army. Calleja accordingly marched to Querétaro, but found that an insignificant attack on the city by a band of ill-armed Indians had been all.[1] One Miguel Sanchez had raised the cry of insurrection on the hacienda de San Nicolás, belonging to the augustinians of Michoacan, occupied Huichapan and the neighboring towns, and being joined by Julian Villagran, a captain of the militia of Huichapan, attempted in the absence of Flon to gain possession of Querétaro. Leading his rabble into the town, they broke and fled at the first cannon-shot, which killed a considerable number of them,[2] while their opponents lost not a single man. This futile movement of Sanchez was attended, however, with most important results; for, as will be seen, it saved Querétaro from being occupied by Hidalgo, and was the indirect cause of the insurgent leader's later defeat.
Calleja arrived at Querétaro on the 1st of November, the engagement having taken place on the 30th of October, the same day on which was fought the battle of the monte de las Cruces. Finding himself obliged to approach Mexico by a different route, he now directed his course by way of Estancia, San Juan
- ↑ Calleja's report in Gaz. de Mex. (1810), i. 965.
- ↑ By some this defeat of Sanchez was considered one of the reasons for Hidalgo's retreat. 'Se tuvo por cierto entonces que habia recibido la noticia de la derrota del general Sanchez en Querétaro.' Insurrec. N. Esp. Res. Hist., 10. Bustamante's account of this affair, deemed improbable by Alaman, is as follows: Brigadier Sanchez, after raising the standard of revolt, marched to San Juan del Rio, where he captured the oidor Juan Collado, who, having concluded his commission, was returning to Mexico. He also made prisoner Antonio Acuña, 'Teniente de corte de la sala del crímen,' who beguiled Sanchez into believing that if he would allow him to return to Querétaro he could by his influence succeed in winning over the garrison for him, the signal to be the firing of a cannon from the fort de la Cruz. Sanchez consented, but Acuña disclosed the plot, so that the city might be put in defence. The signal was given, nevertheless, and the credulous Sanchez entered the city with the result narrated in the text. The same author states that their whole force was only 500 men, who had only 14 muskets amongst them, and that 31 were killed on the spot, without counting the wounded and others killed in the pursuit. Cuad. Hist., i. 88-9. The version of Comandante Rebollo is, however, very different. He states in his report to the viceroy that there were 4,000 or 5,000 of the insurgents; that the engagement lasted from half-past nine in the morning till half-past seven in the evening, and that 300 of the enemy were killed and as many more taken prisoners. Gaz. de Mex. (1810), i. 929-30.
