reëstablished in a great measure throughout this region, sustained by the local guards now formed.[1]
The great achievement during this march was the capture of El Veladero, a series of forts on the mountain summits close to Acapulco, and occupied by Galeana with several hundred men. The strength of the position demanded a fortnight of extensive preparations, with close investment, after which, on the morning of May 6th, the main fort was captured by a daring assault, whereupon the revolutionists took advantage of the still prevailing darkness to escape.[2] They united in Cacahuatepec to the number of nearly 200, and in combination with Guerrero, Galeana began to rouse anew the upper country, known as Costa Grande;[3] but he was defeated on the 27th of June in an attack upon Aviles, the royalist commander of this region, stationed at Coyuca. In seeking to escape, Galeana was thrown stunned from his saddle by the branch of a tree and was then shot. The whole movement subsided.[4]
Among the series of disasters involving the revolutionary cause, the loss of Galeana created less attention than that of Matamoros, whose fall was signalled by a crushing defeat. Nevertheless the death of so great a leader added decidedly to the depression; and
- ↑ Morelos had left Juan Álvarez, in later times the undisputed lord of this province, to make a stand at the pass of Pié de la Cuesta, with 200 men and a few guns; but the approach of Armijo dispersed them. Miota continued the pursuit of Morelos, who was attended only by an escort, and readied Tecpan in time to prevent further retaliation. Advancing to Petatlan, he captured the intendente Ayala with a considerable booty, acquired by peculation and robbery, for which Morelos had suspended him. Details of above in Gaz. de Mex., 1814, v. 598-600, G 15-21, etc.
- ↑ San Cristóbal, the key to the position, was carried by Captain Ocampo. 'Este ha sido el no pensado y nunca esperado fin del decantado Veladero,' writes Armijo in his report. Id., 603, 621-6. Hunger assisted to intimidate the besieged. Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., iii. 73-7. Also reports in Negrete, Mex. Siglo XIX., vi. 288 et seq.; Liceaga, Adic. y Rectif., 252-3.
- ↑ Ávila surprised Petatlan, and Galeana the town of Asayac.
- ↑ The attack was boldly made with 500 not well armed men, partly contributed by Morelos, and commanded by Ávila, Mayo, and Montesdeoca. Struck by the branch, Galeana fell almost senseless, and was shot and decapitated by a soldier named Joaquin de Leon. The head was deferentially placed on the church door at Coyuca by the admiring Aviles, and then interred within the edifice.
