The Papers of Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, Volume VI

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TEXAS STATE LIBRARY

huac will arise, shedding the light of prosperity and fortune upon Mexico, and this country, freed from Spanish despotism and in frater- nal union with Cuba and Puerto Rico, may form, as the illustrious and republican Count of Pozoz Dulces says, "the peaceful barrier which is to separate North and South America in the future, situated, as it is, between two civilizations and two nationalities, not antagonistic and inimicable, but rival and progressive in all the sublime ·conquests of 1 humanity." · Among other things, we hope that the true patriots of 1\Iexico will accept this work as a weak attempt against tyranny and as proof of the sympathy which we feel for the country of the Hidalgos and Morelos. CHAPTER I. Origin of the ::\Iexican Revolution. Hidalgo's calls to arms at Dolores• .Allende and others unite with him. Capture of Guanajuato. :\larch to Mex- ico. Arrival at Valladolid. The reinforcing and receiving of more than a million pesos. Hidalgo proclaimed Commander-in-Chief. He dons the military uniform. .Appointment of a number of commanders. Hidalgo enters Toluca with fifty thousand men. The Viceroy sends Trujillo and Iturbide against Hidalgo. Battle of Las Cruzes and the overthrow of Trujillo. Hidalgo ad- vances to the Capital. Sudden retreat. He encounters Calleja. Battle of .Aculco. Hidalgo defeated. He goes to Guadalajara. Allende in Guanajuat.o. Battle of Marfil. Allende joins Hidalgo in Guadalajara. Calleja enters Guan- ajuato. He executes fourteen thousand inhabitants in the public square. Hidalgo fortifies the bridge at Calder(m. Calleja advances to meet him. Bit- tle at Calder6n. Total defeat of the Independent forces. Hidalgo retires to Saltillo.· He delivers the command to Rayon. He leaves with Allende and others for Texas. Elizondo betrays him at Acatita de Bajfin. He is captured and executed together with others. LIFE OF GENERAL ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA. INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION FRO~I ITS BEGINNING TO THE DEATH OF HIDALGO. Before occupying ourselves immediately with the life of our hero, we believe that it will not be out of place to present to our r~aders a _pre- liminary sketch of the Mexican revolution. This will serve as an in- troduction to severaf characters who will figure more or less in the course of the biography which we propose to write.. In this part of the work we will •not offer anything which is new or original. We aspire only to the merit of making our compilation accurate, brief, and clear. The :Mexican revolution was not the daughter of the free will of the people. It originated with the ingratitude and jealousy of the mother country. Although there had existed for more than three centuries countless causes which would provoke colonies to take up arms, the people, far from meditating such a movement, had remained faithful to their allegiance to the Peninsula until" 1808, and had sympathized profoundly with the mother country in the misfortunes of that epo_ch. The imprisonment of the royal family by Napoleon and the occupation

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