of the increase of force, which Calleja was about to receive; but he felt, likewise, that the eyes of all Mexico were turned upon the contest at Cūāūtlă, and that a retreat would defeat the hopes, which the repulse of the Royalists, in their first attack, had excited. He determined, therefore, to defend himself to the last, in a place where, according to the rules of war, defence was impossible; and this resolution was most gallantly carried into effect.
Llano was, at this time, engaged in an attack upon Īzūcăr, which was successfully defended by Don Vicente Gŭerrērŏ, who had, at that time, begun his long and perilous career. In the course of the Revolution, this general had received upwards of fifty wounds, and has had almost as many miraculous escapes: one of the most extraordinary, perhaps, was at Īzūcăr, where, while he was asleep, exhausted with fatigue, a small shell came through the roof, and rolled under his bed, where it exploded, and killed, or wounded, every person in the room, but himself.
On the receipt of the Viceroy's orders, Llano quitted Īzūcăr, and joined Căllējă on the 1st of March. On the 4th, Calleja on one side, and Llano on the other, began to cannonade, and bombard the town, after having erected batteries and breastworks in the course of a single night.
The first shells alarmed the inhabitants excessively; but, within twenty-four hours, they grew so accustomed to them, that the very children were
