Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/423

Rh while the government troops were kept so fully occupied by Morelos, the triumph of the cause would have been at once assured. But the men were not at hand for the emergency; that is, men capable of bringing that too watery mass into a state of concretion, such as to make it serviceable; and the result was that Calleja was allowed to take the place, dispersing the forces engaged in its defence, and leaving the royalist army free to operate in various directions, and to recover the lost towns. All this time that Morelos was nobly struggling for high principles, for liberty, humanity, freedom of thought, and independence of country, large numbers of so-called revolutionists were occupying themselves in labors little better than those of banditti, robbing, murdering, drinking, and gambling. The government was thus enabled to extricate itself from the painful situation late events had placed it in, and again to resume the offensive.

A few days after the siege of Cuautla had begun, there was a movement against the independent cause in the region known as tierra caliente del Sur, in the provinces of Mexico and Puebla. That part of the country had been occupied by Morelos after he defeated a number of royalist commanders, but his control of it was not continuous or assured. There were many towns still recognizing the viceregal authority; and as soon as Morelos found himself pent up in Cuautla, unable to detach any portion of his forces, his agents were soon expelled from the places where he had appointed them.

The commander of the fifth division of southern militia, Francisco Páris, when on his way to reoccupy