History of Mexico (Bancroft)/Volume 4/Chapter 11

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

 

CHAPTER XI.

HIDALGO'S CAPTURE AND DEATH.

1811.

Cruz Joins Calleja at Guadalajara — Humility of the Audiencia, Church, and University — Calleja Establishes a Junta de Seguridad — Cruz Regains San Blas — Death of Mercado — Hidalgo Compelled to Surrender his Command — The Insurgent Leaders Retire to Saltillo — They Decide to Go to the United States — Operations in San Luis Potosí — Death of Herrera — Counter-revolution in Texas — Capture and Execution of Ignacio Aldama — Elizondo's Treacherous Plot — Capture of Hidalgo and Revolutionary Chiefs — Iriarte's Death — The Captives are Sent to Chihuahua — Their Trial — Abasolo's Deposition — Executions — Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction — Hidalgo's Execution His Character.

Calleja entered Guadalajara on the 21st of January. His reception was similar to that of Hidalgo a few weeks before. With wonderful facility these people could be royalists or revolutionists as occasion demanded. In their principles they were governed greatly by the weather. If Hidalgo rained his rabble upon them in the morning, the town — all that were left in it — was for the country; if Calleja's sun shone bright, it was for the king. And luckily so; else by this time, between the several retaliatory leaders, there had been few left. Yet there were many in Mexico firm enough in espousing the cause, and nobly enduring, pledging themselves irrevocably to it, knowing that such action was almost certain death.

The demonstrations on this occasion were unusually prolonged, from the fact that in the afternoon of the same day Cruz unexpectedly arrived. This leader, after the delays which embarrassed his advance until he had crossed the Lerma, had hastened forward by forced marches to join Calleja. Personally these two commanders were unknown to each other, but although latent feelings of jealousy might exist, their meeting was cordial in the extreme. Nor did Cruz's seniority of rank as a brigadier interfere with an amicable arrangement as to their respective positions; he waived his right to take the chief command in favor of Calleja.^[1] It was afterward agreed that each should retain command of his own division, and that Cruz should march at once to San Blas to recover possesion of that port, while Calleja remained in Guadalajara to reform the government.

On the 22d and 23d Calleja issued two proclamations: the one congratulating his troops upon their late victory and exhorting them to abstain from excesses; the other was addressed to the inhabitants of Nueva Galicia, and was of the usual tenor, containing threats of death in case of future disobedience, and to all caught with arms in their hands.^[2] Moreover, he caused ten of the prisoners taken at Calderon to be shot as traitors.^[3]

The late action taken by the audiencia and the ecclesiastical powers on the entrance of Hidalgo into Guadalajara was not likely to win favor for them in the eyes of the viceroy; and they now hastened to send to him protestations of fidelity and explanations of their conduct. The former expressed its unbounded joy at the late victory, and the restitution of its functions, which had been interrupted during the occupation of the city by the "insurgent monster, Miguel Hidalgo;" while the ecclesiastical chapter drew a pitiable picture of the degradation its members had been subjected to in having been compelled to repress any utterance of their sincere loyalty and fidelity. The university, moreover, in all humility, declared that it had made no demonstration in favor of Hidalgo such as was offered to a legitimate government, informed the viceroy that a donation of $1,510 had been contributed by the members of the faculty for the benefit of the army, and said that certain of them had been commissioned to preach and write in refutation of the proclamations and pamphlets printed by the insurgents. The faculty, moreover, petitioned the viceroy to appoint Calleja president, governor, and captain-general of Nueva Galicia.^[4] Venegas graciously received these explanations, and in his reply to the ecclesiastics, expresses the hope that time will prove that he has not been deceived in forming the high opinion which he entertained for them.

When Hidalgo departed from Guadalajara, the audiencia and other authorities had reëstablished themselves. President Abarca and others, who had lain concealed, as soon as Calleja's victory became known, issued from their hiding places and reassumed their previous positions. Nevertheless Calleja closely investigated the conduct of those oidores and other officials who had remained in the city,^[5] and considering that the weak and vacillating character of Abarca rendered him unfit to fill the position he had held, made; corresponding representations to Venegas. Abarca asked for a formal investigation, which, however, was denied him;^[6] and his petition that he might be allowed to return to Spain having been granted, he departed, but died at Panamá some time afterward, on his journey thither. Besides reëstablishing the royalist authorities, Calleja formed a junta de seguridad, with Velasco de la Vara^[7] as president, the prerogatives of which consisted in the right to try all persons suspected of treason. He also instituted a junta de caridad y requisicion de bienes europeos, the object of which was to protect the property and interests of Europeans who had fled or been put to death, and administer aid to their families. This court was also charged with the duty of collecting and interring the remains of the Spaniards lately slain.^[8]

Having thus arranged affairs in Guadalajara, without waiting for the return of Cruz, who in the mean time had been appointed president in place of Abarca, and military commander of Nueva Galicia and Zacatecas, Calleja left for San Luis Potosí. His army was at this time much reduced in numbers by sickness, desertion, and excessive venery;^[9] and when informing the viceroy of his departure from Guadalajara, he felt it necessary to remark that he observed a want of enthusiasm in his troops, and little inclination to engage in fresh campaigns.^[10] His march to San Luis was conducted with all possible pomp, and with such assumption of almost courtly display as greatly to disgust the viceroy.^[11] But while outriders preceded his carriage, and military music entertained the company at his table and evening receptions, want of provisions and pasturage made his march slow; and his long straggling line, composed of soldiers, women, camp-followers, and hungry beggars, presented an array far from military in appearance.^[12] On the 5th of March he arrived at San Luis, which place had been in the power of Herrera until his approach.

During this time Cruz, who had left Guadalajara on the 26th of January, was successfully engaged in reducing the north-western portion of the province to subjection. On the 28th he entered Ahualulco, and there proclaimed the general pardon extended to all who returned to their allegiance.^[13] With regard to Mercado, he even intimated that he would restore his benefice to him if he would avail himself of it.^[14] As to whether it was the intention of Cruz to carry out to the letter these fair promises, I leave it to the reader to judge. Mercado had evidently no confidence in them. The disastrous news of the loss of the battle at Calderon did not deter him from making further efforts. He ordered the concentration of troops; issued a proclamation exhorting Americans to join his standard and fight for the cause of independence; and gave instructions to Captain Ibarra to scour the district and seize the funds and all available property belonging to Europeans. As Cruz approached, Mercado took up a strong position commanding the difficult pass at the barranca of Maninalco. But the royalist victory

at Calderon, and the offer of pardon, had a bad effect upon his men. His troops broke and fled after firing some cannon-shots, and Mercado betook himself with a few followers to San Blas. Both in that port and in Tepic a reaction had set in. Francisco Valdés, who had been temporarily placed by Mercado in command of the first division of the coast militia, took the opportunity of exciting a counter-revolution at Tepic in favor of the government, and immediately apprised Cruz of the state of affairs. Cruz sent a detachment thither at once, and that important town fell into his hands without a blow.^[15] Captain Salas, the commander of the troops sent to Tepic, was instructed to proceed thence to San Blas and occupy that port, where he was to make every effort to secure the persons of Mercado and other insurgent leaders, as well as to arrest Lavallen, Bocalan, arid others implicated in the surrender of the port to Mercado.^[16] But that town had already been lost to the revolutionists, and Mercado killed.

