
claration of war , to remove their persons and effects from the re
spective dominions of either power; and of , course that it was
cruel to place me in a worse predicament,, in consequence of hos
tilities with Great Britain, than I should have been in even in the
event of a war between Spain and the . United States. To all
these arguments and expostulations his excellency finally answer-
pd, " You must depart ; and if you do not immediately acquiesce,
you shall be expelled the country by force."
I then requested, as a favour, that I might be permitted to pre
sent a memorial to him, which should embrace the same argu-

392 APPENDIX.
ments I had verbally stated, as I wished to possess some docu
ment to prove that I had in due season represented for his con
sideration what I deemed necessary in defence of my interests
and personal rights ; and I likewise desired, that should he decree
any thing with respect to said memorial, that he would furnish
me with an authentic copy of such decree. His excellency hesi
tated for a few minutes, but at length said that he would comply
with my wishes, provided the memorial were presented the next
day. Availing myself of this permission, I delayed presenting
my representation until I should again hear from his excellency,
hoping to collect all my papers together in the meantime, and to
make the best arrangements in my power preparatory to my ex
pulsion from the country.
On the 18th of January, 1806, I laid my memorial before the
captain general, which caused him to hesitate for several days
before he finally determined to use forcible means to compel my
departure, as I had solemnly declared that nothing but force
should induce me to abandon my interests. He consulted the
tribunal of the real audiencia, and some of the most distinguished
lawyers of Caracas, on the subject. Some of them advised him
to take no decisive steps until he should receive further instruc
tions from Madrid ; others counselled him to expel me without
hesitation; while some of the merchants in Caracas, who had
always been hostile to my views, endeavoured to persuade him
that my mercantile connexions with British subjects were dan-
' gerous to the safety of the province.
On the 1 6th of February, the captain general sent his adjutant
to inform me that I must depart for La Guyra, and embark in the
first vessel that should leave that port. I requested the adjutant
to inform his excellency that I still adhered to my resolution of
remaining in the country until compulsion should force me to
quit it. A few hours subsequently, I called on the captain gene
ral, who received me with his usual urbanity. With great good
humour, the old gentleman shook me by the hand, wished me a
pleasant voyage, and informed me that a military escort was then
at the door, with orders to conduct me to La Guyra. I requested
permission to return with his adjutant to my place of residence,
in order that I might procure my clothes and papers ; which he
granted. After having collected my papers, the adjutant insisted
that I should return with him to the captain general, in order tp

APPENDIX. 393
submit them to his inspection. I accordingly complied ; but his
excellency declined making such examination, and censured his
officer for having suggested the idea. The last words he said to
me were; « I regret, sir, that the orders which I have received
from the Prince of Peace have compelled me to expel you from
the province under my command; but I thank you, in the name
of my sovereign, for the services you have rendered our govern
ment, and the inhabitants of Venezuela, during the time you
have been among us." I bade his excellency adieu, and proceed
ed to La Guyra, accompanied by the adjutant and a guard.
On the 21st of February, the commandant of La Guyra sent a
notary to acquaint me that a Danish schooner, called the Maria,
was to sail the next day for St. Thomas's, and that if I did not vo
luntarily embark in said vessel, he had orders from the captain
general to adopt compulsory measures. I answered, that I would
not embark in the schooner, nor in any other vessel, but by com
pulsion. Accordingly, on the following day, (February 22, 1806,)
I was conducted to the wharf by a military guard, attended by
notaries, and a cavalcade of officers and inhabitants. The officer
ordered me into the boat, and continued with me until he saw me
on board the schooner, and the vessel under sail.
Thus was I forcibly expelled from his Catholic majesty's pro
vince of Venezuela, after having rendered the services to the
royal treasury and to the country, before stated. And thus was
the suit then pending for the violation of my tobacco contract,
at once cut short; while the indemnity itself, granted for injuries
done to me, became of none effect.
A few hours previous to my embarcation, I entered a solemn
protest against the proceedings of the captain general, his go
vernment, and all those who were in any way concerned in these
outrages on my interests and person.
The papers which I succeeded in taking away with me, were
as follows : Copy of the protest at La Guyra ; original contracts
respecting the Varinas tobacco; my correspondence with the in
tendant, and with the captain general ; notarial copies of the pro
ceedings in the suit against the royal treasury ; indemnity grant
ed me by the intendant ; royal order of his Catholic majesty,
approving of that indemriity; powers of attorney from, and
agreement with Edward Barry and Company, of the island of
Trinidad ; decrees of the captain general and intendant, autho-

