Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/205

 MEXICO. 169 1821. After aiding Iturbide to establish the Independence, he declared against him, when he dissolved the Congress, and took a leading part in the contest, by which the Ex-Emperor was deposed. He was afterwards one of the three Members of the Executive Power, and, ultimately, a candidate for the first Presidency with Victoria, under whom he has served as Vice-President during the last three years.* But none of the Insurgent chiefs were pursued with such inveteracy, by the Royal troops, as Guadalupe Victoria, whose position, in the Province of Veracruz, was a constant source of uneasiness to the Viceroy. From the moment that he was deputed by Morelos to take the command on the Eastern line of coast, (1814,) he succeeded in cutting off almost all com- munication between the Capital, and the only port, through which the intercourse with Europe was, at that time, carried on. This he effected at the head of a force, which seldom exceeded 2000 men ; but a perfect acquaintance with the country, (which is extremely mountainous and intricate,) and an unlimited influence over the minds of his followers, made up for all deficiencies in point of numbers, and rendered Vic- toria, very shortly, the terror of the Spanish troops. It was his practice to keep but a' small body of men about his person, and only to collect his force upon great occasions : a mode of warfare well suited to the wild habits of the na- tives, and, at the same time, calculated to baffle pursuit. The instant a blow was struck, a general dispersion followed : in the event of a failure, a rendezvous was fixed for some dis- tant point ; and thus losses were often repaired, before it was known in the Capital that they had been sustained at all. Nor were Victoria's exploits confined to this desultory war- fare : in 1815, he detained a convoy of 6000 mules, escorted by 2000 men, under the command of Colonel Aguila, at in an additional Chapter, with which it is my intention to conclude the present edition.
 * I shall annex some farther particulars respecting Bravo's late reverses