When, after his failure to arrest the advance of Cruz, Mercado had returned to San Blas, Padre Nicolás Santos Verdin, cura of the town, formed a plot with the royalists to seize him and the comandante Romero. On the night of the 31st of January they made the attack. Romero, however, with barred doors defended himself by firing from a window until he, Estévan Matemala, commander of the artillery, and one other were killed; the assailants having two of their party slain and four wounded. The particulars of Mercado's death are not known. On the following morning his body was found at the foot of a precipice, down which it was conjectured he had fallen during flight. But there is reason to suppose that he was killed while defending himself; and that those who slew him, in order to avoid the opprobrium attached to priest-killers, threw his body over the cliff.^[17]

Cruz, who had hitherto remained at Iztlan, having sent his officers in advance to conduct his military operations wherever any show of danger appeared, now fearlessly proceeded to Tepic, which he entered on the 8th of February. Here he remained for three days; during which time he issued a proclamation, unusually mild in expression, reorganized military and civil af fairs, and hanged several adherents of the independent party, leaving their bodies suspended as a warning to others. On the 12th he marched to San Blas, where he arrived late at night. The activity he displayed here as elsewhere was surprising. Whatever his faults, he cannot be accused of indolence or want of administrative ability. The civil government was reorganized, the offices for the collection of the revenue were re-established, maritime and military matters put in order, artillery was mounted sufficient for the defence of the place the superfluous guns being placed on board the frigate Princesa and numerous directions were issued by him for the future guidance of officers left in command. He, moreover, convoked a council of war, at which the father of Mercado was condemned to be hanged, which sentence was carried into execution on the 14th.^[18] The same day Cruz returned to Tepic, where he remained two days. On the 17th, having sent forward detachments to Sayula, Zapotlan, Zacoalco, and other places threatened by the insurgents, and having arranged that the different divisions of his army should arrive at Guadalajara on the 27th and 28th, he resumed his march to that city.

After the dispersion of the insurgents at Calderon, Hidalgo continued his flight to Zacatecas, whither Iriarte had retired with a considerable force^[19] and a large sum of money. But before reaching that city he was deposed. Overtaken by Allende, Arias, and other leaders at the hacienda del Pabellon, he was compelled by them to resign his position as generalissimo in favor of Allende. From the first, Allende had not been fully in accord with Hidalgo; he had constantly disagreed with him as to the conduct of the war. But Allende and the others could not draw people to the standard like Hidalgo. They were better soldiers, perhaps, but were not necessarily better men. Allende was a strict disciplinarian, a humane man as the times went, and honorable far above the average leader on either side. He and his fellow-officers were dependent on Hidalgo at the first more than now; at all events, they now conspired against his authority, and threatened him with death if he declined to surrender his command.^[20] Henceforth he was little more than a prisoner in their hands. He was used as a figure-head; his presence was deemed necessary, but he was allowed no voice in the movement he had been the first to take part in. His presence with the army was still deemed necessary, but his influence with regard to future action was gone, his advice was not sought, and his authority a mere show. His movements, moreover, were closely watched, and he understood that orders were given to kill him if he attempted to separate himself from the army.^[21] In all this Hidalgo cared less for himself than for the cause. Personal fame had never

Hidalgo's Flight To Monclova.

been his object. If they could better carry forward the revolution alone, he was content. But from the sequel we should judge that they could not, for destruction falls quickly upon them.

From Zacatecas Allende decided to retire with his forces to Saltillo, where, united with Jimenez, his position would be more secure than elsewhere. At this time a royalist force under the command of Melgares was threatening to attack Saltillo;^[22] and Allende having received a letter from Jimenez dated the 17th of February, hastened to his assistance with a portion of his forces, leaving Hidalgo at Matehuala. Jimenez, however, had already engaged with the enemy and defeated them when Allende arrived.^[23] The Europeans who fell into his power were put to death.^[24]

The situation of the revolutionary leaders, however, daily became more desperate. Of all the host routed at Calderon only an insignificant number followed their chiefs, and the whole force that could be mustered at Saltillo did not exceed four or five thousand ill-armed men. Allende had hardly marched out of Zacatecas when it was assaulted and taken by Captain Ochoa,^[25] and Calleja shortly afterward entered San Luis Potosí. Under these circumstances further action here would be useless. But they would not abandon the cause. The northern provinces were still in the hands of the independents, as they supposed, and they would go to the United States with their treasures, purchase weapons there, and solicit aid of that new and patriotic republic. Then they would return and meet the royalists in the field with equal arms and superior numbers. Delusive dreams! Far different was the fate in store for them. Already death had them in its horrible toils.

About this time Hidalgo received a letter from Cruz,^[26] enclosing a copy of the general pardon extended to insurgents by the Spanish córtes,^[27] and exhorting him to accept the clemency offered,^[28] and avoid the further shedding of blood. But this was not for a moment to be thought of, and for two reasons: Hidalgo would not trust him or his promises, and he would never abandon the cause. Let him now recant, and what hope would there be for another? Perhaps his death would better serve the revolution than any action of his while living; if so, he would cheerfully die. He therefore not only emphatically declined to accept the present offer, but kept the matter secret among the leaders.^[29]

Previous to the arrival of Calleja at San Luis Potosí, that city had been held by the insurgents under the leadership of Herrera. By directions of Iriarte, he had successfully attacked two royalist officers, Reyes and Ilagorri, at the hacienda of San Pedro Piedra Gorda. Their force consisted of 700 men with eleven pieces of artillery. The two leaders were slain, and the Europeans captured were shot. Herrera then returned to San Luis, where the house of the intendente Flores was sacked, it being believed that he was in collusion with the royalists. On the approach of Calleja he abandoned the city, taking the direction of Rio Verde and Valle del Maiz. Under García Conde, Calleja sent a detachment in pursuit, and Herrera sustained an overthrow at the latter place, losing seventeen pieces of artillery, and a great quantity of ammunition, baggage, and plunder.^[30] He however took revenge by ordering twelve Spanish captives put to death, one of whom miraculously escaped to tell the tale.^[31] After this defeat Herrera retired to Agayo,^[32] where he expected to be joined by the revolted troops of Iturbe. Venegas had, however, in the mean time despatched Colonel Arredondo with a force via Vera Cruz into the disaffected district; and his approach, together with the offer of pardon, caused a counter-movement in favor of the royalists. Herrera and other chiefs were seized in their quarters and delivered up to Arredondo, who summarily executed them.^[33] Thus terminated the career of the lay-friar Herrera, charged by some with more than ordinary cruelty, yet whose high courage and ability in the field were second only to his love of country and devotion to the cause of independence.^[34] While these events were taking place in San Luis Potosí and Nuevo Santander, changes, unfavorable to the independent cause, were also occurring in Texas and Coahuila. About the beginning of February, Ignacio Aldama had been elected by the revolutionary leaders as minister plenipotentiary to the United States,^[35] Padre Juan Salazar being commissioned to accompany him and act in his stead in case of accident, sickness, or death. He took with him no less than one hundred bars of silver, besides a large sum of money for the purpose of purchasing arms and procuring the assistance of 30,000 auxiliaries. At the time when Aldama arrived at Béjar the action of Captain Casas was causing general dissatisfaction: and a counter-revolution was already in secret operation, headed by the subdeacon Juan Manuel Zambrano. Zambrano and his confederates took occasion to spread suspicions about the object of Aldama's mission. He was represented to be an emissary of Napoleon, as evidenced by his uniform, which was ornamented like those of French officers. If, indeed, he brought auxiliaries from the United States, would they not probably avail themselves of the opportunity to gain possession of the province which was regarded with such covetous eyes? On the night of the 1st of March Casas was made prisoner, while Aldama, Salazar, and their escort were detained under the pretence that their passports were not in order. A new government was then formed, with Zambrano as president. This at once proceeded to establish itself as firmly as possible; troops were organized, partisans of the revolutionists were deposed from office, and the imprisoned Europeans released. The unfortunate Aldama and Salazar were afterward conveyed to Monclova in Coahuila, condemned to death by a court-martial, and executed.^[36] These momentous matters were wholly unknown to Allende, as well as to the revolutionists at Monclova, which were destined to prove most fatal to himself and his associates. Lieutenant-colonel Ignacio Elizondo had at first favored independence; but having taken of fence at Allende's refusal to promote him to the grade of lieutenant-general in reward for his services, he secretly became disaffected, and cast about him in search of means of revenge. When Zambrano had gained control at Béjar he sent two commissioners, captains Muñoz and Galan, to communicate with Calleja and the viceroy; and these finding the conspiracy ripe at Monclova, disclosed to Elizondo Allende's intentions. He therefore determined to delay matters no longer, but seize the persons of the revolutionary leaders on their arrival. Accordingly, on the night of the 17th of March, at the head of two hundred troops and armed citizens, he made the revolutionary governor Aranda prisoner, surprised such soldiers of the garrison as had not entered into his designs, and possessed himself of the artillery. He then proceeded to establish a government council, which appointed Simon Herrera provisional governor of the province on the 25th of March.^[37] Measures were now adopted for the seizure of Allende and his associates. Guile and perfidy were brought into play without scruple. The regulations of the more refined civilizations have proper murder and improper murder, righteous and unrighteous robbery, holy and unholy treachery, and the like; but these Spanish royalists paid little attention to such rational and beneficent rules. The utmost precaution was taken that Allende should receive no intelligence of what had occurred at Monclova, and remarkable as it may seem, that leader entertained not the slightest suspicion of the trap which was being laid for him. Advised that the revolutionists would arrive at the wells of Bajan on the morning of the 21st, Elizondo arranged to meet them with all due honors; and on the 19th sallied forth with 342 well appointed troops, having informed Jimenez that he would welcome them on the road.

