Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/644

628 3,400 in Nueva Galicia, and a somewhat larger force in the Occidente, to which must be added the armed citizens in towns, villages, and farms; so that the royalists could really command about 80,000 men, on the whole better armed and disciplined than the insurgent forces, and with increasing resources, as the latter were driven back, but also with proportionately heavier expenses than the more frugal and enduring patriots. Calleja's plan henceforth was to isolate the insurgent leaders as much as possible from each other, and press steadily upon them, reducing one stronghold after another.

The central point of war operations had changed to Puebla and Vera Cruz, as we have seen. The flight of Rayon gave a fresh impulse to Rosains' plans for asserting his authority over this region; and to this end he proposed first that Osorno should join him in surprising the forces of Marquez Donallo, who occupied the line between them. But Osorno was justly