CHAPTER II.
1810—1816.
Lieutenant General Don Francisco Xavier Venegas,
LIX. Viceroy of New Spain.
1810—1813.
After Hidalgo's death the country was for a considerable time involved in a guerilla warfare which extended throughout the whole territory of Mexico, to the provincas internas of the north Rayon assumed command of the fragments of Hidalgo's forces at Saltillo and retired to Zacatecas, but he had no command, or indeed authority, except over his own men. The whole country was in ferment. The valley of Mexico was full of eager partisans, who lazo'd the sentinels even at the gates of the town; yet, in all the chief cities, the viceroy's authority was still permanently acknowledged.
Men of reflection immediately saw that the cause of liberation would be lost, if, amid all these elements of boiling discontent, there was no unity of opinion and action. The materials of success were ample throughout the nation; but they required organization under men in whose judgment and bravery the insurgent masses could rely.
Such were the opinions of Rayon and his friends, who, in May, 1811, occupied Zitacuaro, when on the 10th of the following September, they assembled a Junta, or, central government, composed of five members chosen by a large body of the most respectable landed proprietors in the neighborhood, in conjunction with the Ayuntamiento and inhabitants of the town.
The doctrines of this Junta were liberal, but they maintained a close intimacy with Spain, and even admitted the people's willingness to receive Ferdinand VII. as sovereign of Mexico provided he