Previous to starting on their ill-starred journey, a council was held by the revolutionary leaders in order to arrange about the chief command and the management of the cause during their absence. This was on the 16th, and in turn both Abasolo and Arias—who, as the reader will recollect, played a somewhat dubious rôle at Querétaro — declined to accept the responsibility. The command was finally given to Ignacio Rayon, the licentiate Arrieta being his second, and José María Liceaga his third officer.

All was now ready for their departure from Saltillo. Their road lay through a rugged desert in which water could only be obtained at long intervals and in small quantities, even when the occasional wells were not dry.^[38] The thirsty men and animals would hasten to the wells of Bajan to refresh themselves; and there Elizondo waited for them. The ground was favorable for his design. Concealed in a recess, he left in his rear fifty of his men, and in his front placed an equally well hidden ambush. At nine o'clock on the morning of the 21st, Allende appeared in sight. He had left Saltillo with a force of nearly 2,000 men, twenty-four pieces of artillery, a great quantity of jewelry, and more than half a million of money. He was accompanied by all the principal leaders, who, to the number sixty, travelled in fourteen carriages. The march across the desert was most toilsome, and such was Allende's confidence that no military order was preserved, and a long straggling line enveloped in dust revealed to Elizondo how easily his design would be accomplished. The carriages and horsemen in different groups were far in advance of the main body,^[39] the artillery being slowly dragged along in the rear.

Fray Pedro Bustamante with five soldiers was the first to approach. Passing through files drawn up by Elizondo to receive the chiefs, they were saluted and unsuspiciously continued their way till they arrived at the ambush in the rear, where they were compelled to surrender. Then followed a troop of sixty men, who were similarly made captive and safely bound. Hitherto no opposition was met. Presently the first carriage arrived, escorted by about a dozen soldiers.^[40] These attempted to resist, but were overpowered, and three of them killed. And thus fell into Elizondo's hands the occupants of carriage after carriage, till all the chiefs were captured with the exception of Hidalgo, who was far in the rear. Allende, however, had not yielded without a struggle. Elizondo called upon him to surrender. "Traitor!" cried Allende, and fired. But the shot was without effect. Elizondo then ordered his men to fire into the carriage. Allende was accompanied by one of his sons, who was a lieutenant-general; also by Jimenez and Arias. By the discharge his son was shot dead and Arias mortally wounded.^[41] Thereupon Jimenez surrendered himself, and Allende was overpowered. Both were securely bound and conveyed to the rear. The last to arrive was Hidalgo, who might still have escaped had any suspicion of these occurrences been excited; but even the firing created no alarm. When called upon to surrender, the stout old hero prepared to defend himself, pistol in hand; but his escort, composed of a score of horsemen, intervened and entreated him to surrender, representing that resistance would be useless. Finding himself unsupported by his men, he laid aside his weapon, and with undisturbed serenity yielded himself a prisoner. Well might he have cursed Allende, and the want of watchfulness and generalship that brought them all to such a pass, after wresting the management from his hands.

So Elizondo's treachery triumphed. In his power were now all the great chiefs and originators of the revolution.^[42] Never was plot more perfidiously planned, or more successfully accomplished. Leaving his prisoners securely bound and in charge of a strong force, Elizondo at the head of 150 men now marched against the main body, consisting of some 1,500, a league behind. The fighting was all on one side. The artillerymen in the van were slain, a portion of the troops which followed passed over to Elizondo, and the rest were dispersed. About forty of the revolutionists were slain, 893 taken prisoners, and all their guns, equipage, and treasure fell into the hands of the victors.^[43]

The only person of note who escaped was Iriarte,^[44] who fled at the first attack upon the artillery. This, however, only hastened his doom, for Allende, convinced of his perfidy, had left orders with Rayon to have him beheaded if he returned, which was promptly done.^[45] The prisoners were conveyed to Monclova, and every precaution taken to prevent their escape. The principal chiefs were lodged in a house provided for the purpose by Herrera, the others being confined in the public jail. Great excitement prevailed in the city, and Elizondo, not considering his captives in safe keeping, sent to Ochoa, who was approaching Saltillo, requesting of him a reinforcement of 500 men, which was immediately despatched to Monclova by forced marches.

As the capture had been made on territory under the government of the comandante general of the interior provinces, it was necessary to send them to Chihuahua for trial, where resided the brigadier Nemesio Salcedo, who then held that position. On the 26th of March the principal prisoners,^[46] including Hidalgo, Allende, Jimenez, and Abasolo, as also the regular and secular ecclesiastics, were led forth on their long journey to that city. Shackled hand and foot, mounted on miserable beasts of burden, and escorted by a strong guard, these unhappy men painfully travelled the two hundred leagues of rough road which connected the two cities.^[47] Their sufferings were painful in the extreme; even their halt by night afforded little relief to their strained muscles, as their fetters were never for a moment removed. On the 23d of April they reached their destination. The comandante Salcedo had already made ready for the occasion. It was not every day Chihuahua offered such a spectacle as Hidalgo and his generals conducted in chains through her streets! So on the 21st Salcedo issued a proclamation granting permission to all the inhabitants of the city to witness the entrance of the prisoners, and prescribing rules to be observed on the occasion, the infringement of which would be visited with severe punishment. Any expression of either sympathy or hate was forbidden.^[48] Having passed through this ordeal, the prisoners were incarcerated without removal of their fetters, in the places assigned for that purpose.^[49]

On the 25th Juan José Ruiz de Bustamante was appointed to draw up the preliminary proceedings for their trial; and on the 6th of May following a military court was established, composed of a president, auditor, secretary, and four voting members. The prosecution rested entirely upon the declarations of the prisoners, special judges being appointed to examine them and take their depositions. These were then submitted to the above-mentioned tribunal, which pronounced its verdict in accordance, and passed sentence. The members of the court were Manuel Salcedo,^[50] president; Rafael Bracho, auditor; and captains Pedro Nolasco Carrasco, José Joaquin Ugarte, and Simon Elias Gonzalez, three of the voting members.^[51] Angel Abella, the director of the postal service at Zacatecas,^[52] was appointed on the same day on which the court was formed to take the depositions of Hidalgo, Allende, Juan Aldama, and Jimenez. On the 7th he commenced his duties. It would be out of place to enter into the details of the numerous depositions. Hidalgo and Allende, instead of favoring, rather opposed each other.

Allende had met with much to trouble him since his seizure of the general management and his failure.^[53] It had been a fearful responsibility, for he well knew that failure was almost certain death. Hidalgo was mild and moderate in all his actions and expressions. He could make allowances for the temper of the soldier, and for so good a soldier as Allende, and one engaged in so noble a cause; he could even forgive the unjust reproaches of a friend, but he could not forget the sad failure, the lost cause—no! it was not lost. As sure as the sun continued to rise and set, the grito de Dolores would never cease ringing throughout the land till Mexico was free!

The deposition of Abasolo displayed the character of that leader as one of the most pusillanimous. He never had been greatly trusted by his associates. During the latter days of disaster his lukewarmness had been apparent, and now, in peril of his life, he left no means untried, however dastardly, to save it, accusing everybody while shielding himself. He had known nothing, he testified, about the revolution until the grito de Dolores had gone forth; he had attempted to give Colonel Canal at San Miguel information; he had wished at the commencement to separate himself from the rebellion—every one of which statements was a lie. Though he had been made colonel, and after that major-general, he was withal a coward. When Hidalgo attacked

Guanajuato, he remained in the house of his friend Pedro Otero during the contest, and though he was present at the battle of Calderon, it was not with a willing heart, he said, and he was one of the first to flee!

