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;[1] 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[2] 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.[3]
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;[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] But while outriders pre-
- ↑ 'Es natural,' writes Calleja to the viceroy, 'que intente justificarse ante mí; pero yo no pienso oírle.' Bustamante, Campañas de Calleja, 102.
- ↑ Abarca had married one of the daughters of Velasco. Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 138.
- ↑ On the same day on which these obsequies were held, viz., Feb. 11th, the executions previously mentioned in the text took place. Id., 154.
- ↑ In a confidential letter to Cruz he says that 'las putas y el calor le acababan su tropa.' Bustamante, Campañas de Calleja, 105.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ His action in this respect was the subject of conversation in Mexico,
