PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR 221 to Colonel Joaquin Herrera, not only excusing himself for all that had happened to Miranda, upon whom he did not hesitate to throw all the blame for the events which we have just mentioned, but also inform- ing him that in a few days he would declare in favor of the Independ- ents and would march with all of his troops toward El Desierto. Her- rera ignored the stratagem which he had employed against his com- panion in arms, Miranda, and accepted this offer, urgently requesting him not to delay his promotion. But Santa Anna hoped to receive his promotion to the next rank from the Viceroy and delayed joining the Independents by using light excuses which he had the impudence to state were for the success of the national cause. Thus we view this precocious monster, deceiving and assassinating the friends of liberty and independence whose cause he intended to embrace in a few days, using these means to obtain an appointment from the Viceroy whom he was betraying at the very same moment. Losing the hope of obtaining the aforementioned appointment, and knowing that time was passing, that the holy cause of freedom was advancing with great enthusiasm, and that some of the officers were taking advantage of the spirit of the times and were rapidly joining the standard of the country, he finally decided to join the ranks of a cause against which he had fought eight days before without waiting longer for his promotion. He declared in favor of independence at Tierras Calientes and the next day he received from the Viceroy Apodaca an icy answer enclosing the Commission of Lieutenant-Colonel, for which he had waited with such anxiety, and which was the price of his betrayal of Miranda. Notwithstanding the fact that he had changed his standard, he deco- rated himself with the insignia of the new rank which he had received from the Spanish Government. Iturbide later confirmed his rank of Lieutenant Colonel, but refused him the rank of Colonel which he had tried to obtain by such treacherous and cruel methods. As the inde- pendent leaders had scattered throughout the nation encouraging the people, Santa Anna did not delay in increasing the number of their party in Tierras Calientes; and his first acliievement of any consider- ation was the capture of Alvarado where Lt. Col. Topete was in com- mand. There he increased his ranks with the same soldiers who a month before had defended the unjust cause of the King. His envy and jealousy did not permit him to perform any service, thou~h it should be of the greatest importance to the country, that could possibly redound to the credit of another. He refused to co- operate with his superiors because they were generally inclined to mo- nopolize the honor of the victory, and the failures of the other leaders always gratified him more than their victories. We will illustrate this magnanimous action by an example. The reader will fiml others later on. Colonel Herrera, Commander-in-Chief of the province of Vera- cruz, on finding himself besieged at Cordova by the King's troops under the command of General HeYia, sent word to Santa Anna to hasten to his assistance. Santa Anna disobeyed the, order, making use of some light pretexts to which he always recurred on similar occa- sions; but the officers under his command, knowing that there was no obstacle to prevent his going, began to protest so vigorously that he was compelled to go. He arrived in time to save Herrera from _sur-
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