which obstructed communication with the mines and the outlet to the gulf, impeded the flow of supplies, and played havoc with the main resources of the government.[1]
It was proposed, therefore, to direct every effort against the different headquarters along the line north of the capital, leaving only the necessary force southward to watch Morelos, and guard against any sudden inroad from his forces. To this end a main corps of nearly six thousand men was stationed south of Puebla, in connection with a semicircle of reënforced posts at Jalapa, Orizaba, Perote, Izúcar, Tasco, and Toluca; while other troops were massed northward, partly at Tula and other places, but mainly round Guanajuato.[2]
Castro Terreño, who had been removed by Venegas for incapacity, under the guise of another motive, was reinstated in Puebla and made general of the southern army, which spread from Izúcar north eastward to Perote, a step which Calleja had soon to regret. Negrete held command in Guanajuato. García Conde succeeded Trujillo at Valladolid, although he soon yielded to General Sotarriba. Castillo y Bustamante was stationed in Toluca Valley, connected by strong detachments with Querétaro; and Armijo occupied the districts southward to the right banks of the Mescala, with his cavalry, the garrisons of Tasco and Iguala, and recruits from the estates, to which was added a corps of observation at
- ↑ While the royalists held the leading towns and posts along the roads to Guanajuato and Vera Cruz, extending their lines as far as Jalapa and Tlacotalpan on either side, and occupying scattered positions between insurgent camps, such as Tulancingo and Ixmiquilpan, and even posts in Huasteca, yet communication was cut off in every direction, and trains required strong escorts to make their way.
- ↑ See Calleja's review of plan in Bustamante, Campañas, Supl., 9. Torrente estimates Calleja's forces at 84,000, including the militia still in course of formation. Of these he places a second main body of 6,000 in Vera Cruz. He gives Morelos 10,000 men withdrawn by him to the coast, and 8,000 with Rayon. Hist. Rev., i. 430-2. Cancelada alludes with some detail to the movements and supposed plans on both sides, accusing the insurgents of assassination, robbery, and other outrages. Telég., 273-8.
