Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/286

270 Piedra Gorda. Their force consisted of 700 men with eleven pieces of artillery. The two leaders were slain, and the Europeans captured were shot. Herrera then returned to San Luis, where the house of the intendente Flores was sacked, it being believed that he was in collusion with the royalists. On the approach of Calleja he abandoned the city, taking the direction of Rio Verde and Valle del Maiz. Under García Conde, Calleja sent a detachment in pursuit, and Herrera sustained an overthrow at the latter place, losing seventeen pieces of artillery, and a great quantity of ammunition, baggage, and plunder. He however took revenge by ordering twelve Spanish captives put to death, one of whom miraculously escaped to tell the tale. After this defeat Herrera retired to Agayo, where he expected to be joined by the revolted troops of Iturbe. Venegas had, however, in the mean time despatched Colonel Arredondo with a force via Vera Cruz into the disaffected district; and his approach, together with the offer of pardon, caused a counter-movement in favor of the royalists. Herrera and other chiefs were seized in their quarters and delivered up to Arredondo, who summarily executed them. Thus terminated the career of the lay-friar Herrera, charged by some with more than ordinary cruelty, yet whose high courage and ability in the field were second only to his love of country and devotion to the cause of independence.