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Rh had perished. He died in repulsing an assault made by the enemy, on the 18th of August, which he effected, although the previous sufferings of the garrison had reduced his numbers to one hundred and fifty effective men. Upon his death, the command devolved upon Lieutenant-colonel Bradburn, who attempted to abandon the fort on the night of the 19th of August. But, amidst such a multitude of women and children, to preserve order was impossible; their screams and cries alarmed the enemy, whose whole force was immediately put under arms: many of the fugitives were shot down, before they could cross the ravine: the rest, who, from their ignorance of the country, were wandering about the mountains in small parties of six and seven each, were cut off by the cavalry, which was detached for the purpose, on the following morning. Out of Mina's whole corps not fifty escaped. No quarter was given in the field, and the unfortunate wretches who had been left in the hospital wounded, were, by Liñan's orders, carried, or dragged along the ground, from their beds to the square, where they were stripped, and shot.

The result of the siege of Sombrero was fatal to all Mina's hopes. With his foreign officers, of whom only eleven ever rejoined him, he lost the means of disciplining his Creole recruits, and the men were all tried soldiers, on whom he could reckon in the hour of need. They were not to be replaced by numbers, and Mina attempted in vain, with his