307
PAPERS 01<' MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LA1..1An
the movements [which had] happened as a consequence of the revo- lution begun in the South; and although the administration had sought to employ him, he refused to give his services for more than two years. The cry of Vera Cruz of the 2 9f January, 1832-Santana invited to head the revolution-accepts- Sends a copy of the pronunciamento to Bustamente, in which the secon [d] article reads thus- "2nd The most Excellent Senor Vice-president asks the removal of the ministry whom public opinion accuses as protector of the Centralists and as tolerating the offences committed against civil liberty and personal rights."- This document was read before the Congress, and that body "addressed a note.to general Bustamente, in which he was exhorted not to consent to the dismissal of the secretaries of state, since it would be a step that could only be attributed to weakness or fear."- Busta- mente refused to remove the ministry, and the war began. 'fhe cry of Vera Cruz was not at first well received by the nations. "No State of the federation gave signs of repeating it, and even those people who had chiefly suffered [from] the despotism, seemed indiffer- ent to the unfortunate lot w:\}ieh threatened the individuals who began the movement." While the nation thus remained inactive and careless about the revo- lution, Genl. Facio "exercised all the resources of his genius to stifle the insurrection quickly; it was understood that there would be some- thing immoral in his plans." Attempt to bribe the commandant of the castle of San Juan de Ulua- The commandant was Se:iior Don Jose Maria :Flores. Facio wrote to him from J alapa 25 of 1832 a letter from which we take the following extract- "I offer to give you in the name of the govern- ment, if that fort of Ulua which you command, is put at its disposal not only will you be honored with the effective office of Colonel, but moreover twenty-five thousand pesos will be given to you secretly.- While this was taking place, the forces of the Government were marching slowly toward the suburbs of Veracruz to commence b.ostili- ties. The 31 of January the brigade of the vanguard left J alapa and did not reach Santa Fe until the 21 of the following month. On less than 25 leagues of easy and level road, Calderon took twenty days! To palliate this fault the bulletins of the mini$try applied to the gen- eral in cliief the verse which Vergil puts in the mouth of Aeneas: "With his prudent delay he saved the republic." Genl. Santana encouraged by so many mistakes, arranged a sortie for engaging the rearguard of the forces of his rival. The night of the 2'.'1:th at the head of two hundred cavalry, and two companies of rangers of the 2nd and 9th regulars, he marched out of Veracruz, passing within gunshot of the division of the government; he advanced to Manatial, five leagues distant from the plaza where he awa.ited a convoy which was travelling from the Bridge to Santa Fe with pro- visions, munitions, and money, these effects being guarded by a re- spectable escort under the command of lieutenant colonel D. Jose Perez Palacios. Santana engaged said force, took possession of the convoy and returned to his quartermaster general, taking the greater part of the effects and five thousand pieces of metal. The troops of Perez Palacios were united to the ranks of the insurgents, without Calderon, who was found at a point midway between Veracruz and
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