Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/345

Rh in it without having first made every reasonable preparation. With this object he occupied himself for some time at Maravatio in putting in good order his artillery trains and arms, in collecting supplies of provisions, by informing himself through spies of the strength and position of the enemy, and making himself acquainted with the topography of the district. This prudent delay gave umbrage to Venegas, who, in face of Torre's late disaster, blindly regarded the capture of Zitácuaro as presenting little difficulty; and in his communications with Calleja he expressed his dissatisfaction at Empáran's dilatoriness, wrongly attributing it to want of energy and inclination.

Although Venegas was anxious to place the expedition under some other leader, circumstances prevented his doing so, and he ordered Empáran to advance against Zitácuaro without further delay. Empáran accordingly, though suffering in health, led out his division, composed of 2,000 of the best troops of Calleja's army, and by forced marches under drenching rains arrived on the 19th of June within six leagues of the town. Entering by the same canon as that followed by Torre, for two days the royalist army with great difficulty pursued its march up the narrow and rugged bed, continually impeded by obstructions thrown in the way by the insurgents. Emerging from the gloomy ravine on to the more open ground of the glen in which Zitdcuaro was situated, Empáran took up a position on the 21st, in front of the gently rising elevation of Los Manzanillos near the