Page:Vol 5 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/265

Rh While negotiations were yet going on in 1843 Ampudia had been ordered to retire to Tabasco, on sanitary grounds as well as to prevent revolutionary infection from spreading in this sympathizing department. The measure was prudent, for Sentmanat, the governor, objected to the intrusion, and marched forth to resist it; but in a battle on July 11th, near the capital, he was routed and fled to the United States, there to form an expedition for recovering his lost ground. Ampudia soon reduced the province, assisted by the fleet, and was rewarded with the command. In June the following year Sentmanat reappeared with about fifty adventurers whom he had enlisted at New Orleans. The government had received ample warning, and his small vessel was chased aground by cruisers, while Ampudia followed so close upon the heels of the band as to capture it within a few days, ere a junction with native forces could be effected. The prisoners were promptly shot, including Sentmanat, whose head remained impaled in warning to others.

These operations proved a heavy drain on the treasury, and the taxes continued to increase in every direction, among them those on house drains and coach