Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/455

Rh A battle ensued, which for its fierceness was one of the most noted of the war. Trujano made a vigorous sally, while Morelos charged at the front. The royalists were thus between two fires; but they made a stout defence, Caldelas particularly with his 400 coast negroes. He perished pierced by the enemy's lances.

All was now lost. Régules and his subordinate Esperon fled. In the escape Régules struck his head against the branch of a tree and was thrown down, vomiting blood. One of the cavalry soldiers picked up his senseless commander and conveyed him to Yanhuitlan, the place he had so lately left flushed with pride and hate. Trujano pursued the fleeing royalists to the very gates of Yanhuitlan giving no quarter. Canon San Martin then assumed the command of the place; but when the soldiers that had been left behind saw their beaten comrades returning panic-stricken, they began to hasten from the impending danger; and the officers, after holding a council of war, departed with the troops for the city of Oajaca. Morelos' triumph was complete; all the royalist artillery, a large quantity of muskets and other arms, ammunition, and baggage fell into his hands, together with 170 prisoners, some of whom joined his service, and the rest were sent to the prisoners' pen at Zacatula. The siege of Huajuapan