Ou, Catlwlic H mtage in T e:a:a.r
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praised, as also were the inhabitants of Bexar, who were urged to rejoice at the restoration of the Government. Secrecy was promised not to be the order of the day as had been the case with Casas. All news-good and bad-was to be published. The document ended with the assurance that Bexar would again have its City Council. The promise was made good on March 4 when the old C ahildo was reorganized under the same terms and provisions decreed by His Majesty in 1735.37 As soon as Zambrano and the Junta had finished removing from office and imprisoning all the appointees of Jimenez and Casas and restoring as much of the confiscated property as possible to the Royalists who had been imprisoned by the former regime, they turned their attention to the most important question before them. Isolated from the rest of New Spain and cut off from communications with the legally constituted authorities in Chihuahua, they were in grave danger from sudden attack by the Revolutionists massing their strength at Saltillo. It would be highly advisable to establish contact with Commandant General of the Interior Provinces Nemesio Salcedo and Viceroy Venegas and to fortify Bexar against a possible assault-so thought the Junta. The suggestion was passed on to the City Council for deliberation and approval. The Council disapproved the plan calling for the fortifi- cation of Bexar, because they considered it as a waste of so much time and energy, but they heartily approved the suggestion to send two deputies to contact the Commandant General. While fulfilling this delicate mission, the deputies were also to ascertain the attitude of the people of Coahuila, of the troops of Calleja, and the state of affairs in Chihuahua. 11 The plan was immediately put into execution. Captains Jose Maria Munoz and Luis Galan were selected as deputies from the Loyalist Gov- ernment in Texas to the Commandant General, who was in Chihuahua. The Junta fully realized that it would talce more than a commission to get the deputies safely from Texas through the Insurgent-held territory to Chihuahua. Careful instructions were given to the two deputies to en- able them to cope with whatever situation might arise. If they met Rev- olutionists, they were to feign attachment to their cause. In support of their protestations they were to show a dispatch from the Junta to Jimenez, stressing the fact that the removal of Casas was an act, not against Jimenez, but against the abuses committed by Casas. The imprisonment s 7 Proclamation of the Central Junta to the troops and inhabitants of Bexar, March J, 1811, N"ogdocnes A,-cl,wes. SIProctedlngs of the Goyerning Junta, March 6, 1811, Nacogdoc!,es A,-c/iives.
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