His accusations against the leaders of the insurgents were villanous; he brought unjustly on Hidalgo's minister, Chico, a doom which otherwise he would have escaped.^[54] Between Abasolo's inherent baseness and the high-minded conduct of his wife. Dona María Manuda de Rojas y Taboada, his worthless life was spared to him. Of all the principal promoters of the revolution, he alone did not hesitate to crawl away from a death which posterity will forever proclaim glorious. His property was confiscated, his offspring was attainted, and he was condemned to ten years im prisonment. He was sent to Cádiz and incarcerated in the castle of Santa Catarina, where he ended his days, attended and consoled to the last by his faithful wife.^[55]

The trials were conducted with every possible despatch, and on the 10th of May three of the captives were led forth to execution.^[56] On the 11th two more met the same fate, and on the 6th of June five others, among whom was Maríano Hidalgo, brother of the general. Allende suffered on the 26th of the same month, in company with Jimenez, Juan Aldama, and Manuel Santa María, the governor of Monterey; and on the following day the unfortunate Chico and three others were put to death.^[57] All these victims to the cause of independence were shot with their backs to the firing platoons as traitors, and their property confiscated.

With regard to the prisoners who had been left in Monclova and those-who had been sent to Durango, the more prominent of the former were shot, the common soldiers being condemned to imprisonment. In the case of the friars and clergy, more formality had to be observed out of respect to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Six of them were condemned to death, but their clerical degradation was necessary before they could be executed according to established form. Doctor Olivares, the bishop of Durango, however, refused to degrade them, and angry passages were interchanged between him and the intendente Bonavia on the matter. The prelate was inflexible, but the intendente was not to be defeated. By his command the condemned priests were brought from their cells without their ecclesiastical robes, and so executed. Their bodies were then dressed in the habiliments of their respective orders and delivered to the cura for burial.^[58]

The execution of Hidalgo was for some time delayed by these ecclesiastical formalities. On the 14th of May the bishop of Durango commissioned Francisco Fernandez Valentin, canon of that cathedral, to act as ecclesiastical judge in the case; and to him had been submitted by the military court the declarations taken by Abella. On the 14th of June they were approved by him and ordered to be returned to the auditor Bracho. The arrival of additional evidence, however, still protracted Hidalgo's trial, and it was not until the 3d of July that Bracho presented to the court his opinion, advocating sentence of death.^[59] But before this sentence could be either pronounced or executed, civil and canonical law required, as in the case before mentioned, that the prisoner should be degraded and formally handed over by the ecclesiastical judge to the secular authorities. Bishop Olivares was unable from age and infirmity to undertake the tedious journey in order to perform these ceremonies in person,^[60] and a further delay was caused by the demurs of Dr Valentin, who hesitated to act upon the authorization first extended him by the bishop,^[61] and suggested that Hidalgo should be sent to Durango. The prelate, however, explained his right to delegate his powers under certain difficulties to another, and confirming Valentin's previous commission, expressed the expectation that he would at once proceed in the matter.^[62] Accordingly, on the 27th of July, with the cura, the chaplain of the army, and the local superior of the Franciscan convent as his associates, he pronounced the sentence of degradation against Hidalgo,^[63] and on the 29th proceeded to carry it into execution by divesting him of his sacerdotal robes, according to the prescribed form of the church.

In clerical habit Hidalgo was conducted into the presence of the ecclesiastical commissioner judge, and for the first time since the day of his capture was released from the fetters which oppressed him. Then he was robed in the sacred vestments of his priestly calling, and, on his knees before the judge, heard him explain to the assembled witnesses of the ceremony the cause of his degradation. The sentence was now read to him, after which his sacerdotal garments were taken from him, and he was handed over to the secular authorities, an earnest appeal being made by the ecclesiastical judge that his punishment might be mitigated, so that neither the death penalty nor mutilation should be imposed.^[64] When the ceremony was ended, Hidalgo was again fettered and conducted to his cell.

Before daybreak on the morning of the 31st of July,^[65] Hidalgo was led forth from the prison in which he had been confined for more than three months. With his usual perfect tranquillity, he had received those sent to take him to the place of execution, and having finished his last breakfast,^[66] he rose and indicated that he was prepared to accompany them. The place selected was an enclosed court in the rear of the hospital; and as he slowly proceeded thither, impeded by his shackles, his fortitude and serenity did not for a moment desert him. Remembering that he had left some sweetmeats under his pillow, he stopped and requested that they might be brought to him. These he distributed among the soldiers that composed the firing platoons, assuring them of his forgiveness. Aware that orders had been given not to fire at his head, and as it was not yet light, he told them that in order to guide their aim he would place his hand over his heart. After being bound upon the seat of execution, raising his hand without a tremor to his breast, he reminded the soldiers that it was the mark at which they were to aim. Then the signal was given and the platoon fired. Though one bullet pierced his hand, it failed to touch the heart, and Hidalgo still remained erect in his seat, uttering words of prayer. A second volley was discharged, cutting the cords which secured him. He now fell upon the ground, but life was not yet extinct; and it was only after three more shots were fired, the muskets being held close to his breast, that he breathed his last.^[67]

The heads of Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama, and Jimenez were sent to Guanajuato, and suspended in iron cages at the four corners of the alhóndiga. Their bodies were interred in the chapel of the third order of Franciscans in Chihuahua, where they remained till 1823, when, by order of congress, the remains were transferred with the skulls to the cathedral of Mexico, where they were deposited with solemn honors in the chapel of los Reyes, the former burial-place of the viceroys, and later that of the presidents of the republic.^[68] Since the beginning in 1810 of Hidalgo's short career, he has been held in varying esteem, at different times and by different persons and classes. He has been placed in about every category of humanity, and adjudged to be of every order of being, every shade of quality, from an angel of light to a bloody-minded and revengeful monster. A brief analysis of his character, from a standpoint intended to be impartial, brings the following results:

We will take it for granted that the cause in which he engaged was just, that the impulses prompting to it were noble; for it is not necessary to say at this day that it is right to overthrow tyranny, to achieve liberty, to deliver one's country, or that his memory should be held in holy repute who lays down his life for these things.

Before embarking in his high enterprise, Hidalgo was an humble priest, of more than ordinary gentleness of nature, and refinement of intellect and culture. Some have sought to besmear his fair fame with charges of conduct not consistent with strict morality; but nothing of moment has ever been proved against him in this direction; and were it so, those who hold such matters in such serious esteem will have little to say if they will examine into the state of society in the place and at the time he lived. It shows a small mind to attempt thus to belittle great men; and it is still worse when the charges brought forward are palpably false.

Almost without knowing it, and surely before he intended it,^[69] this gentle priest found himself at the head of his people crying aloud to heaven for liberty, swearing to heaven that his country should be free! It has been said of him that he was not a great general; he never pretended to be one. He has been charged with extreme cruelty. From some standpoints this, no doubt, is true; but the time and place must be remembered, and also that it was the cruelty of the surgeon to save the body rather than that of the savage who delights in torture. Hidalgo had his work to do; if cruelty could not be avoided, then there must be cruelty. He would purchase the highest benefaction within the reach of humanity; if robbery and murder were part of the price, still it must be paid. Yet for all this, judging the man fairly, passing under review his past life and his present purpose, his mind, heart, and disposition, and I do not think he can be called cruel, revengeful, and bloody-minded, as some would stamp him. War is a great wickedness; and if this species of robbery and murder may ever be justified, there is so little difference between the orthodox article and the quality of reprisal as practised in the present crusade that it is not worth discussing.

Some have said that Hidalgo's intention was to establish a republic; it may have been so, but it is nowhere shown. Zavala holds to the contrary opinion. There appears to have been no political or military plan adopted by the leaders of the revolution, hurried along as they were upon a tide of events which they could hardly control.

