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TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
the Capital. Venegas, alarmed at his approach, ordered Calleja, who hacl just captured and destroyed Zitacuaro ancl who was still at that place, to march with all possible speed to the Capital to repel the in- vader. Calleja left for the Capital without delay and upon arrival there had a disagreement with the Viceroy which would have ended in complete hatred had he not suddenly met with l\Iorelos, who was then at the most only a few miles from the City of Mexico. Seeing that his forces were inferior to those of Calleja and that he was being pursued by him, he fortified himself in Guanatla Amilpas and was at- tacked on the 19th of :B~ebruary, 1811, but without. any decisive re- sults. After six hours of severe fighting Calleja was compelled to retire, and, abandoning the idea of taking the place by assault, he laid siege to it in the usual manner and sustained the siege with such severity and good results that l\Iorelos finally found himself compelled by hunger to evacuate the place. This he did on the night of the 2nd of l\Iay. The inhabitants, fearful of suffering the same fate as those at Zitacuaro, left the town with ~forelos' forces but they were over- taken by Calleja and more than four thousand of them were put to the sword. ~forelos meanwhile eluded the pursuit of his adversary, disbanded his troops with the order that they were to reassemble at Izucar ·which was then in Bravo's possession. His army disappeared in a moment as though by magic, but it reassembled two or three days later at the appointed place and Morelos found himself again ready to continue the campaign. . · There is a circumstance connected with this event which is worth recording here. In the disbanding and the reunion of this army there were only seventeen who fell out; among these was the father of Gen- eral Bravo. He had fallen into the hands of the enemy. His son had in_ his power at that time three hundred Spanish prisoners whom he offered to exchange for his father. The proposal was rejected with insult. Bravo immediately.freed his 'prisoners in order that he might not be tempted in the agony of his suffering to put them to death in revenge for the assassination of his father. Is it not lamentable to think that a man capable of doing so noble an act should afterwards have become so degraded as to betray his'friends and the best patriots of his nation? In truth, this same Bravo, as the reader will see farther on, without any reason to justify him, when he was Vice-Presi- dent of the Mexican Republic several years later, conspired against Vic- toria for the purpose of usurping the Presidency and was one of the most actiYe agents in the overthrow of the valiant and unfortunate Guerrero. During this period ]l'Iorelos was recognized and obeyed by all as the supreme military commander of the Republic. He had no rival in the confidence and affection of the people, and it was only necessary for him to state his will for it to be clone. His influence over his troops was unlimited, and his example of acitivity, devotion and valor in- spirted the rest of the leaders, inciting them to put forth their great- est efforts. Again placing himself at the head of his troops, he left Izucar, defeated three·divisions of the Spanish forces, captured in turn Chilapa; Tehuacan and Orizaba, defeated Regules at Oajaca, ancl shortly afterwards plant.eel his triumphant flag at Acapulco (August 20, 1819). These were the brilliant clays of the revolution when the
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