Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/199

Rh Ten thousand Indians are said to have perished at Ăcūlcŏ; but Hidalgo and most of his officers found means to escape, and, after collecting as many of the fugitives as they could, effected a hasty retreat to Văllădŏlīd. Ăllēndĕ, having separated from his companions, took the road to Guănăjūātŏ, with the intention of defending the town; but finding: that he had not forces sufficient again to meet Calleja, by whom he was pursued, he evacuated the place on his approach.

Much has been said of the atrocities committed by this general, on his entry into that unfortunate city. I am far from wishing to palliate them, but there was, undoubtedly, a circumstance, which furnished him with a plea for any severities that he chose to exercise. Two hundred and forty-nine Europeans, who had escaped from the massacre at Ălhōndĭgă, when Hĭdālgŏ took it, or were found afterwards concealed in the neighbourhood, were left there by him as prisoners. The populace, furious at seeing themselves deserted by Ăllēndĕ, in a paroxysm of rage flew to the fort, in which these unfortunate men were confined, and, in spite of the resistance made by several respectable Creoles, many of whom were wounded in attempting to oppose them, most inhumanly massacred all the prisoners. This horrible act was perpetrated on the very morning that Căllējă entered the town; and it was upon receiving intelligence of it, that his troops were ordered to give no quarter. This