forces of Morelos on 22 Dec. and the following
days, and completely routed them at Puruaran on
15 Jan., 1814. He was repulsed before Coporo by
Ignacio Rayon in 1815, and in 181(5 was appointed
commander-in-chief of Guanajuato and Michoa-
can ; but his cruelties and violent measures became
so notorious that several citizens complained. He
was indicted, and, although absolved of the grav-
est charges, was dismissed, as the Spanish govern-
ment suspected the Mexican officers. He retired
to private life, maturing plans of vengeance, espe-
cially as he knew, better than any one else, the
state of public opinion, and foresaw the final over-
throw of the Spaniards.
On the proclamation of the constitution in the peninsula, 1820, Iturbide obtained from the vice- roy, Ruiz de Apodaca, command of the army of' the south. On 16 Nov. he left Mexico at the head of his old regiment and a total force of about 2,500 men, and, making his headquarters at Telo- loapam, began to win over the officers of his com- mand to his plan. He feigned encounters with the revolutionist loader Guerrero, with whom, in reality, he was in secret communication, and who offered to assist him and submit to his orders. Iturbide reported to the viceroy that he had nearly repressed the revolution, by this means obtaining re-enforce- ments, and on 22 Dec. marched from Teloloapam, and, after a final interview with Guerrero in Aca- tempan, 10 Jan., 1821, surprised and captured at Barrabas a convoy of $525,000 in silver bars, which the merchants of Vera Cruz, believing that the revolution was suppressed, had sent to Acapulco. He now proclaimed in the little town of Iguala, 24 Feb., 1821, his plan of independence, which is known as the " plan de Iguala," or " plan de las tres garantias," which provided for the protection of religion, the union of Spaniards and Mexicans, and independence under the separate government of Ferdinand VII., or a prince of the reigning dy- nasty. The viceroy sent a force against him under Gen. Pascual Lilian, but public opinion was over- whelmingly in favor of independence, and every- where the military chiefs pronounced for Iturbide. His forces increased daily, and in the middle of April numbered over 6,000 men. Meanwhile the viceroy had been deposed and succeeded provision- ally by Gen. Novella, who hastily erected fortifica- tions for protecting the capital, but he was gradu- ally abandoned by his supporters, and when, in July, the new viceroy, O'Donoju, arrived in Vera Cruz, he resolved to treat with Iturbide. They had an interview at Cordova, where, on 24 Aug., they concluded a treaty, by which the viceroy recognized the independence of Mexico under the reign of Ferdinand VII., or one of the princes, and in case of their refusal the Mexicans were to choose an emperor for themselves. After being triumphant- ly received at Puebla, Iturbide entered the capital, 27 Sept., 1821, at the head of an army of 16,000 men. A junta was installed with O'Donoju as a member, and the next day the declaration of inde- pendence was signed and proclaimed. By decree of the junta of 11 Oct. a regency of five members, in- stead of the original three, was formed, with Itur- bide as president, and he was at the same time ap- pointed commander-in-chief, with the title of " se- rene highness," and an annual salary of $120,000. The Spanish residents that desired to leave the country were permitted to do so without molesta- tion, and this and other liberal measures of the new government contributed to establish peace. The few remaining Spanish garrisons, with the ex- ception of Vera Cruz, became disheartened and surrendered, and the provinces of Yucatan and Chiapas and the Guatemala canton of Soconusco declared their independence, but were afterward united with the Mexican empire.
Soon dissensions broke out in the junta, under whose interference Iturbide was chafing, the unpaid troops were discontented, and public opinion was divided between monarchical and republican ideas. Hoping for immediate relief, Iturbide hastened the convocation of the 1st congress, which met, 24 Feb., 1822, but it obstinately refused to grant him money for the troops. Thus driven to extremes, with 16.000 men at his disposal, and aided by the public commotion that was caused by the arrival of the news that the treaty of Cordova had been declared void in Spain, he allowed his partisans to proclaim him. emperor on the night of 18 May. This movement was generally sustained by the troops, and, notwithstanding its resistance, congress finally sanctioned his election on 21 May, and received his oath of office, and on 21 July he was solemnly crowned amid pompous ceremonies in the cathedral under the name of Agustin I. Soon opposition began to appear everywhere, and when, on 26 Aug., he imprisoned fifteen deputies to congress, who were suspected of participation in a conspiracy that had been organized in Valladolid, he fell into disagreement with that body, and on 31 Oct. dissolved it arbitrarily. The "junta instituyente," which succeeded the congress on 2 Nov., was unable to establish order, and defection became general among the army officers. Santa-Anna, who had been ordered to Mexico, proclaimed the republic in Vera Cruz on 2 Dec, Guerrero went to the south to raise an insurrection, and Gen. Echavarri, who had been ordered against Santa-Anna, joined him, signing on 1 Feb., 1823, the " plan de Casa-Mata." Driven to despair, Iturbide hastily reassembled the congress that had been dissolved by him four months before, and on 7 March presented his abdication, which was ignored by that body. It declared his election void from the beginning, and decreed that he should immediately leave the country and reside in Italy with a pension of $25,000 yearly. He was meanwhile under the custody of Gen. Bravo, and on 11 May he sailed in the English ship " Rawlins " for Leghorn, where he arrived on 2 Aug. But the grand-duke did not desire to see him reside there, and he went thence to London in the beginning of 1824. His Mexican partisans, meanwhile, represented that the country desired his return, and, impelled by a wish to recover his crown, he sailed on 4 May, accompanied by his wife, his nephew, the Polish colonel Benseki, and three priests, for Mexico, and, after looking vainly for some of his partisans in the Bay of San Bernardo, anchored on 14 July in the small port of Soto la Marina, unaware that the government, meanwhile, had declared him a traitor and an outlaw should he set foot again on Mexican territory. After Benseki had obtained permission from the military commander, Felipe de la Garza, for his " party of colonists" to land, Iturbide went on shore, but was immediately recognized, notwithstanding his disguise, and arrested. Garza conducted him to the prison of the town, and advised him to prepare to die. He sent for his chaplain, but the commander, meanwhile, resolved to present him to the provincial congress of Tamaulipas, which was then in session in the neighboring town of Padilla. He arrived there on 19 July, that body condemned him to immediate execution, and he was shot on the evening of the same day in the square of Padilla, after assuring the multitude that he was not a traitor to his country, and exhorting them to