The large class in Mexico, of those who ever since the grito de Dolores have seemed to delight in gathering evidence and making charges damaging to the fair name of Hidalgo, is gradually becoming less. I would hide nothing in any historical character. I would not be blind to the faults of my hero. Neither would I magnify flaws of character until a little fault is made to appear larger than a great principle. Moreover, there has been much speculation as to what would have been the result had he pursued a different course, His firmness of purpose and opinion has been called obstinacy, because he would not yield to Allende and the others. Had he marched on Mexico; had he retired part of his force to the mountains and drilled them, dismissing the great rabble and his army of pillagers; had he proclaimed a system of liberal institutions; had he been slower to rob and butcher Spaniards; had he better protected the creoles; had he done 'differently in a hundred other ways—the result would have been different. Doubtless. But the question is not what might have come to pass if the prime mover in Mexican independence had been a different man and acted differently. As it is, though not without his faults, Mexico may well be proud of her hero. Let his memory be honored! Let his name be enrolled among the world's champions of liberty!

His countrymen, grateful to one who, in the gloomiest hour of hope, stood forth so fearlessly as their defender, have rightly embalmed his memory; and his name, growing brighter and brighter as the ages pass, will be handed down unsullied to remotest generations.^[70]

 

 

1. This action of Cruz was highly approved by the viceroy, who writes: ‘Con lo que ha dado V. S. la prueba mas convincente de su conducta, y de que nada ama tanto como el buen servicio del rey.' Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 137.
2. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 345, 349-50; Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 107-9.
3. One of these, Simon Fletcher, was from the U. S. He was one of Hidalgo's captains of artillery, and had commanded a battery at Calderon. Although severely wounded, Calleja caused him to be taken from the hospital and shot. 'Era tal el deseo de Calleja de fusilar á alguno de los de aquella nacion que andaban fomentando la revolucion.' Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 154-5; Bustamante, Campañas de Calleja, 104. The latter gives the names of those executed. They were all shot with their backs to the firing platoons.
4. Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 109-12, 246-8; Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 377. The viceroy, Jan. 19th, ordered Hidalgo's proclamations, his reply to the inquisition, and other seditious publications to be burned by the executioner in the plaza of Mexico. On the 26th the inquisition issued an edict pronouncing the greater excommunication against all who should keep such papers in their possession. Copies of both documents can be found in Negrete, Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 85-97.
5. The regent Antonio Villa Urrutia, feigning sickness, attended no session of the audiencia during the time that the city was occupied by Hidalgo, who, however, frequently visited him. He was reinstalled in his office, as also was Oidor Sousa, who had attended only once, and then under a public protest before the escribano Arroyo de Anda. Adrade was another member who had refused to join the sessions. Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 140; iv. ap. 63-4.
6. 'Es natural,' writes Calleja to the viceroy, 'que intente justificarse ante mí; pero yo no pienso oírle.' Bustamante, Campañas de Calleja, 102.
7. Abarca had married one of the daughters of Velasco. Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 138.
8. On the same day on which these obsequies were held, viz., Feb. 11th, the executions previously mentioned in the text took place. Id., 154.
9. In a confidential letter to Cruz he says that 'las putas y el calor le acababan su tropa.' Bustamante, Campañas de Calleja, 105.
10. Id., 102. He moreover, in a letter to the viceroy dated January 28, 1811, accuses the Spaniards of want of patriotism and of criminal indifference. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 354.
11. His action in this respect was the subject of conversation in Mexico, and Venegas used to remark that 'Calleja corria con batidores toda la tierra dentro como si fuera un virey.' Bustamante, Campañas de Calleja, 105-9.
12. 'Pudiendo decirse que caminaban tres ejércitos á un tiempo, á saber: uno de soldados, otro de meretrices y perros, y otro de vivanderos, mendigos, y arrimados.' Id., 105.
13. The pardon was extended to the inhabitants of Nueva Galicia by the viceroy on the 31st of Dec. 1810. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 315. The acceptance of the general pardon was vehemently protested against by the independent leaders, and proclamations were issued exhorting Mexicans not to avail themselves of it. Id., ii. 133-4.
14. Manuel Alvarez, a friend of Mercado's, writes to him to this effect, and strongly urges him to accept Cruz's clemency. The original document is in the possession of Hernandez y Dávalos. See his Col. Doc., i. 394.
15. Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 129-32. Cruz received the communication of Valdés on the 3d of Feb., being then at Iztlan.
16. A copy of the original instruction is to be found in Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 398.
17. Negrete says that a reliable witness testifies that he saw the wounds on the body, and that they were like those of a sword, or similar pointed weapon; and that a relative of Mercado is still in possession of the undershirt worn by him when he met his death. Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 77. Mercado was born in Teul and educated in Guadalajara, where he devoted himself to the study of theology and was ordained priest. He was afterward appointed cura of Ahualulco. When Torres gained possession of Guadalajara he joined the revolutionary party with enthusiasm. Mercado possessed both ability and determination, as is evidenced by his career, brief though it was, as an insurgent leader. Verdin, in Id., iii. 383-93. Consult Verdin's account in Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 142-4.
18. It does not appear that any other of the captured insurgents was executed at this town. Cruz says to the viceroy, 'Todos los demás curas, frayles y demas cabecillas, no pudieron ser sentenciados, y vienen marchando hacia Guadalaxara para ser allí juzgados.' Id., 181.
19. Bustamante, followed by Alaman, incorrectly states that Hidalgo joined Iriarte at Aguascalientes. Iriarte had retired to Zacatecas when Calleja passed through Lagos. Calleja, in Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 355.
20. The surrender was made only verbally in the presence of the chiefs. This informal action caused Negrete to disbelieve the whole statement, Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 53-4. But Hidalgo himself so stated it at his trial. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 8.
21. The same order applied to Iriarte and Abasolo. Ib. Of the former's conduct and supposed intentions Allende appears to have formed a most unfavorable opinion, and the latter had fallen under grave suspicion.
22. Ochoa's despatch to Calleja, in Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 183.
23. The battle, of which no particulars are to be found, was probably fought on the 18th of Feb., since Jimenez says in his letter to Allende: 'Me hallo á seis leguas del enemigo con quien me vatiré mañana seguramente.' Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 233.
24. Villarguide states that the Spaniards in Matehuala and Cedral had their heads sawn off. Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 150. Hidalgo supposes of course that the Spaniards thus disposed of on the march to Saltillo were executed by order of Allende, 'quien tenia yá todo el mando.' Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 14.
25. On the 17th of Feb., according to Ochoa's despatch to Calleja. Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 182. Ochoa had three days after the battle of Calderon been defeated by Jimenez at the mountain gorge of Carnero. Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., i. 198.
26. Dated the 28th of Feb. Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 322-3.
27. Decree of Oct. 15, 1810. Cortes, Col. Dec., i. 10; Dublan y Lozano, Leg. Mex., i. 336
28. Cruz prophetically remarks: 'Y quizá único instante de piedad que la suerte le prepara.' Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 322.
29. His not having made public the indulto, of which his followers might have availed themselves, constituted one of the charges against Hidalgo. He answered, even if he had been so inclined, 'Yá no tenia autoridad ni carácter.' Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 11. The question was discussed by the other leaders, but rejected on the ground of restrictions in regard to themselves with which the offer came. Ib. Hidalgo wrote in answer—at least, so it is said—'In the discharge of our duty we will not lay aside our arms until we have wrested the jewel of liberty from the hands of the oppressor. We are resolved to enter into no arrangement which has not for its basis the liberty of the nation, and the enjoyment of those rights which the God of nature has given to all men—rights inalienable, and which must be sustained by the shedding of rivers of blood if necessary. . . Pardon, your Excellency, is for criminals, not for defenders of their country. Let not your Excellency be deluded by the ephemeral glories of Calleja; they are only so many lightning-flashes which blind rather than enlighten. . .The whole nation is in a ferment; these commotions have roused those who lay in lethargy. . .The agitation is general, and Mexico erelong will discover her mistake if these evils are not opportunely ended.' Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., i. 237-8.
30. García Conde, in Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 332-7. This action took place on the 22d of March, though Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., i. 196, carelessly gives the 25th as the date. García Conde after his liberation at Aculco followed Calleja, and proved one of his most efficient officers.
