Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/221

Rh all of his newly levied troops soon deserted to the enemy.

In the mean time Torres had raised in revolt the towns of Colima, Sayula, Zacoalco, and those of the districts of the tierra caliente, while other revolutionary chiefs, Gomez Portugal, Godinez, Alatorre, and Huidrobo, were no less active among the pueblos on the Rio Grande, so that by the end of October all the districts bordering upon Guanajuato and Michoacan were in insurrection. Though day by day the danger became more imminent, the want of harmony in the city of Guadalajara still prevailed. In vain Abarca, in view of the continued desertion of troops, represented to the Europeans that they should take arms and defend themselves. They would not listen to him, and would neither fight nor pay. Nor was the action of the junta auxiliar any more favorable to the success of the royalist cause in Jalisco. Regarding as traitors efficient officers in whom Abarca had confidence, the members of the junta appointed the oidor Recacho, and Villaseñor, a rich landed proprietor, commanders of two divisions to be sent against the insurgents. Guadalajara was by this time threatened on the south by Torres, who had occupied Zacoalco, and on the east by Huidrobo, Godinez, and Alatorre, who were at La Barca. Villaseñor commanded the division despatched against Torres, and Recacho that opposed to Huidrobo, each detachment being five hundred strong. Recacho, on arriving at La Barca, discovered that the enemy had abandoned the town, and on the 1st of November entered it without resistance. On the 3d, however, Huidrobo attacked the royalists with a large body of Indians, but was repulsed with some loss, Recacho having taken up a position in the plaza. On the following day the