322 



HIS TEXAN DISGRACE MEXIA. 



vessel of the United States government. But he was a disgraced 

 man in the nation's eyes. He returned to his hacienda of Manga de 

 Clavo, and burying himself for a while in obscurity, was screened 

 from the open manifestation of popular odium. Here he lurked 

 until the brilliant attempt was made to disenthral his country by 

 Mexia, in 1838. Demanding, once more, the privilege of leading 

 the army, he was entrusted with its command, and, encountering 

 the defender of federation in the neighborhood of Puebla, he gave 

 him battle immediately. Mexia lost the day ; and, with brief time 

 for shrift or communication with his family, he was condemned by 

 a drum-head court martial and shot upon the field of battle. This 

 was a severe doom ; but the personal animosity between the com- 

 manders was equally unrelenting, for when the sentence was an- 

 nounced to the brave but rash Mexia, he promptly and firmly de- 

 clared that Santa Anna was right to execute him on the spot, 

 inasmuch as he would not have granted the usurper half the time 

 that elapsed since his capture, had it been his destiny to prove 

 victorious ! 



Soon after the accession of Bustamante there had been gritos in 

 favor of federation and Gomez Farias, who was, at that period, 

 imprisoned ; but these trifling outbreaks were merely local and 

 easily suppressed by Pedraza and Rodriguez. 



In the winter of 1838, however, Mexico was more severely 

 threatened from abroad than she had recently been by her internal 

 discords. It was at this time that a French fleet appeared at Vera 

 Cruz, under the orders of Admiral Baudin, to demand satisfaction 

 for injuries to French subjects, and unsettled pecuniary claims which 

 had been long and unavailingly subjects of diplomacy. Distracted 

 for years by internal broils that paralized the industry of the country 

 ever since the outbreak of the revolution, Mexico was in no condi- 

 tion to respond promptly to demands for money. But national 

 pride forbade the idea of surrendering without a blow. The mili- 

 tary resources of the country and of the Castle of San Juan de 

 Ulua, were, accordingly, mustered with due celerity, and the as- 

 sailed department of Vera Cruz entrusted to the defence of Santa 

 Anna, whose fame had been somewhat refreshed by his victory 

 over Mexia. Meanwhile the French fleet kept up a stringent 

 blockade of Vera Cruz, and still more crippled the commercial 

 revenues of Mexico by cutting off the greater part of its most valu- 

 able trade. Finding, however, that neither the blockade nor ad- 

 ditional diplomacy would induce the stubborn government to ac- 

 cede to terms which the Mexicans knew would finally be forced 



