Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/415

Rh While independents were concentrating around Tehuacan, Mariano de las Fuentes Alarcon, curate of Maltrata, raised a force and declared for independence, having cast a cannon with the metal of the large church bell. Besides keeping a watch on Orizaba, he captured every train having merchandise for the royalists. He put men under Miguel Moreno,

who with great activity began to plunder and desolate the neighboring haciendas, daily augmenting his force. Lieutenant-colonel Miguel Paz comandante at