Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/659

Rh This was merely a just and politic concession to an officer who had suddenly risen into fame by several unexpected advantages over the royalists, which also brought followers to his banner. He was a man much like Galeana, under whom he had earned his first distinctions; not proficient in book-learning, but of quick apprehension, and possessed of a gentleness and magnetism that inspired love as well as confidence among his adherents; while his swarthy face, resonant voice, and flashing eye made him an object of profound respect among his enemies. It was not long before he gained the supremacy in forces and influence, partly through the temporary departure for Tehuacan of Sesma, who there suffered in prestige and command. This influence he extended by fortunate expeditions as far down as Costa Chica, and appeared in June 1815 at the head of nearly a thousand men, half of them well armed.

Two attempts to capture Acatlan and Tlapa failed through the arrival of strong reënforcements to those places, but he held his ground well during the