Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/380

364 Two lateral columns, by creeping from house to house along the street, now fought their way close up to the intrenchments, causing some disturbance among the defenders, whose confidence their leader, however, soon restored. The enemy was repulsed, and though again and again they returned to the charge, their efforts to storm the defences were vain. For six hours the combat continued. Many of the royalist officers were struck down; the conde de Casa Rul was mortally wounded, and the greater part of the ammunition was spent. The attempts against the plaza of Santo Domingo and the Buenavista buildings, though these points were poorly fortified, proved equally unsuccessful. Troops accustomed to victory, and who rushed up to the trenches in full confidence, quailed at last; and though Calleja, in the final charge, led them in person, his presence did not mend matters. Convinced of the impossibility of taking Cuautla by assault with his present force, for the first time in his victorious career he withdrew crestfallen. That night he held a council of war, the result of which was that he determined to reduce the place by siege; and a despatch was sent on the following day to Venegas, informing him of the position of affairs. Cuautla, he says, must be destroyed, and its defenders buried in its ruins, so that in future no insurgent will find escape from death except by laying down his arms. To effect this he shows the viceroy the necessity of an increased force, of large supplies of provisions and