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that as a pretext to carry out what he had already planned, he imme- diately occupied the fort with a respectable force, which he had brought for that purpose through a passage in the vicinity. By this time the opposition to Bustamante had spread to a number of the states. Jalisco, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, Tabasco, Cordova and Orizaba had embraced the plan of Veracruz and entered the struggle. Santa Anna's forces increased considerably in a short time; wherefore, }le had a sufficient force to go to Orizaba where he established his head- quarters, but leaving the national bridge guarded by enough troops to rlefend it. Here he was occupied with organizing and disciplining the troops which daily joined his standard, and if rumor does not lie, he did not fail to spend part of the time in a way which was the cause of scandal in several families. The time came to make a new move and Santa Anna left Orizaba; but on being informed that General Antonio Facio with two thousand men blocked his way, he changed his route and escaped from his adver- sary. Facio followed in pursuit of him as far as San Augustin del Palmar where both generals encamped not far from one another. 'There was a place in the road which was difficult to pass, and Santa Anna, anxious to occupy it before his adversary, commenced his march very early with part of his forces, but on reaching the place was sur- prised to see the enemy already in possession of it, for Facio, knowing the advantage which it would give him, rose earlier than Santa Anna and occupied the place with the larger part of his troops, leaving 700 men in camp under the command of General Ascarate. Santa Anna had with him not more than 800 cavalry, and, there- fore, ought to have been content to reconnoiter the enemy, but instead of doing this, he committed another of his numerous military blunders by attacking a larger force which occupied a strong position and which had ten pieces of artillery. The result of this foolhardiness was the loss of many of his troops and the dispersion of the remainder, the valiant leader having taken flight before all of them. If Facio had sent orders to Ascarate at once to join him, the victory would have been complete, for besieged as he was at Palma by Facio's €ntire force, Santa Anna would have been reduced to the necessity of surrendering, but in consequence of not having done so, Ascarate marched against Palma thinking, without doubt that the place had been abandoned. He was discovered by the enemy and was suddenly attacked by 1\Iejia at the head of Santa Anna's entire forces. After a brief fight his small force was almost annihilated, and the leader, Ascarate, was himself numbered among the slain. This battle took place on the 1st of October, 1832. Santa Anna reached Palma in the moment of victory, bringing with him the first news of his own misfortune. Such is the fortune of the Mexican Napoleon-what he loses by his ignorance and foolishness is more than compensated for by the valor of others. His laurels are those of a coward snatched from the brow of the valiant. The day after the battle of Palma Santa Anna left for Puebla and on his arrival there halted in front of the city; but he showed no dis- position to attack it and his officers were becoming indignant at his indecision when an occasion arose to assist him and he revived with an
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