plies into the city, enrolling troops from among the eager crowd of volunteers, under the direction of Valencia, as second in command, and issuing a decree for similar enlistments throughout the departments of auxiliary forces to be maintained only during the present crisis.[1] In this task they were cheered by a continuous influx of recruits from all parts of the country, showing that the successful movement and decisive attitude of the capital had turned many departments. A most important accession was that of Bravo, who added greatly to the enthusiasm and strength by marching into Mexico with a considerable force and announcing that Álvarez was also coming.
When Santa Anna, therefore, presented himself before the city he found it strongly protected, with an enthusiastic garrison of fully 8,000 men, with Paredes approaching at the head of 4,000, and other leaders from different directions, while he himself stood proclaimed by the congress as a rebel, divested of authority, and somewhat under the fear of being deserted by his men, to whom alluring baits were held out.[2] To besiege the place seemed hopeless under the circumstances; and so, after a vain exchange of demands with Herrera, together with a blustering challenge to decide the question in a pitched battle, he moved onward to Puebla, hoping by the capture of this less formidable point to check the spread of the revolution eastward, and probably to turn the current. His overtures being firmly rejected by Commandant Inclan, he opened fire against the city on January 2, 1845, and in course of the following days carried several outlying positions. But Inclan offered a stout
- ↑ They were to be known as Voluntarios Defensores de las Leyes, and raised by the respective assemblies. Méx., Col. Ley, 1844-46, 71. At Mexico all classes hastened to join. Martial law was soon after proclaimed. Boletin Notic., Dec. 26, 28, 1844.
- ↑ Decrees concerning deserters and destitution of Santa Anna, dated Dec. 11th and 17th. Méx., Col. Ley., 1844-46, 72-3; Pinart Coll., no. 829. Herrera had offered to resign in favor of a more efficient man, but his tender was not accepted. Salas, later regent, displayed great activity in organizing the garrison.
