mishes had been the rule, and on October 3d Bustamante made a formidable though ineffectual attack on a position at Puente de Jamaica, which cost a number of lives. This added to the discouragement imparted by the growing strength of the besiegers, and desertion increased, many believing that any revolution headed by Santa Anna must succeed. Echeverría and two of the ministers had disappeared, leaving Almonte to act for the government, for Bustamante hesitated to resume the control, although widely called upon, and Muzquiz, the summoned federal president, held back. Under such circumstances, Bustamante resolved to spare the city from further useless suffering by evacuating it, which he did on the morning of the 5th, in the direction of Guadalupe. The allies followed, and both sides formed in battle array. Although stronger than his adversary, Santa Anna by no means relished the prospect of a battle. Bustamante on his side doubted the resolution of his men, additionally demoralized by retreat, and so an amicable arrangement was effected, by which the government troops passed over to the allies, all past differences being buried.[1]
Bustamante departed for Europe, attended by the respect of all parties for his frank and kind-hearted character and his unselfish and honorable record as a public man. He was a brave soldier, however, rather than a statesman, somewhat slow of reflection, vacillating, and devoid of moral energy, and as such unfit above all to assume the administration under the trying circumstances opening before him in 1837, along a new path, under a new constitution forced upon the
- ↑ The proposed constitutional congress should alone pass judgment on the acts of the late and the future administrations. Dublan and Lozano, Leg. Mex., iv. 32-4; Vallejo, Col. Doc. Mex., MS., ii. pt 464. The act is dated at Estanzuela, Oct. 6th. On the day Santa Anna approached Tacubaya, Bustamante had sought in vain to effect an arrangement with Paredes and Cortazar.
while the other had 1,200, and most of the artillery. Madame Calderon de la Barca, Life in Mex., ii. 224 et seq., gives some interesting experience during this period.
