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TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
under the accepted laws of modern warfare, ,v-.as nothing more than a series of human butcheries, rapes and desolations. Probably no other struggle of the present age has been carried out· with greater ferocity, perfidy and cruelty. The Royalists say that the insurgents gave the first example of these cruelties; that the war began with the cry of "Death to the Spaniards"; and that the principle was carried to the extreme in the capture of Guanajuato. This is true except for the following reason. It happened thus, not because of any deliberate in- tention, but because of imperious necessity. The insurgents had been discovered, and there was no possible means of avoiding the vengeance of the Government except by employing the Indians, whose sympa- thies and services could be obtained,. only by inciting them to avenge their own injuries. Bringing them into the fight was therefore an act of self preservation; and the excesses committed afterwards were born of the impossibility of subjecting and restraining their race when once aroused. It should be remembered that the insurgent chiefs pe- titioned the Government several times to abandon that barbarous sys- tem and carry' on war according to the usages of civilized nations. This proposal in favor of moderation and humanity was always re- ceived with contempt and followed by some act of even greater atrocity. It can be further said in favor of the insurgents that they did not always work under the principle of reprisal; that at least they par- doned the prisoners and abstained from all violence when they had been provoked to commit it; while the Royalists, on the other hand, never lost an opportunity of assassinating their prisoners and decimat-: ing the inoffensive inhabitants of the captured towns. As a result, the attempts of l\fr. Ward and other authors on the side of monarchy and despotism to stain the honor of the insurgent leaders and to lessen the atrocities of Calleja and other royalists should have no effect what- ever on the impartial judgment of the world. This necessary explanation having been made, we shall continue with our subject. The leaders on the side of Independence who continued the war after the death of Hidalgo were Rayon, l\fatamoros, Guerrero, Teran, the Galeanos, Victoria, Osorno, the Bravos and many other lesser celebrities, all of whom worked independently at the head of their respective forces, without recognizing any superior authority. This desultory war continued for several months until Rayon, who had begun to assume the command of the army and who was generally considered the first in command, feeling the necessity of coalition and unity of action, conceived the idea of organizing a national Junta, which should be recognized and obeyed by the various leaders as a central head with the authority to direct the movements of all. We shall occupy ourselves with this later. Among the most notable leaders on the side of the King were Calleja, Cruz, Concha, Xegrete, Arredondo, Rchavarri, Iturbide, Bustamante, Barragan, Pedraza, Cortazar, Rincon, Andrade, Calderon and others, most of whom will appear in the biographical portion of this vol- ume. It is sad to contemplate that some of the above mentioned leaders and several others were l\Iexicans, sons of the country, Creoles by birth, who should have felt as acutely as the rest the chains which the patriots were trying to break; but instead of sympathizing with their outraged country and fighting in defense of their rights, they
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