Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/194

178 meeting his advance guard in full flight, and learning that Hidalgo was approaching with all his forces, he fell back to the small town of Lerrna, where he hoped to hold the enemy in check by barricading and defending the bridge. On the 28th, as no enemy appeared, Trujillo suspected that Hidalgo had directed his march to the bridge of Atengo, with the object of occupying the Santiago road and attacking the royalists in the rear, at the same time cutting off their retreat to the capital. He therefore sent a detachment to defend that point, and gave orders to the subdelegado of Santiago Tianguistengo to destroy the bridge. This order, however, was not carried out, and on the 29th Allende, with a large body of troops, forced the defenders from their position and gained the Santiago road.

Meanwhile Hidalgo with the rest of his forces marched toward Lerma; and Trujillo, as soon as he learned that the bridge of Atengo, had been lost, saw the necessity of retreating toward the capital, and accordingly withdrew to the mountain pass called the monte de las Cruces, leaving José de Mendívil with one of the two battalions of which the regiment of Tres Villas was composed, and Francisco Bringas with a troop of cavalry, to hold the Lerma bridge until the different sections of the army had united at las Cruces. At five o'clock in the afternoon, Mendívil, supported in the rear by Bringas, commenced his retreat, leaving only a small force under Captain Pino to defend the bridge; and so well did this officer perform his duty that he did not retire until late at night. The position to which Trujillo had withdrawn was a strong one, but it had the disadvantage of being commanded on the south by neighboring hills covered with forest, and by other heights on the north side of the Toluca road. Allende well knew the importance