394 APPENDIX.
rizing me to. execute the privileges granted by his Catholic ma
jesty to the said Edward Barry and Company ; subsequent de
crees ofthe captain general, suspending and violating his previ
ous decrees; proofs ofthe amount of property delivered by me to
the royal treasury, on the faith of my first contract for forty
thousand quintals of tobacco ; unquestionable proofs that the in
tendant De Leon, at the time that he made the contract, (Septem
ber 5, 1799, ) well knew that the whole of the said tobacco was
deteriorated and rotten, thereby committing an enormous and
deliberate fraud, compromising the honour of his Catholic majesi
ty, and wantonly ruining those who had unfortunately relied on
the good faith of the Spanish government. All these important
documents are now in "my possession.
Upon my arrival at St. Thomas's, I wrote to the ambassador of
the United States at Madrid, transmitting through him a memo
rial to his Catholic Majesty, setting forth the wrongs I had suf
fered, accompanied by a notarial copy of the protest I made at
La Guyra, on the 21st of February, 1806. I have reason to be
lieve that the memorial was duly presented to the king ; and I
received information, toward the end of the year 1 807, that his
Catholic majesty had been pleased to pass a royal order, repri
manding the captain general for his precipitate and unjust con
duct towards me, and commanding the intendant, in case I should
return to Caracas, to permit me tq carry into effect the indemnity
which had been granted me.
At the period when this intelligence reached me, my mercan
tile affairs were so much embarrassed, and my credit had received
so severe a shock from the unfortunate issue of my previous
transactions with the Spanish government, that it was impossible
for me to make any further use of the indemnity in question; and
in addition to this, I was so disgusted at the recollection of the
perfidy and injury I had already experienced from the Spanish
authorities at Caracas, that I felt a repugnance to place my per
son or interests a second time within the sphere of their power.
Under these circumstances, the information respecting the royal
order was a matter of indifference to me; and I resolved to pro
ceed to Spain, and lay my case before the superior tribunals at
Madrid. But while I was making arrangements for that purpose,
the revolution of 1808 broke out in Spain; and the unsettled state
of the government for several subsequent years rendered it un-

APPENDIX. 395
advisable to make any attempts to prosecute my claim, until the
affairs of the kingdom should assume son»e degree of order and
stability. I therefore concluded to let them remain in « statu
quo," until the period might arrive when the intervention of my
own government should make it expedient to revive the claims.
It is not for me to say, in what manner, if at all, our govern
ment ought to interfere ; but it is believed that it is not hazarding
much to say, that in the long catalogue of injuries received by
American citizens from the Spanish government, there does not
exist a single case, either in point of magnitude or outrage, as a
parallel to the one just detailed, or which, in the humble opinion
of the writer, more loudly calls for the protection and investiga
tion of the government of the United States.
It will be clearly perceived, from the foregoing statement, that
all my commercial transactions in Venezuela directly emanated
from the highest Spanish authorities; that the contracts were
made on account of the Spanish government, and, together with
the privileges and indemnities conceded to me, swere sanctioned
by the approval of his Catholic majesty; that all the injuries my
interests received, and the outrages exercised against my person,
were directly caused by the acts of the Spanish authorities ; and,
finally, that my forcible expulsion from Caracas, by the despotic
conduct of the captain general, was a manifest infraction of the
treaty then existing between Spain and the United States. An
infraction of the treaty ! Can an American citizen seek redress
from Spain for such a wrong ? — or must he not rather look to that
benignant power which like a kind parent encircles all its objects
within its arms, and feels an outrage committed upon them thrill
ing its own heart's blood ? To my government I do look with
confidence ; for is it possible that I can obtain reparation from a
government that has acted as that of Spain has invariably acted
towards all our citizens who for the last twenty-five years have
had any claims against it ? Has there been a solitary instance,
within that time, of compensation being afforded for injury, ex
cepting in the case of our fellow-citizen, Richard W. Meade Esq.?
— and even in his case, do we not know that the energetic inter
ference of the American government alone prevented new out
rages against his person and interests ? These are important
facts, known to every one who has paid the least attention to the
conduct of the Spanish government towards our citizens, ever

396 APPENDIX.
since the period of the violation of the right of trading on the
river Mississippi.
Until, therefore, my case shall be honoured with the notice and
protection of our government, I cannot hope to obtain reparation
for my wrongs. The principal circumstances of the case have
long since been made known to the executive ofthe United
States, and to the American ministers at Madrid ; but as it is only
within a few months past that I obtained possession of the papers
and documents before mentioned, (which have been in keeping,
in the island of St. Croix, for the last thirteen years,) I have
never, until the present moment, been enabled to state the facts
with precise accuracy, or to make a representation to our govern
ment with due formality, and supported by the proper proofs.
Such a representation will now be made ; and I flatter myself
with the belief that it will be found worthy of the attention and
interposition of the government of the United States.

END OF APPENDIX.