638 



MEXICO. 



while Uraga should overpower Marquez at 

 Morelia, and thence march rapidly to the 

 capital. Early on the morning of Decem- 

 ber 17th, Uraga, with about 8,000 men, fell 

 suddenly upon the Franco-Mexican force un- 

 der Marquez, who, however, having received 

 secret intelligence of the proposed attack, 

 was fully prepared. A sanguinary battle of 

 several hours' duration followed. The na- 

 tional forces at one time penetrated into the 

 plaza of the town, but after severe fighting 

 were driven out and forced to retreat with 

 heavy loss, the French claiming to have taken 

 1,000* prisoners and eleven pieces of artillery. 

 A few days later the remnant of Uraga's army 

 was attacked by Col. Saint, and sustained 

 another defeat, with which active hostilities 

 terminated for the month in the State of Mich- 

 oacan. The invading columns thenceforth pur- 

 sued their march without interruption toward 

 the north, and by the close of the year Gen. 

 Bazaine was within a short distance of Guada- 

 lajara. 



Meanwhile the column under Douai and 

 Mejia pressed rapidly forward from Guanaju- 

 ato to San Luis Potosi, whence Juarez retired 

 on December 18th, to Monterey, accompanied 

 only by a few armed attendants. On the 24th, 

 Mejia occupied the town, where three days 

 later he was attacked by Negrete, who was re- 

 pulsed, losing some artillery, baggage, and pris- 

 oners. The close of the year left Negrete in 

 the neighborhood of San Luis Potosi, awaiting 

 the arrival of Doblado and Ortega, in conjunc- 

 tion with whom he proposed to make another 

 attempt to eject Mejia. 



In addition to the operations above detailed, 

 there was an attempt by Gen. Cobos, at a rev- 

 olution in favor of the interventionists at Mat- 

 amoras, in the early part of November, which 

 was quickly repressed by the Juarist governor, 

 Don Manuel Ruiz, who caused Cobos to be shot. 

 Ruiz, however, was almost immediately driven 

 out of the city, and Serna, also a liberal, appoint- 

 ed governor in his place. The last movement, 

 however, seems to have been a local quarrel, 

 having little or no connection with the question 

 of intervention. Though north of the capital 

 the prospects of the national party seemed 

 gloomy enough, in the south Gen. Diaz was 

 reported to be active between Vera Cruz and 

 Mexico, threatening Orizaba and other places ; 

 and in the States of Oajaca and Puebla, a body 

 of several thousand men were organizing to co- 

 operate with him. While from the mountain 

 fastnesses of Guerrero the old chief Alvarez, 

 who had hitherto taken no active part in the 

 war, issued an address to the Pinto Indians of 

 the south, over whom his influence has for 

 many years been predominant, urging them to 

 oppose the French, who were about to strip 

 them of their privileges. The southern States 

 of the republic had, in fact, been scarcely in- 

 vaded, still less subdued, and notwithstanding 

 numerous reports of the defection, of Doblado 

 and Vidaurri, the resignation or removal of 



Juarez, and dissensions of all kinds among the 

 national leaders, they remained at the close of 

 the year loyal to the country, and still con- 

 trolled a military organization which favorable 

 circumstances might develop into a formidable 

 power. 



On January 1st, 1864, the districts in the 

 interior of Mexico occupied by the forces of the 

 French intervention formed a triangle, of which 

 the apex was at Mexico and the sides extended 

 north to San Luis Potosi, and west as far as 

 Guadalajara. In an easterly direction, the sit- 

 uation of the country subject to the interven- 

 tion was nearly the same, resembling an irreg- 

 ular trapeze, formed of two unequal triangles ; 

 the greater one having its apex at Mexico, and 

 the two sides almost equal, each almost 180 

 miles in length, and about 50 miles apart ; while , 

 the smaller one had its apex at Vera Cruz, and 

 formed a triangle with equal angles, each 50 

 miles long. To complete this description the 

 total superficies of the country over which the 

 Franco-Mexican intervention is more or less 

 dominant, may be stated as a length of about 

 600 miles, by a breadth of from 130 to 150 

 miles. 



Insignificant as this territory may seem in 

 comparison with the whole national domain, it 

 nevertheless comprises some of the most rich 

 and populous States and cities, although the 

 total population included in it falls far below a 

 majority of the nation. " After the coup d'etat 

 of December 17th, 1857," says an English 

 writer, reviewing the incidents of the year, 

 " all the towns occupied at this momently the 

 Franco-Mexican troops, including even the im- 

 portant city of Guadalajara, were in the power 

 of the reactionary government ; and yet that 

 did not prevent the chiefs of that government 

 after a three years' struggle, sustained by the 

 gold of the clergy, and backed by foreign job- 

 bers from succumbing at last, and going igno- 

 miniously to beg for foreign intervention." 



The progress of the Franco-Mexican armies, 

 and the number of cities and towns that had 

 declared their adherence to intervention, were 

 conspicuously noticed in official French papers, 

 the object evidently being to show, that al- 

 though the resistance of Juarez was not entirely 

 subdued at the close of the year, the position 

 of affairs was satisfactory enough to justify the 

 Archduke Maximilian in taking possession of 

 the throne won for him by Napoleon III. The 

 Mexican deputation, had returned home, imme- 

 diately after their interview with the Archduke, 

 ostensibly to obtain a ratification of the empire 

 by a popular vote. But, as if to show how 

 hollow was this whole proceeding, it was sub- 

 sequently submitted to him that any nearer 

 approximation to a popular vote among so 

 scattered a population as the Mexicans than 

 such as was to be obtained from a more or less 

 general submission to the French^ arms, was 

 altogether impracticable. The Archduke lent 

 no unwilling ear to statements of this nature, 

 and prepared from the outset to take advantage 



