Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/393

Rh taught the Indians personally how to cultivate the grain, and after the death of her husband in Lima. about 1540, Pizarro granted liera fine piece of land near Lima, together with the Indians upon it. The grateful colonists resolved to clear the land and cultivate it for her during ten years, but it seems that they soon forgot their promise, as Maria is said to have died verv poor in Cuzco.

ESCOBAR, Pedro Suarez de, Spanish theologian, b. in Medellin, Spain: d. in Tlayacapan, Mexico, in 159L He belonged to the order of St. Augustine, which he entered at the age of thirteen in Mexico. After having mastered the Mexican language, he devoted himself to preaching the gos- pel to the Indians, and was successively first theo- logian of the cathedral of that city, professor of the Scriptures in the university, prefect of his province, prior of several convents, and bishop of Guadalajara. His works include " EscaJa del Pa- raiso celestial," " Ramillete de perfeccion evange- lica," " Relox de principes," and " Sermones de los evangelios de todo el ano " (4 vols., Madrid. 1591).

ESCOBEDO, Mariano, Mexican soldier, b. in Dos Arroyos, Galeana, state of New Leon, in Janu- ary, 1828. He was of humble parentage, and as soon as his age permitted he became a muleteer. At that time Mexico had no railroads, and scarcely any good highways, but merely mountain-paths, especially near the Texas frontier, where the mule- teers were at the same time traders and smugglers. Escobedo was in charge of a string of pack mules belonging to his father when the war with the United States began ; and when Gen. Zachary Tay- lor marched against Mexico, crossing the river Nueces, Escobedo converted his muleteers into partisans, and attacked the American forces where- ever he could meet them in small bodies. He also took part in the fight at the Caiion de Santa Rosa, and in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de Guerrero, and in the rest of the campaign in the northern states. After the peace of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1848, Escobedo retired again to his former life in the country ; but when, in 1854, the revolution of the " Plan de Ayutla " broke out, he offered his services to the Liberal party, was ap- pointed captain of a company, and. together with Geronimo Treviiio, Francisco Naranjo, and Diodoro Corella, who afterward became notorious, contrib- uted, in 1855, to the defeat of Guitian at Saltillo. and of Pari'odi in Morterillos. His name first became known during the three years' war called the " war of the reform." when he again fought for the Liberal party against the forces of Mira- mon. Juarez ap- pointed him colo- nel in 1859, and he contributed to the defeat of Mi- ramon at Aten- tique, after which he continued in the campaign till the victory of Calpulalpan, 23 Dec, 1860. After the departure of Miramon for Europe, and the establishment of the government of Juarez in the city of Mexico, 11 Jan., 1861, Escobedo, with the rank of brigadier-general, was sent against the remnant of the church party under Marquez and Mejia, but he was surprised in the town of Rio Verde, and taken prisoner after a heroic de- fence. Marquez ordered him to be shot, but he was saved by Mejia, and kept prisoner at Buca- reli, whence he afterward escaped, and, travelling on foot to Huichapan, offered his services again to the government of Juarez. After the intervention of Napoleon III. in Mexican affairs, Escobedo par- ticipated in the repulse of the French under Lau- renzec at Puebla, 5 May, 1862, and the less fortu- nate Mexican attack at the Cerro del Borrego hill, near Orizava. After the re-enforcement of the French under Forey, and their renewed advance upon Puebla, Escobedo, under special orders from Juarez, organized forces for the succor of that city, spending ])ai't of his private fortune in this under- taking, and entered Puebla before it was surrounded by the French army. He took part in the protract- ed defence of the city, and when it was captured, 17 May, 1863, he was taken prisoner, but escaped from Orizava and joined Juarez again in the capital. When the president with his cabinet abandoned the city before the advancing French, Escobedo ac- companied him as far as Zacatecas, but afterward joined Felipe Berriozabal and Nicolas Regules in their resistance to the invaders. When the em- pire was established, in June, 1864, Escobedo was obliged to give up the struggle, which he had con- tinued in the states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, together with Hinojosa and Cortina. He passed into Texas, and fixed his residence in San Antonio, where he continued his exertions for the republican cause. With special authority from Juarez, he went to New Orleans in the middle of 1865. secret- ly purchased arms and ammunition, and organized, after his return to San Antonio, a force consisting of American negroes, ex-Confederate soldiers, and Mexican refugees, which he led into Mexico. In November, 1865, he surprised and captured the im- perial garrison of Monterey, and from that time the fortunes of the republic in the northern states took a favorable turn. Escobedo's forces were rapidly augmenting by the enrolment of the dis- persed' republicans, and in March, 1866, he was able to begin offensive operations toward the interior. In June, 1866, he captured Saltillo after a short re- sistance, and in July of the same year Juarez estab- lished his government in that city. Escobedo was appointed general-in-chief of the army of the north ; and as the French troops retired from the northern states in their march of concentration toward Vera Cruz, Escobedo captured the principal cities suc- cessively from the remaining imperial forces. In September, Escobedo inarched toward Guanajuato, establishing his headquarters in Celaya, where his forces were joined by those of Corona and Eulogio Parras from the north, and Huerta and Regules from Michoacan, while Juarez established his gov- ernment in Zacatecas. In November his army num- bered 15,000 men. and with this force he marched, in December, on San Luis Potosi. Alarmed by the rapid successes of Escobedo. the emperor despatched Miramon and Castillo at the head of two bodies of troops, the latter toward San Luis Potosi, the for- mer, with 4,000 men, to Zacatecas. Miramon rap- idly occupied Aguas Calientes, and surprised Zaca- tecas, where Juarez with his cabinet barely es- caped falling into his hands. He immediately evacuated the town, and on his march to join Cas- tillo he was attacked, on 1 Feb., 1867, by Escobedo's forces at San Jacinto and completely routed, with the loss of nearly 2,000 dead and wounded. His artillery and ammunition were captured, together with 100 prisoners. Miramon's brother Joaquin was also taken and shot, together with ninety-three