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140 MEXICO. ing; and the skill with which he baffled the efforts of the divisions successively detached against him by Venegas, under the Brigadiers Llano and Fuentes, rendered him, in a very short time, the terror of the Spaniards, and the admiration of his own countrymen. His celebrity brought men of talent, from every quarter, to his standard. Those in whom he placed most confidence were, Don Ermenegildo Galeana, the Cura Matamoros, (whom he appointed his first lieutenant,) and the Bravos, whose whole family joined him, soon after the defeat of Paris. The father, Don Leonardo, and one of his brothers, perished in the course of the Revolution ; but Don Nicolas Bravo (the son) survived it, and has been placed, by the unanimous voice of his countrymen, with Victoria, at the head of the present government. The whole of the year 1811 was occupied by a series of petty engagements, (the details of which can only be interest- ing to Mexicans,) and by the strenuous efforts of Morelos to introduce something like discipline amongst the Blacks, who had enlisted in considerable numbers in his army. Their fe- rocity was of use in the field of battle, but it was only by fre- quent examples that it could be prevented from showing itself on other occasions ; and it required all the firmness of Morelos to keep it within due bounds. In the mean time, the scene of action had been, gradually, brought nearer to the Capital; and, in January 1812, the In- surgents advanced so far, that Tasco, a town famous for its mines, and only twenty-five leagues from Mexico, was taken by Galeana and Bravo, after an obstinate resistance. Various actions took place in January, and the beginning of February, 1812, in all of which Morelos was victorious ; so that, at last, his advanced-guard, under Bravo, pushed on to Chalco, with out-posts at San Agustin de las Cuevas, with- in three leagues of the gates of Mexico. But the alarm ex- cited by this movement drew upon Morelos a more formidable opponent. Callejawas summoned to defend the Capital, with