31. Mariano Calderon, the subdelegado of Valle del Maiz appointed by the insurgents, on the entrance of García Conde into the town, was shot, having been proved, according to García Conde's statement, to have given his consent to the massacre. Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 334.
32. The present city of Victoria, in Tamaulipas.
33. Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 356-7, 414.
34. Alaman indulges in some rather severe strictures upon Herrera's character. 'siendo su conducta una de las mas feas manchas de la insurreccion y tanto, que el congreso de Tamaulipas, que en 1824 cambió los nombres de casi todas las antiguas poblaciones del Nuevo Santander. . . no se atrevió por respeto á la decencia pública, a poner el de Herrera á ninguno de aquellos pueblos.' Hist. Mej., ii. 163.
35. The certificate of the authenticity of the signatures on his appointment is signed on the 6th of Feb. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 231-2.
36. Gaz. de Mex., 1812, iii. 1087-94; Id., 1811, it 741; Hernandez y Dávalos. Col. Doc., i. 198-226. The first authority supplies a copy of a manifest published by Aldama expressing his repentance.
37. Carta de Vela, in Negrete, Mex. Siglo XIX., iii. 137-9.
38. Mora, Mex. y sus Rev., iv. 145, states that the wells were filled up by Elizondo's order. I see no ground for the assertion.
39. This order of march had been suggested by Elizondo. He had sent to Jimenez a soldier of Monclova, named Pedro Bernal, who said that on account of the scarcity of water it would be better for the carriages and all the principal officers to go well in advance of the main body. If all marched together the supply in the wells would be quickly exhausted, while by this arrangement the wells would be replenished by the time those in the rear came up. Jimenez replied: 'Pues bien, así lo haré, me parece muy bien lo que vd. dice.' Relacion, in Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 417.
40. It was occupied by women. Cavillo, Sermon, 144.
41. He died a few hours afterward. Ib.; Negrete, Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 146.
42. The captured leaders consisted of four members of regular orders, eight of the secular clergy, and 49 officers of all grades. An official list can be found in Negrete, Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 144-5, and Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 418-9.
43. This account is mainly from the report of the provisional governor Herrera, in Gaz. de Mex., 1811., ii. 360-3, the same source which supplied Calvillo, Alaman, and Negrete. According to Vela, the amount of treasure captured in silver bars and coin was about 2,000,000 dollars. Gaz. de Mex., 1811 ii. 321. Important documents in Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 416-24, 489-90; 517-18, have also been consulted. Elizondo met with his death not long after. In 1813 he went on an expedition to Texas, and in Sept. was mortally wounded while in bed by one of his lieutenants, who, it is asserted, was losing his reason by witnessing the executions ordered by Elizondo. The name of this avenger of Hidalgo was Serrano. Elizondo died on the bank of the river San Marcos, and was there buried. Bastamante, Cuad. Hist. , i. 349-50.
44. Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 320. Negrete, however, considers it doubtful whether Iriarte accompanied the retreating chiefs. 'Es punto, pues, que no se puede resolver con datos fehacientes si iria ó no.' Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 136-7. Rayon's statement, however, that Allende took Iriarte with him, and that the latter returned, removes all doubt. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., v. 588.
45. Manifesto de Calleja publicado por Juan Martiñena; Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 246; Bustamante y Cuad. Hist., i. 199. According to this last author, the reason for Allende's order was 'porque era señal de que habia jugádole otra nueva perfidia sobre las anteriores.' Ib. Negrete states that Iriarte'a death was determined upon because he had failed to attack the royalist army in the rear during the engagement at Calderon as ordered. Rayon distinctly states why he was put to death: neglect to render aid in the engagements at Guanajuato and Calderon, though summoned by both Allende and Hidalgo; his waste of the great treasure which he obtained at San Luis and Zacatecas; and the grave suspicions of treachery with which his conduct was regarded. Rayon adds: ‘Y volvió inniciado (sic) de haber influido en la prision de los generales.' Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., v. 588-9.
46. Official list of names is given in Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 365-6.
47. At Parras the commander of the escort, Manuel Salcedo, the governor of Texas deposed by Casas, sent all the ecclesiastics with the exception of Hidalgo to Durango. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 48.
48. No groups were allowed to be formed nor any weapons carried; the inhabitants were to take position in files, two or three deep, on each side of the streets, and return to their occupations as soon as the prisoners were inarcerated. Salcedo, Bando, in Id., i. 5-6.
49. Hidalgo, Allende, Juan Aldama, and Jimenez were confined in separate apartments of the college of the expelled Jesuits. The other chiefs were lodged in the Franciscan convent. Negrete, Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 149-50.
50. The late governor of Texas, who conducted the prisoners to Chihuahua.
51. I have not been able to discover the names of the secretary and fourth voting member.
52. He escaped with difficulty, through the assistance of the conde de Santiago de la Laguna, from that city, when it fell into the hands of the insurgents. Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 19.
53. Hidalgo claimed that it was by order of Allende that the Europeans at Matehuala and other places were killed, and Allende charged Hidalgo with being the cause of all the evils which had befallen them; he confessed that he wished to poison him. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 14-15, 39.
54. Chico had been regarded as a prisoner of minor importance, and was left in Monclova. When Abasolo testified that he transacted Hidalgo's cabinet business, and had been appointed by him in Guadalajara minister of grace and justice, orders to send him to Chihuahua were despatched to the authorities at Monclova. This sealed his fate; he was condemned and executed. Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 186-7.
55. He died in 1819. Mora, Mex. y sus Rev., iv. 152. Negrete states that he was imprisoned for life, although producing an official document in which the term of his imprisonment is given as ten years. Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 263. See also Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 48, and Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 190-1. Abasolo's wife after his death returned to New Spain, where she devoted herself to the benevolent assistance of the unfortunate, and the education of her son Rafael. Ib.
56. Ignacio Camargo, who had carried to Riaño Hidalgo's summons to surrender; Juan Bautista Carrasco, brigadier; and Agustin Marroquin, a criminal liberated at Guadalajara, and employed by Hidalgo to conduct the massacre of Spaniards there. Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 76, 41.
57. Six others were sentenced to imprisonment for ten years, with one exception, Andrés Molano being sentenced for life. Id., 70.
58. Negrete, Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 323-4. This author supplies a copy of Bonavia 's order for the execution, which contains an injunction that the platoons were not to fire at their heads.
59. A copy of Bracho's dictámen is supplied in Id., iii. 192-8. No disgraceful death he considers would be too severe a punishment for the atrocities committed by Hidalgo. But he respects his priestly calling, 'pero es Ministro del Altísimo, marcado con el indeleble caracter de Sacerdote de la ley de gracia,' and as there was neither hangman nor gallows, he proposed that he should be shot.
60. The ceremony of degradation of a priest could only be performed by the bishop, according to canonical law.
61. 'Autorizo á U. en debida forma, para cuanto se le ofrezca en la causa del espresado cura Hidalgo hasta llegar en caso urgente y necesario á degradarlo.' Id., iii. 199.
62. His letter is dated July 18th. Id., 214-16.
63. A copy of the sentence is supplied in Id., iii. 229-30, and Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 53-7.
64. Id., i. 57-8. This ceremony was called the degradacion verbal y real.
65. This is the date given by Negrete. Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 339. The 27th, as reported in the official document supplied to Cruz and bearing date of Sept. 5, 1811, is obviously a mistake, since Hidalgo was degraded on the 29th. Id., 263. Bustamante, followed by Alaman, states that Hidalgo was executed 'al tercero dia de haberse verificado la llamada degradacion.' Cuad. Hist., i. 262.
66. Observing that less milk than usual had been supplied him, he requested that he might have the same quantity as previously, observing that though it was his last, he ought not on that account to drink less of it. Ib.
67. Escudero, in Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 603-4; Negrete, Mex. Sig. XIX., iii. 335-6; Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., i. 262-3. During his incarceration Hidalgo had been attended by a corporal named Ortega and Melchor Guaspe, a Spaniard of Majorca. These men treated him with great consideration, and in token of his gratitude, the evening before he was executed he wrote on his prison walls with a piece of charcoal two stanzas, which were preserved, with the exception of one line. They are as follows:
     

    Ortega, tu crianza fina,
    Tu índole y est. lo amable
    Siempre te haran apreciable
    Aun con gente peregrina.
    Tiene protección divina
    La piedad que has ejercido
    Con un pobre desvalido
    Que mañana va á morir,
    Y no puede retribuir
    Ningun favor recibido.
    
