290 



SIEGE OF CUAUTLA IZUCAR ORIZABA. 



only food. A cat sold for six dollars, a lizard for two, and rats 

 and other vermin for one. But Morelos still continued firm, 

 hoping by procrastination and endurance, to preserve the con- 

 stancy of his men until the month of June, when the country is 

 generally deluged with rain and rendered insalubrious to all who 

 dwell habitually in colder regions, or are unacclimated in the lower 

 vallies and table lands of Mexico. His hopes, however, were not 

 destined to be realized, for, upon consultation, it was found abso- 

 lutely necessary to risk a general engagement or to abandon the 

 town. The general engagement was considered injudicious in the 

 present condition of his troops, so that no alternative remained but 

 that of retreat. This was safely effected on the night of the 2d of 

 May, 1812, notwithstanding the whole army of the insurgents was 

 obliged to pass between the enemy's batteries. After quitting the 

 town, the forces were ordered to disperse, so as to avoid forming 

 any concentrated point of attack for the pursuing Spaniards, and to 

 reunite as soon as possible at Izucar, which was held by Don 

 Miguel Bravo. Calleja entered the abandoned town cautiously 

 after the departure of the besieged, but the cruel revenge he took 

 on the innocent inhabitants and harmless edifices, is indelibly im- 

 printed in Mexican history as one of the darkest stains on the 

 character of a soldier, whose memory deserves the execration of 

 civilized men. 



From Izucar, Morelos entered Tehuacan triumphantly, whence 

 he passed to Orizaba where he captured artillery, vast quantities 

 of tobacco, and a large amount of treasure. But he was not allow- 

 ed to rest long in peace. The regular forces pursued his partizan 

 warriors ; and we next hear of him at Oaxaca, where he took pos- 

 session of the town after a brief resistance. It was at this place 

 that Guadalupe Victoria, afterwards president of the republic, 

 performed a feat which merits special remembrance as an act of 

 extraordinary heroism and daring in the face of an enemy. The 

 town was moated and the single drawbridge suspended, so as to 

 cut off the approach of the insurgents. There were no boats to 

 cross the stagnant water ; and the insurgents, as they approached, 

 were dismayed by the difficulty of reaching a town which seemed 

 almost in their grasp. At this moment Guadalupe Victoria, sprang 

 into the moat, swam across the strait in sight of the soldiers in the 

 town who seem to have been panic struck by his signal courage, 

 and cut the ropes that suspended the drawbridge, which, immedi- 

 ately falling over the moat, allowed the soldiers of Morelos a free 

 entrance into the city ! 



