Villas, headed it with his battalion. They were seconded by Governor Zavala and General Lobato;[1] Guerrero himself demanding a change of the minisistry, in order that the congress might freely decide the presidency question. Zavala had been hovering for some days near the capital with an armed force, though without committing hostile acts, and entered it undetected. The rebels occupied the ex-acordada building and the citadel.[2] The troops sent against them were under Colonel Inclan. On the morning of December 2, 1828, hostilities began, and the fight lasted till mid-day of the 4th, when the revolt triumphed. Then pillage was the order of the day. The léperos, taking advantage of the situation, raising the old cry of "Mueran los Españoles!" rushed to the Parian, where were the stores of the Spanish merchants, broke open the doors, and sacked it. In a short time over $2,000,000 worth of property was carried off, and upward of 1,000 industrious persons were reduced to want. Many other commercial buildings were pillaged.[3] Victoria in vain attempted to arrest the outrages by going in person to the ex-acordada building, and pleading with the leaders. Meanwhile Pedraza secretly fled to Guadalajara, where he
- ↑ Lobato, after this revolution, was sent by the government to Guadalajara as comandante general, and died there early in 1829. He was of humble origin, and rose under favor of the revolution for independence; served in the first revolution, and was pardoned. He was, however, one of the first to join Iturbide in 1821. An ignorant man of small intellect, but a good soldier under an able chief, and faithful. Zavala, Revol. Mex., ii. 142.
- ↑ See plan of the city of Mexico, this volume.
- ↑ This was not foreseen. General Lobato, who was in command, Colonel García having been mortally wounded on the 3d, went to the Parian to stop the robberies, leaving Zavala in charge of the ex-acordada. At this moment Lieut-col. Vicente Gonzalez, an old soldier of the independence, who had been serving with the government force, was captured and brought to the exacordada. The enraged mob demanded his life. Zavala acceded, and Gonzalez was shot. Zerecero, Revol. Mex., 109-10. The episode, a blot on Zavala's fame, is also mentioned by Tornel and Bustamante, who add that Zavala dil likewise, out of personal revenge, shoot with a pistol Judge Juan de Raz y Guzman in the arm, and would have done the same with Senator Vargas had he been able to find him on that day. Victoria reproached Zavala for killing Gonzalez. Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., MS., viii. 245. Zavala himself, in Revol. Mer., ii. 220 et seq., mentions the wounding of Raz in his own house 'á deshoras de la noche, y quizás creido de que Žavala haya tenido parte en su desgracia.' Raz did Zavala a good service in December 1829.