    Melchor, tu buen corazón
    Ha adunado con pericia
    Lo que pide la justicia
    Y exije la compasion;
    
    ****
    
    Das consuelo al desvalido
    En cuanto te es permitido
    Partes el postre con el
    Y agradecido Miguel
    Te da las gracias rendido.

    Id., 270-1. This apophthegm was also found written on a wall of his cell: 'La lengua guarda el pescuezo'—The tongue is guardian of the breast. Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 206.

68. Consult official documents in Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 605-11.
69. In his declaration he states that he decided to join the revolutionary party very suddenly, 'y que su inclinacion á la Independencia fué lo que le obligó á decidirse con tanta ligereza ó llámase frenesí.' Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 10.
70. On the 19th of July, 1823, a congressional decree was passed, declaring Hidalgo and the other principal leaders in the struggle for independence to be 'beneméritos de la patria en grado heróico,' and ordered a monument in their honor to be erected in Chihuahua. Gaz. de Mex., 5 de Agosto, 1823; Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., ii. 695. In 1863 Benito Juarez, having retired with the government to Dolores on account of the French invasion, passed a decree elevating the town to the rank of city, and ordering that a monument bearing a statue of Hidalgo should be erected in the principal plaza. He pronounced the house in which Hidalgo had lived to be the property of the nation, and provided that it should be protected and preserved in its original state so far as possible, at the expense of the government. Id., ii. 611. In 1873 the congress decreed that the national flag should be annually hoisted on the 8th of May, Hidalgo's birthday, and raised half-mast high on the 30th of July in commemoration of his death. Id., ii. 614-15. President Porfirio Diaz in 1878 ordered that the monument at Dolores, which had hitherto not been erected, should be built. The estimate of its cost was $40,000, which amount was covered by pro rata contributions levied upon the states. In the same year General Diaz decreed that a monument should also be erected in Hidalgo's honor on the spot where he was executed in Chihuahua. Id., ii. 615-19. In the Gazeta de Mexico of August 3, 1811, was published an alleged copy of a declaration professed to be Hidalgo's solemn recantation of his errors, made some weeks before his death, and dated Chihuahua, May 18, 1811. This spurious statement was probably promulgated in order to turn independents against the cause. It is superfluous to deny such an assertion. No attempt which can properly be called such was ever made to establish its truth. He who for a moment could hold to such an opinion totally misconceives the character of the man. To death Hidalgo was indifferent; and he would be the last man on earth to uphold to his followers, according to the tenor of this declaration, the enormity of their crime in rebelling against the government, and to entreat them to return to their duty. But this artifice was commonly employed by the royalists; to almost every prominent patriot chief who was executed during the war of independence such a recantation was attributed and published.

    The documents which contain the alleged proceedings at the trial of Hidalgo, a copy of which is supplied by Hernandez y Dávalos in his Col, Doc., i. 7-01, are open to grave doubts as to the authenticity of all the testimony produced. Much of the evidence is warped and garbled so as to represent Hidalgo in the most odious light possible. Many of the admissions appearing in the documents were never uttered by him, and most of the statements attributed to other declarants are not to be relied upon as genuine. I cannot, however, agree with Negrete, who endeavors to show that these documents are wholly apocryphal, and 'que esos documentos no pueden hacer fé en ningun sentido, ni considerarse como auténtico lo en ellos contenido.' Mex. Siglo XIX., iii. 274. I have found many of the statements therein contained corroborated or supported by other authorities of reliability, and to ignore entirely the Declaracion del cura Hidalgo and the accompanying papers would scarcely be wise.

    The official organs of the government naturally magnified the successes of the royalists and the reverses of the revolutionists. Pompous reports from generals narrating victories were invariably published, but many of their despatches which represented the true conditions of affairs were consigned to the secrecy of the government archives, from which they have been brought to light by different researchers, as Bustamante, Hernandez y Dávalos, and Negrete, and used by numerous authors. With regard to those published during the war, they are valuable and reliable in so far as they represent the movement of armies, the general results of engagements, and a broad view of the condition of the country. But in regard to the respective numbers of opposing forces, of insurgents killed and casualties sustained by the government troops, they are untrustworthy; while from the documents that were shelved a true picture of the position is obtained. The press being under the control of the government during Hidalgo's career, it teemed with productions laboring to advance the royalist cause and hold up to detestation that of the independents. Learned men printed heavy essays attempting to prove on philosophical and political grounds the illegal ity and want of justice in the movement; bishops issued pastorals and long dissertations arguing on the iniquity of the insurrection and proclaiming the perdition of the leaders; and poets sang the praises of the royalist command ers, comparing them with the heroes of antiquity and renowned Roman generals. Calleja was superior to Fabius Maximus, and Cruz the supporting pillar of the tottering nation. The adulation was truly affecting! In honor of Calleja Dr José Mariano Beristain composed a drinking-song drawing a parallel between him and Fabius; to which the oider Melchor de Foncerrada replied with the following decastich, supplied by Negrete, Mex. Sig. XIX., iv. 394-5:

    Fabio ganó retirando,
    Calleja acometiendo,
    El Fubio triunfó cansando;
    Pero Calleja venciendo:
    Y á lo poco que yo entiendo
    En el arte militar,
    No so puedo comparar
    Un Fábio con un Callejas,
    Allá hubo accioncs perplexas;
    Todo aquí puro triunfar.

    Effusions of minor genius, too, swarmed, scurrilous in abuse, vile in vituperation, against the one side, and sickening with flattery and sycophant homage offered to the other. But no language, however shameful, however fallacious, was unpalatable to government, if it brought odium upon the revolution.

