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574

FALL OF MORELOS.

Along a line of two leagues lay stretched 600 dead, and 700 were captured, including a score of superior officers,^[1] among them Matamoros, who was directing the flight, while Morelos was striving to save from disaster what he could.^[2]

Two hundred prisoners were offered in exchange for him, but this and other efforts in his behalf proved useless. He was shot February 3d at Valladolid, dying with the firmness to be expected of so valiant and brilliant a leader.^[3] Unimposing in appearance, but of strong character and magnetism, he had exerted a marked influence on the campaigns of More-

↑ Llano in his report places the killed at over 600, with the capture of 18 high officers, admitting for himself only a loss of 5 killed and 36 wounded. The capture included 23 guns, 150 loads of ammunition, and 1,200 muskets. Gaz. de Hex., 1814, v. 74-80. He gives the first loss of the insurgents before Valladolid at 1,000, including 217 prisoners, and assumes that the total loss at this place amounted to 1,500 men, 27 or 30 guns, and large supplies. Landázuri, who estimated the besieging force at over 11,000, places their first loss at 650 killed and 233 captured. The royalists lost 25 killed and 57 wounded. Id., 9-11, 79-84, 181-8; Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., v. 276-81; vi. 30-1, 256-60. Bustamante allows for the first encounter under Galeana 1.800 men, with a loss of 700. The value of the abandoned artillery material he places at $800,000. He goes into paroxysms over the cold-blooded execution of prisoners, many of them half dead with wounds. Cuadro, ii. 419-28; Cavo, Tres Siglos, iv. 105-11. The losses at the first battle are attributed partly to Galeana's neglect from pique at the promotion of Matamoros. Mendíbil, Res., 192-5. Negrete doubts any such feeling; but his speculations on causes and effects are feeble. Zamacois assigns 3,000 men on this occasion to the revolutionists. Hist. Méj., ix. 333 et seq. Royalist accounts like Torrente's Rev. Hisp. Am., i. 445-6, ii. 89-90, naturally gloat over the victory. Escalera y Liana, Hex. Hist., 10-12. Morelos' Declaracion, 29-31, is brief and unsatisfactory, Rosains, Rel. Hist., 3 et seq., adds some interesting details, most of them used by Bustamante, Alaman, and others.
↑ Matamoros was captured in seeking to cross the river on a poor borrowed horse. A dragoon named J. E. Rodriguez overtook and surrendered him to a comrade without stopping for the usual plunder. He was rewarded with $200, and recommended for decoration. Gaz. de Mex., 1814, v. 707-8.
↑ Yet the royalists published a reputed confession and proclamation by him, wherein he denounces the insurrection as wrong, and urges his compatriots to submit with him to the king. Full text in Id., 169-80. None but royalists have received them as genuine. Alaman believes, nevertheless, that he signed the proclamation as well. Hist. Méj., iv. 15. His. handkerchief bathed in blood was preserved as a relic, and masses were secretly offered in Valladolid for his repose as he died. He was a small, thin man, with pock-marked face inclined to the left, and modest blue eyes, but with a stentorian voice that had assisted not a little to cheer his soldiers on to the victories for which he stood famed. He was a born soldier, writes Bustamante, and displayed both strategy and prudence, combined with great piety. 'Fué el brazo izquierdo de Morelos.' Cuadro, ii. 423. For detailed biography, see Gallo, Hombres Ilustres, iv. 227-49; Arroniz, Biog. Mex., 226-31; Dicc. Univ., art. 'Matamoros,' etc.

[1] Llano in his report places the killed at over 600, with the capture of 18 high officers, admitting for himself only a loss of 5 killed and 36 wounded. The capture included 23 guns, 150 loads of ammunition, and 1,200 muskets. Gaz. de Hex., 1814, v. 74-80. He gives the first loss of the insurgents before Valladolid at 1,000, including 217 prisoners, and assumes that the total loss at this place amounted to 1,500 men, 27 or 30 guns, and large supplies. Landázuri, who estimated the besieging force at over 11,000, places their first loss at 650 killed and 233 captured. The royalists lost 25 killed and 57 wounded. Id., 9-11, 79-84, 181-8; Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., v. 276-81; vi. 30-1, 256-60. Bustamante allows for the first encounter under Galeana 1.800 men, with a loss of 700. The value of the abandoned artillery material he places at $800,000. He goes into paroxysms over the cold-blooded execution of prisoners, many of them half dead with wounds. Cuadro, ii. 419-28; Cavo, Tres Siglos, iv. 105-11. The losses at the first battle are attributed partly to Galeana's neglect from pique at the promotion of Matamoros. Mendíbil, Res., 192-5. Negrete doubts any such feeling; but his speculations on causes and effects are feeble. Zamacois assigns 3,000 men on this occasion to the revolutionists. Hist. Méj., ix. 333 et seq. Royalist accounts like Torrente's Rev. Hisp. Am., i. 445-6, ii. 89-90, naturally gloat over the victory. Escalera y Liana, Hex. Hist., 10-12. Morelos' Declaracion, 29-31, is brief and unsatisfactory, Rosains, Rel. Hist., 3 et seq., adds some interesting details, most of them used by Bustamante, Alaman, and others.

[2] Matamoros was captured in seeking to cross the river on a poor borrowed horse. A dragoon named J. E. Rodriguez overtook and surrendered him to a comrade without stopping for the usual plunder. He was rewarded with $200, and recommended for decoration. Gaz. de Mex., 1814, v. 707-8.

[3] Yet the royalists published a reputed confession and proclamation by him, wherein he denounces the insurrection as wrong, and urges his compatriots to submit with him to the king. Full text in Id., 169-80. None but royalists have received them as genuine. Alaman believes, nevertheless, that he signed the proclamation as well. Hist. Méj., iv. 15. His. handkerchief bathed in blood was preserved as a relic, and masses were secretly offered in Valladolid for his repose as he died. He was a small, thin man, with pock-marked face inclined to the left, and modest blue eyes, but with a stentorian voice that had assisted not a little to cheer his soldiers on to the victories for which he stood famed. He was a born soldier, writes Bustamante, and displayed both strategy and prudence, combined with great piety. 'Fué el brazo izquierdo de Morelos.' Cuadro, ii. 423. For detailed biography, see Gallo, Hombres Ilustres, iv. 227-49; Arroniz, Biog. Mex., 226-31; Dicc. Univ., art. 'Matamoros,' etc.

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