Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/733

Rh the capture of Querétaro quickly followed. A force of more than 1,000 men sent to its relief under the command of Concha was intercepted and returned to the capital; Bracho and San Julian, who were escorting a conducta from Durango with 800 of the expeditionary troops, were compelled to lay down their arms on the 22d; and the city was surrounded by the concentrated forces of Iturbide, amounting to 10,000 men. The position of the comandante Luaces was hopeless, and on the 28th of June he surrendered.

While these events were occurring in the interior, mutiny broke out in the capital. The discontent of the expeditionary forces grew apace as reports of the uninterrupted march of the revolution followed each other in quick succession. Apodaca's lukewarm efforts to suppress it were regarded with suspicion, and it was resolved to depose him. At a meeting of the masonic order the conspirators decided to carry their design into effect on the night of July 5th, and preparations were made in the several barracks with well-guarded secrecy. On the eventful evening Apodaca was holding a council of war, and among the officers present were the major-generals Liñan and Novella, and Brigadier Espinosa. About ten o'clock a body of troops entered the palace while others surrounded it, and their leaders, of whom Colonel Francisco Buceli was chief, presenting themselves before the viceroy, informed him that the discontent of the forces and their distrust in his loyalty had become so great that it was decided to remove him from power and