    General list of authorities for the last four chapters: Bustamante, Campañas de Calleja, 1-103, passim; Id., Cuad. Hist., i. 20-292, 437-42, iv. 53-61, 74-87, 526-7, ap. 1-4; Id., in Cavo, Tres Siglos, iii. 333; Id., Gabinete Mex., i. 114; Id., Voz Patria, v. sup. no. 3; Alaman,_Hist. Mex., i. 75-6, 124-5, 224, 259, 350-4, 392-3, 446-7, 504, ap. 77, ii. 2-77, 114-72, 182-282, 438-9, 544-8, ap. 31-4, iii. ap.75, iv. 77, 724, ap. 60-2; Mora, Rev. Mex., iv. 3-4, 49_80, 114-60, 217-34, 440-2; Id., Obras Sueltas, i. 145-56; Zerecero, Rev. Mex., 28-95, 109-92, 207-93, 299-303, 368, 384; Id., Discurso Civ., 29-34; Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. and ii. . passim, iii. 246-7, 291, 339, 399-401, 404-23, 618-20, 693-4, 705-22, 733-47, 762-4, 873-903, 911-26, iv. 176-81, 672-3, 882-90, v. 87-9, 588-9, 801-4, 886; Dispos. Varias, ii. f. 5-10, iii. f. 152, vi. f. 59, 61; Diario Mex., v. 210, xii. 447-8, xiii. 340, 386-7, 390-6, 425-7, 453-6, 471-2, 709-10; Negrete, Hist. Mil. Sig. XIX., i. 103, 169-205, 255-8, 280-312, 319-32, 336-67, 372-404; Gaz. Mex., i. 1784-5, 17-288, 313-80, 491-8, 474-82, 488, 507-14, 556-8, 565-6, 593-6, 612-16, 624, 656-60, 675-6, 681, 705-30, 746-74, 785-94, 814-66, 873-4, 881-2, 908-28, 943, 955-6, 991-2, 1009-34, 1049-72, 1082-6, ii. 1811, 1-281, passim, 309, 453-4, 467-8, 684-8, 763-70, 969-70, iii. 1788-9, 217-18, 247, 366, 405, 415, iv. 1790-1, 25-85, 117-19, 141, 174-5, 295-6, 301-8, 337-8, 389-413, v. 1792-3, 141, 181-3, 245, vi. 1794, 9, 397, 417, 637, vii. 1795, 9-10, 25-0, 121, 154, 395, viii. 1796-7, 9, 33, 165, 197, 237,. ix. 1800-1, 1, 58, 81-2, 137-8, 185, 201-2, 241, xi. 1802-3, 1, 17, 177, 217, 253, xii. 1804-5, 117-20, 164-5, 221, xiv. 1807, 46-7, xv. 1808, 75, 673, 734; Cortes, Col. Decret., i. 6-7, 10, 20-4, 23-33: Id., Diario, 1811, v. 175; Id., 1811-12, xi. 282-3; Id., 1813, xx. 205-6; Id., Diario Extr., 1822-3, viii. 18-19; Cavo, Tres Sig., ii. 172, iii. 194-5, 272-39; Guerra, Rev. N. España, i. 291, 301-6, 312-15, 317-19, 325-64; Romero, Soc. Mex., viii. 532-5, 543, 555, 610, 621; Id., Noticias, Mich., 34-5, 200-7; Id., in Soc. Mex. Geog., viii. 610; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, i. 278-357, 234-8; Liseaga, Adiciones y Rect., 188-209, 218-19; Robinson, Mex., 29-42; Zavala, Rev. Mex., 48-70; Alegre, Hist. Comp., i. 88-93, ii. 195; Gaz. Mex., Feb.-Dec. 1728 and 1730, in Arévalo, Compend., 13-104, 205, 236-7, 283; Villa-Señor y Sanchez, Teatro Am., 1-110; Gonzales Dávila, Teatro Ecles., i. 107-30; Viagero Universal, xxvii. 87-92; Ward, Hist. Mex. in 1827, i. 158-80; Cancelada, Tel. Am., 9-15, 26-9, 193-6; Id., Ruina N. Esp., passim; Escalero y Llana, Mex. Hist., 9-10; Estado de Sinaloa, June 29, 1873, 4; Humboldt, Essai Polit., i. 218-56; Hidalgo, Biog. Cura, 9-18, 135-43; Defensa del Cura, pp. 8; Exhortacion Pat., pp. 4; Exhort. Diputados, pp. 16; Exhort. Hab. Mex., pp. 15; Gonzales, Col. N. Leon, 153, 213-40; Id., Hist. Aguas C., 77-88; Venegas, Manifesto, pp. 10; Id., Ordenanza, 7; Id., Manifiesto, pp. 10; Abad y Queipo, Informe, in Zamacois, Mex., ix. 857-93; Id., Pastorales, pp. 118, and 8; Id., Edictos Instruc., pp. 8, 24, and 24; Arroniz, Hist, y Cron., 164-5; Id., Biog. Mex., 185; Monglave, Résumé l'Hist., 133-213; Mendibil, Resum. Hist., 7-63, 373-5; Mex. Refut. Art. de Fondo., 3-18, 25-7; Museo, ii. 121-6, 182-9, 529-37, iv. 203-4; Niles, Register, i. 270, ii. 59-60; Perez, Dicc. Geog. Estad., i. 117-20, 284-6, 321-6; Pinart, Col. Mex. Doc., 269; Bustamante, in Alegre, Hist. Comp., iii. 178; Id., in Cavo, Tres Sig., iii. 326-9; Branciforte, Instrucc., MS., 31, in Linares, Instrucc., MS.; Quarterly Review, vii. 254-7, xxx. 172-4; Quiros, Voz Imperiosa, pp. 14; Valdovino, Contestation, 1-55; Walton, Exposé, 356-64; Ximeno, Declaration, pp. 30; Young, Hist. Mex., 20, 86; Zuñiga, Calendario, 114, 118; Zamacois, Hist. Mex., i. 129, 513, ii. 105, v. 533, 718, vi. 63, 115-341, passim, 419, 439, vii. 29-337, passim, 650, 663-776, 789-800, viii. 110, ix. 737; Reygadas, Discurso, pp. 35; Luli, Refutacion, pp. 24; Bury, Exodus, ii. 363-4; Beltrami, Mex., i. 384-6; British Quart. Rev., vii. 254-7; Bingley, Travels, 240-2; Bolet. Geog. Estad., ii. 17-19; Soc. Mex. Geog., i. 229-30, ii. 561-5, 624-9, 54, 56, 190, 201, v. 160, viii. 306-8, ix. 49; Santos, Chron., ii. 466-7, 486; Salo, Diar. Ofic., 26 Jan. 1875, 5; Ramos, Derrota Cruces, iii. passim; Robinson, Mex. and Mil., 29-43; Id., Mex. Rev., i. 43-1; Rev. in Span.-Am., 63-4; Rev. des Deux Mondes, Apl. 1, 1862, 532-48; Pino, Nuev. Mex., 44; Puerto, Convite, pt iii. 2-3; Payne, 302-4; Ponton, Earthquakes and Vol., 279-82; Pan. Star and Herald, Sept. 29, 1866; Ponsett, Notes on Mex., ap. 32; Pedroza, Biog. Caudillos, 3-20; Ponce de Leon, in Medena, Vida S. F. de Jesus, pp. 147; Nouv. Annales, Voy., xxxii. 93; Niles, S. Am. and Alex., i. 134-42; Nevares, Memoria, pp. 71; Nuev. España, Acuerdos, MS., 185; Id., Brev. Res., ii. 247-50; Moreno, Fragments, 89; Mich. Prov. S. Nic., 102-5, 182-4, 188-91, 189-96, 200-6; Mateo, Sacerdote, 22; Mosaico Mex., ii. 345; Müller, Reisen in Mex., 227; Montiel y Duarte, Discurso, 18; Mills, Hist. Mex., 145-9; Mayer, Mex. Aztecs, i. 283-6, ii. 286-7; Martinez, Sinop. Hist. Mex. Rev., i. 31-58; Id., de los Rios Apuntes, pp. 18; Mex. Informes, in Pacheco Doc., xv. 451-2; Mex., Mem. Guerra, 1834, pp. 4; Mex., Col. de Ley. D. C., 63-7, i. 27; Ramos, El Puente de Calderon, pp. 214; Alzate, Gazetas, iv. 163; Gac. Nic., 27 Jan. 1866, 30; Apunt. Hist., in Pan. Bol. Ofic., 27 May, 1868; Pinart, Col.; Ahren, Mex. and Mex. Indians, 5-11; Abbott, Mex. and U. S., 41-2; Ansorena, Defensa, pp. 31; Id., Respuesta, pp. 54; Valladolid, Exhortacion, pp. 19; Vélasco, Observaciones, pp. 17; Verdia, Apuntes Biog., in Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., iv. 180-1; Ortiz, Mex. Indep. Libre, 9-49; Gomez del Campa, Apuntes Hist., from La Sombra de Zaragoza,in La Estrella de Occidente, Sept. 4, 1868, 3; Gregory, Hist. Mex., 48-51; Gallo, Hornbres Ilustres, iii. 237-392; García Conde, in Soc. Mex. Geog., v. 279; García y García, Prosperidades, pp. 11; Guerra, Doc., vi. 161-7; Gaz. de Mex., ser. 2, in Doc. Hist. Mex., ser. 2, iv. .170; Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies, ii. 116-17; Findlay, Directory, i. 254; Florencia, Hist. Prov. Comp. Jesus, 212-14; Ferry, Scènes de la Vie, 1-27; Ferri, Escenas de Vid. Mil. Mex., 4-12, 82-4, 95-6, 192-5; Frost, Hist. Mex., 148, 152-3; Convite Católicos Am., pp. 12; Mex. Fiel y Valiente, pp. 7; Montaña, Reflexiones, pp. 22; Calvillo, Discurso, pp. 16; Monterde, Proclama, pp. 11; Criollo Sensible, Proclama, pp. 4; Mex., A locution del Real Colegio de Abogados, pp. 34; Carta de un Concolega, pp. 8; Belderrain, Exhortacion, pp. 20; Mendizábal, Sermon, pp. 11; L. B. F. 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