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TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
rible act, more atrocious, if it were possible, than that by which he obtained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, but ·the incident was such as we shall now relate. · In coming to an understanding with Lemaur, Governor of the fort of Ulua, Santa Anna laid before him his wish to return the place to the Spaniards and join the cause of the King, his master. 'fhis he was ready to do at any moment, provided that Lemaur would give him the necessary assistance to carry out his plan, and also that he would guarantee him the retention, under the Spanish Government, of the rank and command which he then possessed. The Governor joyfully accepted the proposition, and Santa Anna sent two of his agents, Cas- trill6n and Serrano, to the fort to settle with Lemaur upon the best means of carrying out his suggestion. He confided the entire man- agement of the affair to these two men, and between them and Lemaur it was agreed that this should be the plan of operations. The troops of the fort should disembark in the night and take possession of the strongest points, and when all should be ready for the great outbreak, the War cry should be raised at a given signal. This arrangement having been accepted for Santa Anna by his two agents they sent Serrano back to the fort to remain with the Governor as a hostagey and Castrill6n to act as a guide for the Spaniards. In this way everything came out to the satisfaction of the traitor. No one enter- tained the slightest suspicion of what was happening. The moment that the Spanish troops were ready to disembark Santa Anna told Echavarri that he had just received reliable information that the place would be attacked that same night, and he advised Echavarri to take a certain position in which Santa Anna had secretly placed his as- sassins. Ignorant of the conspiracy against him Echavarri followed this suggestion. All this was done for the purpose of alarming the city in order that he might take advantage of the darkness of the night and the general confusion to assassinate his rival under circmn- stances which would give his death the appearance of an accident and: free Santa Anna of all suspicion. The troops landed at the appointed hour, with Castrill6n at the head acting as guide, not leading them, however, as they expected, to occupy the strong places, but into a posi:- tion which he had prepared for their destruction. At the most un- expected moment he opened fire on them, and in a short time the entire city was filled with consternation. The scene was bloody, and: very few Spaniards escaped to relate the story of their disaster. This was the moment that Santa Anna was so anxiously awaiting, and he greeted it with delight. The assassin in whose charge he had left the accomplishment of his design attempted it, but the moment that he shot at the intended victim Echavarri turned around to speak to one of his assistants and the bullet buried itself in the heart of an unfor- tunate sergeant who was at his side. It has never been made certain what Santa Anna's real purpose was on this occasion, whether it was really to surrender the city to the Spaniards, or only to deceive them and by such means get E?havarri out of his way and obtain a new officer for himself. It is certam, how- ever, that in the heat of the battle he boarded a ship and with two assistants went toward the fort, leaving Tirios and Troyanos involved in the struggle. Lemaur received him coldly, saying: ".Mr. Santa
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