318 



ANECDOTE REVOLT UNDER SANTA ANNA. 



was hailed as the victor who broke the last link between Spain and 

 her viceroyalty. Pompous bulletins and despatches were publish- 

 ed in the papers ; and the commander-in-chief returned to the 

 capital, covered with honors, as the saviour of the republic. 



There is an anecdote connected with the final expulsion of the 

 Spaniards from Mexico, which deserves to be recorded as it exhib- 

 its a fact which superstitious persons might conceive to be the 

 avenging decree of retributive providence. Dona Isabel Monte- 

 zuma, the eldest daughter of the unfortunate Emperor had been 

 married to his successor on the Aztec throne, and, after his wretch- 

 ed death, was united to various distinguished Spaniards, the last 

 of whom was Juan Andrade, ancestor of the Andrade Montezumas 

 and Counts of Miravalle. General Miguel Barragan, who after- 

 wards became president ad interim of Mexico, and to whom the 

 castle of San Juan de Ulua was surrendered by the European forces 

 — was married to Manuela Trebuesta y Casasola, daughter of the 

 last Count of Miravalle, and it is thus a singular coincidence that 

 the husband of a lady who was the legitimate descendant of Mon- 

 tezuma, should have been destined to receive the keys of the last 

 stronghold on which the Spanish banner floated on this continent! 1 



By intrigue and victories Santa Anna had acquired so much 

 popular renown throughout the country and with the army that he 

 found the time was arriving when he might safely avail himself of 

 his old and recent services against Iturbide and Barradas. Under 

 the influence of his machinations Bustamante began to fail in popu- 

 lar estimation. He was spoken of as a tyrant ; his administration 

 was characterized as inauspicious ; and the public mind was gradu- 

 ally prepared for an outbreak in 1832. Santa Anna, who had, in 

 fact, placed and sustained Bustamante in power, was, in reality, 

 the instigator of this revolt. The ambitious chief, first of all 

 issued his pronunciamiento against the ministry of the president, 

 and then, shortly after, against that functionary himself. But Bus- 

 tamante, a man of nerve and capacity, was not to be destroyed as 

 easily as his victim, Guerrero. He threw himself at the head of 

 his loyal troops and encountering the rebels at Tolomi routed them 

 completely. Santa Anna, therefore, retired to Vera Cruz, and, 

 strengthening his forces from some of the other states, declared 

 himself in favor of the restoration of the constitutional president 

 Pedraza, whom he had previously driven out of Mexico. As 

 Bustamante advanced towards the coast his army melted away. 



1 Alaman Diserlaciones, vol. i, p. 219. 



