This was merely a just and politic concession to an officer who had suddenly risen into fame by several unexpected advantages over the royalists,[1] which also brought followers to his banner. He was a man much like Galeana, under whom he had earned his first distinctions; not proficient in book-learning, but of quick apprehension, and possessed of a gentleness and magnetism that inspired love as well as confidence among his adherents; while his swarthy face, resonant voice, and flashing eye made him an object of profound respect among his enemies.[2] It was not long before he gained the supremacy in forces and influence, partly through the temporary departure for Tehuacan of Sesma, who there suffered in prestige and command. This influence he extended by fortunate expeditions as far down as Costa Chica,[3] and appeared in June 1815 at the head of nearly a thousand men, half of them well armed.
Two attempts to capture Acatlan and Tlapa failed through the arrival of strong reënforcements to those places,[4] but he held his ground well during the fol-
- ↑ He surprised the forces from Chilapa and Tlapa on two different occasions, besides obtaining other advantages. Bustamante, Cuad. Hist., iii. 204 et seq. This author places the Chilapa force as high as 700 men. Rosains was preparing to attack Guerrero and force compliance, when he yielded.
- ↑ He was among the tirst to enlist under Morelos, rose to the rank of captain in 1811, and signalized himself as commandant at Izúcar by assisting materially in defeating Llano in Feb. 1812, His biography will be given when he rises to the presidency in the next volume.
- ↑ Where his lieutenant, Carmen, a negro, gathered both recruits and booty round Ometepec and beyond. Meanwhile, Guerrero had manufactured artillery and ammunition at his fort of Tlamajalcingo.
- ↑ Commandant Flon of Acatlan was relieved in July by Samaniego, stationed at Huajuapan, and this same officer brought succor to Tlapa. Guerrero was already gone, although he had on October 28th inflicted so severe a chastisement on Armijo as to compel him to fall back. This is partly admitted in Gaz. de Mex., 1815, vi. 872-80, 1347-50; also 402-6, 643-4, 840-2, 1251-2; 1816, vii. 51-9. Bustamante assumes that Armijo lost fully 100 men. His account of Guerrero's operations are indistinct and partial. It is one series of successes from the time he enters Mizteca. He repulses La Madrid at Chiquihuite and Xonacatlan; routs Combé; captures an Oajaca convoy from Samaniego, near Acatlan, and repulses the latter, when in conjunction with La Madrid he seeks to retaliate for his loss; his lieutenant Ochoa repulses Armijo near Culuac, and he inflicts further lessons on La Madrid. His relations with Teran are meanwhile not cordial, for he refuses to recognize the government substituted by him for the dissolved congress, and declines to join in the expedition to Goazacoalco, as infringing on Victoria's ground. See details in Cuad. Hist., iii. 264-77; Torrente, Hist, Rev., ii. 274, etc.; No-
